HY & Alba + Elba

Cats, both male, 7+ years

Adopted Aug 2021

Multi-cat household

HY has long been a supporter of Metta, as she admired the good work of our late founder, Mdm Lee Siew Ying. As such, she had wanted to adopt a cat from Metta for a long time.

The time for that came via social media - HY saw a photo of Alba napping on his hammock one day and thought he looked really adorable and easy-going. He had a catchy name too. She set up a visit to the shelter, and also got charmed by Alba’s brother Elba who warmed up to her instantly. And so HY ended up with two cats instead of one!

HY had some worries at first, as we told her about how Alba and Elba were returned by their previous adopter, who lost patience with their sibling rivalry. She was worried - as were we - about how bad the alleged rivalry was. So she initially wanted to adopt one of them first. Get used to the first one, before coming back for the other one. However, her loved ones encouraged her to get both brothers, instead of splitting them up.

This turned out to be a good decision! HY realised that the “Babas” sibling rivalry was not that bad. Some jealousy does exist but not hostility. As she mused, “It happens to most of us humans too, so there is nothing shocking about it. Like most siblings, they have sweet moments with each other as well, like the mutual grooming and playful moments with one another.”

Life with the two boys is now amusing - they amuse HY daily with their funny antics, and as she told us: “are super adorable!” Alba and Elba follows her around the house like dogs. In fact, her mom commented that they don’t behave like cats. HY has also since discovered the distinct personalities of the brothers: Alba really loves to eat chicken and enjoys watching TV; Elba is really active and his love language is the sustained head bump for a long while.