The sad end of my cat

Our cat refused to eat our dinner and went outside the gate to hunt. It had been stalking a certain animal for some time. I knew this because in the past few days the cat had a tendency of walking out of the gate in the evening!

On this day, when there’s silence everywhere, a loud noise is heard. Hit the gate and then the dogs emerged from where they were relaxing. Suddenly I heard a cat running as if scared. I got up to see what was happening. I saw but couldn’t closely define the kind of cat that had got itself into trouble!

My two big dogs had surrounded it against two walls and a chicken house. The chickens were watching everything but silent. They have always seen their own friends eaten the same way - although with the friends, they all make noise until we intervene. As I was trying to get a close look, one Peggy, a female German shepherd, gave the cat a hard bite in the back. It groaned and sounded to be in pain. The dog ran away and left the big male Rottweiler making noise. Barking as if to scare but the cat stayed there, painfully crying.

Peggy walked around the house, returned and straight went for the neck. It literally sucked life out of the cat, as with each bite I heard the cat’s crying voice, until it went completely silent! The big dog was there supervising the murder! Didn’t bite but you can’t say he’s innocent!

While the dogs were busy biting the cat, I saw a squirrel emerge from under the dog house. I was shocked!  The squirrel took advantage of the business the dogs were finishing. It ran away and went out of the gate, I think back to its hideout. Perhaps, the original scuffle I heard was of the cat and squirrel, one saving life and the other looking for a meal.

Meanwhile, Peggy didn’t make any sound. In a few minutes the cat was dead.  Completely silent. The big dog, the male one remained there barking while Peggy, the merciless killer, walked away. The big guy barked for a while and then walked away too! After that, I saw their two months puppy emerge from the back of the house, as if she had been told to stay away! Everything looked well-coordinated and planned.

I remained standing in my window wondering what kind of cat couldn’t climb one of my trees or at least get on top of the car in the compound. There was even a wall to climb! Well, I was at a loss for words and went back to bed, hoping to check on that unserious cat in the morning. But I felt sad at the same time! How could I not help?

But I woke up with a tight programme and was rushed away from home. When I returned in the evening, I couldn’t see our cat. The one that my three-year-old daughter so much adored and which everyone in the house loved! I asked and everyone said the cat had been out for so long. I went to check the site and the dead  cat wasn’t there. It occurred to me that I might have watched my own cat die in cold blood! But I kept quiet!

I asked our house help what could have happened to our cat. I pretended not to know what happened. I didn’t tell anyone what I watched! I was shocked when the young lady told me that the cat was stolen by some people. That when it went out in the evening and never came back, some random people picked it up and took it. She doesn’t know I saw everything. She probably picked the dead cat and threw it away, either in a pit-latrine or trash bin. I’m still quiet. I want to see how far she can go. Does she fear being accused of letting the cat leave the house? But she isn’t the cat’s keeper! All along she seemed to like the cat but I think I’m wrong!

Ten lessons

• Never to allow pursuit of your goals to get you into dangerous territories. If you must enter, be sure to have an exit strategy. How could the cat fail to realise it was entering into a deadly territory and still had no battle plan?
• The most deadly people are the silent ones, never the noisy makers. Sometimes you’ll fear the big noisy guys yet the real danger lies in the small silent ones. 
• Never get involved in battles that don’t concern you. When their own is touched, the chickens make lots of noise but when it’s someone else, they look as if they are not seeing.
• When you do nothing to stop evil, your very own may end up destroyed by evil. Always help when there’s a call. The poor cat called for help but I acted as if it wasn’t my business. In the end, I lost my own cat!
• Sometimes running away from your enemy is the best solution. And if you must run, please run very fast and ensure your enemy can’t catch you! Avoidance is sometimes a winning strategy. The cat was stupid, the squirrel was very smart!
• Man will always tell lies, choosing a convenient option over truth, especially if they think that telling the truth can cause some trouble. But truth will always remain truth, and some people will know it, watching how far you can fool yourself.
• Never assume that a silent environment is always safe! Always watch your steps because you might end up in real trouble! A deadly enemy may well hide under calm waters!
• Whenever you take a walk away from home, tell people where you’ve gone or at least travel when it’s safe. When you get into trouble, home people can easily help otherwise you can be killed while they watch, thinking it’s a street gang fight!

Dr Celestine Katongole, PhD

Senior Lecturer, Makerere University Business School