• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
GO TO EXPAT LIVING SINGAPORE
GET OUR NEWSLETTER

Expat Living Hong Kong HomepageExpat Living Hong Kong

Moving to Hong Kong and not sure where to start? Expat Living is the essential lifestyle guide to living in Hong Kong.

Login Pelcro Shop

Menu
  • Living In Hong Kong
      • Living Here
      • Where To Live
      • Schools
      • For Guys
        • Hong Kong news - new book by Robert Ferguson, Wild Creatures of Hong KongWhat’s new in Hong Kong?
        • where to shop in Hong Kong, shopping malls, chain stores, boutiquesThe ultimate guide to shopping in HK
        • Exciting summer programmes for kids
        • Hong Kong’s Best Bookshops
      • View all
    Close
  • Things To Do
      • Things To Do
      • What’s On/Calendar
      • Competitions & Offers
        • Designing Circularity ExhibitionTop 35 Best Things To Do In Hong Kong This Weekend
        • Hong Kong news - new book by Robert Ferguson, Wild Creatures of Hong KongWhat’s new in Hong Kong?
        • Great podcasts we are listening to!
        • What to watch this month – Netflix & more!
      • View all
    Close
  • Kids
      • Activities & Things To Do
      • Education & Enrichment
      • Health & Wellness
      • Mums & Babies
      • Podcasts
        • Exciting summer programmes for kids
        • SCMP Posties summer camps - journalismInteractive camps for budding journalists – & more!
        • International schools in Hong Kong - HKABest International Schools In Hong Kong, Primary to Secondary
        • Choosing a university and finding the right fit
      • View all
    Close
  • Homes
      • Home Décor
      • Readers Homes
        • Fabulous fabrics that last!
        • BoConcept Danish furniture and interior design services in Hong Kong - roomsetBoConcept celebrates a decade in Hong Kong!
        • Home news - new furniture - FLEXAHome news: décor, furniture & more!
        • Best mattresses for a great night’s sleep!
      • View all
    Close
  • Travel
      • Short Breaks
      • Further Afield
        • Travel news - hotel deals - SuralaiTravel News and Hotel Deals
        • Boat sailing around the PhilippinesSailing the Philippine archipelago
        • Pets and Planes: 5 Things to Consider
        • Sri Lanka - Where to go for a girls tripWhere to go for a girls’ trip
      • View all
    Close
  • Wine & Dine
      • Recipes & Groceries
      • Bars & Restaurants
        • 10 places to buy alcohol online
        • Ruby Tuesday Hong Kong - burger mealTaste Test Burger Edition #2: Ruby Tuesday
        • Win a dinner for 2 at Basin (worth $2,000)
        • Beef & Liberty burgers in Hong Kong - Falafel burgerTaste Test Burger Edition #1 Beef & Liberty
      • View all
    Close
  • Style & Beauty
      • Fashion
      • Hair & Beauty
        • where to shop in Hong Kong, shopping malls, chain stores, boutiquesThe ultimate guide to shopping in HK
        • beauty news, new spa - YUN WellnessBeauty news: The latest launches!
        • Fashion news and shopping in Hong Kong - FREY new collectionFashion news: the latest launches
        • hair treatment at Glow Salon in Hong Kong4 hairdressers and their styling solutions
      • View all
    Close
  • Health & Fitness
      • Medical & Dental
      • Fitness
      • Wellness
        • 11 great gyms & studios to keep in shape
        • recurrent miscarriages – causes, risk factors, ivf treatmentHealth help: A focus on recurrent miscarriage
        • lung cancer - symptoms and treatmentLung Cancer: 8 Common Myths
        • Osteopathy in Hong KongOsteopathy for Body Aches & Pains
      • View all
    Close
  • Shop
    • Magazine
    • Advertise With Us
    • Close

Saying farewell to a much-loved pet

16 February, 2018 by Jennifer S Deayton 3 Min Read

https://expatliving.hk/farewell-pet-hong-kong/

Teddi the wonder cat entered our lives on April Fool’s Day years ago, when my husband and I were first living in Hong Kong, childless and pet-less. That night we were at one of our favourite restaurants, the Queen’s Café, a retro RussianChinese café that was fusion before fusion.

pet

Our waiter seated us at a table next to a built-in china cabinet and took our usual order: borscht and chicken shashlik, with ice cream and lemon tea for dessert. We weren’t sitting there for long when I heard a sharp cry cutting through the din of the restaurant. I wasn’t sure what it was and wondered if I’d heard anything at all. I listened again. Yes, the high-pitched call was definitely a meow. I looked excitedly at Paul. He had heard it too. However, he just frowned and shook his head: Don’t even think it.

But the mewing continued all through dinner, a sharp, bright beacon: Here I am, Here I am. How could we ignore it? After dessert, I started investigating and discovered a hole inside the china cabinet which led to a dark crawlspace within the wall. We peered into the void as the meowing persisted, loud and clear. And then we spotted two little pink ears. There she was.

Once our waiter saw the ears, he wanted to help. Grabbing a large pair of salad tongs from the kitchen, he reached in through the hole and pulled out a tiny, orange kitten. Delighted at his rescue operation, he put her in an empty box with a table napkin: our takeout for the evening.

We had no idea how she had materialised, alone, in that odd location. The café was on the ground floor of a Causeway Bay office building, with only one exterior wall. Had she dropped down from an air-conditioning duct? Crawled through an exhaust vent? In her makeshift lair, we found no signs of a mother or siblings. We saw no transport pod. No cosmic goo. No Superman-style smouldering trail of embers either. Where had this tiny, noisy creature come from?

There was no question about keeping her. I named her Teddi, after my grandfather who had just passed away. She was skinny and covered in fleas, but with some powdered milk and a lot of combing, she grew to become a beautiful, stripy ginger.

Teddi was our first baby, the first sign that Paul and I were building a life for ourselves in Hong Kong. Through the years, she endured the arrival of two incorrigible boy cats, two human sisters and one dog, another feisty female. Our apartment accommodates an entire league of personalities who agree on only two core activities: eating and sleeping.

In the superhero world, the opposite of origin story is ultimate fate. Where Destiny meets Doomsday. Sadly, for our super girl, fate was a cancer diagnosis. She was eighteen but right up to the last day her spirit never faltered, a reminder of her intrepid origins. Teddi’s tale is still one of our favourite Hong Kong stories to tell: rich in detail, heavy with emotion and, most of all, a testament to survival. Here I am!

RIP Teddi, aka Miss Ted, Tedders, Ted-Teds Deayton, 1999-2017.

Tell us a tale and win HK$1500

Here’s your chance to get published – and make some money at the same time. We’re looking for 500-word written contributions on any funny, poignant, practical or even controversial topic that touches on expat life in Hong Kong for our Parting Shot series. Simply email your stories in a Word document to editor@expatliving.hk and we’ll consider them for inclusion in an upcoming issue.

Related: What it’s like to leave Hong Kong

This article first appeared in the January/December 2017 issue of Expat Living magazine. Subscribe now so you never miss an issue.

Categories: Living Here Living In Hong Kong Tags: Expat Hong Kong Living In Hong Kong Parting Shot Pets

Get the latest events, stories and special offers sent to your inbox
Get the latest events, stories and special offers sent to your inbox

You May Also Like

Hong Kong’s Best Bookshops

10 things about the Dragon Boat Festival 

Hong Kong based author M.L. Wright at book signing of White Glove Life

Meet the Author: M. L. Wright

Primary Sidebar

  • COMPETITIONS & OFFERS
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Subscribe

© 2023 Expat Living Hong Kong, All Rights Reserved.