Ring out the canine. Ring in the feline. Online, cat celebrities have already conquered the world, meanwhile "Choupette Lagerfeld", the beloved pet of designer Karl Lagerfeld, has its own Wikipedia page and Twitter account, where the moody cat-moiselle has more than 46,000 fans under its claws.
Among those slaves to the feline is Prang Vejjajiva, daughter of former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Prang, a painter, last week launched her first book, the 157-page Maow Maew (Chats About Cats!), which she co-wrote with her aunt, Ngarmphan Vejjajiva, SEA Write-winning author and respected book translator.
The book is about Prang's experience taking care and pampering two Scottish Fold cats named "Tiggu" and "Mink". Prang, who will pursue her master's degree in fine arts at the School of Visual Art in New York next month, also drew all the watercolour illustrations for the book.
Prang had a painting exhibition featuring cats in 2013, but this book is dedicated to her love for the creatures. Recently, she also sold stickers of her drawings of Tiggu and Mink on Line, the chatting app.
"My favourite medium is oil colour and canvas. But watercolours and paper was a more suitable medium for this book. The concept is that I will bring Tiggu and Mink to many imaginary places," Prang said at the launch last week. Naturally Prang is more comfortable painting than writing. Yet the text in the book is rather flowing and conversational, peppered with humour from her keen eyes for details.
"I saw a lot of books about cats. I also think both of my cats are rather interesting characters and it will be interesting to share with readers. This book is not a professional guidebook on how to raise a cat. But a book that makes readers try to the understand nature of their pets. If you want to raise animals, you cannot raise them without understanding their individual characters," she said.
For Ngarmphan, who wrote the final two chapters of Maow Maew, she tells of her experience in becoming "a cat's slave". For the writer, who feared cats as a child but has since grown to appreciate them, the book is about love, not just lovely cats.
"It is also about a relationship and happiness that two animals can bring to a family. Readers will read about the different natures of Tiggu and Mink. The book wants you to see the beauty of different characters of every living creature."
At the book launch, Prang also brought her two cats. The event was packed with family members, friends and media. Apart from the writers and their pets, the spotlight also fell on Abhisit, who is known for his dislike of cats. Not any longer, though, as Tiggu changed his heart.
"Tiggu is my favourite. This cat is rather free-spirited and a recluse," said Abhisit. "For unknown reasons, he loves to sleep under the sofa, or cupboard, or hides in dark corners. Yet, when I step into the room, Tiggu will step out of the dark to greet me and jump on the sofa to sit beside me."
Is he becoming a cat slave?
"Let's say, I am the slave of a cat's slave."
