Thank you for reading this article.
I am Morita from the Production Engineering and Quality Control Section.

I imagine many of you have also welcomed a “family member” into your homes.
I hear that the number of new pet owners has increased by about 15%, driven by a pet boom particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personally, I absolutely dote on my cat—I’ve even installed a cat door and a catwalk in my house!

But I digress…

This time, I would like to introduce my three “family” members—my beloved cats! (lol)
First up is my eldest daughter, Miyabi (7 years old).

She is a Norwegian Forest Cat, which is a large, long-haired breed.
She never gets angry and has such a gentle, mild-mannered personality that she even steps in to break up fights between the other cats.
She is also a very smart girl who can do tricks like “sit,” “paw,” and “jump”!

Her only flaw is that she is a bit of a glutton and tries to steal the other cats’ food…

Next up is my eldest son, Leon (6 years old).

He is a Persian and Scottish Fold mix.

He is incredibly clingy! When it’s time to sleep, he presses his body right up against mine.
When he’s awake, he meows constantly for attention, and he gets lonely so easily that he follows me everywhere I go in the house.

The only thing that troubles me is that he doesn’t hold back at all when playing with the other cats…

Last but not least is my third daughter, Monaka (1 year old).

She is a Somali.

She is quite the tomboy and runs around all day long (lol).
Last year, she contracted FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis), a highly fatal disease that had no cure until recently. However, she bravely endured three months of medication and is now completely cured!

Recently, with the birth of my son, she seems to have developed an “older sister” awareness.
Whenever the baby cries, she goes over and snuggles right up to him.

As a special mention, though she is no longer with us, this is my second daughter, Mugi (estimated 4 years old).

I rescued her after finding her lying on an elevated highway.

When the vet examined her, we discovered that she had a broken leg, her tail had been run over by a car, and she was suffering from a feline cold and FIV (feline AIDS).
Despite all of this, she lived her life to the absolute fullest for a year and brought me so much comfort.
At first, she was very defensive and hissed a lot, but once she opened up to me, she became incredibly affectionate.

Welcoming a new family member is hard work and comes with a significant amount of responsibility, but I believe the healing and memories they give us in return far outweigh the challenges.

Thank you so much for reading to the end.
If anyone is interested in showing off their own pet “family members,” I would love to turn your photos and stories into an article! Please feel free to reach out to me, Morita.

Written by:
Okudaya Giken Co., Ltd.
Production Engineering Section
Koudai Morita