THE haze is upon us again, much like an annual sale festival, only nobody, not human, not cat, not dog, not even an ant, is welcoming it with open arms or wallets.
For the homosapiens, apart from rushing off to buy N95 masks, we go on social media to complain about it or to hit out at our neighbour or just whine because what else can we do? If blowing the haze back was an actual legitimate option, we would have done it by now. Sadly, we are left with two choices, choke in silence or choke and complain online.
However, in the midst of our blurred vision and the smell of charred chicken, have we taken a minute to ponder about what things are like for our furry friends?
The friends who can't verbalise their predicament on social media and are left to wonder who on earth is having this non-stop barbecue party and when, pray tell, will it end?
As for this writer, for the duration of the haze season, her cats are confined indoors, with the exception of a little stroll around the house just to placate them and ensure they won't secretly run away in the middle of the night, never to return.
"Crazy human locked us up! Help!"
For 50-year-old Milah Kassim in Segamat, Johor, she has her own unique way of protecting her "Katik" who has been sneezing, courtesy of the haze.
In order to still bring Katik out for motorcycle rides, an activity that the seven-month-old cat has become all too comfortable with, Milah took to putting on a face mask on her furry friend.
"It may look weird but I had to cover up his nose and mouth because Katik is sneezing from the haze," Milah told Harian Metro in a news report published yesterday.
She said Katik was used to going on bike rides around Jementah and Segamat.
"But the haze has affected Katik's health. I had to put on a face mask before taking him out on the motorcycle. My cat is tame and does not panic or jump away when he is on a motorcycle. I have been doing this with him since he was a few months old," she said.
The active cat however has not been so active since the haze started, Milah informed.
The suggestion to put a face mask on Katik was made by Milah's daughter Misa Maisara Abdullah, 12.
Apart from Katik, Milah's family has three other cats; Iman, Sudin and Aman.
It's good that the cat is receiving some form of protection although the best thing to do these Lazy, Crazy, Hazy Days of September is to keep them all indoors and away from the big bad "barbecue smoke".
But cats being cats, they would still want to go out regardless of what you tell them. I should know because I have even resorted to telling mine that there are monsters outside waiting for them if they step out. You would think that they would believe me and run to hide under the bed, but no, not my cats.
They just look at me like I'm crazy and insist on standing by the front door, pawing at the handle and meowing away.
How about you? What are you doing to keep your four-legged friends comfortable as we wait for this haze to move away and give us our clear, blue sky back.