Sumana Adhikari’s dog eats furniture, flowers, plastic, electrical tape... And her bird? Well, the bird eats dog food. “Any day now Birdie will start barking,” she laughs.
Birdie was rescued from Sumana’s balcony a month ago. “I drew the curtains and down came a Spotted Dove (ghughu)’s nest. I had no idea there was a nest up there but it was too late. The mother flew off and two chicks fell to the ground. One of them died on the spot and the other I’m looking after till she’s ready to fly,” she says.
Birdie was at first so tiny that neither could Sumana pry open her beak to feed her nor did she know what to feed. But then Google suggested something she had plenty of at home — dog food! Sumana still injects dog food paste into Birdie’s mouth with a syringe.
Now the reason she had dog food at home was Cookie, her Labrador puppy, who frankly, will eat up even non-edibles. “She has chewed up my basin’s pipe, my mom’s basin pipe (her mother lives just next door), has jumped up on the table and made off with freshly baked cake, knocked off the vase and tried to eat the money plant…” trails off Sumana, before rushing to pull out something suspicious from inside Cookie’s mouth. It is a metallic hook.
Birdie perched safely on Sumana’s hands
To be fair, for every bite of biscuit or apples she receives from Sumana or her mom, Cookie thanks them with a loving lick before moving on to the next. “It’s only when I feed Birdie that she gets jealous and tries to paw at her cage. Birdie too pecks Cookie’s nose when she leans in.
Sumana grew up with Truly, an extremely lady-like Spitz. “So when we got Cookie we thought of naming her Truly too but soon realised their natures were poles apart,” says the IT sector employee about her little tornado. “The name Cookie seemed appropriate, what with her warm brown colour.”
Sumana’s husband Samir Karmakar is a mariner and set sail within 10 days of Cookie coming home. “Samir is affectionate but in his own way. His idea of interacting with a dog is a pat on the back, maybe a handshake,” laughs Sumana, channelling her entire strength into holding Cookie back from jumping on a guest. “He has no idea what he’s in for!”
If you have a pet you have brought up at home as a family member and which has its eyes only for you, write to us with your contact number at The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001 or email to saltlake@abp.in