Feline future

If you’re a carnivore like the cat, your life depends on opening your mouth wide.

Without suction-drawing cheeks like in humans and horses, and unlike opossums who extend and withdraw their tongues relatively more horizontally in shoveling motion, a cat must curl the tip of its tongue backwards to form a large flat area coming into contact with a liquid or a solid. Water or food is pulled into a cat’s mouth by the physics of adhesion and inertia, stuck to the cat’s under-tongue as the length of the tongue is drawn into a curl. The top column of the food or drink intake is then cut off with the cat’s jaw, before gravity sends the rest splashing or tumbling back into the serving bowl.

Taking the feeding into serious business along with cat health and upkeep is Idaman Cattery boss Allysa Afryna Norhisham.

Still in her final year on the Bachelor in International Business (Hons) programme at the Management and Science University (MSU) Faculty of Business Management and Professional Studies (FBMP), Allysa breeds some thirteen cat varieties for sale. Starting with her first British Shorthair pair, which she bought with profits from a prior pre-order business of European Purebreeds, Allysa also raises the British Longhair, the Scottish Fold, the Maine Coon, the American Curl, the Bengal, the Abyssinian, the Persian, the Exotic, the Sphinx, the Shorthair, and the Domestic Shorthair varieties at Idaman Cattery.

“I started with almost zero cost. Now I make between a thousand and six thousand Ringgit per cat sold,” she says.

Allysa joins scores of other MSUpreneurs receiving guidance and support in developing entrepreneurial business. An ecosystem of entrepreneurship is embedded across all three faculties and four schools offering undergraduate programmes at MSU, aimed at nurturing a job-creator mindset among MSUrians. Be it in making strategic decisions or enhancing communication skills, the entrepreneurial mindset is sharpened with help from MSU’s Leadership and Entrepreneurship Advancement and Development (LEAD) Institute.

“The networking and brainstorming sessions with other successful entrepreneurs motivate and inspire me to achieve more in future. I really enjoy myself and feel connected with them every time we have a session,” smiles Allysa.

Such an inspiration is owed in its initial part to her mother; a successful businesswoman with over twenty years’ experience running kindergarten branches. Cats portray individual personalities, just like humans; which is why Idaman Cattery is kitted out like a kitten garden.

Currently run with two assistants, Idaman Cattery's operational costs including veterinary service, stocking up supplies, and offering grooming services are some of the business challenges 22-year-old Allysa is learning to manage.

“Balancing work and study is not that easy. Business will always be my passion, but academic success is still my priority. Every month I take one fixed amount as a monthly pay and keep the rest as savings. I’m glad this venture serves my passion while letting me be a job creator and be less dependent on my parents.”