Caturday at the temple with stray cats.

I felt so good to be among these friendly stray cats at the temple by the river. They are very clever and some cats could recognise my old car even though I tried to be as quiet as possible. I would look around the make sure that no cats were around the area so I would have more time to get organised before going on the feeding rounds. I even hid inside my car so they wouldn’t see me getting out. These cats just wouldn’t leave me alone as soon as they heard my footstep.

The two black cats seemed to have very good eyesight. They could see me through the glass panel. I had tried all tricks; taking off my cap, walking in strange rhythms and just acting like strangers. These cats were too smart to be fooled. They knew how to get sympathy from me and begging for more food. They are too fond of the wet food; I tried to mix the wet food on top of the dry food. The price of wet food has gone up by 12% during the last two weeks. Perhaps, we will have to be on a diet soon. The cost of living has just rocketed before the end of the year.

I have resigned to the fact that my two favourite cats had totally disappeared from my world. The silvery cat was about ten months old who used to hide at the construction site. He was gone for over six months; the last time I fed him a construction worker complained to me that he stole his fried fish. So, I was afraid he was either poisoned or chased away from the temple. My heart ached for the missing stray cats.

The other cat was in white and orange spots; he disappeared from the temple four months ago. His two buddy cats who used to sleep in the same car park are still alive to be fed every week. So, I was afraid he might be hit by a car or bitten by stray dogs. This cat was very friendly and gentle; I was thinking of taking him to my farmhouse one day. He used to sit on my foot every time he met me. If these two cats were already gone to any dimension, I wish them a better reincarnation as some Thai villagers’ kids so that they could become my good friends years later.

The first of my favourite stray cat is getting older and she has her own solitary way of life; always staying alone away from other cats. She would never fight for food and would let other cats steal her food. So, she’s always skinny. Sometimes I had to feed her inside my car when it was raining. Most of the time, I would feed her on the roof of my car. Then, I had to divert the attention of other cats by leading them far away to feed them some wet food. The whole round would take up to thirty minutes; then I had to feed three cats by the river.

These cats were abandoned by their owners who brought house cats to the temple during the night. I was quite furious when the temple staff told me what had happened. These were very sweet cats who couldn’t get along with native temple cats. I felt so sorry for them; they showed me complete trust and let me carry them around. I tried to separate these cats from others as they could get too defensive. Fortunately, an old lady told me she fed these cats from time to time.

There’s other two cats at the opposite corner of the temple. An old Chinese man fed these two cats almost everyday with his leftover food. But they still didn’t have sufficient nourishment and enjoyed eating my food twice a week. I felt so good watching these cats eating with such concentration. They would finish all the food then headed straight for drinking water. I just hope that the elderly man would live at the temple for many years.

My last group of stray cats would amount to over twelve cats that live around the skinny monk’s lodging. The kittens from last year are now much bigger adult cats. But the three mother cats kept giving more kittens so I found four small kittens running to greet me as soon as they could hear my footstep. The monk fed these cats twice a day, mostly dry food which could be quite boring for some cats. So, they are so glad to see me as they know they would get some wet food. I noticed the small kittens could be very aggressive and slapped the big cats to prevent them from getting closer to the food dish.

I often had a headache trying to devise a feeding plan that would do some justice to all these cats. Some adult cats just sat quietly on the perimeter waiting for me to feed them after all the commotions with kittens and smaller cats. These adult cats displayed very good manner, politeness and patience. They knew I would feed them eventually. Their eyes did send me reminding vibes, ‘don’t forget us, we are waiting and hungry too.’ Some novices had started feeding these cats from time to time. I sometimes wonder what would happen to these cats if I couldn’t make it to the temple anymore.

Feeding stray cats has become my weekly routine which gives me a lot of pleasure and satisfaction. Seeing these poor cats feeling satisfied after their quick snacks and starting playing made me very happy. I have a chance to do something good weekly; I need to do good karma as little as I could afford at present. The future is full of uncertainty so I try to do my best under my limited resources and restrained conditions. It would be nice if the missing stray cats just returned to the temple to surprise me one day.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.