Happy Caturday: temple cat was waiting for me.

Sometimes, the rain made me postpone my trip to the temple to feed those poor stray cats. At times I could feel that some cats were praying for me to turn up so I had to go there despite the rain. So, I got quite drenched in the rain a d had a cold for a few days. The old black and white cat (Tam) has become very friendly towards me. She’s a loner living by the temple pier. She’s very gentle, timid and very affectionate.

One day, I noticed Tam sitting on top of the steps looking straight at my car. She wasn’t sure it’s me sitting inside the car. I had to park my car there as there was no available spaces in the car park. I had no choice but to park my car in front of the Buddhist school for novices. So, Tam was very confused as she could reconise the sounds of my car but I had never parked my car there before.

As soon as I stepped outside my car, Tam came rushing to greet me. She could see me walking from the car park from where she’s watching the world around her. Tam made a few soft meowing sounds to greet me and I told her to follow me to our usual spot by the bells. The young black cat would find out from under the pile of woods. Recently, a new arrival of an orange cat has appeared out of the blue to join in our feeding party. This orange cat was about four years old and very friendly. He has managed to settle down in this temple. I guessed he was chased away by bigger cats living in the nearby abandoned warehouse by the river.

In the past there were five to six cats living by the pier. These days, only three cats still survived the unfriendly living condition in the temple. So, I had to tell these cats to be alert and careful all the time. It’s a big relief that the crazy lady who had murdered over thirty cats and kittens had disappeared from the temple. I thought her bad karma had finally caught up with her. This had made the skinny monks much happier as he has to bury several cats in the past.

I had to feed an old cat called Samsi who decided to live under the ceiling of the novices’ bathroom on the second floor of the Buddhist school. I had to climbed the steep stairs to call for Samsi. At first I couldn’t believe what I saw; this cat jumped down through a big hole on the ceiling; she could cooly slide down the stainless steel door to the floor. She would get up to her hiding place as soon as she was full. A novice told me that a stray dog chased after her one day. So she had to find safety hiding place up on the second floor, up on the ceiling of the bathroom. I hope she would regularly come down to the ground to get more earthy energy.

The next stop would be the car park where up to six cats would be coming out for food. Last year, there were over ten cats living around the car park; but several were taken out by the crazy woman. I missed a few cats I used to know and became friendly to me. These cats had very good memories; they could recognise me from forty meters away.

The skinny monk told me that Black Nose, a young cat, had passed away while he brought him to see the vet. He was my favourite cat during the last twelve months. It took me some weeks to tame him as a small kitten and to earn his trust. I was very sad and disappointed by this sudden news. Black Nose survived his four siblings. He’s the last cat to pass away from cat flu. But there have been five new kittens: three from the black and white cat, two from Black Nose’s younger sister.

These five kittens were very wild and timid. They were left behind by their mothers at around one month’s old. So, it would take me more time to get them used to me and feel safe around me. At least some of them came out of their hiding places to eat the wet food. But it would be very difficult to catch them at the moment. The skinny monk and the fat monk have been leaving dishes of food for these kittens.

The yard near the skinny monk’s lodging was the feeding spot for all the cats around the yard. The skinny monk was pleased to see me turn up for these cats as this would save him several packets of wet food. I have been training these cats to accept the mixture of dry and wet food. The skinny didn’t follow my example and he started feed small cats with only wet food. Nowadays these cats would refuse to eat dry food. The monk had a headache as he couldn’t make them eat a mixture of dry and wet food either.

I told him to ignore these spoiled cats. The skinny monk was surprised that I could make them eat the mixture of dry and wet food. I hoped he would be strong and not manipulated by his spiked cats. I was glad to be able to prevent big male cats from attacking smaller cats. Luckily, these big old male cats were considered towards me, so they refrained from hissing and growling. They all ate food at such a fast paced that I could hardly catch up with their movements. Some cats had to wait for the food dish to become available. I only had seven food dishes with me while over ten cats were calling for attention.

The feeding time was always a rush against these cats’ competitive demands for food. Some older cats knew they would be fed last, so they sat quietly in the bs background. When they saw that I was less busy, they would walk up to me to remind me that it’s their turns. I felt very satisfying seeing these cats eating so seriously that they didn’t pay attention to their surroundings. Then, I had to feed the five kittens in the storage area by the building. Some kittens hissed at me and run away to hide. Two bigger kittens have become more adventurous and started to approach the food dish. I hoped these small kittens would become healthy and strong so that they could survive the hard reality of growing up. Hopefully, the skinny monk would continue to keep an eye on these kittens and feed them regularly.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.