Pleasant Caturday: orange cats were keeping each other company.

I was so glad that the big orange cat, Joan, has decided to stay with us for more than two weeks now. The last time he came for a visit, he only stayed for two days. Then, he went back to his newly adopted house down the road. My neighbour used to feed him grilled mackerels and other goodies. Joan became quite attached to my neighbour and he decided not to come home any more.

The long flood has prevented him from walking along the dirt road towards my neighbour’s house. So, he has become used to living with Kwan, his sister, again. The fear of flooding made these cats much closer to each other. They would come to sit side by side and even sleeping near each other. I had no idea what had happened between the siblings. I wondered whether they had a bad quarrel and Joan just didn’t want to see his sister again.

Kwan was always very loving towards her brother. Being smaller and lighter, Kwan would never antagonise her brother into a serious fight. Joan was by instinct a compulsive hunter in the night. He was good at hunting field mice as I saw him bringing fat field mice into the garden to be eaten. On the other hand, Kwan would never hunt for mice or small snakes like Joan did. She would hunt small lizards and small birds from time to time.

Luckily, both cats were always very affectionate and considerate towards me. Somehow they were quite willing to come to me as soon as they heard my calling. In a way, they behaved like little children or puppies. They remembered their meal times as if they had a wrist watch. They just walked to the kitchen and waited by their food bowls. They wouldn’t complain, they just sat there quietly waiting. They knew how to make me feeling guilty for not being punctual. I was surprised by how little they ate and how easy it was to satisfy them with one spoonful of wet food. I told them we had to economise to be able to have the goodies lasting longer.

I thought those stray cats at the temple consumed more wet food than my orange cats. But I did allow that because they didn’t have decent meals everyday. So, I gave them special treats twice a week. The skinny monk was complaining that he couldn’t make his cats eat both wet food and dry food mixed together like I did. I told him that these cats remembered who used to feed them only wet food in the beginning. I was quite determined to train cats according to my ways. So, my orange cats would never jump onto tables and countertop in the kitchen.

My gardener reported that orange cats have been roaming muddy garden and fields. They seemed to revel in new found freedom of walking on solid ground again. They have been leaving muddy footprints all over the ground floor everyday. At least they had their daily exercises. I was still very surprised to see my cats very frightened by the flood. They refused to go down the stairs to get near the water. They became frozen when I put them on the stairs to watch the flowing water. I wished my cats would be able to swim like other cats I saw on TikTok. It would be nice to have extra surviving skills like swimming.

The dirt road and garden should be dry up in two weeks’ time. I wondered whether Joan would be walking to my neighbour’s house to live there again. I hoped that he would continue to stay at our house as Kwan would become very lonely without her brother. Since they have become much closer to each other again, I hoped that Joan would become attached to Kwan and my house once again. This would relief me the burden of thinking about finding a kitten to keep Kwan’s company. I am always grateful for having orange cats in my house to keep me entertained and well grounded.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.