Cats who teach me to fly…

His name comes after my beloved cat Floofy! Enough names like “Blackie”. I’ve heard it so often and named it myself in the past 10 years. Whatever “fy” it is, it is better than the name “Blackie”. Mel started it! She asked me what “fy” would you want to call him, since he looks like Floofy, let’s call him Toofy. There is another orange cat we named Goofy:)).

Others call him Blackie, I call him Toooofy!

Every day when I looked out from my corridor, I would spot a tiny black shadow on the left hand side where the multi-storey carpark is. Toofy would sit in between two flights of stairs and look out. Out of curiosity, I decided to see what he is watching every day.

As we can see there’s a block on his right and that’s where I’m staying. So when I’m at my corridor and looking to my left, I can see a tiny bit of Toofy. That’s the view that Toofy is watching.

The view happened to be this beautiful that day. Usually it is filled with vehicles, motorcycles, Grab riders, bicycles and all sorts of transportation. Sadly, this is the place where I witnessed the whole episode of pigeons poisoning…

Though Toofy is a black cat, he is beautiful in many ways. Black cats can be very attractive!

Yes, that’s the life of Toofy. Now careful, they are no longer stray cats, they are community cats with caregivers taking very good care of them. The love giving to the community cats is no difference from home cats.

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He walked with his hind legs straightened and that was a birth defect. Wasn’t he the one I saw on Facebook who was looking for an adopter? Although his gait was awkward, to me this made him unique and of course all cute.

This boy was always beautifully groomed with a perfect round head that looked irresistibly cute! Just like my cousin’s poodle who just likes to bark at me. Therefore, it was hard for me to pet him straight on his head. I had to sneakily pinch his backside from his back. Hopefully his owner didn’t see it:). I guess that was his fur that I was pinching instead.

Mickey’s mummy, Irene, brought him for walks every day so I got to see him whenever I was feeding the community cats. Suddenly one day, I was told by his mummy that Mickey passed on due to a heart attack. It was a complete shock for me. As far as I know, it’s hard to manage cats with heart attack but I’m not sure about dogs. For Mickey, all seemed to be happening too fast. Of course, I missed the good old days when I got to see him every time.

His mummy wanted a sketch of him, so I volunteered to do it. I guess his mummy must have missed him so much… I understand.

I didn’t take a day to finish the sketch as I am only free on two afternoons weekly. I had covid19 and it stretched quite a bit but still I finished the sketch.

Therefore, Mickey had kept me occupied. Looking at him made me smile. The process of sketching him was joyful. It was like Mickey was alive. When the sketching was completed, I gave it to his mummy. Part of me felt empty because I was done sketching Mickey and I wish I could continue but we know everything has a beginning and an end. That’s the way samsara is.

The sketch may not be perfect, but I’ve given my utmost sincerity.

I wish Mickey have a good rebirth and not to be born as an animal again but to begin with a humble human who always learns….

Whatever merits accumulated by me, may these be dedicated to his humble human rebirth.

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I’ve never seen him before. Whoever he saw, he would go near to rub himself against that person and to me, this can be dangerous. Obviously he was once a home cat and now abandoned.

Without hesitation, I took him to my carrier. I checked his teeth and they told me he is still a young boy though very skinny. He was malnourished and time would be needed to boost his health and to help him put on some weight.

Like any cross breed, we’re always confident in rehoming them without having to depend on adoption drives. We posted him on the Cat Welfare Society adoption platform and as usual, we had quite a number of adopters who showed interest in adopting him.

Simba is a sweet cat who is gentle and is able to get along well with other cats and kittens. He definitely loves human companionship.

We’re always happy to see them being well taken care of.

With effect from September this year, two cats are allowed in every household and those who already have more than two cats are allowed to keep them and I’m one of them. We’re given two years to register them for free. I don’t know what would happen to my cats down the road, I guess I can only register them at the end of the given date. We’re also not certain how things would be like since sterilisation is not mandatory. Will the rescuers get busier? Will there be more backyard breeders or more unsterilised cats being abandoned? Lifting the ban is good, at least I no longer have to hide and lie.

I remember one of the reason for banning cats in public housing was the caterwauling sound. This is usually because the cats are not sterilised. Now caterwauling sounds are okay for our authorities. It is no longer an issue and not sterilising them is all right as well… I guess we’ve been fooled!

We still have three more cats waiting to be rehomed and patience is everything now.

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Three community cats had gone missing overnight on June 10th at Sembawang Drive. AVS rang me yesterday to ask if the cats were found. I reported the event to AVS twice. I requested them to open the case when I made the second report. However, nothing was done by them.

They have interesting names. I put up notices and posted on social media. To date, I’ve heard nothing about them. I’ve also reported to all authorities but none responded.

If they were being relocated, may there be human traffic so that someone kind would feed them. If someone has kept them, may they all be treated well.

Ever since they were gone, I’ve stopped walking to where they used to hang around. It’s too painful to be reminded of their absence. Worse is we don’t even know what happen to them, where they are or do they even have food to eat and are they even thriving or still alive.

Every day I look through the lost and found posts on Facebook, hoping they would be spotted by someone. At times, I wanted to find them but I don’t know where I should begin again…

Milo and Kopi have been fed by feeders including myself at least twice a day and Xiaohuang was abandoned not long ago. They had relied so much on us. It is really bad for those who have such unkind intentions to catnap them. It is not only the cats that they are harming but also those who love and care for them. There are definitely and absolutely nothing good or beneficial to catnap them. What were these people thinking?

Perhaps I will come up with another plan to find them again soon…

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He was always standing aside, waiting for us to distribute food to other cats before he stepped forward to eat his meal.

Mickey and his sister, Adik, were sent for sterilisation when they were six months old. I guess that would be around 10 years ago. Adik was diagnosed with FeLV and had to leave Mickey many years ago.

Two years ago we took Mickey home because he had bad deep wounds on his four legs and he was tested FIV positive. His mouth and gums started giving him problems and he also had mild seizures that were manageable. In the last three months, he was diagnosed with heart disease. We find all ways to help him. We tried not only western medication but also Chinese herds. We gave him supplements to support him.

Above picture was taken in 2015.

Mickey had completely no issue getting along with the home cats. He loved to follow us around at home, knowing we love him. He had all he wanted in his final few months. Lots of kisses, loves and care and lots of food!

When I was looking at his cold body, I told myself if there is any chance in the future to not only meet him but other cats as well, I would still choose to be back for them. We shall study and practise the Dhamma together, liberate ourselves and others from this dreadful place.

***Thanks Xiumin for sponsoring Mickey’s food, medical bill and cremation.

And not forgetting Mickey’s best friend, Awesome!

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