Cats who teach me to fly…

Finally, after trapping Xiaofu(小福), I closed the feeding at Sembawang.

I started feeding her shortly after I moved to Sembawang. She has three other siblings, her mummy and we suspected one to be her uncle. We named her uncle Koufu(口福), He had an accident and the rest went missing.

I estimate Xiaofu to be 10 years old. After staying in Sembawang for three years, I moved to Bendemeer. Before I moved there, we rented a place in Hougang for roughly a year to house all our rescues. For at least seven years, I had been going back to Sembawang on every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday to feed her. I had a feeder to help me on other days. I didn’t really have an evening to myself on weekends and last evening I felt so “stress-free”. Stress-free in the sense that I no longer have to think what food to bring for the cats, as each of them like different types of food and I had to prepare for them.

Xiaofu was trapped last Friday evening. I wasn’t expecting her to go into the trap. After a quick dinner, I came back and found her in the trap. I was so happy and quickly drove to the school and took her.

I felt leaps of joy and still find it hard to believe that I finally closed the feeding at Sembawang and coupled with a little sadness because Sparkie, Twinkle and Xiaomao whom I had been feeding, were still there. The reason why I continued to go back to feed them was because Xiaofu only recognises me and would only come and eat food from me. She was always hiding in the school which we have no access.

Now that Xiaofu has come home, I’ve to also stop going back because there is nothing left for me to do anymore. Sparkie, Twinkle and Xiaomao have two feeders feeding them every day and the feeders wanted to continue feeding them and there is nothing for me to worry about them anymore. The feeders and I will be keeping in touch.

I’ll use the time I used to spend going to Sembawang to read and understand the Buddha’s teachings, the suttas. Except for Saturdays, when I may want to take a break to play squash, watch a movie, have dinner, etc…

For now, I would like to see the cats at Sembawang at least once or twice a week. It’s unlikely that the number of days visiting them would increase, instead, it would more likely to gradually decrease…

We gave Xiaofu a carton box just in case she needed to hide on her first day. The next morning, I found the carton box torn apart, and at the same time she seemed more at ease and has begun to knead all the time when I call out her name. When I was feeding her at Sembawang, I would call out her name loudly. I’m doing the same thing now, to remind her that she’s safe.

Gradually I hope she’ll be less fearful and come out of the cage and join the other cats.

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Romeo’s asthma has long been under control, however, he is still on Theophylline once daily. Just when everything seemed well, Romeo began to lose weight and appetite. We brought him to the vet two weeks ago for a blood test. His FIV has acted up. His red blood cell count was extremely low. Although our vet didn’t say it was due to stress living with other cats in the house somehow, her questions told me so.

Romeo has no issues with having other cats around. No one has attacked him and neither has he attacked anyone. Everyone seems to mind their own business. Romeo loves sleeping in the common room, especially on the cat stand and the wall-mounted cat box.

Most of the time I turn on the air purifier for him, both in the common room and the hall.

We’re giving him Eprex for his blood and Retromad1 for his FIV. Eprex costs $418 for 6 tubes and each tube can only be used 3 times according to Romeo’s weight. Mel and I nearly planned to buy it from Johor Bahru. Fortunately, someone donated 2 boxes of Eprex to us, each containing 6 tubes. The donor’s dog passed on before she could use it on her dog. We appreciate her generosity so much. A good deed done in memory of her dog.

Retromad1 didn’t come cheap as well. A 15ml bottle cost $80. I needed it urgently, so I got it for Romeo. Each time, I have to give him 1.2ml twice a day. 15ml can only last for 6 days. I asked my friend if she could get it cheaper elsewhere and she knows someone who sells it at $200 for 50ml, which is a lot cheaper. My budget only allows me to get a bottle that can last 20 days.

Romeo is starting to eat by himself. He is increasing his food intake very slowly and gradually but he is not out of the woods yet. We still have to monitor him closely.

I was peeping on Romeo when I wasn’t home. I snapped these from the IP camera. Hope Romeo continues to progress.

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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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