Happy Caturday: feeding stray cats twice a week at the temple.

The hot and humid days made it very uncomfortable living without air conditioning system. The old system started to leak water a few years ago. So I tried not to use air-conditioning, it wasn’t something serious. Somehow the water tray tilted to one side so condensation couldn’t flow along the pipe. I couldn’t be bothered to unscrew the grills and reset the water tray since I knew I could switch the system on without any water leaking. Besides the electricity bills have been going sky high for most people who depend on air conditioners. I’d rather had two fans inside the room to cool down the temperature.

Because of the extreme heat, I had been arriving at the temple later in the afternoon. The temple cats were quite upset by my new schedule, as they used to wait for me in the car park at the same time. I had to call them out of their hiding places. When I was an hour’s late they seemed to have given up hope for dinner and went away searching for food around the temple.

The hot weather had upset both my schedule and the cats’ routine feeding time. I hoped they wouldn’t be too unsettled by my erratic timing. I had to make up to them by giving them extra food. Recently I noticed that most of the previously fat cats seemed to have lost their weights too fast. I wondered whether the hot weather had made them having less appetite for food. Even those cats living around the skinny monk’s lodging all became surprisingly skinny. Had the monk been feeding cats on a tighter rations?

During the last two weeks, two black cats by the pier had disappeared. The small black (5 months’old) has been on his own during this time. The black and white cat wouldn’t come near the kitten as she’ s much older and quite a loner. She was very timid and always hid under big pot plants by the river. I had to go searching for her and call out loudly so she knew it’s feeding time. The occasional orange cat dropped by for some food, but he was a good hunter of pigeon. He could fend for himself though he’s very thin. Some pigeons were too fast to be caught easily.

During the last two weeks I had to give all the cats extra food. They seemed very hungry and could eat nonstop for fifteen minutes. I felt sorry for them that two other ladies who used to feed them had disappeared without saying why. The other lady in white car only placed cat food at some spots around the car park, she didn’t place any cat food near the pier. The wild black kitten has now become very tame and playful. He thought I was his friend and tried to chew or play with my sandals.

The crazy woman seemed to have stopped coming to the temple. So, all the cats and kittens could live in safety and peace. The skinny monk was much relieved as he didn’t have to keep watch at night with a torch light. He used to act like a detective by using binoculars to zoom on what she was writing on her notebook. That’s when he saw the old lady’s checklist of cats and kittens in the temple. She’s a very smart and tricky planner with clear objective for each day’s victims. I still missed my four favourite cats and kittens that has been drown in the river. Fortunately I did save my Samsi before she was thrown into the busy main road. Had the novices not telling me about suspicious behavior of the crazy woman carrying the cat outside the temple. I was glad she had left this temple as mere memory of her horrible crime against temple cats.

I still thought about the two recently dead cats: one was very sick while the other was crushed by a car. I was sorry I couldn’t be there to rescue them. These temple cats were like my friends though we weren’t very close. Their lovely personalities just touched my heart, their transparent emotions and honesty were always refreshing. I wished people would be more honest and sincere like these simple cats.

Two weeks ago, I noticed a skinny mother cat with two tiny kittens in the corner of the yard. The mother cat was wild abd kept hissing at me. After I fed her twice, she’s now accepted my presence but her kittens hissed at me sometimes. The four orange kittens whose mother was crushed by a car had been adopted by a monk. So, these kittens lived in the building and I couldn’t see how they were growing up. The orange mother cat was very friendly and attached to me. I still missed her a lot. I hoped and prayed that these temple cats would always be fed and never had to suffer from hunger. I sometimes prayed to the divine guardians of the temple to look after these temple cats and keep them safe.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.