As soon as I got back to the city, I would usually go to temple the following day to feed stray cats. To my surprise, I found most cats looked very skinny as if nobody had been feeding these cats the whole week. There seemed to be more black cats than before, this might be because those small black kittens have grown bigger. They became more daring and came out of their hidings to beg for food. But these big kittens still wouldn’t allow me to touch them. There were also four black kittens that had been abandoned at the temple two months ago.
It’s always quite difficult to take good cat photos as they would follow me around. Some have become very smart and observed my hand movements so that they knew I had a new sachet of wet food in my hands. These cats woukd become very excited with their noses high in the air sniffing. Then they would come forwards crying out for more wet food.
There were about three clans of strat cats; crossing the territorial line would risk being smacked by the local ‘mafia’ cat. Sometimes cats from other corners of the temple could hear me feeding cats in the car park. These stranger cats would gingerly approach the perimeter and watched local cats enjoying their dinner. I had to tell these waiting cats to be patient and that I would be feeding them next.
Sometimes they were too hungry to wait and crept quietly to take a bite. The local cats often chased these outsiders away. So, I have been under pressure everytime I fed these cats. I had to be very fast in dishing out dry food and mixing wet food in each dish. Then I had to prevent the very fast and smart cat from skimming wet food from all the dishes. Some late comer cats would be complaining about having no food left. They really could talk to me in their own language. These cats never ceased to amaze me with their emotional expressions.
The two smallest black kittens which were abandoned at the building site did suffer some sad incidents. Little Tiger who has been looking after these two kittens had disappeared with one kitten. I reckoned the new major work at the site disturbed them or they might get caught under the pile of earth which had been added on top of the muddy area. So, only one tiny kitten was left on his own. He had a bad flu with very bad eye infection. It was all swollen and red with blood. I gave him some medicine with wet food twice a week. The infection was gone, he looked lively but he’s blind in his right eye.
Two days ago, I just found out that a young black kitten, about four months old, was injured by a passing vehicle. I was feeding this group of cats by the riverfront, two cats were missing. The big black and white cat was gone since the new work started at the building site. She was one of my favourite cats so I was down trodden for several days worrying about her safety. As I was feeding three black cats, a lady brought me a young black cat who lost the control of his back legs.
I was shocked when the lady told me that he was looking at me from the other side, he couldn’t walk nor climb the steps to see me. He was evidently hit very hard on his back and his nervous system got damaged. It was pituful seeing how he tried to move by dragging his two limping legs behind him. It was a blow to see this little cat suffering quietly on his own without Little Tiger looking after him. Little Tiger was like a daddy cat to all these abandoned kittens. As he had been through so much pain, he turned into a very gentle and sweet cat. I still missed him a lot and called out his name everytime.
I fed the injured kitten separately and brought him back to the entrance of his hiding place. He seemed very calm and comfortable in my hands. I watched him dragging himself back inside. Yesterday I made an extra visit to the temple just to check out on this black kitten. I couldn’t find him while all other black cats came out for their dinner. I made a lot of noises to attract his attention but there was no response.
My heart sank as he could be dead from other internal injuries which I couldn’t perceive. From my estimation, he was probably hit by a motorcycle about five days ago. Had he been hit by a car, he would have been dead immediately. I had to leave things flow according to karmic law. I wished I could have been there to stop that motorbike.
There were about four corners of the temple where these cats were congregated. By the time I fed all these thirty cats, I was quite exhausted and ready for my dinner. I did wonder why I had to do this; it may be because they could communicate their sufferings to me. I started with feeding three cats which wasn’t a burden. Then, more cats came to see me and asked for food.
Fortunately there were some visitors who fed these stray cats from time to time. So, these cats would be fed once or twice a week. One skinny monk fed some cats once a day while another old monk fed a few cats near his quarter. So, I tried to make sure those cats living at the building site and by the river wouldn’t be starved. The old Chinese lady who used to feed these cats had disappeared a few weeks. It’s the rotton jabs these people took under coercion that started to affect their health. More and more people have been collapsing, cardiac arrest or stroke, and ambulances have been busy at all hours. These cats would inevitably be affected by this human social engineering scheme.
I could only hope that I could afford to continue feeding almost thirty cats for as long as possible. One of my weathy friends would like to make some donation for the new year. I saw some photos of cats among the ruins in war zone, it’s too hard to live with such atrocity and cruelty by humanity. I have been praying more often for compassion and healing to be spread to all areas in need of relief. If people’s hearts are more attuned to the sufferings of animals, they would have more empathy towards human’s sufferings too. I hope there won’t be a big kinetic conflict so that I could continue to feed these temple cats. I need to do more prayers and contemplation. Everyone ought to contribute some positive thoughts to heal the earth and all sentient beings everyday.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.