I really looked forwards to seeing my orange cats at the house in faraway countryside near the river. As soon as I stepped on the land, the exhaustion from my long train journey just disappeared and my mind became focused on unpacking. I had to get all the tidying and storing of all food packages away so that I could go around the garden searching for orange cats.
They have become more confident and developed their own routine in the evening. After dinner, they would spend some time around the garden. But as soon as they heard my voice, they would run to greet me. Kwan would be the first to greet me with lots of complaints about being left on their own while I was away in the city. Joan would be more adventurous and would be hunting in nearby fields so he would take his time to come up to see me.
Joan would never complain about anything, he would sit quietly looking at me. He waited for his turn to have my attention and body rub from me. I have developed a method for massaging my cats. They liked it so much that they would be sitting side by side waiting for me to give them each a five minutes’ massage. After the massage, they would follow me into the kitchen and sit quietly watching me preparing my dinner. Their eyes were very hopeful and sent me a message about some snack would be nice. So, I had to give them some wet food to make up for their being left on their own. Then they would go downstairs to guard the front yard and main gate.
These cats had very good ears. They would be waiting by the door as soon as they heard me moving inside the house. They were waiting for their breakfast with special portions of wet food. When I opened the sachet, the fishy smell would excite my cats and Joan would cry in excitement. They have learned to be patient and wait for me to mix their food before serving them. I was delighted to see them eating food with such serious concentration. They would go sunbathing after breakfast and take a nap somewhere under the bush. So, I could get on with my routine tasks.
They have noted my morning coffee break and decided that they would also have their snack break. While I was making my cup of coffee, orange cats would appear in the kitchen looking at me with those accusing eyes saying : “What about us! We need our snack break too!” So, I had to surrender to their wish. This was the start to their gainjng extra calories throughout the week. I only noticed their heavy bodies a few days later.
During the day, they found their sleeping spots; Joan preferred to sleep under my bed while Kwan would be under the table in the living room. They would sleep through my lunchtime. But they would be expecting their snack in the afternoon when I would have my teabreak. So, I had to push their dinner time till late afternoon. I was surprised that orange cats accepted the late dinner time peacefully without any complaints. All in all, I was feeding them four times per day! That’s why they put on weights and looked much bigger.
I have realised my mistake and decided to reduce their dinner portions. The hot weather has meant that we couldn’t go running in the fields and banana groves nearby. So, cats sleep more on hot days while I gave them too much food. That’s bad for their health in the long run. I have to be more firm and responsible in responding to my cats’ eye contacts. They did have some subtle persuasive power which could make me follow their messages. So, I had to developed my guard and persuasive responses to their invisible but ‘commanding’ vibes.
The first evening was quite tough for Kwan as there was no more left over food in the bowls. They have finished all food within two hours. As I was doing my walking meditation around the front yard, Kwan would run to the kitchen to have some leftover food. But she could only find empty bowls and she thought Joan was responsible for gobbling everything up. She ran back to me trying to tell me that Joan ate all her food. I continued my walking pretending not to understand her message.
Kwan tried to gain my attention by provoking me to chase after her. I just walked after her to see what she wanted. But I refused to follow her all the way to the kitchen. I went back to my walking so Kwan thought I didn’t get her message. She tried to make me chase after her once more. I walked after her to see if she was running towards the kitchen again. Kwan was quite confused why I didn’t follow her as I did in the past. I finished my walking meditation and gave orange cats their massages.
The following morning, I saw Joan sitting on the stairs waiting for me and breakfast. As I opened the door Joan was gone but Kwan was climbing up the stairs. I called out for Joan; I thought he was angry with me for starving them at night with empty bowls. Surprisingly, Joan was waiting in front of the food bowls! He was eagerly waiting for his breakfast. So, orange cats were quite hungry in the morning after the reduction of cat food the previous night. Kwan seemed to have lost a bit of weight too. So, I have found a good way to make my cats less heavy gradually.
They ate their breakfast with much appreciation and enthusiasm. I gave them more wet food so that they wouldn’t feel being deprived and became obsessive eater for fear of having not enough food. They both didn’t finish the food; there’s leftovers for lunch later. This method seemed to work, I have to slowly reducing their food to keep them in good shape. Then I had to look at myself too; I should also reduce the frequencies of mu snack times and stop raiding the fridge at night.
Kwan has always been very dependent on her big brother for confidence and her sense of security. Sometimes she couldn’t find where Joan was sleeping so i had to carry Joan to join Kwan on the table. Kwan woukd gladly give Joan a big glooming session. It’s strange that Joan rarely give Kwan a good licking treat. But he would enjoyed all the attention he coukd get from Kwan. Perhaps it’s because he’s a big male cat so he couldn’t show his soft side and had to appear strong without emotions. I just hope these two orange cats would always be healthy, happy and loving as a family.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.