This year summer was very short and much cooler with sudden rain storms. My cats preferred cooler weather when they could sleep nonstop up to six hours. Rainy days meant that they stayed inside the house and were getting lazy and fat. So, whenever we had sunny afternoon, I would try to get my cats do some running and climbing trees to keep fit and firm. I was concerned that they wouldn’t be fast and nimble enough to escape from sudden arrival of stray dogs.
To my surprise, I was the first person to spot two big stray dogs creeping into the garden more than twice! I thought cats were supposed to have very sensitive ears and be alert to any strange vibes in their vicinity. So, I was the one who saved my cats from unpleasant chase attack by the brown and black dogs. I thought perhaps I had extra sensory perceptions which always alerted me and urged me to walk around for some inspection. That’s how I caught these intruding dogs by surprise and chased them away.
My gardener told me that my cats had stopped venturing out into the banana grove and nearby fields. So, something had kept them close to the house for safety sake. I noticed they were very reluctant when I told them to go fir a walk with me. Previously, they would gladly run after me into the banana grove. This time I had to carry one fat cat at a time to be deposited under the banana tree. Then, they would start sniffing around and walked gingerly around trying to find a hiding place.
I had to tell them that I would protect them from stray dogs’ attack. Once they felt reassured and more secured, orange cats started to play hide and seek, chasing each other around the place a bit. I felt so pleased seeing them having a good time and behaving like free mini-tigers in nature. They have become used to playing hide and seek with me. Do, I would be creeping on them quietly and chase them around the trees. These cats would jump on each other then run away in opposite directions looking for hiding places under tall grasses.
They would chase each other for about ten minutes and started walking around looking for a safe place. They wouldn’t be in the mood to be chased around again. They would just have a good rest on the chosen spot for up to an hour. I would let them enjoying themselves for half an hour, then I would go around telling them to get back to the house. I just had the sense that some dogs could be passing through the back of the garden in the evening.
Once they settled down on their favourite spot, it’s very difficult to persuade them to move their butts. These orange cats could be quite stubborn and refused to make a move. I had to pick them up, one by one, and carried them back to the yard in front of the house. These cats were giving me extra exercise of weightlifting. The big cat was probably over six kilos while the sister cat was over four kilos! I have told my gardener to reduce their food by 10% as they ate too much with less exercise.
I have started a campaign for making everyone doing more exercises. This started with orange cats having to be on a diet, my gardener should be cycling twice a week for more stamina and less complaining about being tired easily. She’s putting on weight as well, so I advised her to cut down on sticky rice which could lead to diabetes later on. I have started cycling at least twice a week and lifting weights in the morning. In this way, my cats couldn’t complain of discrimination! We had to improve our stamina and maintain good health this year!
Let’s hope we could maintain this new routine for at least three months!
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.