I always look forwards to my appointment with those stray cats at Yannawa temple. My routine was to feed these twenty cats twice a week. Every time I would tell them when to expect me again. I would tell some of the cats not to be choosy and stuff themselves so that they could the interval of infrequent meals. Some young cats have become spoiled and would only eat the special wet food. These young male cats would look very slender. Older male cats knew very well to stuff themselves with dry and wet food as they couldn’t be certain whether they would be fed the following day.
Fortunately, a lady in white car came to feed stray cats once a week. Some Malaysian expats had started to feed some cats as their cats didn’t like the wet food. The Malaysian lady told me that she had lots of wet food at home, so I asked her to bring these packets of wet food with her next time. She also took photos of the stray cats by the pier. I prayed to the stone Buddha to bring cat lovers to the temple so they would bring cat food with them during their visits. The nice atmosphere around the pier made visitors wanting to come back to enjoy the river view and pay respect to the stone Buddha.
I have noticed that two young black cats had disappeared for over a month. So the young black cat was left alone by himself. He seemed alright though very skinny. His brother was made to disappeared by the crazy woman several months ago. I was glad she didn’t come back to the temple again, so the remaining cats could live safely without being abducted like other unfortunate cats. The car park was still too quiet and sparse of cats; I used to be greeted by over a dozen cats there. Nowadays, about five cats would turn up to greet me.
These temple cats could recognise my car and the sound of the engine. They would mysteriously emerge from their hiding places to meow for their food. They knew my routine and waited patiently for me to organise the dishes and distribute the biscuits and wet food. Recently I noticed that some cats have become very thin. I wondered what had happened to these few cats; whether the skinny monk forgot to feed these few cats or they were late and missed their dinners. It’s quite distressing seeing their bodies being so skinny and their faces becoming very small. I would give these cats extra food and observe how they could concentrate on eating for over fifteen minutes.
Feeding these poor gentle cats made me feeling very good about myself. It’s my chance to do good karma and get connected to the natural cycle of life and share existence on earth with other sentient beings. These cats taught me a lot about the suffering of being hungry and abandoned by their owners. They had to face loneliness and the difficulties of surviving without any recourse or complaints. They just accepted that they had to adapt to the new surroundings and find some food around the temple.
Some fifteen cats were looked after by the skinny monk. But he could only feed stray cats living around his lodging as some monks didn’t like cats. So, I tended to give extra food to those cats by the pier, car park and near the Chinese pavilion. I had to walk to four or five spots in the temple to feed all these cats. The whole feeding rounds took me about two hours as I had to wait for each gang of cats to finish their meal. I had to clean the dishes at intervals. Some cats could smell the scents of other cats and refused to get near the dishes.
Last month I noticed a thin mother cat with two tiny kittens. The monk told me that the mother cat has brought her kittens down from the building. She has been feeding her kittens and now she needed some nourishment to stay alive. She was very timid and wouldn’t let people get close to her. Her kittens were also very timid and easily frightened by sudden movements. I tried to gain their trust by giving them extra wet food. I hope other monks on the nearby building would feed this cat family regularly. Some monks were kind and gave temple cats leftovers by the pot plants.
I also had to feed the old cat, Samsi, that lived around the entrance of the Buddhist school. Some kind novices had provide water and some leftover food for her everyday. But she’s still very skinny. The black dog that lived with the construction team nearby kept coming to check out the cat’s food. He frightened all the cats away by just sitting around the front entrance. I had to chase him away every time. He was quite naughty, I caught him chasing a black cat in the car park. He was jealous seeing all the cats being fed by me, though his owners fed him everyday. I couldn’t be nice to this dog as all the cats would get very confused.
Those cats living around the skinny monk’s lodging would ran at full speed to greet me from afar. It’s very heart warming to see these cats looking so happy to see me (or it’s because of the cat food). They made me feeling so welcomed and important. I knew they were fed once a day by the skinny monk but it seemed their food was rationed among many cats. So, they could rarely feel they had their stomachs full and satisfied. The three young kittens that survived the onslaught by the crazy woman have become much healthier and much more trusting towards me. They ate like eating machines! I had to feed three surviving cats from a family of five kittens, they usually lives at the back of the nearby building. They would come out as soon as they heard my voice.
The young mother cat still hid her kittens somewhere at the back of the building. She was very timid and only allowed me to get close to her. I waited for her to come out of her hiding to have her meal. I didn’t see her during the last two weeks, so I was quite worried about her. Some day it rained so hard, I couldn’t wait for her and had to leave some food in a dish under cardboard box. This time I saw the mother cat ran towards me as I was about to leave. I was so glad to be able to feed her as she was very famished and skinny. I wondered when she would bring her kittens to the courtyard.
I had ordered some wet food for small kittens as I expected to see five more tiny kittens soon. I had invited some friends to join me at the temple, but they were all too busy and far away from the location. Fortunately, I had donation for cat food old friends this month. These cats were so lucky to have sponsors from time to time. I hope to be able to feed these cats till the end of this year.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
