Happy Caturday: weekly feeding stray cats at the temple by the river.

I continued to visit Yannawa temple by the river as soon as I got back to the city. I was always anxious about these cats’ wellbeing during my absence; I wondered if other visitors were feeding some of those cats. I was always very concerned for those cats hiding near the riverfront. These cats would never go to the skinny monk’s lodging to ask for some food. There were too many cats who commanded that territory.

So, these cats hiding near the river would be quite skinny and looking more dirty as they had to sleep under parked vehicles in the temple. I tried to give these cats extra wet food and get them to stuff themselves with lots of food. I told them they had to store food for several days as I would be away. ( I have been very busy so it took me six days to finish this post). I did wonder why these cats by the river had become skinny these days. I didn’t see the elderly Chinese lady who used to feed these cats at night for about two months.

I hoped she was well and in good health. She was limping when I last saw her; she even told me not to worry about these few cats as she would feed them at night. But if she couldn’t walk properly, it would be very difficult for her to get to the temple. I would have to enquire about this lady during my next visit. These stray cats were amazingly gentle and tame; they were always very loving and warm which made them such unique stray cats. They must have been house cats before their owners left them at the temple during the night.

I recently met a newly abandoned young cat near the skinny monk’s quarter. Someone must have been to the temple and saw several stray cats being fed by this monk. So, the owner thought his cat wouldn’t go hungry if he left his cat around that place. But, this five months old cat couldn’t get along with the gang of cats at the skinny monk’s lodging. He would be crying out very loud in desperate sorrow for his owner. I could understand his confusing emotions; he missed his owner and couldn’t understand why he was left at a strange unfriendly place. He was wailing like a grandmother at the funeral of a grandson.

I had to try to get near him and told him to face the new reality. He had to adapt to this new place and make the most of it to survive. He was mostly hiding under the bush by himself. He didn’t trust and humans; so he always ran away from people. It took me several weeks to get him to come closer to me. I would leave a dish of cat food near where he’s hiding. He had lost quite a bit of weight as no one could get near him. During my last visit, he could recognise me and would come closer to me to complain about his sad life but he seemed to enjoy the mix of wet and dry food. I called him ‘Kee-Bon’ which means noisy complainer. I was glad he looked healthy with nice thick fur.

Last week I was glad and shocked to see a cat which had been missing over a month. I thought he was buried in a pile of construction debris as he liked to hide among the broken bricks and piles of earth. But I was shocked to see that he was extremely skinny as if he was locked up in a detention camp without food for one month. He was very weak and very frail. He walked so slowly that I had to carry him around to conserve his energy. He ate very little and I had to force feed him a few times. I made special trips just to feed him as often as I could in the first week so that he wouldn’t suddenly die of malnutrition and exhaustion. I thought he was probably trapped under the construction debris by accident. I ordered him not to die on my watch. He used to be very active and he loved to run after me. Now he was too weak to walk properly as his legs weren’t very strong.

These cats really stressed my out sometimes and caused me sleepless nights. I had to make sure they would survive the bad ordeals and recuperate as fast as possible. My old favourite cat called Samsi has now gained back his weights after his absence due to illness. I still had to feed him on car’s roof as he would just let other cats steal all his food. He’s a pacifist and totally a giver; he just surrendered to other cats’ demand. I could never be as non-violent as Samsi; I would put up a good fight against the aggressor.

Some old cats have gone missing while small kittens are getting bigger and they quickly learn how to survive in this environment. I have some kind of karmic relationship with this old temple and stray cats. I wouldn’t normally go out of my way to sacrifice my resources and precious time to look after these cats. So we must have some kinds of past life or karmic relationships. Somehow, these cats respond to me in a special way. The monk and novice didn’t get the loving attention that I had from these cats. They feel safe being around me and let me handle them like kids. I could open their mouths to feed them medications without any protest. They could probably read my mind and intention, so they have always been very cooperative. Their loving and trusting nature make it very difficult to leave them altogether. I just hope and pray that I could continue to visit the temple and to feed these friendly stray cats for as long as possible.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.