The Wonders of Cats

Some individuals considered themselves cat people, dog people, both or neither. As for me I love cats and dogs alike. I remember when I was a kid I used to bring home every single cat and dog I found on the street. I remember my sister hated the critters and we had squabbles over it all the time. Sometimes these cats and dogs are helpless and vulnerable to human abuse, so it’s up to us who are animal lovers to step up and protect them. I adore both but hubby does not like cats at all, so we only have a dog as a pet.  I have already written about my dog so this post is more about cats.

Cats are independent, unpredictable, mysterious, and reckless. Observe a cat’s behavior and personality, and you’ll find loads of amusing contents to post in your blog. I’ve been reading blogs for a long time but one particular post I read a few days ago made me laugh hard and shed tears at the same time.  That blog was about a story of a ferocious guard cat. The blogger was telling the story in a very humorous way.

Sometimes your feline misbehaves and you get upset, but then when your cat gives you the endearing look and meowing and purring … it’s over, everything is forgiven. They do things that can get them in trouble. Just like my hubby’s friend, Rick has a cat that has been mysteriously stuck on the neighbor’s roof for several weeks now. That cat likes to be on a higher ground. His favorite place for retreat in the house is on top of the refrigerator.  But there are things around the house that allows him to jump on top of the fridge. Nobody can figure out though how the cat got into the roof of a two storey house when there are no trees, ledges or anything that a cat can climb up. Now the cat does not know how to get back down. Rick throws foods on the roof everyday, so the cat will not die of hunger while he is trying to come up of ideas how to bring the cat down. He said he is thinking of having a customized ladder made, long enough to reach the roof. Meanwhile the cat has adapted to his new world. Every afternoon when the sun goes down he perches on the edge of the roof where he can watch people passing by. 


On the other hand, the poor cat becomes the neighborhood’s cure for boredom. It’s like a real life drama unfolding before their very eyes. Across the street is a sari-sari store (convenience store), where there are chairs and tables. Neighbors gather there in the afternoon for socializing and drinking their favorite beverages.  It is also a good spot to watch the interaction between the cat on the roof and his master. The neighbors are eagerly watching what would happen next.

newly dumped kittens

Another thing about cats in the Philippines is that some people do not want to spend money to have their cat spayed or neutered. That’s the reason why there are so many stray cats around. It so common here that when cats had litter of kittens, the owner would keep one or two of the cutest ones then dump the rest in an empty lot in the neighborhood. Either the kittens die due to hunger and nature’s bad elements or survive and become vagrant cats.  I live near an empty lot where people dump kittens. 

Every time I see new victims of animal cruelty, I feel obligated to help them survive until strong enough to be on their own. Every day I bring some food to those kittens and put a box near them so that they have a place to hide when it’s raining. If I won’t do this I know they will die, and then I’ll feel guilty for not acting.  In our neighborhood homeless cats are almost wild. They survive through scavenging in the trash, catching birds, rats, fish in the nearby drainage ditch and so on. However, they seem to be doing fine.