I should try not to be away from the farmhouse for more two weeks as I noticed the negative impact on my cats. They seemed to be very attached and dependent on me emotionally. When I arrived at the house, Kwan complained like crazy in her funny cat language which sounded like emotional wailing for almost an hour. On the other hand, Joan became a bit lost without me as an anchor for which he would rush to be close to me whenever I opened the front door in the morning. He just went on a three days’ hiking to find some answer to his restless feelings.
Joan seemed to feel abandoned and he went off into the fields and roamed listlessly as if he lost his emotional campus. This had happened before to the other orange cat a few years ago, I thought the cat was trying to search for me in the bamboo woods along the direction of the tuk-tuk took me to town. These cats watched me leaving with my bags on the vehicle so they never liked the driver and wouldn’t go near him. I wondered what was going on in my cats’ mind when they saw me leaving and arriving at intervals. I just hoped that they would not think too much and get on with their daily routine.
I was quite relieved to see my cats being independent and would decide to leave me alone in the living room for hours. They still had the natural instinct for playing in the garden and exploring the banana and bamboo groves nearby. Joan would go hunting in the evening; I didn’t think he was very successful. He would be running in through the gate when he heard my voice calling for breakfast time. Kwan and Joan could understand several keywords in Thai language. These are very smart cats with gentle disposition.
My gardener told me that every time the big black and white stray cat came to invade the house. Two orange cats would retreat to the main gate and could be found sitting on the wall. The aggressive stray cat would be sleeping on the staircase proclaiming himself the king of the farmhouse. I found that he did his markings at very strategic spots in the kitchen where the food bowls were located, the stairs and the main door as well.
I met this stray cat two kilometers away in front of the fisherman’s hut; he was after a black female cat. He looked at me and suddenly realised who I was. He was shocked and ran away from the female cat. I admired this stray cat’ strong personality and his drive to survive. He might have thought that I would accept him as one of my cats. But his approach was totally wrong; he came in as an aggressor and wanted to take everything for himself. He might have observed how I played with my cats and looked after them. He could yearn for such warming relationship but he was too wild to understand our gentle ways and farmhouse culture. At least he was a strong cat and he could look after himself.
I had to do some damage control to my cats’ emotional well-being. I had to let them know that I didn’t ignore, neglect or abandonment them whenever I had to be absence. I spent more time with orange cats in the evening in the garden, played with them and kept them company for a big while. Joan and Kwan would just follow me around the front yard like puppies. They behaved more like puppies than cats these days. They seemed to need people’ s company more than other cats. So, I tried to let them be on their own several hours each day. They needed to maintain their natural instinct for survival and keeping themselves save from danger such as stray dogs’ invasion.
The sudden turn of cold weather had unsettled my cats. Joan felt the cold more than Kwan; he finally solved his problem by sleeping on the lawn under sunshine. Kwan remained sleeping on the cushioned basket. Joan slept on my bed but that room was quite cold as it didn’t get direct sunshine. The other day I saw Joan sleeping comfortably on the metallic roof; it’s much safer there.
I had to keep an eye on Joan while he slept on the front lawn as stray cats or dogs could easily catch him by surprise. Looking after these cats was like looking after children, but with much less burden. Cats could be happily on their own for several hours. They have their own world of reality.
Kwan was very understanding and allowed me to give her medicine and use syringe to give her liquid without any protest. She knew when I told her I had to give her some medicine; she would just sit still and endure the brief moment. Joan used to protest as he didn’t like taking medicine. But he was too feverish and weak that he let me put medicine in his mouth followed by liquid in a syringe. I told my cats that it would make them feel better fast and they seemed to passively accept the medicine. I was glad that they would get much better and the fever would subside in a few hours.
I was so glad to see the two cats being close and loving towards each other even though Joan disappeared for three days and came back with strange smell. Kwan took a long time sniffing Joan’s body to get used to her old brother again. It took a day or two before they would come together in the same basket as usual. At first, Kwan was a bit cautious and let Joan having his own space. In the evening, I did manage to get them to play chase and run around the garden. They played and chased after each other as usual. I was so grateful that things were back to the old usual routine and orange cats were very happy together.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.