I have had many pets in my lifetime, in fact I have lost track of how many cats I have had over the years. Certainly each Cat had its own unique character, style and needs.
I guess that makes them somewhat special as a Pet. I publish quiet a bit regarding Pet care, tips and guidelines for many types of Pets in general, and all from my own real life experiences.
Well, the experience I am going to share with you, is so unique regarding Cat Care, tips and real guidelines, I can assure you, you have never heard from anyone, read in any article, book, etc. One of the reasons, as I mention in many of my Pet care articles, is because, I live in a very unique location, Northern Thailand, subject to every or any imaginable critter out there since Im surrounded by Jungle.
So, I wanted to share a special experience with my cat. This of course is a Thai cat, and they certainly do have a very different character from other cats stateside. Not to be confused with a Siamese type cat, this was just a stray domestic cat, its mom decided to give birth under my patio, and leave it alone to survive, and boy did this cat survive. In fact, this was the smartest cat I have ever experienced.
It began about 3:00am, I woke up early , as usual. One might think this is a peaceful quiet environment, however on the contrary , the local roosters start at 1:00am, screech owls, all thru the night, and other interesting jungle noises, many I am not even sure what they are.
Up at 3:00am I heard a quiet, meow, meow noise outside. That got my attention, now what I ask. Walking outside at night is one of those things you really need to be careful, and have a super flashlight. That is tip number one. So right around the corner is a baby kitten, just had its eyes open, and had climbed up a tree, about 60 feet high. When I called it, she came down, and right to me.
Now that was a big surprise, no pet owner could ever so no to this, so setup an area in the house, here comes the milk, and a can of tuna, which vanished in minutes, and then she slept for the entire next day.
Sounds like a nice story, but actually only the beginning, as I joke with friends, the cat from hell and back. Many days, weeks had past, She really grew fast, probably the extra rich food, and chasing Geckos in the house. Yes, they are all around, but keep the flying critter population way down, so it was a win situation living in the tropics.
Tip number two, I realized over a few weeks, she tended to take over the house, not only was she a night hunter, all Geckos vanished, many pictures, vases, glasses, tended to break and she enjoyed climbing curtains, and screens.
So I had to make the decision, indoor, or outdoor. I ended up making her an outdoor cat. But that was never good enough, since she knew how comfortable inside was.
Well overtime, she seemed ok, until one morning I found her resting in the shade. I noticed her right paw was swollen. After talking to the locals, we concluded she had been bitten by a very poisonous snake. For example, 60 Thailand, 12 in Africa, so they are out there, especially at night.
I brought her back in the house, and over a few weeks, back to health. But what next, inside or out. I decided she really belonged outside, the cat hair alone was difficult for me with allergy problems.
Well another week went by, she was doing fine, and then again, her right paw was swollen. A giant black bee, stung her. I believe she was playing with both. So back in the house, a few weeks later recovered fine. Well, I travel at times, and this just wasnt going to workout, very time consuming.
Nobody seemed to want a cat. But my neighbors thought the Temple , a few miles away, where the monks take care of pets. This seemed OK after talking with the local monk.
About two months later, 3:00am, I hear a meow, meow outside, way up in a tree. Yep, there she was, traveled all the way back, dog bite on one leg, and was she very upset. So, back to recovery again, cleaned her up, a few weeks went by, but just to much to handle.
Tip number three, pet responsibility. Never take on a new pet unless you can truly take care of it . In this case though, there are no vets., animal hospitals, or animal shelters. Simply put, a challenge.
I talked with neighbors again, and they couldnt believe what had happened, how could it have possibly traveled all that way with dogs, jungle, etc. Now you do hear these stories sometimes, about dogs getting separated from families traveling and finding their way back over a thousand miles, but a cat was hard to imagine.
Now Thai people are strong believers in spirits, with all do respect, so they were starting to have some interesting ideas about this cat, let your imagination figure that one.
We drove 15 miles away to a very well known Temple, spoke with a very high level monk, and he suggested best if they took care of her, especially since many foreign tourists pass through, which sounded reasonable. But two months went by, I thought it was a bad dream, but 3:00am , there was that cat sound outside, up the tree. At this point , I went from happy to shock in less than 1 minute, and immediately needed a serious plan, as the cat from hell had returned, what are the locals going to think, Ive been cursed ? Well, something close to that.
Then something occurred to me, my mother in law, was all alone in her own house, miles away. This was the only cat that would sit on her lap, and talk with her, she couldnt believe how smart it was, so there was a happy ending, they both get along great, we supply the food, shots, all healthy requirements, etc. But there was certainly a lesson to be learned from this experience.
In short, I mentioned a few tips along the way, which I hope from this unusual experience help as guidelines when considering a cat for a pet. Its good to know the history of the parents as well when possible. But last, its also really about responsibility. I felt very uncomfortable, knowing how she traveled so far to return to where she remembered as home. She is healthy now. In the title I did mention Cat with 10 lives. Well, it is hard to imagine, but there were many other life threatening events for her, and we believe she has in fact used all 9 lives already, and still healthy. In good hands, and with a bit of luck, she should live a very long happy life.
