Not so long ago, our next door neighbours carried out heavy renovation works in their apartment unit. The old couple (one of them bed-ridden) were looked after by a domestic worker. They also had a cat named Ginger who lived with them for many, many years. During the renovation phase, they moved out. We figured it was temporary. However, on completion of the renovation works, the family that moved in was different. I suppose our new neighbours are close relatives of the older couple who used to live there, since their newly renovated apartment deal came with a free cat.
The way we see it, they were either unprepared to look after someone else's cat, or as it is becoming seriously evident, they are clueless about caring for cats. Ginger is not fed sufficient portions and her food bowl is mostly empty when I see it. Her water bowl hardly has any water in it. And that's worrying for a domesticated cat that feeds 100% on dry cat food. I am quite restless until I get the message across to her new owners, be it leaving a note next to her bowl.
Ginger has sadly been forced to a life of catstitution on our corridor, going into any welcoming stranger's home in hopes of a meal, some water and a warm place to sleep. She's usually the first to creep into our house when each of our apartment dwellers return home from work. Luckily, we've still got a leftover pack of Whiskas cat food from the time of the renovation works, when she was pretty much left to die. Our house dwellers are also 80% animal-friendly.
Questions about Ginger are starting to float on our minds because, 1. we can't adopt her since we'll be moving out this year, 2. we don't want our generosity with cat food to affect Ginger's chances of bonding with her new family, 3. even if we do feed her till we move out, what will happen afterwards?, 4. what if our neighbours become cross and confront us?, 5. what if she falls ill and the owners don't care about taking her to a vet? and 6. is Ginger two-timing us and making the best of both worlds?
Begging to be adopted
There's more to this sadness. Lately, she's been showing signs of stress, biting off chunks of fur and leaving them in our living room. She always begs for cat food and treasures every morsel of cat food we give like it is her last. When we try to coax her out of our house, she runs to her food bowl and pretends to eat, almost like saying "Don't you know that people are not supposed to throw out an animal that is feeding??" My working hours hardly allow time off for cheering up friends. When this story took shape in my mind, I figured I should make time to give Ginger a little extra attention before she spirals into clinical depression. But today, she was not responsive to any attention. She seemed tense, purred less and looked suspicious of my behaviour like I might eat all her cat food while she was not watching. I guess it'll take time for her to settle in to the new changes in her life.
Here's hoping she has a happy ending.
[Afternote: Shu left a note for the neighbours on Ginger's designated chair with some helpful tips on responsible pet ownership, but maybe they took offense and threw it away because they still don't leave any water for their cat.]
Tips on feeding Ginger
Hmm… I hope Ginger will be okay. Any idea what will become of her now? And in answer to question 6: There are no two ways about it. Ginger is a cat. She is almost DEFINITELY making the best of both worlds, as she makes the best of ALL worlds, and probably galaxies, because, as far as I've learnt from the few felines I've met, all power ultimately resides with cats.
ReplyDeleteAnywho, I hope that whatever happens and wherever she ends up, she'll be well. She sounds like a real little character, in any case. :)
Also, when we took in a sick stray cat last year, the vets gave us a good piece of advice, for want of a better word, and that was to remember that the cat was not our responsibility, and that it was good to give it whatever kindness we could reasonably provide, and to appreciate the happy moments we were able to spend with it. So if you've managed to improve it's quality of life even in the slightest, you've done well. Even if Ginger is a suspicious, ungrateful little devil! :)
Ginger IS a crafty little devil! I could tell we are slowly being brainwashed by her into thinking she that belongs to us. I'm pretty sure she's even hypnotized one of my housemates into buying a huge pack of cat food and putting it into the house bill.
ReplyDeleteI took the initiative of sticking a guide on taking care of pet cats on my neighbours premises because face to face communication is not easy. I don't think they took it too well, seeing that they took down the note and followed none of the guidelines o_O now when I return home, I take a different route that does not involve crossing their front door... You know, just in case.
They appear to be giving food in kitten-sized portions and think that cats absorb water through their skins from water vapour droplets floating in the air.
That was golden advice from the vet. Emotions always get in the way, but at the end of the day, there is only so much we can do :( that was really nice of you all to take in a sick animal and try to help it.
A-HAH! In light of 'questions about ginger number 1', disregard my last comment about whether I imagined you might be moving or not. I knew I'd read it somewhere. :3
ReplyDeleteAnd hmm… Cats absorbing water through osmosis. I question their animal knowhow.
But it's a pretty cool idea.
I wish I could do that. ^_^
Also disregard my comment about not commenting here and leaving a Facebook message instead. I suddenly feel very chatty. So I'm afraid you will be bombarded with both.