I woke up this morning to the peaceful sound of silence with only the distant chirping of birds.
No cat woke me up. I woke up by myself.
For 18 days, ever since I decided to bring in Gerald and Misty because of the reptilian encounter that night, Gerald’s incessant loud whining was the most difficult problem to resolve.
I failed to resolve it.
From whatever limited experience I have, I think his whining is due to two factors: (1) He is a kaki ronda and doesn’t like being confined, (2) He is a very vocal cat.
Even when he was living outdoors, whenever he came for food, he would whine incessantly to announce his arrival and his demands. I had to quickly give him food just to stop him from waking up the neighbours.
So when he was confined in Bunny’s Place for 18 days, the whining became my responsibility. Yes, as much as I am a cat caregiver, I am also a neighbour and I have to be a responsible one too. We are back to back with the back neighbour. Old houses like ours have no back alley at all. So we can definitely hear them in their kitchen and they can hear us in our kitchen. The back neighbour does not like cats. One of the next-door neighbours also does not like cats. The other neighbour fears cats. I am surrounded by neighbours who have no affinity for cats.
So during these 18 days, on certain days, Gerald might be quiet but the whining would just restart again and it got really, really bad in the past few days. He was whining and looking for escape routes; he wanted to go back out.
Last night, the whining was a bit too much already and driving everyone up the wall to near-insanity. So I had to let him back out.
I couldn’t get Misty out as well because she was too terrified with all the commotion. She was hiding.
But about an hour later, Gerald actually came back to the porch and whined again. Loudly.
I let him in and decided to just cuddle him to keep him quiet, but that didn’t work. He wanted to go back to Bunny’s Place.
So I let him in and when Misty saw him, she jumped down from the top-of-the-world platform and rubbed herself all over him and groomed him. She was overjoyed.
Gerald is Misty’s best friend and not vice-versa. Misty needs Gerald, and not vice-versa. For this reason, I cannot separate them.
Then, something unexpected happened. Gerald and Misty stood at Bunny’s Door, as though waiting for something.
I let them out, they both walked out and Gerald led Misty to the front door and both waited there.
I took their cue; they both wanted to go back out to the porch.
Gerald had come back to get Misty. Aww…
So I opened the front door and both walked out. They did not run off. They just stayed in the porch for some time.
Misty stretched herself multiple times, exactly like what Cow Mau always did whenever we let him out of Bunny’s Place for time-out in the house. We joked that inside was so “crowded” that there was not enough place to stretch!
Then, Gerald and Misty went off into the night.
I felt a little sad, but I knew that was the right thing to do. Not all cats are destined to be home pets. Some just want to be outdoors. I don’t like to force an outdoor cat against their will. Or any cat for that matter.
This morning, I woke up to the sound of silence. I have not had any good sleep for the last two weeks with Gerald’s incessant and loud whining.
I came downstairs and soon, Misty was calling me from the ledge in Bunny’s Place. She was trying to get in. So I started feeding the cats and when I was at the Catio, Misty was already in the porch, and she knew where I was.
Misty on the ledge at Bunny’s Place.
Misty at the Catio, waiting for me.
Eating breakfast!
It’s also good that I’ve changed the feeding station to this area in the porch. I can go out from Stargate.
And this place is not visible from the outside, meaning animal-hating neighbours who walk past won’t be able to see me, shake their heads at me in disgust, scold me or start a protest in the neighbour chatgroup complaining about me feeding the “stray cats”. All three have happened before.
The Monsters were curious.
Hopefully they will get used to Misty and who knows, maybe the tide will turn one day when Misty no longer needs Gerald and Misty can live with the Monsters??!!
Who knows, right?
Misty stayed in the porch all morning until….
We heard the familiar mewing from afar!
It was Gerald!
It’s Gerald, Misty. Gerald is back!
Gerald came to the front door. He ate!
No whining, see?
Watch this video and tell me if they are not the best of friends….
Look at that….
Would you have the heart to separate them?
I know Misty would be completely lost if I had retained her in Bunny’s Place. She needs Gerald.
She isn’t exactly friends with Samantha and the Blondies too, and she has been bullying them. Misty is also FIV+, so that’s a concern although FIV only spreads through deep bites and scratches. More about this later.
I have some experience with FIV+ cats living with non-FIV+ ones. Cow Mau, Bunny, Tiger, Rosie and Hiro were FIV+ cats. Ginger is too. Now, Misty is FIV+ but Gerald, Samantha and Creamy are not. I had them all tested during neutering. Because Samantha and Gerald are not FIV+, I doubt the Blondies would be as they have not been outside before.
After some time, Gerald and Misty walked off into the sunshine. Two happy little feline friends. Best friends forever.
I cried buckets after that, but I know this is the best solution I could make under my circumstances with all the constraints I live with.
I know they will be back for a snack or dinner later. I think they are happier outdoors. Maybe not safer, but definitely happier.
I also know that my decision will not sit well with some readers. Well, if you must know, when I brought Gerald and Misty, that decision was also frowned upon. Now, I put them out and I’m sure this decision will also be frowned upon. I cannot please everyone and I’m not here to do that. I’m only here to share what I do. For those who can do better, I salute you with all my heart!
And that’s the whole point of my writing. I put my caregiving stories up for public scrutiny because I am just another caregiver doing the best I can, with my limited resources and all the constraints that I face – this is my reality. It may not be yours, but it’s mine. I do not make some of my constraints public as I draw a line as to how much of my private life I can share in a public sphere. I am already doing the very best I humanly can. For those who also live with constraints, you are not alone. For those who do so much better, I salute you.
So my point in writing is two-fold. For those who are just beginning to care for street animals, I hope my sharing will be helpful to you to get started. For those who are already caring for street animals, please tell me my mistakes and teach me how to do better!
Thank you!
P.S. It’s so quiet now…
Backstory: Misty and Gerald are my CNRM-cats. They have been living outdoors for as long as I know. I only brought them in on the night of 15th April 2024 when Misty had a reptilian encounter where she fought off the reptile. The reptile was caught the next day and there has been no sightings since then. Gerald has been whining nonstop, very loudly, when I confined both of them in Bunny’s Place with the Blondies. I live surrounded by neighbours, two of whom dislike cats and one fears cats. Gerald’s loud whining all throughout the day was definitely very disturbing to everyone, human and cat too.
P.P.S. It is so, so quiet now.
This afternoon…
Gerald and Misty were already under one of our cars in the afternoon. No whining at all.
Misty wanted a snack. Gerald declined.
From the 18 days that I had confined them, I can probably conclude with some certainty now that Gerald has some other food source whereas Misty does not.
Gerald, being so friendly and handsome, is probably welcome in several Rumah Kucing around here. Maybe all the whining when he was confined is him wanting to make his rounds and visit those homes and eat their food.
Maybe…I don’t know. I’m not about to put a camera on him to find out.
I will take care of them as outdoor CNRM-cats. It comes with risks and dangers, I know. But I do not want to confine Gerald when he was clearly unhappy.