Strays

_Aaron_ SG

I've seen quite a lot of strays around my neighbourhood in Jurong... and it makes me slightly happier when i see each one.

There's one with blue eyes i remember, that looks so pretty

And one that has white/brown fur who rarely lets me touch him/her hmm. I wonder what Singapore would be like without strays

the.raven SG

I love cats!!

but strays are so dirty, I cannot stroke them Sad

_Aaron_ SG

Cats are one of the cleanest animals lor, requiring only 1 bath in 2 weeks if they're kept at home..

They lick themselves clean all the time, and their saliva has healing properties too. Next time you get scratched by one, try to let them lick your wound, it would recover faster~

And yea, cats aren't dirty! Unless you see them wallow in the mud, they're generally quite clean de, for they can't stand being flithy either.

So next time if you see a stray, and its willing to let you come close... try to pet it... petting it relaxes your body as well... Everyone gains!

the.raven SG

umm you sure about their saliva having healing properties??

and one thing's for sure, a lot of strays have ticks on them, and other things like dust mites.

there were occasions when cats rubbed against my legs, and my pants became dirty immediately.

I pet cats usually, but sometimes the cat just looks too dirty. becaus they like to hang around hawker centers, and the ground there is sticky with filth like food and cigarette butts. and the cats just lie there Sad

_Aaron_ SG

Yea, my friend tested it.

He let the cat scratch him, then after that the cat lick him lor. Then his hand recover faster... Tested and proven!

Hmm. Those hawker strays ar... the ones i'm more accustomed to seeing are those under HDBs, those that get fed by us...

I guess strays also got hierarchy..~

KittynMeow SG

while it seems a kind act to feed strays, i would recommend not to do it. If you really love cats, bring them home and keep them at home. Once you start feeding strays, they get accustomed to being fed and that reduces their ability to find and forage food on their own. It also makes them more trusting to humans and makes them susceptible to possible abusers.

I strongly suggest that if you love cats, bring them home and keep them as a pet. It pains my heart to see dead kittens and cats every now and then because they are too trusting and abusers get their hands on them. Evil or Very Mad

poon cho tang SG

stray dogs r dirtier than stray cats

_Aaron_ SG

Nice avatar pic Very Happy

I did a research once before, and i think there are more than... bah. i forgot the figures. Maybe go look at it later.

But there are soooooooooooo many strays out there... how are we supposed to bring them all home? Its just not possible... i'm not a millionaire =(

Generally there are 2 people who feed cats in my neighbourhood, at certain times of the day... 7am and 6pm, around there.

That's when you can see all the cats gather around them.. I wonder how it feels like, to be the center of attraction?

Not all strays trust humans... there are a few that i see almost everyday, but still don't let me touch them... hmmph.

KittynMeow SG

true there are lots of strays out there... just that i saw what happened at my old neighbourhood... people feed cats and those cats get used to being around people... so when AVA send people to capture and cull cats, they don't run away... and there were other cats which were thrown off corridors, beaten to death etc. There used to be more than 10 cats in my neighbourhood but one by one they have disappeared... either captured by AVA or in some cases tortured to death by some perverse abuser. Some got blinded cos people who are afraid of cats sprayed insecticide into their eyes. Do you think leaving them in the open and subjecting them to such acts is kindness even if you feed them? It's even more cruel than just leaving them to be strays on their own. On their own, at least they are used to being defensive.

To control population, what one can do is to spay the cats so that they don't reproduce even more.... and some neighbourhoods started doing that by having a few cat lovers get together, pool money for the operations and then send them for sterilisation. I do agree that we are not all millionaires but if there is a heart to do something, make it something substantial. Feeding them and then leaving them in the open subject to abuses of human acts or even the weather is like doing a half-bucket job. Do you know that the number one cat killer is the common cold? What is worse is that having the regular feeding times train the cats to gather at a specific time... that's when people who want to capture cats know when and where to find them. That's just my opinion lah...but i strongly feel that keeping one or two healthy and safe is better than trying to keep a large number fed and at risk.

_Aaron_ SG

I don't feed them. Never did..~

Hmm. But that's what the cat feeders can do. One of them lives in my block, and already has 4-5 cats and dogs... they feed the rest of the 10-20 around my neighbourhood... guess they're doing the best they can.

Truth is, there are so many cats in Singapore, that no one knows what to do with them... but cull 10% of them every year...

If i remember correctly from my past research... there are more than 160,000 thousand cats in the streets, and 13,000 being killed every year. That's scary right? (Makes me wonder where's the 159,800 cats are. Never seen so many cats before).

But as i said... no one knows what to do... sad~

Lingos SG

ya know the one difference between here and Singapore.
The first thing i noticed was.. where are all the strays.

My neighbours cats occasionally wonder into my house.. and vice versa. They are registered, microchipped and desexed (well i hope they are!).
If you can control strays in a huge place like Victoria, i'm sure you can do the same in Singapore. What is the difference??
Strays over here are more in the league of kangas.. not the common dogs and cats lurking at void decks.

KittynMeow SG

AVA stands for Agri-food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore.

"But i get what you mean. Yet did we not bring about these homeless cats in the first place? Don't we have the responsibility to do something about it?"

That is what i meant. We have the responsibility to do something about it but taking responsibility is not equivalent to doing a half-farked job. It's taking in the animal and keeping it safe at home.

What ticks me off more is that before i brought my cats home in my old neighbourhood, nobody bothered abt stray cats... the population was minimal (only one or two around) but once my neighbours saw my cats and thought they were adorable, they started feeding strays cos they thought it was kind and cats are cute. its almost like a child wanting a pet but only when it is a kitten. To me, i think its not sincere and end up being utterly cruel to the strays. The worse part is they took strays from other neighbourhoods and left it at ours. What makes them think they are being any responsible to these cats? Even when they have no pets at home, they refuse to bring in the cat cos they think the cats will dirty or mess up their home! You see why i get worked up with these people? Such hypocrites! And I won't be surprised that my neighbours are not the only ones doing that in Singapore.... it just upsets me so much that these people don't realise the full meaning of being responsible for an animal's life!

and in case you are wondering, I am a cat owner... kekeke....

_Aaron_ SG

Erm. To me here = Singapore..

Where's victoria ar? Britain?

What are kangas?

_Aaron_ SG

That's why i named this forum Cats, and not kittens.

I really want to bring one home, but my mom don't let me =/

And your neighbours... it can't be helped i guess. Irresponsible people are everywhere.

I guess they just wanted the milk without having the cow~

Mr Chumpa Woompa SG

I've got three cats. All strays.

Two live in my backyard. Half the time they hang around there, and half the time they venture out into the neighborhood. But they always know to come back, cos here's where the food always is! Smile

The other is a new kitten I picked up. Currently it stays in the car porch in front of the house cos the two adult cats behind don't seem to get along with it. They run away when they see the kitten. Instead the kitten is the one chasing after them. Confused

s|nNeD SG

there's this stray underneath my block that likes to jump onto my lap and let me stroke it when ever i sit down at the void deck chairs.

It even follows me ard wherever i go. When i'm opening the letterbox, it would just purr and rub itself against my legs... so cute... There was a couple of times that it followed me into the lift...

Much as i would wanna bring it home, i'm a little apprehensive and my mom's a little disapproving. :/

care bear SG

sounds like its taken a liking to you!!!! so cute!! sounds like its really comfortable with you which is really rare for strays.... Very Happy

why apprehensive leh? never had cats before ah? yah, parental objection is a bit hard to face...sigh....sigh...