To start off, I want to share a Singapore Tail - my experience with community cats. This is something rather close to my heart, so there will be quite some anecdotes. I will split this blog post into a few days, so do keep a look out!
INTRODUCTION
Other than the HDB flats and skyscrapers , the only thing that can epitomise the Singaporean landscape is the stray cats. These stray cats come in all breeds, all ages and all sizes, yet one thing unites them - that is, they are often looked at with disdain, often treated with abuse and often suffer at the memories of past trauma.
They learn to evade detection, hiding behind trees, hiding in the bushes or hiding under cars. In my experiences feeding stray cats, I have identified two broad groups of community cats, the characteristics they possess and their unique behaviours.
THE TWO GROUPS
(1) The Hungry
I label this group of cats as "the hungry", because, honestly, their hunger is the motivating factor for their actions. Once they smell something faintly nice, they will start following you. Many a times, people treat them as “aggressors”, while in actual fact, they are likely the cats that have been once domesticated before, but eventually abandoned.
Due to their over-zealousness in getting the food, they often launch forward, which will scare most people. But, from my experience, these cats will never attack you - they will often look at you with their big enduring eyes, sit in front of you and wait for you to feed them. They are never shy; they enjoy the pats on the back and the affection you show them. Ironically, it is this exact trait - their trust of human beings - that results to them being brutally assaulted and abused sometimes.
A defining characteristic of these cats is that they can be picky eaters sometimes. Once, I tried feeding such a cat with dry kibbles, but it did not like it, merely smelling it before crawling away. They often tend to eat little too, because they often think that they will be fed a next meal.
However, it is sad to see them suffer, because their prior domestication since young has made them lose most of their prey drive and instinctual feline powers to catch preys. Hence, they often rely on leftover food from dustbins for their meals.
If you look carefully, you can see that this cat has been sterilised or neutered before. Vets usually cut off part of the left ear for easy identification.
I find that this group of cats prefer canned food, or certain types of kibbles that have a more apparent fragrance. I will recommend some brands of affordable cat food in Part 3 of this series.
(2) The Wild
The only home this group of cats have known since their birth is literally “the wild”, hence the categorisation.
This group of cats are the wary ones; they understand that not all humans are nice and they likely have experienced pain and trauma when they were kittens and now, they try to evade humans by crawling away once anyone crosses into their comfort zone.
They have heightened senses and have learnt all possible tricks of evasion. They will crawl under cars, crawl under drain covers and crawl into small crevices to hide detection.
INTRODUCTION
Other than the HDB flats and skyscrapers , the only thing that can epitomise the Singaporean landscape is the stray cats. These stray cats come in all breeds, all ages and all sizes, yet one thing unites them - that is, they are often looked at with disdain, often treated with abuse and often suffer at the memories of past trauma.
They learn to evade detection, hiding behind trees, hiding in the bushes or hiding under cars. In my experiences feeding stray cats, I have identified two broad groups of community cats, the characteristics they possess and their unique behaviours.
THE TWO GROUPS
(1) The Hungry
I label this group of cats as "the hungry", because, honestly, their hunger is the motivating factor for their actions. Once they smell something faintly nice, they will start following you. Many a times, people treat them as “aggressors”, while in actual fact, they are likely the cats that have been once domesticated before, but eventually abandoned.
Due to their over-zealousness in getting the food, they often launch forward, which will scare most people. But, from my experience, these cats will never attack you - they will often look at you with their big enduring eyes, sit in front of you and wait for you to feed them. They are never shy; they enjoy the pats on the back and the affection you show them. Ironically, it is this exact trait - their trust of human beings - that results to them being brutally assaulted and abused sometimes.
A defining characteristic of these cats is that they can be picky eaters sometimes. Once, I tried feeding such a cat with dry kibbles, but it did not like it, merely smelling it before crawling away. They often tend to eat little too, because they often think that they will be fed a next meal.
However, it is sad to see them suffer, because their prior domestication since young has made them lose most of their prey drive and instinctual feline powers to catch preys. Hence, they often rely on leftover food from dustbins for their meals.
 |
| Yummy! Enjoying some kibble. |
 |
| Slurping some milk |
If you look carefully, you can see that this cat has been sterilised or neutered before. Vets usually cut off part of the left ear for easy identification.
I find that this group of cats prefer canned food, or certain types of kibbles that have a more apparent fragrance. I will recommend some brands of affordable cat food in Part 3 of this series.
(2) The Wild
The only home this group of cats have known since their birth is literally “the wild”, hence the categorisation.
This group of cats are the wary ones; they understand that not all humans are nice and they likely have experienced pain and trauma when they were kittens and now, they try to evade humans by crawling away once anyone crosses into their comfort zone.
 |
| Cat crawling away at the sound and sight of me |
They have heightened senses and have learnt all possible tricks of evasion. They will crawl under cars, crawl under drain covers and crawl into small crevices to hide detection.
 |
| Hiding under a car |
 |
| Enjoying some kibble, yum! |
I believe these cats have more capabilities as predators. I once saw a cat, which I think belong to this group, pounce on an unsuspecting crow, injuring it with a bite. This is testament to the prey drive that normal cats will have.
However, it is very difficult to feed them. It takes much more effort to connect with them. So, how did I manage to get so close to this black cat without scaring it?
I will talk about this more in Part 2 of this series tomorrow.
*This list is by no means exhaustive or exclusive. If you have something to add, you are more than welcome to!
In the next few days, I will touch on how to approach these community cats, what we can do to help these stray cats and what we can feed these stray cats.
I enjoyed the read! Looking forward to more posts from you.
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