Once in a while, there will be strangers who came and wandered around the garden and porch area. Some were just passing or dropping by, some stayed and moved on and some suddenly disappeared without a trace. The strangers that I’m talking about here are not human beings but cats.

This cat has been here for quite a while. At first, he was always hiding underneath the car in the porch and behaved in a defensive way. He was not friendly at all. The slightest movement will cause him to either hiss at you or to speed like a rocket and vanished into thin air. I guess his attitude is driven by insecurities and his experience being bullied either by other animals or human beings when he is out there alone. Unlike the first stranger, who can fit herself comfortably, this one is rather difficult to get close to at the beginning.

And then, we started to notice a pattern. He will always appear during the feeding time of our kittens (they’ve almost become cats now). After cleaning and feeding our cats, we tried to be friends with him by putting some of the cat food in a little container and put it near his hiding place. He came out from underneath the car and started to eat but when we want to get closer to him. He backed away and hissed.

However, that did not turn down our effort to be his friends. When we fed him, we will mew at him and pat him on his head to show that we meant no harm to him. Sooner or later, he began to put down his defense against us and is able to walk in and out the gate freely. Even if we pass him by, he would not run away anymore. He would even do a bit of those cat-flipping-around tricks and act like a cat that has been spoiled just to ask for a touch on his furry chest. How adorable could that be? But at this point, he will still hiss if we touch his feet. I think he must have had a bad encounter concerning his feet.

And now, what do you know? I think he has considered this place his home! He is not only walking in and out freely but also sleeping on top of the car! I find that an amazing change since the first time we approached him.

He is begging for food now with the loud and pity mew. So, we have to stop here and feed him.

We met this cat at the entrance of a temple during our trip to Miri last April. She seemed lonely there but I don’t think she is.  While we were pampering her, a dog stopped by and sniffed her. She looked at him but not in an irritated way. It’s more like saying “hi” to a friend. Then, the dog walked away. Maybe it was their way to communicate. So, cats and dogs can really be friends actually.

She was quite friendly despite the rather “What are you looking at?” emotion on her face. She came to us and mewed when we entered the temple. She even lifted up her right foot to post for the picture and she looked at the camera. From the colour on her body, she gave a mysterious feeling. It seemed like she has a lot of stories behind her.

Sometimes I wonder if animals feel lonely too. Do they need a companion? On the other hand, we as humans are drown in the sea of our emotions between love and hate or likes and dislikes. I guess this is one of the reasons that somehow leads to loneliness and the need to have a companion. Maybe you do not agree because you are currently living independently. However, could it be possible that there will be the day where you just hope that somebody could be by your side?

Relationship or companionship is one of the hardest things to let go. And it has also caused a lot of people to do many things that are not worth to be done and ended up paying the price that they shouldn’t have to. Therefore, we must not only have the wisdom to set priorities in our lives but also to be rational all the time and remember to pull ourselves out of it when it is time to let go. Having companions are great but we must always have a clear mindset so that we won’t be “drown” and let the emotions control our thoughts and actions!