Hungry Udi

Poor Udi...he was so hungry this evening.

I did not see him for breakfast this morning. Only Willy came. But by dinner time, Udi had come into our house compound and was peeking from the wall.

I also found out that Udi has a sibling who looks exactly like him and both of them belong to a certain house. The owner must have gone off on a holiday.

As much as we wonder why owners do this, I think it's better to be proactive about it and do the needful - feed the cats first. I couldn't find Udi's sibling, but Udi was brave enough to come to my house.

Next, I've asked a friend to speak with Udi's owner about getting Udi and his sibling neutered (both are not neutered, I was told). Let's see what happens next.

After all, it took one year to get Mr G neutered.

A vet told me that if an animal enters our house compound and we don't know if the animal has an owner, we should do the responsible thing and get the animal neutered. But if we know the animal has an owner, as a courtesy, we should inform the owner that should his animal stray into our house again, we will get him/her neutered. That's an option we could do, if we want to. But I think in our culture, we don't want trouble with anyone and we want to avoid conflicts, so we would choose to coax the owner to get his animal neutered, which was what I did for Mr G.

There is also the danger and risks involved in getting an animal neutered. What if there is fatality involved? We don't know the hisotry of the animal. What if there are underlying health problems, allergy to the anaesthesia, etc. How are we then going to answer to the owner?

So, all things in moderation. The middle path is good, for all concerned.

Anyway, I want to share something else with you. Someone approached me this morning to ask what could be done about her neighbour who keeps a large dog in a small cage. The poor dog is never taken out for walks; he is just kept in a cage as a guard-dog for the house.

Neighbours are complaining amongst each other about how the poor dog is being neglected, not to mention about the hygiene aspect as well since the poor dog defecates and urinates in the cage.

I suggested the following options:

1. Speak with the owner NICELY and coax him to take the dog out for walks, etc.
2. Offer to take over the dog and look after him.
3. Write a nice letter detailing tips on responsible pet ownership and what a dog needs, etc., slip it into the owner's postbox. The letter should be written in a positive and non-condemning way.
4. Report to a society that has been empowered to play an advisory role in such cases. For eg: http://www.spca.org.my/v51/reportacase.php
5. IF the dog is abused, a last option is to report to the DVS (pro@dvs.gov.my), but bear in mind that the dog may be confiscated and the dog's future may be unknown.

The person said (1) has been done, but the owner was not interested at all. The person could not do (2).

How about (3) then?

Try it?

I've done (3) before and it worked. A former neighbour had kept his poor exotic cat in a tiny cage, never letting the poor cat out at all. The cat would cry all day until she lost her voice. I wrote a really nice letter and put it in the owner's postbox one evening. That very evening (I assume he had read the letter), he let the cat into the house. Subsequently, he built a small enclosure for the cat to play in at the back of his house.

The key to this is - it has to be a NICE letter, written in a proactive way with good intentions for all involved. Remember that it's just human to dislike being told that one has done wrong. So it may be wise not to criticise, but to just suggest better ways of doing things.

And of course, there is no guarantee that it will work. We would just have to try.

Now, let's get back to Udi...

So Udi came to our house to ask for food.

But it was hard to prevent the Patio Cats from being curious.

Especially with Mr Zurik around.

At least I could restrain Vincent and Daffodil...

But not the Russian.

I suspect it's because he only understands Russian.

So he came and Udi fled.

His presence alone is enough to frighten anyone.

First they went under the car, Udi and Mr Zurik.

I think Daffodil tried to help, but to no avail, so Udi fled out of the gate.

I followed him. The poor boy is still hungry. He had only managed to eat half his food.

I finally managed to find a spot at the playground to feed him.

But what's there to stop the Russian...

Meanwhile, Willy was also waiting for dinner.

It's a trend now - every public holiday, Willy comes to "visit".

See the difference between two warrior-cats?

Vincent does not intimidate once the cat is out of his territory. Mr Zurik does. Or maybe, Mr Zurik thinks the whole world is his territory?

уходи, Mr Zurik, уходи!!

Willy and I shifted to another spot.

домой, Mr Zurik, домой!

So it comes back to owners who leave their pets unattended when they go off on a holiday.

Pet owners need to learn about responsible pet ownership. And while that is happening, let's do the needful for the poor animals. Lamenting and complaining do not help much.

Being proactive and doing the needful do. So, let's do that, shall we?

I think it is more important to take care of the animal first.

Handling the human and ensuring we get a positive result - now, that calls for some "creativity". It may be wise to remember that our "creativity" (with the human) must be done in such a way that does not bring harm to the animal.