As a follow-up to my concerns about what Ginger does during his rooftop escapades, Chen cautioned me about possible heat-stroke (which may explain why he was in a daze after coming down from the rooftop, but I only observed this on 2 days).
We got talking and Chen suggested I may want to confine Ginger in a bathroom and break his habit of going to the rooftop, a habit he has had even before we moved here, because I'd already spotted him coming from the rooftop when we first encountered him, more than 2 years ago.
I cannot confine Ginger inside the house when I'm at work as we leave access ways for the patiocats to come inside the house should there be any danger outside. If we totally lock Ginger inside the house, the other patiocats would not be able to come inside. And of course Ginger cannot possibly join Bunny's Place. He won't be able to survive the titans.
Ginger went to his rooftop again today but came back in time for dinner at 3.30pm. In fact, I was looking for him at 12.30pm but could not find him. So I guessed he must have gone on an adventure or a snooze again.
When I came home at 3.45pm, our part-time cleaner said "Itu Si Gemuk Oren dah balik, tu dia, dalam rumah". I had earlier told her we were looking for our "orange cat". She's incredibly helpful and is also a cat-lover.
Dinner as usual with everyone else. This time, Ginger did not oversleep.
I felt Ginger's fur. It was cool. And today has been quite a hot day.
It certainly did not seem like Ginger had been under the sun at all. Yet, the part-time cleaner said Ginger had come from the roof. Then, something stuck me.
Now, here's a possible theory...
What if whenever Ginger disappears, he merely uses the rooftop as his route to his other home? After all, Ginger has been living here longer than we have. Maybe Ginger has another home which we do not know about and he takes the roofways to get to and from that home to ours? If so, it would explain why Ginger is so "prosperously endowed". I know for sure I don't overfeed him.
Speaking of which, I was talking to Mukda (the other cat feeder here) the other day. She said Rosie still goes to the pavilion for breakfast every morning. Sometimes, Daffodil too. Then, after getting their one piece of chicken, they will run back to my house. And whenever she walks past my house in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes even Heidi, Vincent and even Mr Zurik would follow her to ask for food. But she said Timmy wanted to join the pavilion but was always very afraid to approach her. He would just mooch around, but dare not get too close, despite the attraction of the chicken that she brought. Ginger would sometimes ask for food too. Rosie is a regular at the pavilion.
So, back to my theory...what if Ginger has another home somewhere? Isn't that totally possible? Maybe he isn't sleeping on the rooftop. Maybe that's just his path to and from his other home? And that's a lot safer than walking on the road. Ginger almost never walks on the roadside. If he has to "travel", I'd rather he takes the rooftop because that would be much safer, especially if he knows the way.
Whenever he is home, Daffodil is nearby.
Ginger likes to lie somewhere where he can see me, and very often, he lies right outside the grille, staring in. Then, Daffodil will go whack him and make him go away, further from the grille. We can almost hear Daffodil say: "Go away from there, you silly boy, there are titans inside there, it's not safe."
Whenever he is home, he follows me everywhere and waits for me outside the bathroom, whether it is upstairs or downstairs.
He usually stays around after dinner at 3.30pm and stays inside through the night. Every morning, he comes upstairs and mews. Then, if Heidi is on the bed, Heidi gets down and whacks him. Ginger is very polite; he doesn't jump onto the bed. He just comes near, sits like a dog and mews.
Then we have breakfast and I go to work and I assume, he will do his rooftop escapades.
That seems to be the pattern and for now, I will let him be first until such a time when I see a need to confine him. Ginger has lived in this community even before we moved here. He probably already has a set pattern and he knows what he wants. We can only provide a safe haven for him, nutritious food and lots of love.
Maybe there is another home providing the same for him too and they get Ginger in the mornings?
And maybe that's exactly what happened to Timmy too. His other family decided to confine him once and for all and that is why we don't see him anymore, which also explains why the two psychics say "Timmy will come back". One even said he is being pampered and is living with a bunch of cats somewhere nearby.
So if we were to confine Ginger, his other family will miss him and wonder what had happened to him.
Hmm..the secret and mysterious lives of community cats...
