My Four Essentials

This comment caught my interest.

san said...

I used to tag my community cats until one day, one of our cats Minah got dragged by her collar by some boy. The old aunty who helped to feed her aw him just in time to stop him but she could not tell me what he looked like. He actually hooked her collar to a kind of spring that teenagers use these days. She got a bloody mouth and a bad sprain. :( So now I don't tag her nor any of the cats although I still think it might be safer to tag them.

10/06/2007 9:18 PM

San, I'm so sorry to hear about Minah's traumatic experience. : (

Generally, sane humans won't disturb the cats. It's the insane who will. And if these insane do, then whether the collar is on the cat or not is really secondary. Their primary intention is, to hurt the cat. They can hurt the cat with anything.. even with bare hands. With collars that comes with elastic band portion, the collar will stretch when pulled.

It's a pity the abuser got away scot-free. But I suppose the old aunty can't do anything also due to her age. She can't be running after him. Sigh.

What I do when I go feeding, is to always ensure my four essentials are with me (actually I have them all the time with me):

1. my digital camera
2. my mobile phone
3. a shrill alarm (good for creating a scene so as to draw attention)
4. a small handy bright torch (Energizer has good ones)

** Pic to be uploaded **

For cats who love the trees, then it is up to the caregivers' assessment on whether the collars will be suitable. I guess they know the cats best.

For cats who love the cars, I would reccommend but only with safety collar. Remember to state also the street name where the cats reside - it'll be helpful.

Home Sweet Home

Thanks for sharing our joy and for welcoming Oren back. * smile *

I saw him last night. He has lost a little weight.. oh well, quite a bit cos his face is not so pinch-able now. He looks weird in his shrunken frame. Haha. But rest assured he'll be chubby again in no time!


"Yum yum yum..."

He appeared very exhausted though and slept most time. He hasn't been sleeping well I believe or maybe he's too famished to sleep well. It actually pains my heart to know he starved almost a week.



"Interview later please. I need to catch up with my sleep k?"

Everybody who saw him fussed over him and ooh ahh-ed over his incredible adventure.. so much limelight! I think Nana felt neglected!

Collaring & Tagging your community cats

Many may think that it is unsafe to collar your community cats but it actually depends on how well you know your cats, how well you know your turf and the type of collars being used. I'm actually very particular about the collar itself - it must be comfortable to the skin.

Never use collars meant for dogs on cats. The cats' claws may get stuck while they scratch.

Take Nana & Oren for instance.

1. They rarely, if not, never climb trees.

2. We know the neighbours (and prata shop next to our blk) well enough. They know the cats too.

3. The collars I use are "safe". Noticed the elastic portion (circled in pink in pic)? This part is stretchable so the cat can escape if stuck for some reason.

4. The tags are round in shape so the edge will not cut the cats or cause discomfort.

I have so far not tagged the others as I wanted to observe. However, as a result of this incident, I have decided to tag the rest, beginning with Taro (who also likes lounging on car tops and hardly climb trees).

I also think it is important to include, besides name of the cat & contact no., the blk & street name.

In my opinion, having the tags deter others from disturbing the cats as they seemed to "belong" to somebody. Also, pest control are more hesistant somewhat about taking cats with collars & tags (I feel).

Of cos, the above are my own views and opinions so it's up to individual to judge if the same works but it definitely has for me. Otherwise, we wouldn't be reunited with Oren once more.

Thanks for sharing our happiness in recovering Oren. : )

How the hell did Oren manage THAT distance??

Many are quite appalled at how Oren managed the distance (Tampines to Orchard). Here's my attempt to explain the possibility.

The vehicle looked like a Mitsubishi Raider from my impression. Oren was seen "driven off" on Point 1. My guess is that he jumped off to Point 2 and remained there till he felt safe enough to escape, i.e. at Orchard where the Raider driver would have parked (at Cuppage Rd).



Make sense?

Otherwise, it's quite difficult to imagine him on Point 1 all the way.. I'm sure fellow drivers on the road will alert the driver in Raider wouldn't they?

Oren is home!!!

OMG!!!!! I can't believe this! Someone called M this morning - Oren has been found!!!!! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! This is incredible good luck! I almost dropped my hair dryer and my jaw - in blissful joy. Wednesday has never felt this good. : )

I'm glad we had made the decision to tag him (since his first disappearance) and Nana. Otherwise, we would be denied the chance of this reunion.

Silly boy actually sat on top of the vehicle from Tampines to Orchard. Can you believe it??! * Roll Eyes *

He ended up inside St. Gerard's School at 12 Mt. Sophia Rd which is near Plaza Singapura. A very kind teacher noticed him, saw the tag on his collar and called M (whose no. is listed first followed by mine). She said Oren was very friendly and she was glad to reunite us. M's dad flew down (in his cab) in happiness to fetch His Majesty. Haha. Happiness beyond words.

Was told he lost quite an amount of weight. It's hard to imagine Oren being slim. He has been chubby all his life. But for him to lose weight than for us to lose him is still, a better deal. Weight can be put back but heartache is forever.

We hope Oren has had enough of his adventures (twice this year!) and just stay in his own "kingdom". We're sure Nana is glad her silly "boyfriend" is home.

Nana & Oren

I wanna thank everyone who were with us in spirit during Oren's disappearance, esp GL and G.

Can't wait to fuss over Oren this evening.

Help us find Oren. He is dearly missed.

Oren is a sterilised male ginger cat with white chest, a tipped left ear and a short bobtail. He wears a green collar with a yellow round tag (with our contact nos.)

He is the resident cat at Blk 897A Tampines Street 81 and will wander to the nearby blocks and carpark occasionally.

Witnesses at the prata shop at Blk 820 saw him being driven off on Fri (21 Sep 07) at around 11pm while being on top of a black twin-cabin. We managed to trace the vehicle owner who is genuinely not aware of what happened. His destination was Centrepoint area / Cuppage Rd that night.

We have since gone to look for Oren on a few occasions at that area and distributed flyers. We’ve also searched for him nearby our Tampines St. 81 area. Other possible areas include Tampines Ave 4, Tampines Ave 1, Simei Ave 5 (leading to PIE), PIE, Cairnhill Rd and Cuppage Rd.

We are extremely worried about his well-being and safety. We miss him very dearly.

Please call xx immediately if you see a cat fitting Oren’s description.

A million thanks.