Thep takes a stand

When soi cats Thep and Thong joined the household, I assumed that they knew how to take care of themselves, but Thong, a kitten when he moved in, promptly showed me how incompetent he was in the survival department. He’s fallen out of trees, tangled himself in wires on the street, and ended up in the most dangerous situations his little brain could put him in.

“Well Thep’s older. He’ll know how to survive,” I think. The orange boy almost immediately shows me that he’s about as clumsy as Thong. He knows how to climb trees and jump down, but when he comes in for a meal, I see that a leg is slightly injured, or he’s cut himself on something, or whatever.

In the house, the boys play together, racing up and down the stairs. Usually one of them steps the wrong way, and I hear the crash of a cat rolling downwards.

The boys are certainly accident-prone.

Thep does know dogs, especially Top Dog, whose owner lets him out to patrol our little soi.
At one time, Top Dog ruled the soi.

He’s known to have killed cats and small dogs, but that was years ago. You can still see how beautiful he must have been when he was younger, a part-Alsatian with a glossy black coat. Now the black has turned grey. He can’t see very well, and his legs are stiff.

He can still run, though. The minute he sees Thep on the soi, he starts the chase. He’s not fast enough to catch the cat, who races under a car or jumps onto the wall at the end of the soi - but you can see how much he enjoys himself.

Thep doesn't feel the same way. When Top Dog wanders away, Thep comes to my gate, complaining loudly. Thong, who’s usually inside, tries to comfort him, but the cat is plainly unhappy. He just wants to lie in the warm sun in the middle of the soi, but Top Dog won’t let him.

You think, “That's Nature”, and try to accept that Top Dog will always chase Thep, but then, Nature can fool you.

One day last week, Thep was lying in the sun in the middle of the soi when Top Dog saw him and began the chase.

This time, Thep didn’t run away. Instead, he sat up and stared at the dog. His tail was bushed out, his paw raised in a strike position. Then he began the warning moan of an angry cat who had no intention of running away.

Poor Top Dog didn’t know what to do. What happens if your prey refuses to be a prey, even if it’s one-eighth your size?

The dog shook his head in confusion and returned to his own gate, where he sat unhappily.

Thep himself came into my house silently. Completely tired out, he fell asleep, comforted by Thong, his fan club.