When cats take the plunge

In the early morning, soi-cat Thep drops by for breakfast. The orange boy really does “drop” by, perching atop the outside gate and plummeting down to the patio floor.
 He greets his best friend Thong, and together they check out all the available food.
 Thep doesn’t stay long. Once he’s sniffed around, he leaves, simply climbing up the fence, using the iron frame to claw his way upwards. Then he disappears.
 Thong calls after him sadly, as in “Don’t leave me!”
 From Thep, grey-striped Thong has learned how to get to the top of the gate, but he uses his own method. Instead of climbing up the fence, he jumps up to the edge of the huge turtle tub that’s located nearest the fence.
 This tub is home to a little Burmese-eyed turtle who prefers a big tub that’s covered partially with some plastic netting.
 With this method, Thong can easily reach the top of the fence. Unfortunately, he hasn’t yet figured out how to come down. He just isn’t brave enough to jump to the patio floor the way Thep does.
 I have to open the gate on the second floor and call to him. Even then, he can’t quite jump up to this opening, but he is close enough for me to reach out and pull him inside by an arm.
 “Leave him alone,” a friend tells me. “He’ll learn to jump down when he gets desperate.”
 I’m not so sure. I think he remembers how he fell out of a neighbour’s tree and sprained his leg. In addition, he's only one year old, not fully grown, and his muscles haven’t developed yet, especially since he’s gained so much weight with all the good food in my house.
 Nevertheless, this morning, when Thong ends up on top of the fence again, I decide to make him wait. With all the other animals waiting to be fed, I really don’t have time to pull him inside.
 Suddenly, I hear a crash from the patio. When I rush outside, I don’t see anything at first. Then slowly, two paws appear on the side of the big tub, then a head, followed by a soaking wet body.
 Poor Thong has indeed grown bored waiting for me to pull him inside. He’s jumped down, aiming for the plastic mesh over the turtle’s tub, which must look solid enough to land on.
 It isn’t. The cat has ended up swimming with a very startled turtle who must feel relieved when he pulls himself out of the water and eventually out of the tub.
 Alas, I have no photo – but I do have a memory of a very wet cat with a very annoyed look on his face.