The cat didn't do it
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But there's no reasoning with a neighbour who simply doesn't like animals
THE MORNING starts as usual. The cats and the dog have all been fed, and everyone settles down for a morning nap.
Suddenly, we all hear yelling from the soi. The cats perk up at the noise. Wan-Wan, my poodle pup, runs to the door growling, also excited by the noise.
I’m rather proud of my dog. She doesn’t make all that much noise. All the other dogs on the soi bark at anything, especially Mee, the part-chow next door, but Wan usually keeps quiet until she’s ready to communicate. The message can be anything, from “There’s a human at the gate!” to “A cat’s in trouble!” to “Hello out there!”
The yelling this morning, though, doesn’t involve an animal. It’s a neighbour who lives across the street, and he’s communicating very loudly to Khun J, my next-door neighbour. They’re standing just outside my gate.
At first, I don’t listen too carefully. If the two of them want to fight, it’s not my business. The man is J’s older brother, and it may just be a family feud gone vocal.
Then I hear my name, as in “Laurie’s cat is dirty. Laurie’s cat leaves messes all over my patio.”
The man doesn’t like animals, although he used to feed the pigeons in the morning, scattering rice in the middle of the soi outside his gate.
“Birds eat, and then they fly away,” he once told me, adding disdainfully, “Cats come back.”
He should have looked up at the electric wires –and looked more carefully at the pigeons he was feeding.
Then he would have noticed that the birds did return, the same birds, although they did bring more and more friends. On days when he didn’t leave the rice out, the birds would sit on the wires, waiting, not understanding that breakfast was not available that day.
He no longer feeds the birds, though. Since our little soi has become crowded with cars coming and going, there isn’t enough room for the birds to settle on the ground to eat. Besides, the owners began complaining about the messes the birds dropped on their cars.
This man still carries out his war on cats. One morning, soi cat Thep, on the opposite side of the soi, was on his way to my gate when the man walked over and kicked him.
Okay. It wasn’t a strong kick, but it startled Thep, and it certainly shocked me. Thep jumped, then tried to hide.
I was standing there. The man didn’t look at me but turned his back and gazed at his own house. I walked past the man and over to Thep, picked him up and carried him into the house.
Wan immediately ran over and checked her friend out. Thep wasn’t injured, just frightened.
Well, Thep isn’t stupid. The man’s house is to the left of mine, and Thep no longer wanders on that side. When he comes to my house, he always comes from the right.
This morning, the man’s loud complaints puzzle me. Not only does Thep avoid that side, but he spent the entire night inside my house. He didn’t make those messes.
Perhaps the man doesn’t realise that more animals than what you actually see wander the soi. Since Thep now guards only half the soi, other soi cats have moved in to fill the void.
I’d try to explain to the man, but he’s too angry to listen. No one can calm him down.
When I explain to J later that Thep is innocent, she shakes her head. “You must understand,” she smiles. “My brother doesn’t care if it was your cat or not. He can’t tell the difference between one cat and another. He simply doesn’t like animals.”
