Lemon & other colourful cats ...

I have a pet! ... Well, sort of ... Her name is Lemon ... Why Lemon, you ask? Well, if Gwyneth Paltrow can name her daughter after a fruit, why can't I name my cat after another fruit? ... Lemon isn't exactly the kind of pet I keep in the house ... I think her former owner abandoned her after they moved away from the apartment complex, so Lemon is left to wander the compound, searching for food ... And it so happened that she found me ...

Almost every time after I come back after work, when I had a job, Lemon would suddenly appear ... It's like she's tuned to the sound that my scooter makes, or maybe it's because I stink to Hell and back, back when the water rationing was in effect ...

Of course, the only reason she comes seeking me out is because I'm free lunch ... and dinner and breakfast ... I feel kinda guilty feeding her actually 'coz as we live in an apartment complex, there isn't much free ground for cats to do their, ahem, business ... As a result, with all the stray cats living in the premises, no thanks to people like me who keep encouraging them by giving food, these cats practically shit everywhere ... It's not such a big problem that you have to watch where you walk on the asphalt every single time, but if you're not careful, you might just step onto the occasional cat doody one fine day ...

But you should see Lemon when she does seek me out for food ... Her stomach is often bloated ... At first I thought she was gestating, but then she would disappear for a couple of weeks and then come back looking the same ... Maybe it's worms, I dunno ...

This is the sad situation with strays in this country, which then leads to the feral ones ... We don't often see stray dogs as we see stray cats, but the problem is prevalent, regardless which animal it is ... Being a country with a predominant Muslim population, dogs here are of course kept by non-Muslims while cats are kept by both Muslims and non-Muslims ... I cannot speak for the non-Muslims, obviously, but I do know some Muslims who do neuter or spay their pets ... But for the majority of Muslims, I don't think that they realize that it is alright for one to neuter or spay their pets ... According to the Fatwa portal under JAKIM, the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, citing a Saudi Arabian Mufti named Ibnu Utsaimin, (This link no longer exists) which I will translate to the best of my ability ...

If the cat population has become too much to the point that it "disturbs" the human population, while at the same time the decision to neuter or spay the animal does not in any way harm it, it is therefore not wrong to do so. This is better than to kill the cat after it is born. However, if the cat does not in any way disturb the general population, then let the cat live according to its fitrah, which is Arabic for you can Google it ...

Nevertheless, let me just point out that this Fatwa concerns only female cats, not male cats ... The not so Muslim side of me would think, "So, the horny tomcats can get away with it, but the female cats have to get the snip?" ... I have this stupid tomcat which keeps spraying at my scooter, whether I park it under the building or in the open ... I feel like castrating his balls just for the sake of it *with a look that means it* ... See how he takes it, the stupid furball! ...

I know, I know, it's just in their nature to do so ... But, you see, while owners may take their pets to the vet to get the snip, the unfortunate stray population are left to their own devices, which is of course to multiply and multiply some more ... There is only so much that the local SPCA can do ... The cost of spaying or neutering, for one, is not that cheap ... RM 80 for some may be small change, but not so for others ...

So, what should the general population do? If people take the time to educate themselves on this subject, they would learn that feeding a stray will only worsen the situation and not make the stray's life any better ... That's my opinion anyway ... It's better to take the animal to the local SPCA to have it neutered/spayed, and then let it back into the wilderness if it's feral ... This is what the Humane Society of the United States says so anyway ... If I had a million bucks, this is definitely one of those things I would do, God-willing ... I don't know how it is in other places, but here in KL, especially if you sit down at one of those open-air Mamak stalls to have a cuppa, invariably a stray cat would wander past, looking at you with their sad eyes ... It's bad enough to see a beggar beg for food ... At least a person would still have some dignity and ask with a kind face, I think ... What sort of dignity does a stray cat or dog for that matter has, but at the mercy of those who would feed it? ...

I think Lemon came into my life because God answered my prayer for a friend ... When all my so-called friends have somehow disappeared from my life, there came Lemon ...

Lemon purrs pretty loud when I stroke her, but I only do so when she's dry ... Never stroke a wet pussy for fear of overexcitement ...

Aha! After so many, many takes, finally get one with Lemon looking straight at the lens ... I guess it's true what they say about working with animals ... and children ...

The same goes for this beauty, which I found wondering outside the Internet cafe one time ... But I don't think she is a stray as her fur is pretty clean and soft ... I mean, who in their right mind would throw out a cat with two coloured eyes?

Btw, Milk, the cat which I fed milk a long time ago, hasn't been in the compound for a long time now, maybe a few years, give or take ... I fear that the fate that befalls all stray cat has finally caught up with her ... She's far better off in cat heaven, far far away from stupid horny tomcats ...

Update 15/11/2016 - According to Dato' Ustaz Hassan Mahmud Al-Hafiz, spaying a cat is haram, as we are going against its natural instinct to procreate. The only reason to allow the spaying of a cat is if not doing so will endanger the life of the animal, e.g. a disease that could put its life in danger if it becomes pregnant. Otherwise, as I have mentioned above, spaying a cat is going against its fitrah.