About Rescuing a Stray Cat in My Hometown

Last time I wrote about rescuing a stray cat in Tokyo in Chinese, but this time I will write about rescuing a stray cat in China in Japanese.

I had a meal with a friend I’ve known since elementary school, whom I hadn’t seen in a while. He is currently working as a pilot for a local airline in our hometown and brought along some friends from the aviation industry.

After the meal, I spotted a stray cat in the parking lot next to the restaurant. My first impression was that the cat was very friendly.

I quickly noticed the cat had a significant injury on its skin, which looked like it was about to peel off.

Unfortunately, we had plans to go somewhere else, so I had to leave the cat behind.

The next day at noon, I discussed adopting the stray cat with my parents, but they refused. The reason was that we already had another cat at home, and adding a new one might be tough on the existing member.

However, my parents are generally the type of people who often feed stray cats around the neighborhood.

I tried to convince them by saying, "If you don’t rescue the stray cat until the end, it’s better not to feed it, as it will cause stray cat problems in the town," and "Our way of dealing with stray cats is correct," but I failed to persuade them.

Even if I couldn’t keep it at home, I wanted to help. I thought I could find a foster home for it somehow. That afternoon, I went back to the restaurant.

Before going, I bought a box and some wet cat food nearby. Unlike the friendly but cautious stray cats in Tokyo, this cat showed no wariness towards humans, so I thought this would be enough.

When I arrived, the cat was not at the spot from the previous night. I asked the owner, and she said that the stray cat had been seen around our area but she didn’t know where it was now.

I told her to let me know if she saw it again and exchanged WeChat contact information with her.

Just as I was about to leave, the stray cat appeared! I quickly set up the box and placed an opened can of food inside. It was easily caught. Even though I was already in a taxi, it seemed completely focused on the wet food and didn’t realize it had been caught at all.

First, we went to the animal hospital. After a diagnosis, it turned out that the skin injury looked like it had been burned with hot water. Moreover, its whiskers were burnt off, and there were injuries around its neck as if it had been strangled. Someone must have done something terrible to it.

The treatment began by removing the dead skin.

When discussing with my parents, my mother seemed to oppose more firmly than my father, so I informed my father that the cat had already been to the hospital. A few days later, I had to return to Japan.

While looking for a foster home, I added my father to the chat group with the animal hospital staff so he could check on the cat. My father reluctantly went to visit the cat.

In the end, my parents didn’t resist too much, and they accepted the cat. Since there was a peeled area on its neck, my parents named it "Kato" after the pronunciation in Nanchang dialect (kā tóu māo), which sounds similar to "Kato Mao" in Japanese.

Challenge one: It went into heat.

When we got home, the smell was so overwhelming that my mother’s mahjong friends couldn’t stand it, and the cries were so loud that they kept us up at night. Since it was always crying towards the window, it seemed that other female stray cats around the house were also in heat, which made Kato go into heat as well. Since it was still recovering, it couldn’t be neutered, so my parents had to endure a lot during that time. I felt sorry for my parents. When I suggested looking for a foster home, my mother, who had initially opposed the most, said, "This child has a peeled area on its neck, so it’s not clean, and no one will want to adopt it," so Kato remained at home.

Challenge two: Getting along with the existing cat, Shacho.

As you might guess, Shacho is the name of our existing cat. Kato, who hadn’t been vaccinated, was kept in a separate room at first, and its cries were so loud that Shacho became very anxious and lost a few kilograms.

Even while I’m writing this, Shacho and Kato still have occasional fights. My parents really like Shacho, so no matter how good something is, they always prioritize Shacho. It seems Kato knows this rule and is always waiting next to Shacho. But there are still fights. Observing the fights, it seems Kato wants to play with Shacho, but Shacho, having only lived with humans from the start, doesn’t know how to play with other cats and seriously considers Kato as an enemy.

Before Kato arrived, Shacho always left the wet food in the bowl and ate at its own pace. Now, it can’t finish its food quickly, and Kato, who has already eaten its share, finishes it all. In the end, Shacho has no choice but to eat quickly. I feel sorry for Shacho too.

In satisfying my own compassion, ultimately, it’s not me but my family members, my parents and Shacho, who have paid various costs. I think it might be better to hold back on such things.