Cardamon & Cinnamon
Cardamon (Damon for short) and Cinnamon are two marmalade toms who have now taken to roaming Cory's old territory outside our apartment. They are distinguished thus: Cinnamon is a classic tabby with gorgeous swirls on his sides like a cinnamon roll. He first made his appearance a few months back as a big, handsome cat but has since deteriorated and become scrawny. We suspect that he used to belong to somebody and was either abandoned or got lost. Damon is much smaller (we reckon that he's only about Nutmeg's size) and has markings like Ricky and similar vocal characteristics i.e. meowy. We suspect that Damon and Ricky are siblings.
We've been feeding Damon for a couple of weeks or so, but have yet to establish a routine with him. We've only managed to feed Cinnamon once since he's quite elusive and very wary of humans.
Since they both roam the same stretch of road, they are rivals for food, territory and I suppose, females. The thing is that Damon always looses out in their confrontation due to his smaller and scrawnier size. Damon also has wounds, and plenty of them; some healed, some dried and healing, some fresh and oozing.
Just last Thursday, it was raining and I heard cat-fight sounds and looked out my balcony to see Cinnamon chasing Damon. Damon ran and hid in a culvert too small for Cinnamon to follow suit. I went downstairs with some food. Cinnamon ran away on seeing me although I tried to be as non-threatening as possible. On recognising me, Damon crawled out from the culvert to under a dripping car parked nearby. He was wet, dirty, cut and shivering. I felt so sorry for him, but all I could do was feed him. I tried drying him but he was too spooked for me to touch him.
We've since progressed to Damon responding to his name when I call. He would follow me part of the way when I walk away after feeding him but has yet to trust me enough to follow me all the way to the apartment, like Cory did.
We've been debating what to do with Damon. We could grab him and send him to the good vet to be fixed up, but then what? We don't think it'd be right to keep him, not in our current situation, and it's virtually impossible to find people willing to adopt grown cats. The good vet says that sometimes, we can only neuter and release these strays. And feed them too, it goes without saying, but it pains me to think that one day they'll disappear, and when I find them, they'd be flattened on the road, or dead in a gutter from pneumonia or other diseases that menace homeless cats. *big sigh*
p.s. Ricky came back the next day. Gravitas told MIL we'll take him away as soon as we can make some room for him. But I don't know..
We've been feeding Damon for a couple of weeks or so, but have yet to establish a routine with him. We've only managed to feed Cinnamon once since he's quite elusive and very wary of humans.
Since they both roam the same stretch of road, they are rivals for food, territory and I suppose, females. The thing is that Damon always looses out in their confrontation due to his smaller and scrawnier size. Damon also has wounds, and plenty of them; some healed, some dried and healing, some fresh and oozing.
Just last Thursday, it was raining and I heard cat-fight sounds and looked out my balcony to see Cinnamon chasing Damon. Damon ran and hid in a culvert too small for Cinnamon to follow suit. I went downstairs with some food. Cinnamon ran away on seeing me although I tried to be as non-threatening as possible. On recognising me, Damon crawled out from the culvert to under a dripping car parked nearby. He was wet, dirty, cut and shivering. I felt so sorry for him, but all I could do was feed him. I tried drying him but he was too spooked for me to touch him.
We've since progressed to Damon responding to his name when I call. He would follow me part of the way when I walk away after feeding him but has yet to trust me enough to follow me all the way to the apartment, like Cory did.
We've been debating what to do with Damon. We could grab him and send him to the good vet to be fixed up, but then what? We don't think it'd be right to keep him, not in our current situation, and it's virtually impossible to find people willing to adopt grown cats. The good vet says that sometimes, we can only neuter and release these strays. And feed them too, it goes without saying, but it pains me to think that one day they'll disappear, and when I find them, they'd be flattened on the road, or dead in a gutter from pneumonia or other diseases that menace homeless cats. *big sigh*
p.s. Ricky came back the next day. Gravitas told MIL we'll take him away as soon as we can make some room for him. But I don't know..
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