Temple Cats

As written in my previous post (*) Thailand’s temples usually have a fair amount of dogs.

When locals are getting bored with their dog(s) or have too many puppies, these usually end up being ‘dumped’ at a nearby temple, sad but true.

The same happens with cats/kittens but probably not in the same amounts as I see fewer felines compared to canines.

A month or so ago I was cycling around and looking for a shortcut but instead ended up at a temple where I noticed a monk feeding some cats.

As I was having other priorities I sort of put it away in the back of my mind as something worth checking out another time.

That time finally arrived last week after 40 minutes of cycling.

Some of the cats were a bit suspicious of this tall farang, but others happily ignored me.

There were some well-behaving dogs as well, miracles do exist!

A word of warning, despite the fact that cats are much less aggressive than dogs, one needs to be careful.

In 1986 my sister traveled with me to Bangkok, her first outside Europe experience and she was very impressed.

On Day 2 or 3 she decided to visit a temple by herself and being a cat lover couldn’t help noticing some kittens playing around.

She walked over to them, just to have a closer look, but so did the mother cat who freaked out and gave her a nasty scratch!

Therefore she ended up going to a hospital for her first rabies shot, especially in those days not a pleasant experience.

In general I admire temple cats from a respectful distance.

But whenever some walk over and start purring and rubbing themselves against my legs, I guess it's safe to tickle them a bit.

(*) https://www.art58koen.net/single-post/love-me-love-my-dog