Cats!

Twinkie and Mocha, happy together outside the kitchen door.
Mocha Toes waiting for dinner.

Twinkie thinking up his next stunt.
A catnap in the sun, former street cats now leading the soft domestic life.
"You found me!"
Jungle patrol.
"Sure, I might break this vase..."

By Tod Gimbel

One thing for certain is my family is NOT cat friendly. The story is that long ago Grandpa Harold had a bad experience where a cat scratched him.

The details are hazy. Maybe he was trying to sell in an aluminum siding job to a nice old German couple on Bremen street and their cat, sensing such a deal would strap it's owners for cash, causing them to stop serving fancy canned food instead moving to cheap dry kibble, lashed out at the tin man. Another possibility is one morning he was enjoying a nice toasted egg bagel with a big schmear of cream cheese and a pile of fresh nova lox when a feline hopped up onto the table and snatched the lox and ruined his breakfast. The last alternative is that at some point in his early career he was beaten to a big sale by a member of the Katz family and the experience soured him forever against anyone or anything Katz or cats.

Whatever the true cause might be, this dislike, bordering on hatred, has been passed on through the generations. It is also bolstered by the fact that most of us Gimbels are allergic to the furry critters causing our eyes to water and our noses to run.

Anyway, but for a very brief (less then 3 days if I recall) time when we had a cute little brown kitten named Farfel in about 1968, there have been no cats in the family. Until now.

Singapore, like most of Asia, is teeming with stray cats and dogs. These street urchins live off the land and appear to be fruitful and multiply. In our old neighborhood there was a colony of cats. For a long time they had a great gig. They hung out in a parking lot of a high rise condo in front of a sushi restaurant. The people at the restaurant kept them fat and happy with fresh fish every night.

About a year ago the condo was sold en banc (a very common thing in Singapore when a building gets to be 10-15 years old) to make way for a newer, more hip and expensive condo development. First thing to go was the restaurant. One day they just moved out. The cat colony had grown to about 30 with new kittens popping out regularly and their primary food source was gone.

Some nice neighbors fed and watered the cats and we saw them every time we walked up the street. We started to recognize them and gave them names. Sophia spearheaded a project to get them all fixed so the colony would stop growing. To make a long story short, her project, Project Catsnip, was a huge success. Over the course of several months she and her team captured, sent off for fixing, and returned almost 30 cats.

Because they were fed and watered and people stopped by to see and hang out with them, many of the cats were very socialized. Their hangout was off the road and in a nice place for people to sit and chat and play around with the friendly cats. We stopped by regularly and got to know cats we named Fraidy, Ginger, Milo, Mocha Toes, Meowy, Big Mama, Crook Neck, Cloudy Eye, Gimpy and more. Sophia's efforts led to the adoption of many of the friendliest cats. We seemed to always end up petting and hanging with Mocha, Meowy and Cloudy. Miraculously my allergies weren't too bad.

Soon the building was sealed off and the demolition was ready to begin. The remaining cats were pushed out into the street, their territory blocked off from them. Sadly one day we found out Cloudy had been hit by a car and killed. It was really very sad. I became convinced we should take one or two for ourselves.

Sophia picked Mocha (one of my favorites too) and I selected Meowy. A risky selection since he got his name because he is so vocal. Each time we visited and left he would follow us to the edge of his territory meowing. Both were always friendly and liked to jump into our laps. When we got our gear - carriers, food, toys etc. and went to pick them up. Meowy, true to his name, made noise all the way down the street.

We got them home and parked them in our 3rd floor guest room. We also decided to change Meowy's name in an effort to see if that caused him to be less vocal. He became Twinkie. For the last part of our stint on Emerald Hill road the two cats got to know each other better by romping around in their spacious room. Unfortunately it was sleep depriving for us since they did much of their loud romping in the wee hours.

Now firmly ensconced in our new place, Mocha and Twinkie are in charge. While we mostly keep them out of the bedrooms (both Myrna and I are allergic but so far not too badly), they run the place.

I really like them both and can see their distinct personalities. Mocha, the girl, is very mellow and friendly. She likes to play by herself and cuddle up on anyone's lap. Twinkie, the boy, likes to run the show, push Mocha around at times, jump on the table or counter in search of a bite to eat and also remind of of his original name when it's almost feeding time.

My conclusion is that while they are not as loyal or devoted as dogs and can never replace our first pet/child Mitzvah, they are very loveable and are now an important part of our family. While he will probably not admit this in a group of Gimbels, Noah also has taken a liking to the cats and may miss them more then he misses us when he heads back to the US next month.