I like cats! No, I am not a cat person with 27 cats in my house, but I had cats as pets in America for a long time. Apart from domestic cats, I also like stray cats. I like the way they survive, fierce little independent creatures! They look upon humans with an amused disdain and indifference, they handle stray dogs and other animals with ease, and they hunt, beg and steal food everyday. They are tough little creatures.
But the harsh lives they live and exposure to the brutal winters in North America have an impact on their bodies – many are skinny, battle-scarred , their coats lack luster and shine. The domestic cats look good but as you may have noticed, almost all of them are fat, many are obese.
One of my calico cats in USA, up to the age of about two and a half years, was gorgeous – shining coat, sparkly eyes, and a muscular physique. Soon enough, he started getting fat, although he never became obese unlike his orange brother. It was partly my fault for not providing enough stimulus for him to exercise, partly his fault – he liked to lounge around and groom himself a lot.
Anyways, after retiring in India, I found most cats are strays or semi-strays – Indian houses are open access all year and cats come and go as they please. Most of them, again, don’t look very healthy.
Imagine my surprise when I noticed a cache of cats around the local fish stalls. These hang out at the roadside fish sellers in the morning. Their sole diet is fish guts and occasionally small pieces of fish. This is possibly the best diet for cats!
They get enough exercise because they get chased around by stray dogs everyday!
They look really healthy, shiny coat, sparkly eyes and very cute. Take a look!
The cats are patient, they never try to steal from the seller, and they defend their territory fiercely!
Lucky stray cats!