A Short Tail About Cats

Of course we have all heard the popular old saying “Curiosity killed the cat.” but here in Thailand that might actually be the truth.

Back home in Canada it is always said that cats have nine lives and it usually seems true. I know our cat Norman has definitely had his own amount of close calls that by all rites should have been the end of him. One such event that comes to mind is falling through the ceiling in my father-in-laws basement (long story). It almost seems like the fates are on the side of preserving a cats life despite all the stupid attempts at death they seem to make.

Cats in Thailand just might have a few less lives than the cats back home. Perhaps it’s the fact that there are at least several million soi dogs living on the streets of Bangkok, or maybe its because people just aren’t as forgiving to cats here. Or perhaps there is some secret Chinese cult that thrives of devouring unsuspecting felines. Anyhow, for some reason there are far less cats than dogs on the streets of Bangkok.

There is one clue however as to why there are fewer cats. All cats in Thailand seem to have two things in common. The first thing is that they are all much smaller than cats back home. I would think this is a survival tactic similar to why many turtles in a tank refuse to grow large. The second thing they hold common is that they all have very short tails. But not just stubby tails as if they have shed them in lizard fashion to some would-be predator, I mean short in the manner of disfigurement.

I used to wonder why it was that all the cats in Thailand seem to have disfigured tails as if they had all been mysteriously frozen off or they had all simultaneously become victims of rocking chairs. But then I spied the common danger to a cats tail; speeding motorcycles.

If I haven’t already mentioned in previous blogs there are a very large number of motorcycles in Thailand. Gasoline is expensive here as it is everywhere on Earth and traffic is definitely in the epidemic phase of development, therefore most people travel by motorcycle. This results in an awful lot of short tail sources for the cats.

Imagine this all from a cats perspective. I recall the figure of speech “You look more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” Well, imagine what a street in Bangkok must look like to a curious cat. First they have to worry about the fact that there are 9.5 puss-encrusted, scraped up, desperate, soi dogs for every 1 cat in Bangkok. Then the cat has to consider that there might be a chinese cult lurking somewhere hoping to cleanse their spirits by consuming a kitty. Then there are the motorcycles. The machines that, to a cat, would be like a rocking chair equipped with an engine, a firecracker, and little piece of Hell on Earth. Then the fact that there is about 1 motorcycle for every person in Bangkok (roughly 15 million). This all couples together for one scared kitty amidst a sea of danger. And, every cat has obviously had at least one near death experience with a motorcycle as is painfully obvious by the look of their tails. But with nine lives, what are the odds they will ever learn. Besides, in Thailand, nine is rucky number.

*Note: Speaking of cats in Bangkok. Here is a somewhat current picture of our cat Norman taken by Tina and Terry (who are graciously caring and loving our cat in Winnipeg). We think he is now big enough that he could eat a Thai cat for breakfast.