The Reunion of the 'Longkang' Cats

Last Sunday was a very special day for me and ten others. It was the day we reunited the longkang cats. (Longkang means "drain" in Malay and it was in one that they were found crying.)

I had long wanted to bring my five cats together again, but thought it would never happen. That was until Melvin suggested it. And when all the other adopters supported the idea, my heart sang. My babies were going to be in the same room with me once more.

So it was arranged for The Reunion to take place on the last Sunday of February at 6pm. Melissa and her family very kindly opened their lovely house to us for the event. Her mother even made dinner for all of us.

I arrived half an hour early that evening. I presented Melissa's mother with a small bouquet of flowers to thank her for welcoming us into her home and making dinner too.

Then I fussed over Gucci.

He was looking very good indeed. He had grown a great deal and his coat is even more beautiful than I remembered.

Melissa's family chirped happily about Gucci and showed me his favourite napping spots and the naughty things he had been up to, like crying like a baby when he doesn't get enough attention and tearing apart the furniture.

Melvin and Stephanie showed up soon after with Bombay and Bangles in their carriers, followed by Dennis and Jessie with Cloey and Jackie.

Okay... let me introduce to you the longkang cats and their adopters.

Here is Gucci with Melissa and Kenny.

This is Bombay with Stephanie and Melvin.

And here are Jessie and Dennis. Cloey and Jackie aren't in this photo with them because the two kitties are so good-natured with other humans and felines that they were quite busy making friends with everything and everyone in sight.

Gucci retains his title as largest of the litter.

Cloey is still the smallest, even though she has grown a fair bit. And while her body has filled out, her face still looks very kittenish.

Jackie is still the thinnest of the group. And her scratched eye still looks dopey. But I was very pleased to see that she remains a very energetic and affectionate kitty.

Bombay and Bangles are... well, what can I say? I've been seeing them regularly and so have all of you blog readers.

You know, all of us had this great vision of a very romantic reunion for the cats, where they would mew lovingly to each other and groom one another fondly. The entire would be filled with loud contented purring.

Alas... it was not to be.

Instead of purring, there was hissing. Instead of mewing, there was spitting. Instead of licking and grooming, there were frantic scramblings all around the room to get away from each other.

Sadly, the cats have clean forgotten each other. Sigh...

Gucci was the most hostile. When he was about 3 months old, I noticed that he was beginning to separate himself from the group. And now that he has been the only cat in the house for 5 whole months, he certainly wasn't about to start tolerating any other.

He would crouch low whenever any of his siblings approached. He would snarl and hiss at them.

And then he would run away at lightning speed into the next room and hide under the table.

Or he would crouch under the chairs, while Melissa and her family tried their best to calm him down.

What moved me most was watching Melissa's father stroke Gucci tenderly and talk to him in a soothing voice. Her father was the one I was most concerned about initially because he had objected to Gucci's adoption due to his colour. He felt that black was inauspicious.

Just look at them now. You wouldn't have guessed their rough start together.

Cloey was the exact opposite of Gucci. While he was all snarly and hissy, she was perfectly at ease with all the other cats. At one point, she was chasing Bombay down, trying desperately to give her brother a friendly sniff and maybe invite him to play. But Bombay kept running away and would only turn around to give her a loud hiss to warn her to stay away. Poor Cloey would wear this terribly disappointed and sad look on her face and walk away.

After being rejected by all her brothers, Cloey turned her attention on a ball and amused us with a game of solo soccer.

Jackie, like her sister Cloey, was very comfortable with the other cats too. That's because both girls live with both cats and dogs back home. So unlike their brothers, they were quite cheery.

Bombay was somewhere in between Gucci and Cloey. He wasn't hostile, but he wasn't friendly either. He was uninterested perhaps.

Bangles was the other cat who took to the reunion badly. He ducked for cover under the sofa in the hall and never moved from that spot the entire night. And that'll explain my lack of photos of him.

In the photo below, that's Gucci lying on top of the couch and hiding below would be poor Bangles.

But while the reunion for the cats was not going smoothly, their adopters were enjoying each other's company.

They exchanged funny stories about their cats, listened to the problems each were facing and offered advice when they could.

Even though there wasn't much love among the cats, I was very happy to observe the deep love shared by the adopters and their pets.

As I sat there watching everyone, I could not deny that all the good things I had hoped for each cat had come true.

I want to thank Jessie and Dennis, Melissa and Kenny, Melvin and Stephanie, and their families for taking in the longkang cats... for loving them and caring for them in the best way that they can.

~5-Cat Style