17
November
2017
|
15:38
Asia/Singapore

For the love of cats

Plum currently calls University Town home

Each Tuesday come rain or shine, Year 3 NUS Business student Bob Gan heads to University Town after his classes to feed Ashy, Hobbes and Plum, the University’s furry four-legged members.

As Project Director of NUS CatCafé, a student organistion dedicated to caring for the approximately 11 stray cats on Kent Ridge campus, Bob is also in charge of the group’s finances as well as ensuring smooth operations between its four teams —  publicity, rehoming, events and cat welfare.

Many people commonly mistake stray cats for pests. We beg to differ. If they are properly cared for, they can co-exist peacefully in our community, and that’s where we come in.

NUS CatCafé was set up in 2009 as a sub-group under NUS People Ending Animal Cruelty and Exploitation (PEACE). The group relies on its 30-strong network of dedicated and passionate student and staff volunteers to run a Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage programme that involves identifying cat clusters on campus, trapping the cats for neutering and returning them to their territories where their well-being is monitored.

They also organise various activities throughout the school year, such as the Feline Therapy Programme which allows students to destress by interacting with cats and the Cat Vet Talk where experts are invited to share advice on cat welfare. There is also the Cat Walk which is organised each semester. The most recent installment in October saw more than 30 participants, split into groups of three to four, tour campus spots to meet and interact with NUS’ resident felines while gleaning nuggets of information from CatCafé members on the different kitties and topics like sterilisation and responsible feeding. Participants could also rent toys, purchase treats and take polaroid pictures with the cats, with the proceeds going towards funding CatCafé’s operations.

The students’ efforts help to humanely and effectively control the stray cat population on campus.  

“By managing the cats we are ensuring that they don’t become a disturbance to daily human life. Neutering the cats means they are less likely to mark their territory with urine and are also more amenable to regular feeding cycles and therefore unlikely to rummage through dustbins, canteens and residential areas in search of food. All this keeps the environment clean and prevents the spread of diseases. Controlling the number of cats in the community also maintains the ecological balance in the local environment,” explained Year 2 NUS Engineering student and Cat Welfare Director Lisa Ong.

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First-year NUS Design and Environment student Diyana Aqilah feeding mother and daughter duo Plum and Hobbes

Tan Mingrui, Year 2 NUS Computing student, has been a member of NUS CatCafé since joining NUS in August 2016. The cat-lover, who has one cat of her own, serves as the group’s Publicity Director as well as a regular volunteer feeder. She has recently added weekends to her feeder schedule to provide additional care for Casper, the gentle resident NUS Computing cat who fell ill and requires regular medicine.

Mingrui recounted a situation where Tommy, a relatively new cat at the School, became very territorial and started bullying Casper. “We initially thought it was because Tommy was not spayed and it was the hormones making him act that way, but things didn’t get much better after he was trapped and neutered,” she said. To mitigate this, the team ensures that Tommy is always well-fed and on a different level from Casper.

The other campus cats looked after by the members are Pip, Crumbs, M33y Thai, Belle, Emmy and George.

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Emmy taking a break

“Sometimes when I tell people about NUS CatCafé they will ask me if I have a lot of spare time and why I am taking care of cats. However, I think the question should be why aren’t people taking care of cats? Many people commonly mistake stray cats for pests. We beg to differ. If they are properly cared for, they can co-exist peacefully in our community, and that’s where we come in. There’s a need to change the public perception of stray cats,” said Bob.

To find out more about NUS CatCafé and how you can get involved, contact nuscatcafe@gmail.com.