Our day started at 6:00 am. By 7:00 am, I had already twisted my ankle running for the taxi. By 8:00 am, we were on a bus from Tirana, Albania to Kotor, Montenegro. On the bus were fellow Malaysians – a mother-and-son duo. The 10-year-old boy was an absolute delight and we enjoyed chatting with his Mom. An elderly German man who overheard us said he lived in Malaysia for five years when he taught at University of Malaya.
This is our third time in Kotor. In 2017, we fell in love with Waxy and the three sisters – Kelly Koh, Egyptian and Timid al Kotor. We only managed to catch and spay Waxy, mainly because she was so sick she couldn’t run away, and because she liked me.
In 2018 we visited again. Waxy had died a few months before we arrived. We saw the evil neighbor stomping on Kelly Koh’s kitten’s head, killing it. We saved the last one of her kittens and thankfully Danijela, a local shop owner and local cat lady, took him in and found a home for Little Kelvin. We managed to spay Kelly Koh but she cried so much for her baby, I’m worried the evil neighbor has killed her too.
I recognized Pity-Me-Face immediately. I don’t think he recognized me, he’s just friendly with anyone who feeds him.
Reality didn’t deliver
Today, we got into Kotor at around 3:00 pm. I fantasized about Kelly Koh waiting for us at the top of the stairs, but she wasn’t there; just like how Waxy wasn’t there when we returned last year. However, there were two new sickly kittens among a few mature cats, including Timid al Kotor. I immediately poured them some food.
I looked up at the window of the third-floor neighbors (the cat lovers). Right at that moment, the wife was looking down at me. We greeted each other. She told me the two little kittens have another sibling. They belong to Timid al Kotor. The lady’s husband came to the window to greet us. I couldn’t communicate to them my question about Kelly Koh.
If it wasn’t raining, there would be at least four cats on these stairs. The two lower green windows on the left are where our Airbnb is.
I also couldn’t communicate to them why we didn’t return last November like we said we would. I now have a translation that says we had to rush back to California because Kenric’s Grandpa passed away; we stayed with his Grandma for five months; and the phone number the wife gave us is a wrong number. I’ll show them that tomorrow.
Kotor has changed a lot in the last year
We went to two grocery stores to buy cat food. We stopped by our favorite restaurant, Scala Santa, to say Hi to our favorite waiter, Momo, and his manager, Pedja, but they both no longer work there. Kotor has changed a lot in the last year.
Even our Airbnb has gone through some renovations. Yet, the broken laundry hamper remains. It’s the one we used to carry Waxy, Kelly Koh, and Little Kelvin to the vet, and I intended to bring the two sickly siblings to the vet in it too. I named the yellow and white one Pedja, and the black and white one Momo.
They were friendly kitties so I was extremely shocked when Pedja bit and clawed at me so freaking hard it drew blood from both hands. I knew I would never get another chance so I didn’t let go, even when it had an “accident” and got poo on me. Alas, Pedja was in the laundry hamper but the commotion must have scared Momo off. I couldn’t find him. We quickly washed off the poo and headed for the vet.
Poor kitty. Born only to suffer and die young.
Another customer’s cat had been hit by a car
At 6:00 pm, we arrived at the vet. He had just arrived for his evening clinic hours. He was happy to see us again. We let another man go in first because his cat had just been hit by a car. The vet said that cat will survive.
He gave Pedja some antibiotics for the raw wounds on his hind legs and said he will sterilize him/her and return him to the Gurdic Gate area where I caught him.
Pedja was a feisty biter scratcher. Luckily, the vet lent me these heavy-duty gloves.
When we arrived back at the stairs leading to our apartment, Momo was peacefully sitting on the landing. Kenric thought it was a little crazy, but agreed that we should scoop him up while we had the chance. So, we made another 40-minute round-trip walk to the vet. He was amused when we said we caught the sibling too. He said he will put them together but not too close, because Pedja was still very angry. Momo was a very cooperative patient and will be sterilized soon.
Poor Momo trying to stay out of the rain. All these poor kitties are born only to suffer and die young.
Dr. Cetkovic locking up Momo who was a very cooperative patient.
We got antiseptic spray for my bite and scratch wounds, had dinner at a new steakhouse and are now washing our clothes using the hot water cycle. As the long day draws to a close, I hope to wake up to Kelly Koh screaming at the third-floor neighbor’s window for her breakfast.
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