We’re back in Kotor, Montenegro after a two-hour bus ride from Dubrovnik, Croatia. It rained only sporadically in Montenegro, so the view of the Bay of Kotor was great. We’ve been away for two weeks but Kelly Koh and her friends ran to greet us at the bottom of the stairs once they saw us. It’s a wonderful feeling to be liked and remembered by cats, especially homeless ones.

The vet-on-duty is the wife in the husband-and-wife team. She was the one who helped us with Waxy two years ago on our very first visit. She went to get a carrier, and seconds before he was transferred into the vet’s carrier, Kitty pooped a big stinking pile in our new hamper.

Hey, in the Malay language, “kotor” means dirty. If we’re not going to get ourselves dirty in Kotor, we don’t deserve its beautiful cats’ love, scratches and bites. At least that’s what I told myself when I was gagging.