Happy 17th Birthday, Cow Mau!!!

By chankahyein, on Sunday, May 7th, 2023 8:17 am

Cow Mau is 17 years old today!!!

It was exactly 17 years ago that I chanced upon Cow, Bunny and Pole huddled up together on the wet grass by the roadside after the rain on 7th May 2006 on my morning walk. When I first saw them, I did not know what to do and I thought their mother cat would come back to get them, so I told myself I’d walk another round and if they are still there, I would have to take them back.

Well, they were still there, and what’s more, Cow had wandered off, appearing to look for help for Bunny and Pole.

So I took them back and the rest is history.

My first rescues.

Even as a little kitten, Cow Mau was the one who would wander off from their carrier in the kitchen, all the way out to the living room to ask us to give them food.

Cow taught our next rescue, Tiger, how to be a cat. He was a no-nonsense person, but also quietly very caring.

For six years, Cow and Bunny were the warrior CNRM-cats on our street in our old neighbourhood. They guarded the entire street, one brother at each alley and no other cat dared to come onto our street. You see, CNRM works. But in the process of being warriors, of course they got into fights too – so many that I might not remember all of them!

Once as a kitten, Cow sustained a big wound, as big as a 50 sen coin on his flank and needed three suturing surgeries for it. Why three? Because we didn’t put the e-collar properly and he kept getting out and biting the sutures off. The vet was amazed at how a little kitten like him could withstand the pain of a wound that big and still walked around like nobody’s business.

Cow had fight wounds too, and one was a paw wound that was so swollen, Ming-Yi, Jia-Wen and I had to handle him by soaking the paw into warm salt water every day. That paw wound looked terrible. I thought he stepped on purple jelly, but actually it was a wound. It looked so bad (yes, but you did not see the other cat!). Those were the days!

And Cow Mau got his ear “notched” during a fight too. The wound was pretty bad and the vet said part of his ear might have to be amputated if the wound refused to heal, but heal it did! So Cow Mau has a self-acquired ear notch. That time, we didn’t get neutered male cats ear-notched yet.

Cow, Bunny and Pole were looked after by Uncle Bobby, our mixed poodle. When Uncle Bobby was in his final years and blind, Cow, Bunny and Tiger looked after him in return. Cow’s duty was to take Bobby to his food bowl every day while Bunny and Tiger’s was to flank Bobby so that he wouldn’t bump into the furniture. Bobby would only eat after Cow had tasted the food. And once, Cow was quite sick, but still, he did his duty dutifully – he took Bobby to the food bowl, ate a little bit, then Bobby ate. That was how seriously Cow took his responsibilities.

Then, much later after we had moved, in one of the many, many internal fights, Indy scratched Cow’s eye. Indy is known for his marksmanship. When Indy defends himself in a fight, there was no two ways about it – you go to the vet’s. Cow had to undergo a 21-day period of being on the e-collar with his third eyelid stitched up. It was sheer torture for us to see him that way. But endure he did. However, sadly, the surgery was not successful as the vet did not see an injury underneath (Indy, what did you do?). So I had to take Cow to another vet who did something experimental on Cow. This surgery was a success and Cow’s eye recovered – as good as new!! I will forever be thankful to this vet for saving Cow’s eye.

Cow has mellowed through the years. He is now quite happily semi-retired from his warrior days, enjoying the sunshine. The operative word here is, “semi” retired…so, no funny business, Monsters!

And now, for a big, big secret…please scroll down, all the way.

Cow taught Tiger how to be a cat! They were only four months apart.

Cow Mau graced the front cover of my first book, Pawprints on my Heart!
A total of 14,100 copies have been published and distributed free of charge all over.