A Cat That Is No Longer With Us

A Cat That Is No Longer With Us

LayLay (J&K HIM LAY LAY) was a cat that is no longer with us. He was one of the four cats: SiSi , DorDor, BearBear, and LayLay. After his birth, LayLay was very weak. Although the mother cat was experienced and skilled at raising kittens, frequently exposing her belly for the kittens to nurse, LayLay was so weak that he couldn't even muster the strength to crawl to her nipples to feed. We could only watch helplessly as nature took its course, or attempt to save him by tube feeding, as per the literature. Although we had prior experience with tube feeding, it was always a nerve-wracking process because one wrong placement into the lungs could be fatal within a day. Tube feeding required feeding every few hours, and under severe sleep deprivation, ensuring zero mistakes was crucial to keep him alive.

Days went by, and we eventually managed to snatch LayLay's life back from the hands of nature's reaper. Although his life was preserved, his congenital deficiencies made it difficult for him to absorb and digest food properly. At several months old, he still couldn't eat dry food on his own and needed to be fed with a spoon for extended periods. Perhaps due to being hand-fed from infancy through his kittenhood, he became more attached to humans than other cats. He never resisted any grooming or cuddling and would always seek out human touch
whenever someone sat on the sofa.

LayLay did not have a strong physique, so there was rarely any news about him from the cattery. Fate, however, is fair. Despite his challenging life, as he matured, it seemed as though fate wanted to reward his vitality by giving him a pair of large, round, deep blue eyes, a hallmark of the color-pointed Exotic Shorthair cats.

As he grew older, we hoped he could become a father, but possibly due to his weak constitution, he was never able to successfully mate with any female cats. For his future, we decided to neuter him and find him a forever home. After much careful selection, we unfortunately chose the wrong owner, which resulted in more health issues for LayLay. Eventually, we had to take him back.

In a fortunate turn of events, a cat parent introduced Kai Wa, who is LayLay's current owner, to us. Based on his professional background, we believed he could take good care of LayLay. In Kai Wa's care, LayLay surprisingly won competitions and quickly earned the title of Grand Premiership. Encouraged by other cat parents, LayLay began to compete for the annual awards.

From an impossible distance, LayLay gradually closed the gap. By the end of the year, during the last three competitions, he started urinating in the show cage, likely due to stress. He climbed from a ranking of over 40 to the 20s, and with two competitions left, he was ranked 26th, only a dozen points behind the 25th-ranked cat. Theoretically, there was a chance to reach 25th place in the remaining two competitions. However, after the third-to-last competition, when his owner came to pick him up, LayLay immediately walked over to the rest cage to seek a pat upon hearing Kai Wa's voice, signaling it was time to retire from the competitions.

Although many pointed out there were still two competitions left, in our hearts, LayLay was already a champion. For a cattery breeding pedigree cats, awards are essential recognition. However, breeding, competing, awards, fame, and fortune can easily lead one astray from their original intentions. We hope that in the days to come, we can maintain our original intentions and continue to move forward.

Finally, we would like to thank LayLay's owner for the excellent care given to LayLay's and for returning him to the cattery for grooming during the competitions. We hope to see you again at future gatherings.

一隻「已不在世」的貓

梨梨（J&K HIM LAY LAY）是一隻「已不在世」的貓，他是士、多、啤、梨中的梨梨。出世後，梨梨身體非常虛弱，雖然母貓不是第一次生產，很會帶幼貓，她常常反出腹部，讓各貓B吸食貓奶，但梨梨身體虛弱到連爬上母貓乳頭吸奶的力氣都沒有。我們只能眼睜睜地看他在自然界中被淘汰，或者按文獻教導的方法，嘗試用胃管餵飼他。雖然我們之前也有使用胃管餵飼的經驗，但每次使用都非常緊張，因為只要一次錯放在肺部，那幼貓可能不出一天便會送命。而且胃管餵飼的次數是數小時一次，在嚴重缺眠的情況下，要保持萬無一失，才能保住他的性命。

日子一天天過去，我們最終能從自然界的死神手中討回梨梨的生命。雖然留住了他的性命，但他先天的不足，使得梨梨不易吸收與進食，數月大仍不懂自行進食乾糧，需要長時間用匙餵他進食。可能由哺乳到幼貓期一直人手餵飼，他比其他貓更黏著人。無論任何美容、抱玩，他從不抗拒，而且只要有人坐在沙發上，他就會主動走到沙發上黏著人討摸。

梨梨沒有健壯的外形，所以貓舍很少有他的消息。上天總是公平的，雖然他有著不容易的生命，但當他成熟後，上天似乎要讚賞他的生命力，給予他一雙又圓又大的深藍眼，這正是重點色異短貓的賣點。當他年紀漸長，我們很想他成為父親，但可能因為他的底子，一直未能成功相配到任何母貓。為了他的未來，只好絕育並替他找一個永遠的家。在千挑細選的情況下，竟然我們為他找錯了主人，令他在健康上再次出現問題，最終貓舍只好收回梨梨。

在偶然的情況下，一位貓家長介紹了現在梨梨的主人Kai Wa給我們認識。基於他的工作背景，我們相信可以把梨梨交託給他。在Kai Wa手中，梨梨竟然能在賽場中獲取賽項，並且在短時間內取得超級絕育貓（Grand Premiership）的名銜。在其他貓家長的鼓勵下，梨梨開始向年度大獎進發。

從不可能的距離，到逐步靠近，直到年度尾最後三場賽事，可能比賽令梨梨產生不少壓力，他開始在賽籠中排尿。從最初40多的排名，追到20多的排名，剩下最後兩場賽事時，梨梨排在第26名，距離當時第25名的貓隻只差十多分。按理餘下的兩場賽事，是有機會爭上第25名。但在最後第三場賽事完結時，主人來接他，梨梨一聽到Kai Wa的聲音便已經走近休息籠旁向主人討摸，那就知道是時候停賽了。