'Mother of a thousand cats' tends forgotten felines

By Izul Abidi

PURWOKERTO, Central Java (JP): The pretty girl stopped her motorbike short of a garbage dump on Jalan Sudirman in Purwokerto. An older woman dressed in gray immediately hopped off the back seat.

"Come here, my friends," she called out.

Five alley cats stopped scratching in the garbage and scampered toward her. They meowed impatiently as she opened a plastic bundle containing rice with fish and chicken heads. She spread out the food with care on the sidewalk.

The nauseating combined odors of the garbage and the dirty animals did not seem to bother her in the five minutes she spent watching the feasting felines.

Tatik Soewandi, or the "mother of a thousand cats" as she is known in Purwokerto, goes through the same morning routine everyday.

The 64-year-old feeds thousands of stray cats on the way to her work as an English teacher at a local junior high school.

"My friend Puma, Mom has brought you and your friends something to eat," Tatik told a cat busily scratching for leftovers in a garbage pile.

She then tenderly caressed a scrawny, unsightly cat. "Poor Pancal. He has been sick lately. I gave him medicine, but he hasn't got any better."

Tatik is simply devoted to cats. She feeds the stray cats at morning, noon and dusk, and she also keeps numerous cats at home.

Her servant Suati said that at least 250 cats who died of old age were buried during her six years of service.

Tatik's home resembles a cat menagerie. Sometimes, the fishy aroma from leftovers punches the air. But Tatik is strict about hygiene in her home and does not worry about the spread of disease.

"If animals are cleaned and cared for properly, they will not be the cause of illness," she said.

Tatik's love for cats, house cats and strays alike, began when she was a young girl. "I don't recall when exactly, but my love for animals dates back to my childhood days."

Most people are disgusted by the sight of dirty, smelly stray cats. Tatik looks at caring for the animals as an effort to balance human relationships, keeping human relationships on an even keel with the environment, and also with God.

"These activities of mine are like a bartership for life received from God," she said philosophically. "My love for cats gives me invaluable, spiritual satisfaction."

She tenderly names each cat and can identify them on sight. Tatik always calls the strays "friends", and adds their personal appellation.

Some of her neighbors are cynical about her devotion to stray animals. They see it as an outlet for releasing frustration at never marrying. Yet there are also many who consider it the ultimate in social responsibility.

"I don't care what people say, I'm sure that my actions will be blessed by God," said Tatik, who also cares for two apes in home.

Tatik does not mind the expense of caring for her "friends", even if it means a daily expenditure of Rp 2,500 on food of rice, fish, chicken heads, vegetables and fruit. Tatik often has to buy medicine for sick animals or take them to the vet. At home, she keeps over-the-counter medicines like Mercurochromen and drugs for animals with intestinal problems, fever and influenza.

"I spend about Rp 2 million annually on my friends' health care," she said. This is a considerable sum for someone on a state teacher's salary.

She gives Suati a Rp 15,000 incentive a month in addition of her basic salary to prepare the food for the alley cats. Every month Tatik also hands over of Rp 2,500 to the city cleaner who removes any leftover food from the sidewalk.

Tatik earns the additional income to take care of the animals by giving English lessons outside of school to 150 junior high school students at a monthly fee of Rp 10,000 each.

But with the expense, additional work and time and energy spent visiting the cats, some may wonder what is the reason for Tatik's devotion.

"Love for animals brings luck," she replies simply.