8-Year-Old Boy in Zhangzhou Builds Small Shelter for Stray Cats
Located beside the Tianlong Name store on the Zhangzhou District, there is a 'small house' made of wooden supports with a soft glass mat on top. 'Here is food, here is shelter for stray cats!' Seeing these words on the card, one knows this 'cat house' is specifically for stray cats. The cat house is divided into four small rooms, each with a soft cat bed. A bowl with cat food and water is placed beside it.
Who built this loving stray cat shelter? It was Mr. Cai, the owner of Tree Wren Piano Shop in this community, and his 8-year-old son, Xiao Cai.
Joy with Meis Xiao Cai's favorite book. This work, which won the Newbury Children's Literature Award, tells the story of a young boy named Matthew and a dog named Joy who share mutual love. Xiao Cai was deeply moved and full of love for small animals, believing he should help them. During this holiday, Xiao Cai and his mother watched Earth Pulsetogether. Whenever they saw images of animal mothers taking their babies to forage while avoiding pursuit, Xiao Cai would feel sad, remembering the poor stray cats in the community, 'These cats lack security and will hide if anyone approaches.'
'I see many stray cats in the community every day, either abandoned by their owners or they run out because they were abused. They are very pitiful.' Xiao Cai said. Seeing the stray cats searching for food in the garbage bins, he worried they would get sick because of the unhygienic conditions. 'It rained a few days ago, and it would be great if these cats had their own houses to shelter them from the rain.' So Xiao Cai told his parents about his 'wish to give the stray cats a home,' and his parents fully supported him.
Without hesitation, last week, Xiao Cai and his father, Mr. Cai, started searching for pictures of cat houses online and drew a simple design. Subsequently, they borrowed a saw and other tools and, using readily available materials—thin wooden boards from a dismantled piano and spare soft glass mats, they built the stray cat house themselves.
'Every piece of wood was cut and sawed by me and my dad, then we pieced them together and nailed them to fix them. I participated in every step.' It took four hours, and they were covered in sweat. Finally, the cat house was built, but the reality differed from the design. Xiao Cai was disappointed, 'Dad, the cat house isn't very beautiful, will the kittens come?' 'Son, you are already very great, the cats will come,' Mr. Cai said. He believed this was a wonderful family interaction experience and also exercised his son's ability to operate tools.
After the cat house was completed, Xiao Cai and his father bought cat food at the pet store. After putting cat food and water in the bowl, Xiao Cai observed the cats every day. The day before yesterday, Xiao Cai finally saw a cat come over upstairs, bending over and eating cat food. Xiao Cai was very excited and rushed down to take a closer look, but he scared the cat away. Xiao Cai regretted, 'Because the cat doesn't know me yet, I got excited and forgot, I'll feed them more, and they will become my friends.' Yesterday afternoon, another cat came over and almost finished the cat food in the bowl. Xiao Cai observed it for a while and realized that this cat didn't run away from him. He was very happy and thought that this cat had begun to regard him as a friend.
