While many community cats in Singapore are well-loved by residents of their estates, with one woman in Yishun going so far as to make fast food-themed homes for them, that's not always the case.

One particular cat, who stays in the Kembangan-Chai Chee district, has had her cardboard box home removed or damaged multiple times since March 2022, and on at least two occasions, faeces was apparently left inside it.

Mothership first learnt about the plight of the brown tabby cat, named Chloe, from an Instagram post shared by user "wendy.flymeaway" on July 16.

Chloe, whose age is unknown, was found abandoned as a kitten about five years back.

One of her feeders arranged for her to be sterilised and released into the Kembangan-Chai Chee community, where she has been since.

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A post shared by Wendy Yeo (@wendy.flymeaway)

According to the post, Chloe's box, which had been set up by her regular feeders, and her water bowl, were removed on July 15.

And on the discarded box, which had a note written by the feeders (“Please do not remove this carton.”), somebody had scribbled a reply, “Please do not feed the cat."

Harassed on multiple occasions, feces left in house

When Mothership spoke to one of Chloe's regular feeders, a resident surnamed Wong, she said that this was not the first time Chloe had suffered such mistreatment.

Wong, who has been feeding Chloe every morning for the past three years, expressed that due to the tabby cat's timid nature, she tends to be "bullied by the other territorial cats".

She pointed out that Chloe’s box was placed behind a pillar, at an area with lower human traffic. The water in her bowl was also changed twice a day, with the food cleared after each meal time - in accordance with Cat Welfare Society feeding guidelines.

However, since Mar 2022, she estimated that the cat's box and water bowl have been removed every "two to three months", with some of the incidents recorded on her Instagram account.

On a cold rainy day in June 2022, Wong discovered that Chloe's cardboard house, towel, and water bowl were missing. She was huddling in the corner on the concrete floor till one of the residents got some dry cardboard for her to rest on.

In September 2022, someone upended the bowl of water left for the cat a few days in a row, spilling it onto the cardboard base where it had been placed.

The incidents have been occuring more regularly since mid 2023, Wong noted.

Chloe's house was removed once more in May 2023, and when her feeders found it, they were shocked to find that faeces of an unknown origin had been left inside.

This happened again in early June.

Faeces was left in the discarded box, while the cat's blanket was left on the ground.

Chloe was spooked and went into hiding.

The last two house removals took place slightly more than a week apart, on July 15, and most recently, on July 23.

Wong shared that on July 15, when she managed to locate Chloe and house her in a box at the next block, she was "visibly terrified" and refused to eat.

And on July 23, she found the cat hiding in a drain after losing her home yet again.

Wong pointed out that other community cats in the estate also had their homes removed, but that Chloe's case was the most egregious.

Female resident suspected to be the culprit

Wong initially thought that the estate's cleaners had been removing Chloe's boxes, but found out from them that they weren't the ones doing it.

She hadn't noticed any other residents mistreating the cat either.

In fact, Wong said that Chloe is "well-loved" by many, especially the young children in the estate, many of whom would look for her before and after school, and buy treats for her.

"I once had a little girl who came to ask me where Chloe had gone when she couldn’t find her at her box!" Wong added.

However, the feeder did recall an incident with a resident, who approached her and told her to stop feeding the cats, around early-June 2023.

The resident, a middle-aged Chinese woman, tried to reason with Wong that if she stopped feeding the cats in the estate, there will be “no cats here”.

Wong tried to explain to her about the vacuum effect -- that if community cats leave the area, other cats will move in to take their place -- but the woman was unconvinced.

She tried persuading Wong to feed the cats at the playground or on the pathway instead, but Wong told her it was not advisable as many kids would be playing in that area.

After the conversation, Wong made extra effort to feed Chloe out of sight to minimise potential conflict.

However, another resident recently told her that she had seen a woman with a similar description "angrily trashing Chloe’s box and water bowl" while wearing a face mask, on July 15.

The woman had allegedly written on the note affixed above Chloe's box as well.

Wong has asked other residents, some of whom are Chloe's fans, to keep an eye out if she shows up again.

She hopes to get the lady’s contact details in the hopes of working out a peaceful and amicable outcome with her.

Would monitor her more closely

Following the string of harassment Chloe has experienced, Wong plans to relocate the cat back to the estate she previously stayed at.

She also shared that she would monitor Chloe more closely after the recent incidents, but admitted that even with the help of sympathetic residents, "none of us can be with her or any of the cats 24/7".

Instead, she hoped that residents would be more compassionate towards community animals.

"After all, their existence is due to abandonment -- an act of humans, and not through any fault of the animal," she shared.

Used to have a phobia of cats herself

Surprisingly, Wong herself was not always a cat lover, but used to have a phobia of cats (ailurophobia).

During the pandemic, when she ventured out to exercise, she would feel uneasy due to the presence of the cats in the estate, even though they did not approach her.

Wong decided that she did not want to live in fear of the creatures, so she did some research online and also watched YouTube videos on people can avoid antagonising cats.

Gradually, she desensitised herself to cats through daily contact with them. She eventually grew to love them.

Because of her past experience, Wong felt she could empathise with residents with ailurophobia, who might be averse to seeing cats in their community, but asserted that "we need to learn to live with their existence".

Or at the very least, to have the basic compassion not to harm them or remove their homes.

"To you and me, this may be just a cardboard box. [But] to Chloe and the community cats out there, it is their home; their everything," she said.

'The nicer they are, the sooner they're gone'

When I asked Wong if Chloe would be housed in a nicer box after her harrowing experience, she said no, but not because it would be more troublesome to prepare.

She told me that in her experience, such beautifully-designed houses tended to attract unwelcome attention, and would be removed quicker.

"It’s sad because some of these beautifully-decorated houses are made by kids who genuinely want to give the cats a better box to rest in, but these are often gone within 24 hours, even when they’re placed at discreet locations that are in nobody’s way. When we [use] plain cardboard boxes, they remain there for weeks," she added.

"I’ve learned that the nicer they are, the sooner they’re gone."

For reference, here are some of Chloe's previous boxes:

How to help the community cats

Wong also provided some recommendations for those who are concerned about the fate of our community cats in Singapore.

If you would like to help community cats, you can consider:

• Adopting a community cat (but let the feeder know beforehand)
• Donating money or cat food to feeders near them
• Volunteering as a community cat feeder, while adhering to feeding guidelines
• Helping to look out for people potentially doing harm to these cats
• Spreading awareness about kindness to animals

Those who would like to help Chloe specifically can email Wong at [email protected].

Those who would like to find out more about community cats, or who require assistance with cat-related issues can visit the Cat Welfare Society website.

All images from Wong unless otherwise stated.