Chronicling Vicky: the Cat that Walked in
By Solace A. Dolot (23S41)
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For the past several weeks, students walking past the canteen benches by the Malay food stall may have noticed a new resident of Victoria Junior College (VJC): a grey tabby cat named Vicky.
Generally nonchalant, sleepy, and eager for wet food, the cat had come a long way from its feral origins when it first entered the college. However, as of 30 April 2024, the college stated that they wanted Vicky removed from the compound by the end of Term 2.
The news has left some students disappointed. Awaiting the inevitable, Victorians have since been coddling and petting the cat, preparing to say goodbye.
Meet and Greet
Meet and Greet
The earliest known sighting of Vicky was at around 8 p.m. on the first Monday of the term (18 March 2024). Vicky had dashed into the Concourse from the direction of the staff room before quickly hiding in the drain.
At the time, Vicky was skittish and hissed at any human that came close, evidently a feral stray.
The earliest known photograph of Vicky. Photographed by Author that day at 7.46 p.m.
Over the subsequent weeks, periodic reports of sightings cropped up of a tabby cat around the school. First, at the lecture theatre landing, then the grass around the treehouse, before finally under an air-conditioning unit in the canteen, where Vicky settled in.
Likely coming to the canteen for food, Vicky had become more comfortable with humans. It no longer hissed at people, instead coming up to brush against them and accept pets. Students had also begun to feed the cat, calling it various names. These included A.C. after the air-conditioning unit it stayed under, and ENSO, after El Niño-Southern Oscillation, which was what the J2 H2 Geography students were learning at the time.
Vicky nuzzling and being petted by a group of students. Photographed by Author on 11 April 2024.
However, the cat’s presence had caught the attention of the school authorities.
To Keep or Not to Keep?
To Keep or Not to Keep?
Citing concerns over potential ‘abuse’ from students, a tutor reached out to the student group, Yarnimals for Animals (Yarnimals), for help removing the cat from the compound.
Yarnimals is a VJCares initiative by a few J2 students aimed at fundraising for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). They created and sold handmade crochet animals (or Yarnimals) and had previously set up an animal shelter donation drive in VJC.
Since they had contacts with SPCA and Love Kuching Project (LKP), a local cattery, the tutor had approached them to organise a humane and safe removal of the cat.
However, the group hesitated on doing so.
Firstly, they were unsure if SPCA’s likely trap-neuter-release (TNR) method would be best for the cat. Yarnimals and other students had pointed out the cat had ‘fast and uneven breathing’. They thought it was likely sick and so may not survive outside.
Moreover, since TNR typically involved releasing the cat near the pick up site, the cat could simply return to VJC anyway.
Originally, the tutor preferred relocating the cat because they saw ‘abuse’ from the students as inevitable.
According to SPCA themselves, the organisation had observed a 79% increase in animal cruelty cases in 2023, totalling 915 in an ‘11-year high’ (SPCA, 2024). A majority of the cases concerned welfare and neglect, where owners subjected the animals to adverse living conditions, including through abandonment or lack of safety measures to prevent injury and death to the animals.
Moreover, this had not even touched on hygiene, allergen, and responsibility concerns.
However, VJC was not the only college with a cat at the time. Quite prominently, Tampines Meridian Junior College (TMJC) had a cat too, a calico cat named Popo.
Pictures of Popo. Photographed by Koh Jun Wei (23A101) from TMJC.
Popo has its own unofficial Instagram page (@thatsmyjcat, after @thatsmyjc, the official Instagram page for TMJC). According to the page and testimonies from other TMJC students, their Operations Manager (OM) was in charge of taking care of Popo.
After Yarnimals’ appeal, VJC conducted dialogues with multiple students and non-teaching staff, where they found that everyone they interviewed was welcoming of the cat.
In fact, according to the non-teaching staff, there was an incident years back where a pregnant cat wandered in. The litter it birthed remained in VJC, free to roam.
The then-Vice Principal allowed the non-teaching staff to feed the cats. The food was paid for by the students, after a previous animal welfare group managed to rally them together.
“We are taking inspiration [from it],” said a member of Yarnimals, who preferred to only be known as B.
To assess student opinion, Yarnimals disseminated an online survey in conjunction with Esther Sng Hong Oon (23S54), who had previously helped them secure meetings with the school leaders. Many students responded that they were willing to pay for food and help with veterinary bills—even so far as fostering the cat before and after sterilisation.
Yarnimals also reached out to SPCA, LKP, and the Cat Welfare Society (CWS) to scout possible relocation sites and to hear professional opinions on the matter.
With CWS, they secured free sterilisation for Vicky, needing only a confirmed date from the college before it could go through. However, LKP was unable to take in Vicky because they were at maximum capacity.
Feeding was another issue Yarnimals consulted them on. If Vicky stayed, they could either take TMJC’s approach and directly feed it following a feeding roster, or take Victoria School’s laissez-faire approach with their cat.
“Feeding the cat under schedule would make it entirely dependent on us,” B explained. “Which is a concern during school holidays when we aren’t able to feed.”
The cats of TMJC (left) and Victoria School (right). Photographed by Koh Jun Wei (23A101) from TMJC and Kim Geonu (3E) from Victoria School.
After discussion with LKP, Yarnimals and the spokesperson leaned towards the feeding roster option.
Should it stay, the school outlined how students needed to volunteer and coordinate in taking care of the cat, now named Vicky. More importantly, they stated that someone needed to foster Vicky after sterilisation and other veterinary treatment.
Encouragingly, students were already feeding Vicky independently, even ensuring a mix of dry and wet food. Furthermore, at least one student had actually come forward with an email to foster Vicky after treatment.
In a similar vein to Popo’s page, Yarnimals’ Instagram account latched onto student interest around Vicky to educate them on what can and cannot be fed to Vicky, and how to respect Vicky’s boundaries. They also took the opportunity to raise awareness about cat diseases, such as feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV).
Determined, Yarnimals met with school leaders on 30 April 2024 to discuss keeping Vicky.
However, they were unable to convince them to do so.
The decision was announced soon after.
Sayonara
Sayonara
Though Vicky’s time in VJC was limited, the impact Vicky had on Victorians was anything but.
Vicky being fed a cream treat by a student. Original video taken by Author.
Throughout the day, various groups of students could be seen gathered around the canteen tables near Vicky’s air-conditioning unit, waiting to pet, baby, and photograph the cat. These students, taking turns, conversing, and exchanging photographs came from numerous different social backgrounds—from sports to arts, senior to junior. They may not otherwise have talked to each other if not for their shared care for Vicky.
Even students who looked visibly unsure around cats had been observed learning how to approach Vicky and pet Vicky, becoming more comfortable in the process.
Students gathered around Vicky, coming from a mix of classes. Photographed by Author.
Looking ahead, the college’s final decision was that Vicky needed to be adopted by the end of the term. Otherwise, they would call pest control for the cat’s removal.
Currently, Yarnimals is scrambling to find someone, in or out of VJC, who could adopt or at least foster Vicky. However, it has proven to be challenging. Most of the people who would like to adopt Vicky lacked the ability to do so, whether because they stayed in a high-rise, had other pets, or failed to get their parents’ permission.
In the meantime, Yarnimals has said they were likely to put Vicky up for adoption on websites, such as those belonging to CWS and SPCA.
Vicky’s chapter in VJC is coming to a close. Though it is difficult to say goodbye, what Victorians can do now is hope that Vicky’s next chapter is a healthy and happy one.
At the time of the article’s release (6 May 2024), Yarnimals is still appealing to Victorians for adoption applications. Interested applicants may fill out the form here and the team would reach out for any further updates.
“We Love You, Vicky”. Photographed by Author, Seet Ju Jing Sebastian (23S41), and Kaydren Tang Kai Wen (23S63).
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