One evening, while driving home in the rain, I received a call from a friend. The call was about a cream-coloured cat with a bad eye infection.
Instead of going home, I turned the car around and drove to where the cat was. Jack was only about four months old then. A short-haired local cat with a long tail and a badly infected right eye. The eye was swollen and pus was oozing from it.
I brought him home, cleaned the eye as best as I could, especially the pus, and took him to the vet the next day. The vet decided to start with medication and antibiotics first. We all hoped the eye could be saved. But it didn't help. Jack's fever shot up and he became weak.
Although the pus stopped oozing, the swelling remained. Concerned, I brought him back to the vet. A decision was made to examine the eye under anaesthesia. Eventually, the vet concluded that the eye was too badly infected and had to be removed.
After the operation, Jack's fever disappeared. Almost immediately, he became lively. He started running around, playing, and exploring. To me, he looked happy. Perhaps for the first time in a long while, he was no longer in pain. Jack does not like being carried.
He is independent and prefers all four paws firmly on the ground. He loves playing catching games and is gentle with other cats. I remember one time when I brought home two young kittens. Their mother had been admitted to the vet for neutering and had to stay there for observation. The kittens were frightened. They curled themselves into a corner of their makeshift box and refused to eat or drink. Jack was staying with me then because he was still under observation.
At first, he hid inside a cupboard. But when he noticed the kittens, he came out. Very gently, he groomed them one by one. Then he curled up beside them and went to sleep. Not long after that, the kittens started eating and drinking. Throughout the whole time, Jack remained beside them.
At the cat sanctuary, Jack has his own arrangement. A kind neighbour a few doors away allows him to spend most of his time around the porch and compound. Jack comes back during feeding time, has his meal, and then returns to his chosen post.
But whenever I come back from KL and call his name, he immediately lifts his head and comes running towards me. Most evenings, when I am working in the living room, Jack stations himself near the door. Every now and then, he peeks inside.
Almost as though he is checking that everything is alright. What I admire most about Jack is the way he looks after the young ones. Whenever an adult cat becomes aggressive and starts growling at a kitten, Jack quietly steps in. He places himself between the kitten and the larger cat.
Then he faces the growling cat directly, as if saying, "I am here. Why are you picking on someone smaller than you?"
This is One-Eye Jack. He may have lost an eye, but he never lost his kindness.
If anything, it seems to have made him more protective of those who need it most.
October 2026
