Cambodia: Street Woman With Her Cat
By Rudolph.A.Furtado (posted 23rd Dec. 2013)

Photo copyright Rudolph A Furtado
“During my tour of Phnom Penh, I came across this lady on the street with a kitten tied to her body and a package of clothes. Was she a homeless lady with a pet? It was amazing to see this lady with her pet cat and a load of luggage. I observed her roaming around the street near my hotel. Could also be a source of tourist attraction.” (Rudolph Furtado commenting on his photo)
Comment from Michael: not everyone in the world is participating in the usual Christmas festivities as most people do in the West. This lady seems to be a “tramp” – homeless, and she has a small tabby or calico cat with a short tail as a friend. It seems to me that a higher than usual percentage of cats in Asia have shorter tails or kinked tails. It is not that uncommon for Siamese cats in Thailand to have tail “abnormalities”. It looks rather crude to put string around the cat’s neck as a lead of some sort. This string also seems to prevent the cat escaping. This looks cruel to people in the West. I suppose this reflects a different relationship with the cat in parts of Asia compared to the West.