Part 2 Building Laos’ first dairy - the first Buffalo arrive

Three days before our six-week trial was due to end, we managed to bring in a single cow milking machine from China. This machine ran on either electricity or petrol, which is important to note, as Mr. Eh didn’t have electricity near the field at the time. The machine arrived flat packed in the early evening, and Steven and Mr. Thon, our trusty tuk tuk driver, boldly took on the chore of trying to set it up in the failing light. With the instructions translated from Chinese, loosely into English, this was no easy task. Luckily, the instructions also kind of looked like IKEA instructions with lots of pictures to guide them.

If you have been to the farm or you follow us on social media, you know that we have two cats called Cracker and Lily. Today’s story is all about Lily so, don’t tell Cracker or he will get jealous 😊.

Lily was a rescue(d) cat! It all started back in June 2018, during the rainy season when after some serious rains and flooding, we were on our way home from the farm in the tuk tuk one day when we saw something in the middle of the road. Khamla swerved around “it” and we realized it was a little kitten. We pulled up to a stop, with Susie saying, “No, no no!” the whole time as we already had quite a few cats a home. As the tuk tuk stopped and we got out to go at least move her off the road, she looked at us over her shoulder and turned to come running at us. As I reached down to pick her up, she cuddled up onto my shoulder and purred like crazy.

We walked around the edge of the road and looked to see if we could find a mother cat nearby or other kittens thinking maybe she had just strayed away from them, but we found nothing. She was such a tiny little thing that we couldn’t in good conscious just leave her there. So, we took her with us. I stuffed her inside my coat to keep her warm, as it was quite chilly from the rain, and she cuddled right in. She must have known that her life was about to change for a better that she could never imagine.

Lily came home with us that night and got a bath – she desperately needed it as she was very dirty. She was fed some milk and food, and came to bed with me. From her size, we estimated she was only about 7 weeks old. Way too little to be away from her mother, so I guess we were mum now.

We luckily had Nicola, a vet, who was here in Laos working with Sydney University on a project, coming to the farm in the next few days, so we asked if she could have a look a Lily and make sure she looked ok and also confirm our thoughts on her age. Nicola confirmed her age for us as approximately 7 weeks old and told us that her fat little belly was probably full of worms. Not an issue! A worming tablet was given and all would be right with the world.

At the time, we had another cat at the farm as well – Kiara. Kiara was also a rescue cat, but she had been found in our chicken coop (also at about 7 weeks old). Kiara, now being about a year old, decided to take on the roll of mother cat and started to teach Lily how to act.

Lily flourished under the tutelage of Kiara and became cat extraordinaire. She learned how to hunt and play and be a smooch for affection.

Fast forward to now, and every morning when we arrive at the farm, Lily comes for her morning snuggles and purry cuddles. She helps to keep the mouse, rat and small snake population on the farm down to a minimum. And she walks the farm checking on the other animals to make sure all is good. On occasion you can find Lily following along with the guests on a tour. If we ever leave Laos, she has most certainly earned herself a passport out with us.

This Meeting Shall come to order Cracker & Lily.JPG

As you can see from some of the pictures, Lily’s favorite place to hang out in is in the office. Lately, with the lack of tourists coming to pay attention to her and Cracker, she has taken to “getting in the way”. Lily decides when the work day is done, but placing herself squarely in the file box or across the keyboard as I try and work.

Lily and Cracker are making do with seeking attention from us, but they’d really like to see you come back to play with them.

TOURISM IN NEED

COVID-19 has badly affected tourism and visits to the farm. In order to mitigate some of the effects of the loss of income this has meant for the dairy, we have teamed up with the Tourism in Need initiative that supports responsible tourism organizations affected by the pandemic. Through this initiative, travelers can support the dairy through the Give Today, Go Tomorrow fundraising scheme. Click here to find out more and to make a contribution to help us to pay farmers and team members, and continue to train farmers and work on our nutrition program.