Actor Lawrence Wong FaceTimes his five cats when overseas

Spending an hour on the road followed by four hours on a plane to see his fur kids is not a big deal for Lawrence Wong. 

The Malaysia-born Singaporean actor – whose work is mainly in Guangzhou, China – is so attached to his five felines that whenever he has some downtime, he will head home to be with them.

“I miss them so much, so whenever I have a three- or four-day break from filming, you’ll find me on the next flight home,” Wong tells The Straits Times via phone from the Chinese city, where he is shooting long-form drama Hello 1983 for Chinese streaming platform iQiyi.

The actor, who is in his 30s, is a doting pawrent to Tomu, a six-year-old male grey tabby Scottish fold; Tora, a female grey marble munchkin, also six; Toki, a five-year-old male white-grey munchkin; three-year-old Toto, a female chocolate British shorthair; and Kaoru, a two-year-old male ginger Maine Coon.

When he cannot return to Singapore, he FaceTimes them every night before they sleep. 

“I will talk to them, watch some YouTube videos with them,” says Wong, who found fame in China after starring as Imperial Guard Suolun Hailancha in the hit Chinese period drama Story Of Yanxi Palace (2018).

Wong admits that he was initially unsure how his cats would react to FaceTime, but he noticed they responded to his voice and the videos he played for them. 

He also watches his cats via the closed-circuit television sets installed all over his three-storey house. 

“I know they miss me as they will look for me around the house,” says Wong. “They will also sleep on my bed with the air-con turned on every night.”

The bachelor adds: “People say I’m the crazy cat guy, and they are right. I’m also a very overprotective pawrent.”

Wong is extremely particular when it comes to his cats’ well-being, and has a domestic helper whose sole responsibility is to look after his fur kids.

He does not let his cats go outdoors as he does not want to “expose them to any kind of virus”. 

Whenever he gets them new toys, he will sanitise them before letting the cats play with them. “I also make sure I don’t give them low-quality toys… You don’t want them to choke on anything.”

His cats are very comfortable at home and do not like a change in their environment. “They will get very stressed if I take them out of the house,” Wong says, adding that he grooms them himself, from brushing and trimming their fur to cleaning their ears.

His indulgence extends to the cats’ diet and health. An ambassador of Taki Pets, a home-grown luxury pet food and service lifestyle company, Wong believes they deserve the best meals. 

“I used to feed them six times a day – breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper. They got too fat,” he says, laughing. 

 

The cats are now fed a combination of dry and fresh food four times a day. “I vary their diet with kibbles, canned food and Taki’s freeze-dried treats.”

A veterinarian will go to Wong’s house and check on his cats every month. “Tomu needs a jab every month as Scottish folds tend to get arthritis early,” Wong says.

The TV star, who used to own seven dogs during his childhood days in Malaysia, reckons he spends more than $1,000 a month on his cats.

While he stresses he does not play favourites, he admits Tomu, the first cat he adopted in 2019, has a special place in his heart. 

“He’s very sensitive and is the one who knows my moods,” says Wong. “Tomu will always come to me, purr and headbutt me, lie on me… That’s his way of comforting me.”

Wong says he once had a session with an animal communicator who said Tomu’s message for Wong was “to be happier, eat and sleep well”. 

“Believe what you want, but when I heard that, I was moved to tears,” he says.

Wong adopted Tora shortly after Tomu, as he did not want Tomu to be lonely. “Unfortunately, Tomu loves humans, but cannot stand (other) cats,” he says, adding that though Tora is a loner, she is a “sweet, empathetic girl”. 

 

With Toki, it was love at first sight, says Wong, who bought him from Hong Kong in 2020. “He’s a typical cat that everyone will love. He’s such a charmer and his antics are so cute.”

 

On Jan 28, Wong posted on his Instagram account that he had sewn a string of stars and recorded a “daddy loves you” voice message for Toki, who was “feeling a little down”. 

“Toki, you are daddy’s brightest star, and I’ll always be here for you… love you to the stars and back,” Wong wrote.

Toto joined the family from a German cattery in 2022, and she immediately “puts the boys in their place”, Wong says. “She is a no-nonsense girl, calm and composed. But when you take food away from her, she will slap you while keeping a poker face,” he adds. 

Wong finds her personality inspiring. “Life is like that… We have our own boundaries. I learnt from Toto to know when to speak up when someone steps into my space.”

Kaoru is the newest member – Wong says five fur kids are enough – and despite his regal looks, he is very goofy.

 

“At 10kg, he’s the biggest of my fur kids and will only get larger because of his breed. He makes the others jealous as he sticks to me like superglue,” says Wong, who adopted the Maine Coon in 2024. 

Wong remembers a time that year when he fell ill and was bedridden for two days. During that time, all his fur kids stayed around him and would not leave the bedroom. His helper had to coax them out so that they could eat. 

That episode is part of his core memory. “I believe that when I shower them with loads of love, they can sense the energy and vibe, and that is why they are all so manja (Malay for affectionate).”