Postscript Too little Progress

 "The general population doesn't know what is happening and it doesn't even know it doesn't know." Noam Chomsky.                                                                     A woman tried to persuade my husband to take a maximum 3 weeks old black baby cat as apresent, as she is poor and cannot pay for the food..... Pity I wasn't there, I would have explained to her that at present all the little one needs: mamma milk, love and education is for free, provided by the mother. One can buy substitute milk, it is not as good as the original and it is quite expensive, 54 Dinar. We can't afford that and besides, it doesn't make sense, it means quite a bit extra work, besides having a baby crying for its mother leaving behind a depressed mother whose baby has been stolen from her loving paws. In addition the little one may yet die under the given circumstances. I hope and pray that the new constitution that is presently being drafted will include respect and protection of nature and animals, for a better society. Bad habits die hard and many will only change their actions if forced by law. Pets can teach kids empathy and responsibility. Stroking a cat can lower a too high blood pressure. My personal highlight every morning is seeing my sweet Malek come running downstairs from the roof, when I call him, in order to have breakfast with him on my lap and being surrounded by other beauties as well. But first of all I check whether my "big family" is okay, no sudden sickness, or even worse, death. Life expectancy is unfortunately so much shorter here than in Europe. One man from the neighborhood told me he's got several amazing cats and he trusts them more than humans. A woman arrived with 5 kittens, 2 - 3 weeks old. She wanted me to take them. I told her I can't, I am overwhelmed and besides, they need their mother. She asked whether she can leave them outside and I provide them with food in front of my house. I advised her that they are much too young for that and they would quickly get run over by cars. A little time later I discovered she left the little ones nonetheless, but 2 had disappeared. Couldn't find them anywhere. I felt forced to take 2 black and whites and 1 multi-cloured one inside. Shortly afterwards a young boy knocked on my door. The family had decided to keep the kittens. I went looking for a cardboard box for transport, but the boy thought I am taking too long and left. As the little ones are rather skinny, I would suspect that their mother's diet is rather poor and she's probably still very young. Anyhow, they loved the salami, the croquettes for baby cats and I still had a tiny bit of mamma milk pwder. One of the black and white ones was very lively, my husband named her Lady Gaga. Sadly, she and her sister, Nena, suddenly died over night, "passed over the rainbow". The gorgeous kitten with orange, yellow, white, a bit of black, Chiquita, is the only survivor, still skinny, but hopefully she'll be okay. As a matter of fact I have another cat, a few weeks older, that looks like an older sister and they stick a lot together. Tiny, skinny Moses was looking a bit lost in front of my door, felt sorry for the little darling and took him indoors, I have reached my absolute limit. It is not just a question of food and toilets, it also means getting those old enough spayed and neutered, paying for dental works, blood tests, x-rays, perhaps special food e. g. because of kidney problems (unfortunately quite common among adult cats, due to bad water, weak immune system etc.) and a lot of sadness whenever a member of "my big family" passes away. -