Postscript My Beautiful Wild Family and Lovely Visitors

 "A sheep does not pay condolence visit to a dead lion." "You can't convince a monkey that honey is sweeter than banana." Ubuntu African Proverbs.           My sweet Black Diamond was more sick than I realized, he suffered from the Calcivirus that practically destroys teeth, gum and more. Unfortunately  at present a real threat here for ferals and vets can't always save their life. All efforts were in vain, my little treasure passed yesterday over the rainbow. His immune system was too weak. He was 4 months old, too small for his age,

1 of those 15 kittens placed by various people in front of my door. When he was no longer able to eat and had difficulties to drink, I took him every day to the vet for injection, cleaning his mouth and prevention to dry out. I fed him milk with a bit of honey and chicken broth. In addition sprayed mineral water into his mouth. On some days my Black Diamond even managed to purr a bit. Holding him in my arms I fell sleep and so did he, a nice feeling. Folks who for unknown reasons hate cats, don't know what they are missing. Life is difficult in more than one way for all those poor cat babies that are torn away from their mother's loving paws. I shall never understand the ignorants' urge to separate  them. In view of so many children here you would think humans understand that babies need their mother, isn't it logic that this rule als applies to animals? By the way, scientists say children who grow up with a cat or dog as a pet do better at school, become more intelligent, learn responsibility and concentration. Sounds like a good therapy for the kids in the neighborhood, they seem to be always running, yelling, unable to concentrate, not at all relaxed and happy. Revenge for whatever is on their mind. Of those above mentioned 15 kittens damped in front of my house 5 suddenly died and 2 others that were damped at the door of a neighbor suddenly disappeared, they must be assumed dead, even though they were feed and apparently enjoying the provision of food. By the way, the croquettes that I leave outside for feral visitors are still getting stolen by neighborhood kids, presumably from poor families with pets. The plastic bowl disappears and returns after a while for refilling. Though I haven't got much money and have to spend a lot on those 20 kg sacks of croquettes, I think it's better if these families keep their pets and help themselves to my cat food than throw out their pets. Some of those regular visitors to my "Cats' Table I am pretty sure are anyway living in houses and are let out to have their breakfast provided by me. Every morning there are so many little treasures waiting for me indoors and outside. Can't disappoint all those trusting beautiful eyes. A good motivation to get up early, even when I sometimes feel more like staying in bed, my bones aching, but it's better for my health to get up and move, yes, it is rewarding to have cats. Their life though isn't easy though, too many on the street, not enough getting spayed and neutered. Today during a 15 minutes walk I viewed 3 dead kittens on the road. Much needs to be done, much help and education is needed. 

My beautiful Wild Family and Lovely Visitors

 "He who tosses worms in the river isn't necessarily a friend of fish. All the fish who take him for a friend, who think the worms have no hook in it, usually end up in the frying pan." Ubuntu African Proverb   "The more I get to know humans, the more I love dogs" Erich Kästner.                                        Knowing that many very young kittens tend to suffer a sudden death, in particular those coming from the street (or are brought by not very animal dedicated families), every morning I check whether my new family additions are alive and more or less well. Now I usually discover running noses, some "sealed" eyes, or even pus, maybe that black staff ( parasites) in the ears and lately diarrhea. I learned what to use, but my cats hate it and I don't enjoy the procedure either (in particular for the more wild little treasures), but anyhow, as the British say: it keeps me off the street.... My sweet kitten, Black Diamond, surprised me with a bleeding wound near his mouth. I don't know what happened, injury from a fall or attack by another cat inside my house? He is a quiet gentle cat that loves to cuddle.  Black Diamond hasn't eaten, not sure he drank water and it is Sunday. I am gonna see how he is on Monday and decide then wheter he needs a veterinarian. My little ones get on well with each other, they love to stick together, only at feeding time some try to secure more food for themselves (can't use a seperate bowl for each cat, 25 adults and 15 kittens), anyhow, in the end none remains starving. Then it's time to attend to my guests at my Cats' Table. There are my regular ones arriving (occasionally one or two missing breakfast time for a couple of days), looking perfectly clean and gorgeous. I don't understand how anyone can indicate that cats are dirty (only a sick one is maybe less clean, not unlike humans after all). The most beautiful ferals I have ever seen I discovered in Tunisia, sadly on the street, some regarded elsewhere as very expensive breeds. I guess several were orginally brought by foreigners and certainly kept in houses. The poor little treasures have to put up with a lot. Amazing that they still manage to love us. When you see cats running away from children or expecting stones when you really throw them a piece of sausage (called salami here), you can imagine their bad experiences. A young woman from the neighborhood saw Fleur's kitten Perl, a Siamese beauty and asked me if she could take her. I explained that I don't want the devoted mother (dark fur with blond streaks) and child separated. She agreed to take both in a week's time, but didn't seem to know much about keeping cats, e. g. thought that cats eat "what we eat". I was going to advise her and offer to do so and help also in future. It turned out that this isn't needed as the young woman changed her mind, perhaps was talked out of it or didn't get the landlord's permission. Sadly she was too embarrassed to speak to me and chose to pretend she doesn't see me on the street. Lately the croquettes that I leave outside for my feral guests get stolen again, together with the bowl. Regarded as convient take-away food? Sweet Mary who luckily returned after 5 worrying days of absence, likes to spend some time of the day outside as I have too many cats inside for her liking. In the evening she arrives for a play of "hide and seek" before coming indoors. This means she runs a bit, then waits to give me a chance to catch up with her, hides underneath a car, when I discover her, she comes out, runs a bit more and then finally allows me to catch and carry her back to the house. I feel honored. Mary is so sweet. She doesn't want to fight with  kittens and allows a black one, daughter of a black and white cat, to chase her away. The mother and child duo lately occupies Mary's space in front of my house. Mary is not happy with this, but remains non-aggressive towards the occupiers. For unknown reasons Suzy and Alien decided 3 months ago to hate Riccardo, they try to seriously attack him. All are approximately 4 years old and have been living together under my roof for most of their life. I have to separate them. Riccardo was quite sick for a while and is generally quite gentle, but so are Suzy and Alien. All like to cuddle with me. I don't know what went wrong. I try to treat all my cats equally, though some require more attention than others. Hopefully the winter won't be too hard, thinking of all who have no family, no house. Winter here usually means cold nights, a lot of moisture in the air, spells of heavy rain falls, possible floodings, sunny days, my cats sunbathing on the roof. 

End of Summer and other Events

 "A bird who wakes up early just to sing besides the river bank, will soon discover that crocodiles do not admire the sound." Ubuntu proverb  "There is enough in this world for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed." Frank Buchmann.                                                                                      Beginning of November still lots of sunshine, but nights are starting to get cold, soon it will be damp and cold, sneezing season. Not much fun for cats and all who are forced to sleep rough. I will be endlessly cleaning noses and eyes with Physiol drops, etc. My little treasures hate it. Winter hasn't started, yet but I am already looking forward to its end. A house build Arabian style with a yard/terrace in the middle is great in summer, partly also in spring and autumn, if it doesn't rain too much. In winter it's less pleasant, more difficult to keep warm. Most houses have long corridors, which means the noise and exhaust gas from the street has less impact. Scientists say the climate will change to even hotter summers and colder winters, and insufficient water supply. In Sousse (and other places) large amounts of water gets wasted every day. Cleaning the house floor appears to include "cleaning the street" as well for 100 m or more. What you see, all that water on the street, is not the result of burst water pipes, but unfortunately "normal practice" here. Yet in the south and other areas there is not always water available, not even bottled water. It comes and goes.  In Europe this year's heat wave caused the death of at least 15,000 people. Draughts in Africa doubtlessly led to a much higher figure. Much education is required to make folks understand the need to protect the environment and thus also our health and country. A neighbour tried to tell me that we have a lot of problems with cats here, not meaning their hardship but that he considers them a nuisance. I replied the kids are a much bigger problem, no manners, no respect, doing a lot of damages to house walls, my fencing, etc., throwing stones and constantly yelling as if bitten by a tarantula. I actually was a fairly relaxed person until we moved to this part of Sousse. Now I am nervous, keep bitting my teeth and suffer from high blood pressure. Some folks advise me to move to a quiet place, what is keeping us here? Well it is the gorgeous cats and their suffering. By the way, another neighbor told us that the cats are more relaxed and content nowadays on account of me feeding them. Several said they believe a place in paradise is reserved for us.... I hope and pray that those who abuse animals will be punished. - A man employed by STEG (electricity suppliers) briefly knocked on the door and started to walk away. A neighbor told him that we are in the house, could he knock again or perhaps at our window (because of the hooligans here there is no bell), he replied: "No haven't got the time." Not the first time we receive such "service." In view of so many unemployed, why can't STEG find better employees who understand that they are paid with the money received from customers? Or doesn't it matter since STEG got a monopoly for gas and electricity supply? - With raising petrol prices there were plans to increase the taxi prices, one dinar on the meter already on arrival. This would mean the luxury of kids travelling to and from school getting quite a bit more expensive, perhaps less taxis stopping right in front of our door (passenger then walking off in all directions.....) and possibly easier to find a vacant taxi. But making taxis more expensive would not be a popular decision and to be fair, the bus service leaves much to be desired.