Postscript Overwhelmed, have Mercy.

One of Fleur's fiancees

Our late Minousa

Bonita

Rosy (passed over the rainbow). 

Loulou

Mausy

Snowflake (used to visit my Cats' Table), possibly hit by a vehicle). 

 "The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom." "Love truth, but pardon error." "He must be very ignorant, for he answers every question he is asked."  "The comfort of the rich depends on the abundant supply of the poor." "Liberty of thought is the life of the soul."  "No problem can withstand the assault of  substantial thinking." Jean Voltaire.                                                                                                    The start of summer brought me a lot of sorrow. Sweet, gentle Rosy had lost a lot of weight. She loved her bit of cats' sausage in the morning, then suddenly became less keen. When I got up at 5 a. m. to go to the toilet, she greeted me and seemed to be fine. Half an hour later I sadly discovered that my little darling had quietly passed away in the meantime. When I walked outside to feed the visitors to my Cats' Table, I found one of them, a cute kitten, laying dead in front of my door. Next day our pretty Siamese feral, Minousa, who also lost a lot of weight lately, unexpectedly and peacefully went over the rainbow. But this wasn't the end of it, the next day my husband discovered lovely Melanie having cramps. We decided to take her to our veterinarian, quickly arranged straight away an appointment. I placed her in one of our transport boxes, but it was already too late, within minutes she followed our other two treasures "over the rainbow" . All three were between 5 and six years old. Melanie arrived as a kitten. Minousa a young man was trying to sell, an action I don't want to support, but she was clinging to me, so I couldn't help it and had to accept her wish, but offered and finally paid only 30 Dinar (a small sum for a cat that once was as the most expensive breed in the world), not sure whether he was the owner or had actually stollen her. Anyhow, it was obvious she didn't want to stay with him. Soon after she became "daddy's girl", loved by both of us. Minousa appeared to prefer the company of humans to that of cats. Rosy was a regular, well behaved visitor to my Cats' Table and friend of Fleur's. When I discovered both feral ladies being highly pregnant, I decided (contrary to the usual local custom) to take them inside, in order to make their short life a bit easier. A step I never regretted, inspite of my husband's grumbling. When Fleur's only surviving baby, Lady Gaga, became a teenager, the mother went outside and stayed a few days on the street, until she decided to enjoy "Hotel Mama" again. Anyway, during those aforementioned outdoor days Fleur got engaged to a Siamese tomcat from the neighborhood and on 28th of May gave birth to a lovely baby resembling daddy, plus a black beauty (not sure which fiancee that time), and 2 more dark coloured babies that died shortly afterwards. As usual one looked simular to mummy. Misfortune didn't end there. I suffered from constipation, rather painful. The examination revealed that I haven't been drinking enough and my body was full of gas. Though I am making a special effort to drink lots of water, regular cramps day and night remain, actually for nearly 3 months now. In addition my left foot suddenly got swollen, pain seemed to originate from the heel. I had great difficulty to walk more than just a few steps. The final diagnosis was pulled ligaments. Luckily no surgery required, only ankle support with ergonomic silicone pads, a great relieve. Anyhow, I musn't grumble. Folks in other parts of the world are much worse off. Latest reports from "Save the children fund" and other UN organizations reveal that 40 % of all killed in Gaza are children, 10 children loose every day 1 or 2 legs. 20,000 children are unaccounted for. Identification of of corpses, in mass graves and others is often no longer possible due to various injuries, in addition family members may well be dead as well. Sadly thousands of kids have been taken to prison by the Israeli government. A little while ago there was a shocking documentary on German TV, Monitor, about a secret prison camp in the Negev dessert, used to imprison and torture Palestinians. Israelian human rights activists brought this to light. Luckily dedicated folks who engage themselves with the defence of human rights exist in many countries, it is not a question of religion. They give us hope for a better society, eventually. A change must come. Hate and revenge are so destructive and can never be a solution. When I was a university student Canadian Leonard Cohen, the great singer, songwriter and poet, was very popular among students. I still love his songs, many have a religious background, e. g. "The story of Isaac", it is about the senseless killing of children. Many years ago Leonard Cohen said that it must stop. Actually all his songs are worth listening to. They are so brillant and their messages remain important for our present so called modern times. Lord have mercy. 

Overwhelmed, Have Mercy

VT

 "Behavior is a mirror in which one displays one's own image." "We are shaped and fashioned by what we love." "What a man does not understand, he does not possess." Knowing is not enough, you must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do. " "Nothing is more terrible than to see ignorance in action." Wolfgang von Goethe. " Every day people straighten up the hair, why not the heart? "  Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel."  A country that does not know how to read and write is easy to  deceive. "  Ernesto Che Guevara.                                                                                                   The other day I was shocked to discover once more innocent, poor, very young kittens abandoned in front of my door. But this isn't yet the end of it, seems to be a constant stream. Heaven help us, have folks around here "lost their marble", as the British say? How are the little ones supposed to survive without their mother and in addition so close to a road? After all they are placed on a pavement, no garden or unoccupied site, only advantage more or less animal friendly persons next doors'. We even have from time to time for unknown reasons, a lorry parked in front of our house. If kittens get underneath these big wheels, they'll be killed and flattened without the driver noticing. One neighbor found out who brought 6 kittens, advised the family that it's cruel and Haram to take the kittens away from their mother and leave them helpless while they need their mummy's milk. The son took 6 feral babies back to their mother and hopefully ended the little family's stress, at least for a while. 2 Kittens remained in front of my house, another 6 near by, then another 4 abandoned arrived. I viewed 2 kittens with eye problems, one lovely white one with an already blind eye  and the other eye also in a pretty bad state. I cleaned their eyes with Physiol on a cotton wool pad. Not sure it's not already too late to save their eyes. It is so important to quickly clean eyes that have pus inside, or eyes that are "sealed". Those ferals suffering from a cold also end up with sealed noses. They then stop eating as nature prevents them from eating something they can't smell. The treatment is quite cheap, so no excuses. Hard-hearted folks are sadly able to treat animals as aforementioned, ignore their crying. It used to be even worse, though, and doubtlessly still is in other areas, cardboard boxes, or plastic bags filled with cat babies, treated like trash, thrown into garbage containers. I wish that life will treat such evil folks the way they treat animals. By the way, the other day a man from the neighborhood, who kicked out one big dog and poisoned another big one, so I am told, said to me: "Give me 3 Dinars." (In the past he used to demand 10 or 20 Dinar for various reasons, making up stories). He was lucky I was feeling sick, so I just ignored him. He and his wife taught me that not all poor persons have a good character. If you want to avoid supporting the wrong ones, restrict your help to animals. As Mark Twain put it: "The more I get to know people the more I love my dog." - The German economy needs to employ foreigners, vacances in various fields. They intend to possibly offer posts also to non- EU members if they can speak either German or English and have at least a 2 year's professional experience to proof. It is important to note that contrary to North Africa laws and regulations are more strictly applied, police is less tolerant (e. g. reference traffic violations), and so are citizens, they quickly will call police (e. g. too much avoidable noise, in particular during "silent hours"). Voting for the European Parliament is about to start in Europe. I have heard that EU citizens are rather critical of their politicians. In spite of all that censorship and attempts to manipulate public opinion, folks are generally aware of the double standards of many leaders and candidates. When it comes to Ukraine there seems to be unlimited help, empathy, spending, and hardly any left for Gaza and the Westbank. They turn a blind eye to the plight of innocent citizens, more than 37,000 killed meanwhile, at least 14,000 children, latest figure more 20,000 children and women. WHO warns of Colera about to break out again, about 1 million humans are starving. EU citizens say they can't trust politicians who practice double standarts and will vote for Palestinian friendly candidates. Support for Palestine doesn't mean accepting the gruesome massacre in October. Brutal revenge can never be a solution. The only way out is two states, and it can not be Israel's decicion who should rule Palestine, the senseless suffering must end. Israel rejoyes about the rescue of 4 hostages, "their loved ones". One or even 3 hostages got killed through the operation. Unless I am mistaken, Israelian forces altogether killed more hostages than they managed to free. By the way, 224 Palestians were killed, numerous badly wounded during the last rescue raid, surely these people were also "loved ones". 

Postscript Wild and Gorgeous

 "A wise man learns from other men's mistakes, while a fool learns from his own. "  "He who hates corrections is stupid." "The problem with the youths of this generation is that they want to eat dinner in the morning." Ubuntu African Proverbs. "Erst kommt das Fressen, dann die Moral." (The scoffing comes first, than the moral.) Bertholt Brecht.           My very special Madonna (she likes to give me instructions how to look well after her, nonetheless I am not allowed to touch her) decided one day to leave my house, though remain close by. Being "on heat" made the street more interesting, as most of my male treasures have been spayed and neutered. On several occasions I invited Madonna to come inside again, even though she constantly complained about the tough street life (in spite of me still providing her with food and water) , sleeping outside, she thought about it, took 2 steps indoors had a look, then walked out again, refused again and again, guess too many cats in the house for her taste. Two days ago I finally managed to persuade her to join our big feral family again. When I opened the door and she saw her "teenaged" daughter lying peacefully and relaxed on a rag, it may have induced her to honor us with her presence. While living outside Madonna made a lot of noice, a very unhappy feral. This has changed, she's quiet and happy, "hotel Mama" isn't so bad after all. Only one snag, seems my cute little lady is pregnant now..... I had provided Fleur and her new borns with a comfortable basket, so I thought. She surprised me twice by placing her babies instead underneath the bathroom sink, onto cold tiles. The poor little sweeties were crying. I put them back in the basket, wondering whether the mother was perhaps abandoning her babies? Then I understood her message: My babies, my decision! I placed a padded draw underneath the sink for Fleur and her new borns and "she is happy now, no one disturbs them," so I thought. Well, cats may always yet surprise you. Yesterday morning I checked how the babies are and saw them cuddling together. A little later there was only the white one left. What happened? Tried in vain to find the black baby. Early in the afternoon the remaining baby also disappeared. I was shocked, didn't Fleur like her babies? Was she trying to get rid of them? She looked me straight in the eyes. So I asked her:  Where are your babies? No reply. Once more I searched every corner of the house and terrace. Then, thank heavens, to my great relief, I found the tiny ferals cuddling together in the far corner of my wooden animal house on the roof. Mummy had carried them upstairs, one after the other, the 3. "bedroom" for the little family, without a tomcat father, as usual. One good news followed by a depressing one. Last night I first found a cardboard box in front of my house (all too often used here to get rid of unwanted kittens), sure enough,  4 frightened, innocent, very young, beautiful kittens, in my little shelter, mend to be temporarily for street cats, not to be an invitation for shameless folks to abandon their kittens (after all this street is not a safe place and we are most certainly not rich). I fear persons without a conscience and only perhaps remote knowledge of the Quran, wouldn't think twice about throwing kittens out on the street, simply for their convienence, placing them on my door step and would continue to do so even on the last day of my life. The usual excuse for not getting the cat in the house spayed and neutered is that it is "haram" (birth control perhaps not allowed by the religion, but okay to abandon the unwanted babies? ) or too expensive. Let me tell you, if you are a smoker, many women are nowadays, the money spent in a month on afterall harmful cigarettes, is sufficient to cover the costs for getting one female and two male cats spayed and neutered! - Humanity has made so little progress, if any. The famous German writer, Wolfgang Borchert (1921 - 1947), a soldier during the 1. World War, has a lot to tell us, even now, as we are living in a different century. He wrote a. o. the following short story: "When the war was over, the soldier came home. But he had no bread. Then he saw a man who had. He killed him. You mustn't kill, you know, said the judge. Why not, asked the soldier." Our world has experienced so much brutality, destructions, atrocities, killings of innocent lives, leaving countless children and adults to live with their trauma. There is a small chance of peace for the people in Gaza and also in Israel, etc. Two-states is the only solution and if the "big players" are willing, we have a realistic chance to stop the senseless killings. Let us hope and pray for this. Oh Lord, have mercy, provide those in power with wisdom, empathy and respect for human rights. 

Unwanted kittens kicked out. 

One frightened kitten. 

And another one. 

Madonna's daughter and Bonita. 

Siesta cats' style. 

Or like this. 

have mercy, provide those in power with wisdom.