Summer Time and it ain't always Easy

 "The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone."  "The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is the way they become."  "Let everybody sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean." "Wisdom is only found in truth." "Doubt grows with knowledge."  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.                   To begin with it seemed that lovely Jane only gave birth to two babies, but she just had a break and next day surprised us with altogether three lively ones (an additional one had died). I first feared that only one remains, and it would have no sister or brother to cuddle with. The new borns simply love to cuddle with each other! So cute. Jane is amazing. Until shortly before her babies arrived she climbed up walls like an athletic, now she is a devoted mum. But nothing like Madonna, she hardly ever gets up and doesn't seem to want to leave her lovely babies even for a few minutes. We now have mothers with their new borns in a basket, in a padded draw (underneath a sink) and in the wooden cave like box of the big " climbing and claw grooming tree". Due to my poor health lately I had missed taken these three females to the vet to get them spayed and neutered in good time. Fleur's kittens are lucky, they are now 5 weeks old (at an age when local folks usually have already long  separated the babies from the paws of their loving mother), and their mummy still looks well after them, provides them with her milk. Did our " feral daughters" read Karl Marx? Anyway they follow his advise : "Trust is good, control is better." Whenever I check how the little ones are, the respective mother quickly arrives and watches me closely. Fleur's lovely all black and the Siamese baby enjoy cuddling with our gentle blind boy, Loulou. Hamdullah so far all the little families are fine. Joe Biden accused Donald Trump of having the moral of a street cat. Joe Biden doesn't seem to know much about street cats. In my experience they are generally well behaved, they show respect, are great mothers. Several brought their kittens to my Cats' Table, so that they know where to find food and water. On other occasions they carry their piece of cats ' sausage to their babies. In my experience strays, cats and dogs, are here non-aggressive and always grateful for a bit of food and water. I would even go as far to say their manners are much better than that of the local hooligans on our street, who believe the street belongs to them, no matter what, and unfortunately are in the habit of screaming while playing football, as if bitten by scorpions. In addition we had a wedding celebration on our street, lasting 5 days, right around our house. All very nice and impressive, if it wouldn't be for the music at a deafening level, up to 2 a. m. in the morning. Not to forget the usual fire works, in spite of the high temperature. Luckily all went well and they didn't start an unwanted fire, unlike that on a Greek island (fire works from a yacht, even though forbidden) . Nothing more enjoyable than the sound of silence....... pity folks here don't see it that way. - Thank heaven for the election result in France and Great Britain. Citizen aren't so stupid after all. The new prime minister of UK as first measure cancelled the shameful contract with Ruanda, which was designed to rid UK of  asylum seekers and other refugees, depose them to Ruanda, a country that they may well have no connection with whatsoever. For this service Ruanda received 300 million dollar, seemingly attractive to a poor country. (They meanwhile hinted that they won't reimburse what was paid under the deportation deal.) Strange idea of a (Hamdullah meanwhile ex-)  prime minister, Mr. Sunak, who quite obviously himself has foreign roots. Anyhow, human rights activists tried to stop the practicually cancelling of rights to gain asylum. By the way, immigrants can be quite profiable to a country. Proof is there, e. g. those who fled Germany because of the terrible Nazi period, several advanced the US economy and enabled their new country to fly to the moon. New ideas and different experiences enrich a country. Nonetheless some German politicians thought they could perhaps learn from Mr. Sunak and maybe even send refugees back to Afghanistan. Those who have to fear for their life and that of their family under the Taliban, on account of their previous jobs, e. g. working for the German forces, had been given verbal confirmation of asylum in Germany. So they sold their possessions /properties and packed their suitcases. Then there was a sudden change in German policy, all already

Cat mum taking her kitten to my Cats 'Table ". 

Baby sitter Loulou with Fleur' s babies. 

Jeremy watching from the top. 

After the celebration

Sweet Bonita looking impressive. 

approved applicants were interviewed and all of the sudden declared a security risk. No further explanation and no visas. What has become of Germany? So shameful, several civil servants declared off the record that human rights have lost their value. Germany seems to be no longer interested in helping those who need protection with the exception of Ukraine and Israel. But even Jews who criticize Israeli politics are no longer welcome in Germany. Isn't it a democratic right any longer?- It is getting hotter, we may even have 50 degrees centegrate tomorrow. During summer banks are only open half day, I presume the employees have a better ventilation system in their houses. 

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. 

Wild and Gorgeous

Our new family members. 
Fleur with her babies

One poor stray

They are family, like to sleep cuddling together. 

Nikola and Melanie

 "Everyone's worried about terrorism. Well, there's really an easy way: Stop participating in it." Noam Chompsky.   "A stubborn fly will follow a corpe to the grave and be buried with it."  "It is not the stab at the back that hurts. It is when you turn back and see who's holding the knife." "Be careful when you always feed every dog that you see suffering... some need the strength to bite you. (Ungrateful people)" Ubuntu African Proverbs.              Approx. 10 of our cats are 5 or 6 years old and arrived at our door step as young kittens, either secretly abandoned or brought by folks requesting us to accept them as new pets. Seeing them now as beautiful fairly fit adults prooves that years ago cats' immune system was much stronger. I have seen and tried to help numerous kittens which sadly passed away before having a chance to more or less enjoy life for 2 or 3 months, poor babies, sudden feral babies' death has become very common. Following a lot of explainations that cat babies less than 10 days old (eyes still closed) have no chance to survive without the mother and less than 6 weeks only slim chances, at least neighbors arround here stopped abandoning extreme young feral babes. Sadly, though, kittens' life remains taff. One homeless, regular visitor to my Cats' Table, recently gave birth to 4 kittens, in a fairly secure place, near the house of an animal friendly lady. When I noted the mother carried a bit of cats' sausage in her mouth to feed her babies, I followed her. Now she comes to my door and we go together to feed her little ones. She doesn't want her breakfast before her kittens are fed, dedicated loving mum. Another 3 cute, long haired kittens arrived, than another one, missing their mother, calling her and looking for food. I worry they may get run over by a car or one of our meniac motorbike riders, but I am overwhelmed. I can only offer a bit of food and water. Occasionally someone brings something to eat for strays, a slight ray of light. Our eldest darling, gorgeous Tiger, reached this month an age of 11 years. His mother, 3 coloured Amira, allowed me to attend her when she gave birth to him and his 3 sisters, Bijou, Sandy and Soleil. All lived with us until they passed over the rainbow, extremely sad days when we lost our precious little treasures, everyone an original, Bijou daddy's girl while Sandy clearly preferred my company. She used to purr me to sleep. We hope and pray that at least Tiger will enjoy a long life. Cuddling with him is so great. Today I discovered Fleur gave birth to a cute black and one white baby. She did this without much ado and not even one drop of blood to be seen. The second time I viewed such a "perfect clean up" by a cat mum. Strange, in other cases there was lots of blood. Everything isn't always the way it seems at first sight. Apparently Fleur had 4 babies (the usual number here) , 2 unfortunately died soon after being born and later on I discovered a bit of blood on a blanket. The place where I first discovered the alive new borns, screaming for their mum, was not their original delivery site. Anyhow, I congratulated my husband on " becoming once more a gradfather ". He looked a bit surprised. So I told him, the babies are beautiful. Hopefully Fleur will look well after them. The little jewels are very quiet. I fear she may understand it as that they do not require much feeding of mummy milk. -  Heard a German say that she comes from South Africa. Asked why she says that she replied that she would like to be proud of her country. South Africa is a great country, very dedicated to human rights, achieved a lot, nontheless not yet a paradise, but which country is. When Ghandi visited U. K. journalists asked him: "What do you think about civilzation in the Western World?"  He replied: " I  think it would be a good idea." We live in a world of censorship, greed, corruption, public opinion manipulation, "Big brother watching" (1984, Gorge Orwell), enormous sums spend on weapons (enough to prevent poverty everywhere), a sad develpment for humanity's. But there will always be folks with admirable courage who stand in for their values. The internationally regonized American Associated Press (A. P.) used to report via videos from Gaza. This Netanyahu has stopped now. Even when caught in the act, gun still smoking, as long as there hasn't been a court sentence, in German media the person in question is always named the "suspected assassin". For several months, though, there is a big exception, whenever Netanyahu says something, it is treated like an in stone chiseled fact. Choise of words are revealing, one method to manipulate public opinion. Whom do you call a criminal, a terrorist, or a rebel, a freedom fighter, résistance member? Some condemned today, at a later date become members of a government. Peace negotiation usually don't take place among friends.  14,000 innocent children have already died in Gaza. Not only the families of those still held hostage by Hamas are missing their dear ones, so do also Palestinians, they too love their children, family members and friends. 

Postscript Just the Normal Madness

" In wartime truth is so precious that it should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies." Churchill. "It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both." "Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil." Nicolo Machiavelli. "Prejudicies are what fools use for reason." "Let us read and let us dance, these 2 amusements will never do any harm in the world." "To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, one must also be polite."  "I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: " Oh Lord make my enemies ridiculous. "  And God granted it." Jean  Voltaire.                                      We live in a land of a million possibilities, unfortunately not all are positive. While in Sousse supply of milk appears to be okay now, but sugar remains a rare commodity, it is the other way around in Kairouan. For a short time bananas were sold at a more reasonable price but it has gone up again. Wonder why they are much cheaper in Germany. After all Germany doesn't grow his own bananas but usually buys them from the same company, United Fruit, a company with an interesting - bad reputation, the source of the expression "Banana Republic", following the wars to protect their interests with US aid. The need to teach environmental protection is nicely demonstrated looking at school buildings usually surrounded by lots of rubbish (wrappings of various kind, papers, etc). In U. K. parents of children that don't attend school can be send to prison. I was surprised to learn that the same law exists in Tunisia. I am convinced not many are here aware of it either, unfortunately. It amazes me how several kids feel they don't need to finish school but at the same time dream of a good life in Europe. The new fashion among youngsters to ride tuned up motorbikes at high speed even in residential areas ("letting off steam") , plus numerous cars on the road, burning of rubish etc. in the open, create a lot of pollution and fine dust that effect eyes and respiration organs, the waiting rooms of the concerned specialists are crowed. The pollen dispersal has become more aggressive due to air pollution, which of course also leads to many deaths. The other day a minor accident with a motorcycle, one wheel up in the air. I heard a loud bang, a young man limbed with the aid of another man to a car, the motorcyclist had to push his vehicle. Hope he learned his lesson, but that may be just wishful thinking on my part. Next day I viewed another youngsters who nearly crashed with his motorbike, front wheel up in the air, into a parked lorry, of which the driver was kind of angry. - During the Vietnam war US at first allowed journalist to fly with army soldiers in a helicopter and watch their performance. This eventually led to "unwanted" reports and pictures reaching US citizens. Not surprisingly it effected a change in public opinion and demands to stop the war. Nowadays journalism is considered one of the most dangerous profession in the world. The British-Palestinian Dean of Glasgow university, chirurgien and plastique surgeon, Ghassan Abu Sitta, spend a few weeks working in a Gaza hospital and was invited to attend in Berlin a conference about Palestine. At the border to Germany he was barred entrance without explaination, seems "German Administration Act" doesn't require this. At the time he was told, though, this would be for one month, for the Schengen countries. When the aforementioned Glasgow University Dean was at a later date invited to give witness to the French Senate in Paris, he experienced again refusal to enter an European country. The French officials didn't know why, only that Germany listed him for one year as a person to be barred. Even though Mr. Ghassan Abu Sitta had employed a lawyer to gain information denied to him by the German government, he was taken by surprise that the period of one month was expented to one year and the French Senate was also not amused, at least Germany couldn't prevent him to speak via a video link. By the way, 30 German lawyers tried to sue German politians, including Scholz, "over complicity in Gaza." Haven't heard the outcome yet. Several high ranking US state officials (e. g. Josh Paul) resigned "over US violating its own laws" concerning arms delivery restrictions to conflict zones. Simular laws exist in Germany. People will loose trust in international laws if all are ignored. Joe Biden expressed that in his opinion the International Criminal Court's juristriction has to deal with "thugs like Pution and African leaders" not with Netanyahu. By the by, my information comes from established public news sources that are neutral and not one-sided. 

Just the Normal Madness

the late kitten, so sad

Loulou

 "To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture."  "In the world through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself."  "The oppressed will always believe the worst about themselves." Frantz Fanon.  "Even if it is hunger that killed a man, people still want to eat at his funeral." "If your own dog keeps barking at you, someone else is feeding it." Jabah Funniebo.  "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in a large crowd." " If a dog chases its own tail, it has a reason. "  Ubuntu African Proverb. "All are equal, some are more equal than others."  George Orwell (Animal Farm).                                                   The pretty young girl who had taken home the remaining kitten left in front of my door, returned and asked for a bit of food and a sweet. The third time she arrived she wanted just a sweet. So I asked her whether the kitten was okay. This she confirmed. I felt she didn't tell me the truth, therefore I inquired: No salami (sausage for pets)? The answer was no. Strange, I thus insisted, is the kitten dead? At the same time I imitated a sleeping/dead face. Sadly she said yes. I cannot judge what went wrong, sudden death is unfortunately quite common among cat babies, in particular if separated too young from the mother, ideally only after 12 weeks, but not less than 6 weeks. My brave Johnny, who already has to live with 2 in a complicate way broken bones (back thigh) of which one is pointing outwards, now suffers from cancer as well in the same area. One morning I discovered his big lump, sized like a small melon. The vet removered a lot of blood the lump was filled with. The poor darling amazingly accepts his fate, no screaming, no grumbling. I have been advised that it can not be operated, just like already his complicated bone injury. Meanwhile the bump is smaller, roughly orange sized. Johnny decided to ignore his handicap and try to be simply a normal cat. I admire my sweet black treasure who loves to cuddle in particular with his vice daddy (my husband). Myriam is another unfortunate cat. Years ago she lived on a Mosque compound, rised there her kittens successfully. Then one day she got hit by a car, lost one eye and ended up with a broken jaw. A neighbor took a photo and asked me to help her. The veterinarian did an excellent job and suggested that we keep her. At first Myriam was a bit shy and kept a distance to our other feral family members. But then we lived happily together until a few days ago when she fell off our staircase (presumably), couldn't walk, something was wrong with both her legs on her left side. I tested gently and they didn't seem to be broken. This the veterinarian confirmed, but under shock and possibly a nerve effected, pain near her backside. Presently there is an improvement with the prescribed medication. Unfortunately I cannot afford an x-ray which would provide a clearer picture. Anyhow, Myriam also suffers from constipation now, which can become a severe problem. Don't I know it from my own experience! (My tummy was killing me. ) The veterinarian managed with special movements of my little darling's lower body parts to make her do "her big business". A rapid solution for the moment. Back home Myriam drinks a lot and uses the toilet, but she just passes urine, in spite of her diet and medication. There is an improvement concerning her movement, but she's still not steady on her legs. A chance exists with another treatment and special (expensive) croquettes to overcome the constipation. All not easy, also financially. My blind boy, Loulou, in addition to his handicap, now also suffered from inwards growing eyelashes on both lids. So one more operation and pains. Slowly getting better, but presently I can't have him registered for a beauty competition. Better to choose others, perhapps black cats that suddenly changed colour from black to a beautiful warm reddish brown more or less starting at the height of their front legs, while others remained all black. - We repeatedly had to discover that some, (as far as we can judge) poor folks, whom we have helped, have a rather strange way to show their (not really expected) gratetude. They tried to trick us to spend even more. One woman who said she couldn't meet the costs for her sick/injured cat on 2 occasions (we then did), shamelessly told the next time she visited the recommended veterinarian that my husband would pay for her. This was not agreed and in addition came at a time when we were already kind of broke. Another example that really made me mad, neigbors with limited income, whom we helped (when we only had about 12 cats and less expenses) several times with various bills, also bought food, a nozzle, a necklace and a lead for their  dog, so he won't be mistaken for a stray dog, which can be dangerous around here, killed their Shepherd sized dog with rat poison when he fell ill. Unfortunately several supermarkets sell rat poison, thus available to every ignorant person, a very cruel way to kill. I have been called on 3 occasions when criminals gave this to a cat. I saw the terrible cramps, rushed the cat to our veterinarian and saved their lives.

Some where I read: "May life treat you the way you treat cats and dogs." By the way, the only son of the aforementioned neighbors decided after attending school for 3 years that he had enough education! This didn't induce his father to refrain from asking me for money for school books. My husband was shocked to have the son knocking at our door one day, holding a shopping list with 8 items, including a chicken and a bottle of oil. He said his mother wants us to buy these products for them. Strange folks. By the way, we were told at the time that they got the dog for their son as a companion. Wonder what will become of the boy as an adult. 

Myriam