Sense and Sensibility

 "We are all prisoners of hope." Cornel West

Haven't seen Bella for a while, a beautiful gentle street cat that loved to cuddle and accompany my husband or me when shopping in the neighborhood. I had tried to take her indoors, but she didn't agree with my other cats. Wanting to save her from having too many babies, I had her spayed and she was fine afterwards, remained detached to us, I enjoyed seeing this little bundle of joy come running to me. I fear she must be dead and there is now a black and white younger cat, Betty, who copies her. Worrying she might get run over by a car, depending on where I am going, I sometimes return to the house and fetch a bit of food to distract Betty before I start off again. She is so cute, I am pretty sure Betty lived in a family before and some other fur jewels as well. They deserve better. Strange, there are folks who worry that getting a cat or dog spayed and neutered may be "Haram" (against the religion), yet kittens are thrown in the garbage, those considered surplus put out on the street, others willfully killed, brutally murdered. We urgently require animal protection laws, like existing in other civilized countries. One of the best countries for animals is Turkey: "All animals are born equal and have a right to live, to be protected against infliction of pain, suffering and torture, prevention of all types of cruel treatment." In addition it is proposed in a coming law to fine those who abandon their pets 10 000 Turkish Lira (approx 1,745 Dollar) and imprison a minimum of two years and one month for crimes committed against animals, no bail no fine sentence instead possible. Wow, this is fantastic! Quite a few Tunisian are interested in Turkish culture, say we have a lot in common, why not learn from Turkey a different attitude towards animals, punish their abuse and senseless killing, teach children to respect animal rights and that it is HARAM to do them any harm. By the way, the other day I watched a little boy attempting to kick a cat and when I shouted Haram, his mother walking behind him at a short distance made a sign showing me she approved of my reaction. (Usually parent and child just look surprised.) Three of the last eight cat babies that a woman had packed in a plastic bag and thrown onto my cactus plants, suddenly died approx two months old. They always remained skinny in spite of all my efforts. Cats' mother milk powder is helpful to raise the babies, but not the real thing.... my babies look for a mum and try other cats here of various ages, male and female. Some enjoy playing mum, even male cats, interesting. Two of the originally four lovely gentle female cats, at the time four months old, cramped together in a box left in front of my door, mainly live on my roof terrace and several of my other cats frequently try to provoke them. I don't know why they do this, maybe they feel we are too many already. Anyhow, Rachel and Rachida are not happy with those other cats and I wish a good home for my sweet ladies. (The other two girls were adopted) I need to find a family for them as well. They deserve a good for ever home where they can ideally live together. The original family wanted to put all four out on the street but their approx eight years old boy showed sympathy and brought them to us. Sometimes children are better than their parents. This gives me hope. I believe that if kids are taught the right values they could even teach adults!

PostScript Even for Beauties Life can be Tough

 "We are not rich by what we possess, but by what we do without." Immanuel Kant

It being very hot I asked a neighbor whether I may leave an empty ice cream box filled with water on his pavement for outdoor cats. He had no objections, it's in addition to that in front of my house. I used to also put croquettes in such a box on a neglected pavement (long grass, lots of paper and various pieces of plastic, wood and metal) of a house whose owner works in France and thus is rarely here. When she returned I found both boxes removed, even that one in front of the other house (they placed in front of my door!). When my husband and I passed her house, that stupid woman stood there together with a Moroccan woman, a " good story teller",  advising us that one should leave cats without food and water as they produce excrements. The not so bright, stone hearted women kindly allowed me, though, to provide cats with food and water along my house. Don't expect this to be a joke, around here one can easily get the impression that house owners have no rights, kids and youngsters can do as they please. I often get the smell of stinking diesel on account of motorbikes racing around here, surprising that only kittens are the usual victims (motorcycles and cars). Lately two small kids turned up on mini motorbikes, tuned to create maximum noise just like the big ones and stinking just the same. Youngsters and male adults viewing these got shiny eyes, such a dream...... Who cares about the environment? I don't think kids are taught to protect, live now and ignore the future. Take what you can get and don't worry about animal rights...... I want to be fair, not all are like that, the number of folks willing to protect cats and dogs, demanding animal protection laws, is on the increase.

Even for Beauties Life can be tough

 "Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat" Jean Paul Sartre

I have a lot of beautiful cats in my house, there are the two Siamoa cats Diana and Minusa (once the most expensive cat in the world, now very fashionable in Tunisia, which doesn't mean you can't find them homeless on the street), Persian cats Aisha (only one eye) and Amelie,  a bit of Persian: Jessica, Fleur, Capucco, Melanie, Burma cat Lilly, black and white Adamo, Claudia,  black with white socks Khaled, all white Milka (one eye blind), mainly white: Julino, Ricardo and Mallek (one eye blind), three colour beauties: Myriam and Tareqqa (both only one eye), gorgeous Nathalie and Kitty, golden coloured Sandy, mixed coloured: Tiger, Janina, Eileen, Natasha, Fritz, Larissa and Johanna, little Moses, white with grey spots, face resembling Hasky dogs: Adele and Alien, all grey: Grace and Jessica and little  newcomers: black and white Max and Moritz, three coloured Precious (white, black and golden), seven more: all black two, black and white two, black and beige one, white with black spots two (approx four week old, some with shortened tail.) All these treasures I found in front of my door, some handed directly to me, others were left in a cardboard box or lately thrown in a plastic bag and there are of course also those that I took to the vet after an accident and then kept. All old enough I had spayed and neutered, the little ones come from people who didn't take the trouble to get this done, perhaps didn't have the money or preferred to spend it on something else. I am afraid we are too many now and I urgently require families willing to adopt. Some of my older cats have health problems, I had to have their teeth done repeatedly, their blood tested and buy special croquettes for them. This applies at present to Lilly, Ricardo and Jolino, whose croquettes are 85 Dinar for 1,5 kg and now he doesn't like them while all the others would love to have his diet. A bit frustrating, to say the least. By the way, the poor little ones miss their Mum, they try to suck milk from male and female cats of various ages, some themselves quite young, this even though I give them the mother milk powder mixed with water. Obviously not like the real thing. Still, they are much better off then those without a family, a for ever home. If they are lucky they encounter folks who provide them more or less regularly with water and some food, often what is left over, including spicy hot food, not ideal but better than nothing. They can't afford to be choosey. There are some real beauties out on the street, very strange. Friends of mine in Germany said that they never saw such beautiful cats before. There you have to pay a lot of money for them, even when you get them from an animal home, because you have to pay for all the treatment the cat received, spayed and neutered, vaccine, check up. Folks here want all of this as well before adopting a cat, only the previous owner should meet the costs and ideally perhaps also for a year's supply of food. I am not saying all are like that thank heavens. If more folks discover the value of cats and dogs, I believe it will do our society good and maybe the lost brilliant, ever so charming North African big smile will return. I remember it well, at a time when guys were happy to possess a bike......

PostScript It can only get better

 "I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change..... I am changing the things I cannot accept." Angela Davis

Yesterday a woman dressed as if religious (some like to fool you like that) went passed my house and throw a plastic bag behind the metal fencing, behind which large cactus plants replaced the previous flowers a while ago as several of these got stolen or damaged by hooligans. A neighbor watching thought at first that the woman dumped her rubbish there. (By the way one can be find 60 Dinar for throwing one's garbage just anywhere.) Fortunately our neighbour checked and heard that the bag actually contained kittens. It was very hot, anyone who puts cats in a plastic bag in a weather like that and on top of that throws this onto cactus plants commits a crime and violates the Prophet's teachings. It was very lucky we were at home and managed to save eight approx. 4 weeks old cat babies, they must be of two different cat mummies, as they usually have four babies. I wonder what happened to them, people can be so brutal. We experienced so much, a mother cat still with milk - the owner told us she has been spayed, another mother with her kittens in a cardboard box in front of our door (a lady later on apologized, said she didn't know what to do), very often 2-4 cat babies, some much too young to be separated from their mum, 4 kittens four months old squeezed into a transport box ( a y

Young boy later on turned up and said his family wanted to throw them out on the street and he wanted to prevent this), two have been adopted with the help of our vet. Lately we were forced to accept 9 young newcomers apart from these 8 babies, had we left them outside, they would probably be run over by a car meanwhile. Their life expectancy is so low and they are so cute and lovely. We hope that we can find folks willing to adopt. Most Tunisians prefer a male cat, the expensive one (I joke, if you are not posh, at least your cat should be...). I don't know how to finance our big cat community in the long run, when old enough they need to be neutered and spayed, I learned how to treat some minor sickness (got a supply of cat medication meanwhile, some people with low income come and ask me for help sometimes when their cat is sick), dental problems are frequent. Several cats relay on my Cats' Table, so I can't close it in order to save money. So far I financed everything with my private money, apart from a monthly 20 Euro donation from a cousin. We hope and pray that folks here will take the trouble to get their cat spayed/ neutered, respect our NO, we can't take more cats, teach their children to treat animals well, support animal rights for a better world!

It can only get better

"You don't realize how much people can hate, they can hate so much they'll tear the world to pieces." Arthur Miller

Walking along Rue Hedi Chaker (Sidi Bu Jafar, Sousse) , it is boiling hot, no shadow on the side along the beach. I remember a line of quite a few old tall Palm trees, that was before the revolution, why are they all gone? Come to think of it, there are altogether not many trees in Sousse, though

in some streets those planted by the French still exist, additions are pretty rare unfortunately, trees don't just provide shadow they also improve the air and help that towns don't get quite so heated up. Kairouan is there more up to date, the town authorities planted and still plant many trees; it also makes those roads look more inviting. Actually I too planted a tree 2 or 3 years ago, one of those fast growing ones with many small leaves. It was approx. 0,50 m high at the time and now it must be at least 2 m! One problem in certain parts of Sousse are the hooligans who don't value the environment and don't understand why it should be protected. Where parents fail, teachers and the media should step in and make kids at a young age aware of nature's (including animals) beauty and that only stupid people try to destroy and kill. Not surprising, folks in several countries were horrified by the brutal attack on an animal shelter home for dogs in Djerba, more than twenty dogs and puppies were slaughtered in a sadistic way that speaks of a lot of hate and evil characters. The criminals we're fairly quickly caught thanks to camera recording. Then a shameless mob went to the police station and demanded the release of the three devils. I wonder what is going on in their heads. The situation became unbearable for the dogs that survived and the animal protecting folks and they left with the help of many people dedicated to animals' well being, they came from various parts of the country and a demonstration for animal rights and putting a stop to killing cats and dogs (supposed to keep their numbers down, better ways are practised in several countries) took place in Tunis. Meanwhile the President signed a paper declaring that the killing will stop, the criminals will be send to prison and there will be zero tolerance for animal abuse. The right man at the right time in the right place. Thank heavens for that. Various organizations signed in support. The Prußian Philosopher Immanuel Kant: "He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with man. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."

PostScript Much Scope for Improvement

Odette and Hakim

Jessica and Claudia

Amelie and Janina

"Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat." Jean Paul Satre
Lately the number of sweet kittens in front of my door is increasing again. Unfortunately my possibilities are grossly overestimated. I appreciate that those who bring me their cats try to help them (at the same time get rid of pets they no longer want to keep for various reasons and do so with a good conscience). Fairly often actually kids bring the cats. Seeing it positive, kids too want cats to be alright. I would be very happy if I could offer shelter to all, but I must remain realistic, I have neither the space (no garden!) nor the means or energy to further increase our big fur angels community, further, our cats don't want any more additions. Fearing they would otherwise get run over, I already took lately inside Karim, Odette, Jessica, Moses, all very small and from different families. I managed to find new homes for three other little darlings. Sweetie, one of the regular guests at my "Cats' Table", had two babies. While one seemed to be doing well, the other one remained weaker, had an eye closed (managed to help her, carefully watched by her mummy). Then the stronger one disappeared and Sweetie lost all interest in the remaining one. I called her Misty, she ate very little, I had to force her to take at least a bit of cat mummy's milk (made with special powder). Misty didn't really look to me as if she's got much longer to live or that I could save her life, but I took her indoors nevertheless in order to allow her a bit of comfort. She died yesterday peacefully, r.i.p. Misty, poor little darling. The day before I found a cat's transport box with four 6-8 months old cats crammed inside in front of my entrance door. This really got me down, I felt so helpless. Beautiful, gentle, frightened cats, deserving to be treated well. I am on my own, with some support from my husband, what can I do? I urgently need good families to adopt these well kept little angels. Then a young lad informed me that he brought the cats, because his family wanted to kick them out, not that they were difficult, they just feel now that their flat is too small to keep them. At least he was honest, but that doesn't solve our problem. For the moment I gave the little treasures shelter in a small corridor. At first they didn't drink nor eat, still under shock. Just imagine being crammed in a box, taken to a foreign house, dumped there for unknown reasons.... Anyhow, good news, my vet says she might be able to find good families, one maybe take two cats. I hope and pray that this will work out, the gorgeous ones deserve good- for-ever homes.

Much Scope for Improvement

" People are always going to find something wrong with people who are not the exact same as them. That's the way it is. Black, white, short, tall, religious, whatever. People are bad." Chris Rock

It is summer and it is pretty hot, on the roof a bowl with water almost boiling hot - nevertheless some cats have got a cold, not what I expected. My vet recommended Bronchi-stop (0,5 ml and 1 ml 
water sprayed into the mouth), fairly cheap and works quite well. The main health problems of cats here is bad gum, bad teeth, generally a poor immune system. Many die as kittens, get run over by cars (they like to sit underneath for cover and shadow) and don't get much older than 5-8 years. Generally speaking cats are in a much better shape than before the revolution and many would be quite expensive in Europe, really beautiful and gentle, in spite of this often been abused by stupid ignorant folks and their kids. Children frequently simply imitate or react to their parents behaviour. Parents who are cruel to animals, tell their children that they are dirty, useless and therefore must be kicked or chased away, thus kids learn that it is perfectly okay to abuse animals, not aware that is actually contrary to the prophet's teachings (haram). Apart from that cats kill mice, cockroaches, scorpions, can work as an alarm clock, warn when a fire breaks out, comfort depressed or sick people, make you smile or laugh, play football with four legs. Dogs saved many folks life, buried underneath crushed houses, soil, snow or in water, aid blind persons, help trace criminals and drug dealers, offer true and loyal friendship. Cats and dogs are more useful than some good-for-nothings....
who like to believe that they stand high above animals. (How to get their brains pea sized? You just have to do a lot of pumping!!!) Anyhow, children who grow up with such bad models usually are aggressive, bullies, without respect,
don't become gentle but violent adults, often criminals. Many believe in beating their children if they don't obey, this is practiced in several countries and may well be the reason why we have so much violence in the world, control by fear. Bullies are not born but raised. There is hope that the brutal and senseless killing of so-called stray cats and dogs will be stopped in the future. At least some governors are open to alternative solutions to reduce the number of "unwanted cats and dogs", alternatives that are cheaper and work in the long run, already tried out in other countries. Besides, here are many folks who want the slaughtering to stop and the number of animal protection organizations are on the raise. They also have the support of quite a few veterinarians. I would like to donate the song of Cat Steven: "I love my dog" to those who order the shooting of dogs and poisoning of cats. Cat Stevens by the way later on changed his name to Joussef Islam and was denied embarking to US because some bright authorities there decided that someone with such a name must be a terrorist! Today two black and white sweet approx. six weeks old kittens suddenly arrived near my house. A little boy, 5 years old, attempted to kick one of them. Is this normal behaviour? Wouldn't it be more natural for a child to stroke the little fur darling? Well, not for these disturbed kids around where I live. It has improved though, they all know my and my husband's attitude and that hitting, kicking, and stone throwing, etc. is not acceptable to us. We live and demonstrate a different treatment of animals. I am proud to come from an educated animal loving family, or should I say I am lucky that abusing animals was never accepted in my family?