catsofchania-blog

[catsofchania-blog]

Meet the Cats of Chania

Hi everyone!

I’ve decided to write a blog on something that’s very close to my heart... ANIMALS. Unfortunately, I’m talking about stray animals in this particular case.

As some of you know, I moved over to Chania, Crete in October last year (2018), so I’ve only been here just under five months, and already I’ve fallen in love with every single stray cat/dog I’ve come across, which is A LOT.

I’ve always been, and always will be an animal lover, so I really struggle living in a country with such a lack of resources when it comes to the welfare of these animals. It is completely the norm to see 5-10 stray cats/dogs in your day to day life here - it’s truly heartbreaking. I try to feed every cat or dog I see, and I try to give them all the love I can, but I wish I could do more.

With that being said, where I live, there are a little group of cats that hang around my house everyday, all of them at the start, very hungry, underweight, and nervous of humans. I’ve been feeding them since the first day I moved here. And I’ve also been trying to make them realise not all humans are cruel and don’t care about them. Over the past few months, and putting a lot of my time into these 7 cats in particular, they have really become like my little babies. They are all putting on weight, and they are all so more confident around me and showing much more affection. I have definitely gained their trust I know that much.

I’ve been making little boxes for them to sleep in, waterproof, with towels/blankets inside. They all seem to appreciate these boxes when the weather is bad or its cold in the evenings. I do all I can for these cats, but unfortunately at the end of May I will be back in England and I fear that they will end up back in the same situation they were before if I don’t try and do something further to help, hence why I decided to write this.

All 7 of the cats are honestly amazing in their own way, I’m going to post pictures of them all individually and tell you a little bit about them so you can understand why I’m so in love, and why I would love other peoples help.

So here they are... (please don’t judge their current names - I didn’t really know what names suited them at the start so I just called them by the colour/type of cat they are! Unfortunately they stuck and I can’t seem to change their names now, but I’m aware they deserve better names haha!)

‘Black and White’

Without a doubt, the friendliest most loving female cat I’ve ever been around. I am totally in love with her. She was the first cat I saw when I got here, and although she was a little timid, she still came straight over to me and let me give her a little fuss. Within a couple of weeks, she totally came out of her shell and now I feel as though I’ve had her my whole life. This cat in particular I am going to try get back to England - when my mum came over to visit me, she also fell in love with her. And we both don’t think I could possibly leave without her. Unfortunately she fell pregnant, of course she hadn’t been neutered and by the time I realised she was pregnant it was too late for me to act on it. I took her to the vets, they offered to neuter her and in the process they could remove the kittens during an operation, they didn’t particularly explain very well to me as the vetinary nurse’s English wasn’t great, but they told me the operation would put her life at risk. Of course I said I wouldn’t be willing to put her in that position, so we took her back home and unfortunately she had the kittens on Saturday. I will be taking her to be neutered as soon as the kittens aren’t reliant on her for milk. But I now have the issue of 5 beautiful kittens to try and find homes for also. I am not yet sure of the sex’s of the cats as they are only 4 days old, but there are two full black ones, two mix of ginger/tabby/black and white, and one full white with a little bit of ginger and tabby on its tail and head. All adorable! And I’m now faced with more heartbreak because I can’t bare the thought of leaving them behind in May with no homes. So PLEASE keep sharing my story and if anyone at all is interested, message me ASAP.

‘Ginge’

When I first started feeding Ginge, he was definitely underweight and he really looked like a stray cat. He is white and ginger, so when the weather is bad he ends up a really mucky colour. But of course, now every time it rains, he cries at the front door, I let him in, dry him with a towel (which he loves) and then he has a little sleep inside. He is such a little character, he’s got a super cute face and a lovely personality. He loves fuss just as much as ‘black and white’ does. When you are showing him love he really gives you a look as if to say he is simply grateful for you and the attention you’re giving him, it makes me want to cry. Any other animal lovers will understand what I mean. He doesn’t deserve to be left a stray cat, he deserves a loving home and a happy life.

‘Tabby’

Tabby is the most handsome tabby male cat you’ve ever seen. He feels like solid muscle when you stroke him, like he doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him, but he’s never looked underweight or much like a stray cat. But he most certainly is, he’s always starving, he’s always looking for somewhere to sleep and he also adores any love and affection you are willing to give him. He particularly likes to roll on his back and let you stroke his tummy endlessly until he falls asleep with his paws wrapped round your hands. He is adorable. He deserves happiness, a loving owner and a home.

‘Grey and White’

Grey and white is so beautiful. A little girl cat, she’s quite small, she has the most gorgeous eyes and she’s so friendly. Although, she’s also got a naughty side when it comes to the other cats and feeding time. She’s super greedy, given she’s a small cat, she always has to be fed first and she’ll swipe at any other cat that tries to be fed before her. Her and ‘black and white’ in particular don’t really get on, both being females and both always fighting for my attention. But they make me laugh the way they wind each other up. It’s amusing to watch. She looks like a young cat, she would definitely make a really great cat to someone who would welcome her with open arms and a loving forever home.

‘New Ginge’

So new ginge, has only been coming to me the past 6 weeks, she goes by the name of new ginge for obvious reasons. She looks a lot like ‘original ginge’ but she’s just the latest version! I wasn’t sure at first whether she was female or male, but I know she’s female now because the male cats won’t leave her alone currently. Poor thing. She’s very timid, I have tried countless times to stroke her whilst I feed her but she’s too scared. It’s very sad. She has got more and more confident since I’ve been feeding her and she knows I’m trying to help her but I haven’t quite got past the trust stage... yet. She’s got such a kind little face, she’s totally innocent, and she needs someone to show her love, and give her trust in humans. She’s obviously been a stray cat all her life and had to fend for herself and not understood the meaning of being a ‘pet’.

‘New tabby’

Yes, another ridiculous idea of a name. And to be honest, new tabby looks nothing like original tabby, but he’s half tabby/half white fur so that’s why he got that name. Terrible I know. Again, he’s very shy and timid, and a lot like ‘new ginge’ he doesn’t let me stroke him, but he knows I am here to help him. And he comes to me daily for his feed, he’ll happily come inside the house when I open the front door but he just won’t let me stroke him yet. Luckily I have patience and a lot of love to give so I will keep on with my persistence in trying to make these two cats realise that they deserve to be given love from humans.

‘Fluffy’

Fluffy, is of course, a very fluffy long haired female cat. She is another newer recruit to the team, haha. At the start we used to spot her outside the house up the drive or round the BBQ area and as soon as she spotted us she’d run faster than lightening and we wouldn’t see her again for a few days. But the past 3-4 weeks, she comes everyday along with the other 6 cats and gets her food and she’s also started sleeping on a chair in our garden. She likes fuss, but she’s still a little nervous, so you have to be patient with her. I know that with time and patience she’d also make an amazing loving cat. She’s really unusual looking too!

I have looked into the few organisations over here in Chania, but with there being an overflow of strays, no-one can take these cats in and re-home them because there is simply no room. I’ve not met any Greek people yet that have been interested or have known if anyone that would be interested in the cats as pets. Unfortunately a lot of people over here just see them as an annoyance. 

So this is why I decided to reach out to everyone else and see if there are any other animal lovers out there who know of anyone or would like to help share my story of these cats and see if we can find them homes. 

I understand it’s not always that easy to just fly pets from one country to another, but, it is do-able and for these beautiful cats it would be completely worth it. 

I am simply asking for people to share, offer any advice or knowledge, and help in any way possible to give these cats forever homes and a chance of a happy life. I am here until the end of May, so I have time to put things into order for the cats if needs be. And I am willing to do whatever for them to get what they deserve. I know I’ll be truly heartbroken if I have to leave them behind and to be stray cats all over again. 

Please help if you can.

I would be forever grateful. All my love, Ellis x