I’m a cat person, through and through. That wasn’t always the case…
The first cat I lived with was Tostada who my husband adopted when we lived in Mexico (he named her). I didn’t know anything about cats before her (I wasn’t allowed any pets as a kid). I remember two things about my time with Tostada: 1) She loved eating flies. In summer-time, we liked opening the windows to let the breeze in and big fat flies would get in. I would smack the flies with a flip-flop and before I could remove the dead fly, Tostada would jump in and eat it. Gross, I know! But also eco-friendly.
2) Cats make weird noises. One time there was a flapping and buzzing noise coming from the kitchen. Tostada was staring intently through the door while making a weird noise. When I went to see what was going on, I discovered that there was a distressed hummingbird flying around the kitchen - it was moving around really fast. I tried to show it the window for it to escape but clearly the poor bird was scared of me too. I decided to use a wooden spoon to get the hummingbird to perch on it while trying to keep the chattering cat out of the kitchen with my legs. It worked! The hummingbird perched on the spoon and I slowly moved the spoon towards the window, when the bird felt the breeze it flew away and left the flat unscratched.
I learnt a lot about cats while living with Tostada. They can be funny and silly, but also sweet and chatty. They sleep a lot but get crazy at dawn and dusk. Not two cats have the same personality but they all are self-assured and beautiful and my life has been so much richer since I discovered how wonderful they are.
Now when I travel I make sure to carry cat treats to feed stray cats. It makes me sad to see hungry or ill cats and I wish I could do more to help. To celebrate International Cat Day, I wanted to share with you pictures of some beautiful cats I’ve seen around the world and also share some links to support people and organisations working to protect, feed, neuter and help stray cats worldwide (find them at the end of the post).
I’d love to hear stories about your cat in the comments! How did she come into your life? What’s the weirdest thing she does?
And also if you know of organisations helping stray cats wherever you are, share the link.
PS. Tostada moved to Colombia and she’s now living with my mum. Her fly-eating days are behind her and she now only accepts premium food.
These are the organisations* and people you can support:
https://orphankittenclub.org/
https://www.spca.org.hk/
https://greekcats.org.uk/
http://www.santorini-cats.com/
https://gogetfunding.com/fip-cat-needs-help/
Bulgarian Stray Cats Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre