Here is the poster:
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles:- Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats
Translation:
“Give us something to drink. We are dying of thirst.
“Thousands of street cats die of thirst every summer. A water dish in the yard saves lives
It is enough to put a large plastic container in a corner of the yard and fill it with water once a day, or else place it underneath the dripping hose of an air conditioner. They will be thankful and your heart will be filled with joy and satisfaction. Thanks.”
I had visited certain City’s in Israel in 2008 on a “Holy Land Pilgrimage” with “Mosiac Tour Group” of Mumbai. I saw a lot of stray cats in Old Jerusalen city and also in the other lesser populated Israeli city’s. During my tour of European Capital city’s with “Thomas Cook” in 2010 i was surprised to not see a single stray cat, including the “Burroughs market” of London !In hindsight i presume that amongst the developed economy’s Israeli’s are more tolerant towards stray and feral cats.
Yes, Israel is tolerant of their “community cats”. I think “community cat” is a better description because cats don’t have to belong to a certain person and these cats are probably quite tame. Of course Israel is rare in being the only Middle Eastern country to ban declawing. Mind you the idea of declawing never enters the heads of people in the Middle. It is an American idea.
As for feral cats in England. We are told there are some, perhaps a good number but, like you, I have never seen one and I do quite a bit of walking and I am observant. I don’t believe there are many. I believe there are very few particularly in the more affluent areas and lots of London is fairly or very affluent.
Cats Protection may have a fair idea of how many feral colonies there are in England, we know there are not many in our area now which is Wear Valley and Darlington.
I’d think as CP have many branches who will be doing TNR too, it is probably the same everywhere.
Now that summer is here in Cyprus with a vengeance I have to make sure my cats get enough water. That’s not as easy as it sounds because some of them do not like water at all and others drink too much. Consequently I have to prepare their dry food mixed with cooked chicken liver, canned food, mashed together with water. Variety is provided by alternately adding mackerel, cheese, or chopped chicken meat. They wolf down this tasty stew which ensures they also get plenty of liquid. Fatima who is nursing a beautiful white whoops Turkish Van kitten named Orkide gets extra cheese every day. Orkide has grown from 100 g when born on 3 June to 520 g today and already has a bushy tail and collar. It’s going to be a tough time for outdoor cats this summer, but hopefully that will motivate some lovely fluffy Angoras to come looking for water and food at my house.
What a good poster!
There is always a bowl of fresh water in our garden, not only for thirsty cats passing through but for hedgehogs and wild birds too.
It takes so little effort to make life a little bit better for any creatures we can.
I used to do that too in Canada – leave a bowl for the stray cats and raccoons. Animals live in the city have a tough life surviving against many odds. When I was little we had a familly of hedgehogs and I would leave them milk every night. I realize there are situations where one has to be careful about creating reliance in a wild animal but there are other situations where every little bit helps.
It’s a great poster – makes people think. I have a feeling alot of Israelis don’t do much of anything to help though. It’s a very strange country indeed. Not at all what one might think. Religious extremism has not time for cats – in my opinion. I have a friend who lives in Tel Aviv and tells me all about everything including cats. I don’t think I will ever go there.
Nice idea. I leave out food but not water. I’ll start leaving water as well.
Wow! That is an amazingly good idea. I hope many readers follow through.
It is something people don’t naturally think of. In Britain, stray cats don’t have the same water problems because it is much cooler. Food is the problem.
Here in the Phoenix Metropolitan area, we can’t leave water out for to long because of our mosquito laws. Our mosquito’s sometimes carry malaria and the West Nile virus, so standing water is not allowed. Luckily we have several small man made lakes and tons of sprinklers to compensate. Water dishes are acceptable, of course, I guess it would depend on the container and how close it was to your house. A pan in the vacant lot would be a problem.
The situation is much worse in countries like Saudi Arabia, Dubai, etc. where temperatures are hostile to all forms of life. I did not find Israel all that hot but as soon as you enter the Gulf you are in a furness.
All I know is that there are lots of stray and feral cats in Israel. I suppose therefore that there are lots of thirsty cats.
What is the situation like in the Middle East for domestic, stray and feral cats? Do you know? Are there lots?
Hi Michael. I think in Cyprus the cats do fairly well, but their situation is variable and depends on luck. I don’t think the word stray fits the cats here. They have always been outdoor and semi-feral cats. Almost every hotel, restaurant, holiday village or housing estate has it’s colony of cats, plus all of those that can be found in the villages and looked after by kind people. I have a lot of photos of these semi-feral but mostly friendly cats. My latest occasional visitor is a solid red female Turkish Angora female which would be a valuable and rare acquisition in anyone’s book. I suppose she is related to my 2 solid red SH females and the 3 SLH’d red cats, 2 females 1 male, that I exported.
I totally understand. I have seen this on my travels. These cats are what I would call genuine community cats. A different way of the semi-domestic cat being cared for not by an individual but a community. In Israel it seems that people relate to cats in a similar way. It happens her in the UK too sometimes. You can get a lot of pleasure relating to and caring for community cats.