In a world where you can be anything, be kind.
Kindness for Kitties Travel-Blog
In order to understand the situation of our Rescuers and get a better idea of their needs and the resources they are working with, we try to visit our Rescuers and gain some first-hand experience. This blog is written by me, Zoe, the founder and first chairwoman of Kindness for Kitties e.V.
So far, I have travelled to Turkey and Greece. You can read about my trips below.
Turkey (Jan - Feb 2025)
Overview
- January 16th – January 24th Istanbul (staying with Meral – Honey Cats Animal Rescue)
- January 24th – January 27th Ankara (staying with Birben – Sarman Animal Rescue)
- January 27th – January 28th Eskisehir (staying with Öznur – Kirlos/ Catrescue_thea)
- Janaury 28th – February 1st Bursa (staying with Melih – Yasam Animal Rescue)
- February 1st – February 5th Izmir (staying with Ayse – Toprak Ana)
- Visiting the Macunköy animal shelter (Ankara)
- The Story of Cali
First stop: Istanbul
I enjoyed homecooked turkish family dinners most days and could dive right into the culture, which was great for me. Meral works at a Vet clinic, helping out with cat care and treatments. During my stay with her, I accompanied her to the clinic most days. Muhamed and Yaşar from the Vet clinic were also extremely kind, letting me come to visit the clinic and giving me the opportunity to learn about cat treatments, letting me evaluate X-rays with them and answering all of my questions patiently (we also communicated via google translate). I got to know friends of Meral (Sevilay and her husband), who invited us over for dinner on evening, where we were treated to a great homecooked dinner with more typical turkish food for me to try.
Istanbul was the only city on my trip, where I really did a lot of touristy stuff, visiting the Galata Tower, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and the Great Bazar. I also had a great time on a Bosporus River Boat Tour with Ildem. Wherever we went, we took cat food with us, as there was hardly a street where you didn’t come across at least one stray cat.
In preparation for my trip, I’d wished for a camera for Christmas, so that I could capture my impressions and photograph as many cats as possible. I definitely made great use of that, quickly filling up my card with hundreds of cat photos.
After a quick photoshoot with Buse’s cats, we went out to feed strays in the apartment complex, where we met Minis, one of the cats listed on the website, who had previously been treated with Buse’s help. We did a little photoshoot of her as well (check out the photo below), before going out for dinner.
Afterwards, we picked up Buse’s husband and drove to a waffle place for dessert, where I was delighted to find a cuddly kitty climbing into my lap. I carried him in my arms as we went downstairs to order, then got to keep cuddling him for most of our time eating the waffles. He was such a sweetheart!
Both Buse and her husband could speak English, so we were generally able to converse without google translate. We had a great time both at dinner and at the waffle place. Next, we visited Buse’s vet and met Torti and Kenny, who were recieving treatment at the vet. Buse also made some last preparations for another cat, Kelly, who was flying to her new home in Germany the next day. More photoshoot efforts were made (although my skills to cope with difficult light situations made it a little difficult sometimes. But I still managed to capture a few cute photos under the fluorescent light at the vet), before we headed back to Buse’s place where I stayed the night. The next day, Buse left for the airport with Kelly, to bring her to her new home in Munich, while I took the Metro and ferry back to the Anatolian side of Istanbul where Meral lives.
On 23.01.2025, on my way back from Buse’s place to Meral, I found a sick stray cat at the bottom of some stairs. She seemed in bad shape, she didn’t move, just meowed a couple of times as I approached her. I quickly walked the rest of the way to the vet clinic and me and Mohamed took a transport box to take her back with us. I named her Cali. She was admitted and while she was receiving treatment, I had to continue my journey, leaving her behind at the vet, hoping that she would make it. I already started to make plans to add a day trip back to Istanbul during my upcoming stay in Bursa, to visit her again.
My thoughts on Istanbul:
The People:
The people I have met were all incredibly kind. First and foremost Meral and her family, who welcomed me and helped me with everything I needed. I am very grateful for the love they have shown me. Muhamed and Yasar from the Vet clinic were also extremely kind, letting me come to visit the clinic and giving me the opportunity to learn about cat treatments. I am happy that I had a great, albeit too short, time to visit Buse and her husband Fatih as well. They also made me feel very welcome and showed me another part of the City.
Apart from them, also the people that we met on the streets had been mostly very kind and helpful. Whether we needed to ask for the way, or I needed help to buy an Istanbul Metro Card while exploring on my own.
The City:
The city of Istanbul is vibrant and has a lot to offer. It is a huge city with great history and there is something to see everywhere. Meral lives on the Anatolian side of the city, which gave us plenty of opportunities to take the ferry across the beautiful Bosporus river. While the minibus will likely always be a small mystery to me, the metro and ferries were very straightforward and also very clean. The parks that I saw in Istanbul were pretty and I loved seeing the sports areas in them for people to be active. I felt very safe in Istanbul, even when travelling alone.
The Dogs:
During my time in Istanbul, I encountered around 20 stray dogs, I would estimate. Most often I would see them curled up in the street and sleeping. Sometimes they would walk around or sit and watch the people walk past. Three of my stray dog encounters stand out the most to me:
While wandering around the neighborhood, I saw what I assume was a stray dog family on an empty piece of land. There were 2 adult stray dogs and 3 or 4 puppies. The puppies were playing with whatever they could find (I think one item was a bike tire). When I approached to get a closer look and take some photos, the adult dogs got up and barked in my direction, so I didn’t dare come closer and retreated towards the street. They seemed more feral than most of the other dogs I had seen up until then.
When travelling through Istanbul to the European side, I came across an area with a lot of trash lying around. I saw a few stray cats as well as a group of, I think 5, stray dogs. I tried to offer some food to the cats and even tried to make separate piles for the cats and the dogs, so that both could have some, but the dogs kept following me. One dog even chased off one of the cats into the street. I felt so bad for that hungry kitty! I learned that the cats do not only have to compete with each other for food, but at least in this case, also with the dogs, where they are likely to get the short end of the stick and lucky if they are not injured in the process.
On my bus ride from Istanbul to Ankara, I saw a stray dog at a motorway service station. It was a white dog, clearly visible in the night. I hope it is safe, because the motorway is definitely not the right place for an animal to be.
The Cats:
There are cats around every corner in Istanbul. Most of these cats were extremely friendly and and came right up for food and pets, only some of the cats that I saw were timid. When giving out food for the stray cats, often it would seem as if more miraculously appear out of thin air. I saw feeding station and little cat houses almost everywhere (though sometimes they did not look well-maintained and often the water or food bowls were empty. Potentially they were used more during the night). You could also often see small piles of cat food (most often dry food, but you could also quite often see people give out leftover human food) near the stray cats.
Some of the cats seemed in good health, others looked dirty, had very dull coats, suffered from infection or injuries. I saw this cat with a serious neck wound two times, the first time it wandered off into a gated living area where I could not follow, the second time it barely escaped the bag that we tried to trap it in. I really hope that it can get help, because it was one of the worst-looking cats that I had seen thus far. It was quite timid and took a lot of convincing (with tuna) to get close to us and go inside the bag.
Another thing that I noticed was, that many of the cats seemed to be in need of love even more so than food. Some cats took the opportunity to crawl right up in my lap when I squatted down to give them food, pets or to take photographs of them. Despite living in a city with so many people, they seemed starved of human touch and just wanted to feel some love and warmth. It makes me sad to know, that they will likely live their whole lives on the street, never truly getting their needs met. They all deserve to have a loving home.
We also saw a pregnant cat and several cats with small kittens in the street, who will contribute to the growing stray cat population if action isn’t taken. As much as I love cats and am happy to meet cats in the streets, it would be selfish to not consider their well-being as well. There is no doubt that a life on the street with hunger, disease and constant danger is not something I would wish upon any cat and widespread neutering will be the only way to reduce the population over time.
Off to the Capital: Ankara
On January 24th, I continued my trip via intercity Bus from Istanbul to Ankara. I had started getting sick with a cough, so I was very happy to arrive in Ankara where I was picked up by Birben via Taxi. I stayed with Birben in her Bedroom, while she slept on the sofa for the time of my stay with her. I was again welcomed with a lot of love and even had chicken soup on my first evening to help with my cold.
She had around 17 cats and one dog living with her, and recently some of the cats seemed unhappy about the newest additions (not because of the new cats themselves, but rather generally because of the increase in the total number). Birben and I talked about potential ways to mitigate the problem and help the cats feel more comfortable.
During my stay with Birben, I visited Baby Pamuk at Patilogy Veteriner Clinic (Birben’s primary Veterinarian) and had a great time talking to Veterinarian Özlem.
While Birben was working, I took the opportunity to visit the local animal shelter and explore Ankara on my own. I have written out the story of my trip to the local animal shelter in more detail, but the gist of it is, that I saw about a hundred dogs in small kennels, housing around 4-6 dogs each mostly. I’d talked to other visitors while waiting outside for the shelter to open, and interviewed one of the shelter workers as well. I was not allowed to see the cats at all and overall did not have a good impression compared to German animal shelters that I had seen.
Impressions from the shelter in Ankara
I’d already heard horror stories about Turkish public shelters when I asked Rescuers and Veterinarians why so much stray cats care was done by private people, and not by official shelters. Unfortunately, it seemed that the general sentiment that bringing animals to the shelter would not be in the best interest of the animals was indeed warranted and that we can’t rely on official agencies, but need to stay active and involved ourselves.
My thoughts on Ankara:
Since I only stayed in Ankara for 3 days, I will not split this into different sections for different topics this time.
Overall, the city was nice, it seemed more clean and maybe more “pre-planned” (regarding the way that it was built) than Istanbul. It reminded me a little bit of Atlanta, Georgia (USA) in the sense that it seemed more spread out compared to Istanbul, but that could also just be dependent on which parts of the cities I saw. The Animal shelter was close to a shopping center with not much else in close vicinity, so that might be where the “USA”-feeling comes from.
I saw fewer stray cats here and generally a more even number of stray cats vs stray dogs overall, but when taking a closer look, I came across a stray cat colony in the city center, where I found a young orange cat, who seemed to have a respiratory infection, who I brought to Patilogy Veterinary Clinic for treatment. (I sent my sister a photo of him and let her pick out his name, so we called him “Rasputin”).
The people I saw in public seemed a little more reserved than in Istanbul, but when I talked to people on a more personal level, I again felt very welcomed and enjoyed our conversations and the insights I gained.
Visiting the Macunköy animal shelter (Ankara)
Visiting the Macunköy Animal Shelter:
On 25.01.2025 during my Ankara stay on my Turkey trip, I decided to visit the Macunköy animal shelter. It had mixed reviews, with several people complaining about them taking stray animals without good cause and the bad living conditions sometimes leading to sickness, while other praised the shelter for being clean and taking care of neutering and vaccinating stray animals. Many of the reviews I noticed were not actually reviews, but instead requests from people who wanted to find a new home for their cats, asking if anyone was interested (Those were almost always 5 star reviews, skewing the official rating of the shelter).
The shelter opens to visitors three times a week for 2 hours each. I decided to see for myself what the conditions are like (keeping in mind that what I saw could be only a small portion of the truth, due to the restricted opening hours).
I travelled to the shelter by bus, walking the last part of the way. It is located behind a shopping mall in an area with mostly car shops around. In front of the shelter, I could see a wooden dog-hut (already a little run down), as well as a white dog lounging inside the shelter area, between the fence of the shelter grounds and a small building.
Along with me, there were three other people waiting for the gate to open. I started chatting with them (particularly with Berna, who lives in the Yenimahalle district of Ankara). She told me they had come to the shelter to try to get a stray dog back, who lived in their area. She said the dog was friendly, had never harmed anyone and stressed that he even knew tricks. Berna proceeded to show me a photo of a (probably medium-sized) dog with curly white fur. She elaborated that they were afraid of what they call “the bloody law” or “massacre law”:
“The new law […] requires already underfunded and crowded Turkish shelters to take in strays to be vaccinated, spayed or neutered before putting them up for adoption, adding that any that are ill or pose a risk to humans will be euthanised. Mayors who fail to comply can face penalties, including up to two years in prison.”
She expressed sadness and dissatisfaction about not only the treatment of stray animals, but also children, elderly and the poor in Turkey. While waiting we could repeatedly hear the dogs barking. She tried to glance over the wall a few times, to see if she could spot their beloved stray, when the gates opened, and we entered the shelter.
We immediately stood in a yard, surrounded by kennels. The kennels were about 3m x 3m in size with a door leading to an inside kennel (I assume of similar size, but I could not see it well enough). About 100 dogs were eager to greet their 4 visitors. They came running to the front of their kennels, barking, and standing up, with their front paws on the fence in front of them. Most dogs were large dogs with light white to caramel colored fur. I also noticed some kennels with puppies. Most of the kennels seemed to house 4-6, maybe 7 dogs.
Impressions from the shelter in Ankara
As we looked around, I, carrying my phone in hand and camera-bag around the shoulder, was approached by one of the staff members, saying something in Turkish. I quickly typed the usual response into google translate, that I did not speak Turkish, and let him repeat his words it for the trusty tool to translate for me. He was letting me know that it was prohibited to take photos at the shelter.
I decided to ask him where I could find the cats in this shelter. He told me, the cat area was not open to visitors, as they only took in sick stray cats for treatment (and neutering) and then released them back onto the streets. I asked if the area could be looked at from somewhere without actually entering, which he denied. I went on to ask how many cats they had and what their living conditions were like at the shelter. He replied that they housed 29, maybe 30 cats, but became more vague when it came to the living conditions. He said each cat had its own cage, and that they were “a good size”. The cats would be fed daily and receive treatment here. All the cats at the shelter were strays, no surrendered pets. On the question of how long these cats typically stay at the shelter, he again answered rather vague, that they would stay until their treatment was over. He gave antibiotics and vitamins as examples of treatments carried out at the shelter. Their veterinarian would determine when a cat would be released.
I proceeded to ask him if there was any change that he would wish for regarding the stray animals, be it in the way that the government handles it, or the mindset of the people, or any other way. He gave a short smirk, probably knowing that criticizing the government while working at the shelter would not be a good idea, and kind of dodged the question, saying it was a difficult situation in Turkey.
I agreed that it was hard, especially since people looking for a pet could just adopt one directly from the street and asked him if dogs ever got adopted by people coming to visit. “Sometimes.” I asked how many of the dogs that we could see here would be likely to be adopted within the next 30 days. Again, a question that he left unanswered. I asked what happened to the dogs, if no one adopts them. He let me know that they would be transferred to a different shelter after 30 days. He said, that they did not kill any dogs here.
During our talk, he had to pause and break off dog fights within the kennels a handful of times. Google translate had to work hard through the barking and yelping sounds of the dogs today. (I also noticed the smell of dog pee (some kennels had visible puddles in them) and poo. I assume that with the number of dogs in the kennels, you could clean endlessly and never finish.)
I thanked him for the conversation and asked his name, Tarik. On my way out, a large white vehicle drove onto the yard. I asked if it brought more animals, “not today”, Tarik said, “but it will bring more in a few days”.
Meanwhile Berna waited for me at the gate. I asked if she had been successful in her endeavor. “So sad”, was what she wrote back. I let her know what the staff member had told me about the process. It seemed like her only chance was to let them neuter the dog and then ask to adopt it.
Outside of the gates, I noticed a weird ‘thing’, for lack of a better word, on the ground. It looked like a piece of some animal, turning it over revealed the other side to be covered in brown-orange fur. Neither me nor Berna could identify what part of what animal it was. The staff had noticed us taking interest in something on the ground and came over. Berna spoke to them in Turkish, apparently, they said it was “some animal piece that the dogs likely dug up”.
In the evening, I showed a photo of it to the veterinarian, she said it could be a piece of a dog. I assume the fights in the kennels don’t stop when the working hours of the staff members end. I wish I had asked the staff member after he broke up one of the fights, how often they find injured (or dead) dogs, when they come in the morning.
Next stop: Eskisehir
Not only was I pained by losing the littke kitty that I had tried to save, but I had also become so sick that Öznur insisted on taking me to the local hospital that day. I was very grateful to have her with me, since otherwise the language barrier would have made it much much harder. I was diagnosed with bronchitis and prescribed some more meds
Our ride back by tram was somewhat entertaining, since a stray dog had decided to take the tram with us. He jumped up onto the seats, making himself comfortable, as you can see.
We spent the little time that remained visiting Öznurs vet, who was super kind and even took care of getting the medication for me, that the doctor at the hospital had prescribed and far too quickly, it was already time to catch the next bus from Eskisehir to Bursa.
My thoughts on Eskisehir:
I unfortunately did not see too much of the city. From what I could see from the tram ride (that took us through the city to the hospital and back), the city looked very pretty. We saw stray cats (some of whom were coming right up for food, others of which were slightly shy) and stray dogs (who were friendly and didn’t seem shy at all). I regret spending so little time here, although the timing certainly would have worked out much better, if I hadn’t fallen ill.
Back to the coast: Bursa
On January 28th, I took the next intercity bus from Eskisehir to Bursa, where I arrived in the evening. Melih was already waiting to pick me up. We drove to his place, where he let me stay in his bedroom, while he settled in the living room for the time of my stay.
Melih mostly organized the following days, acting as a translator for me and devising plans with Zeynep, Baris and Hatime, who we met during my time in Bursa. In addition to his two cats living with him, Melih takes care of stray cats and stray dogs in the area and also had some cats in the empty apartment upstairs that he was trying to find homes for. During my stay, I did my best to try and take nice photos of them, to help with finding adopters.
Contrary to what I had originally had in mind, my first day in Bursa was spent… in Istanbul.
As I wrote above, I had received the news of Calis death on the morning of January 28th. I had asked Meral, if it was possible that I could bury Cali in her garden, as it was the closest place to where I had found her, that was available to me and I liked the idea of having the garden cats watch over her grave. So on January 29th, Melih and I took the bus to Istanbul and went to the Vet clinic, where Cali had stayed for treatment. There was a big hassle with discussing the treatment cost and making the payment (since I wanted to pay it myself via WISE), but finally, we had everything done. I received Calis body, wrapped in medical drapes, inside a cardboard box. It was a gloomy atmosphere to carry her to Meral’s place. We made a stop at Vetumay Vet clinic (the one where Meral works, where I had originally brought Cali), where I also paid the amount for her treatment she had received there and Muhamed and Yasar advised me to shower and change my clothes after the burial, so as to not risk infecting other cats. I carefully left the box at the vet and went to the closest shop for a pullover and some sweatpants, before finally taking Cali to Merals place. It had already started to get dark by the time I arrived. Merals Husband Refik had dug the grave for Cali, which I was very grateful for, as the soil was quite hard. Burying Cali was quick and relatively unceremonial, since we had to keep the garden cats from coming too close to investigate and immediately after, I had to quickly make my way inside to shower and change clothes. I wish I could have taken more time, but the circumstances were less than ideal, and I told myself, that I at least did the best that I could. She is buried somewhere, where people will remember her, where her grave will be undisturbed and as close to her “home” as I could manage. I hadn’t found a flower shop on the way, so I asked Meral, if she could put flowers on her grave in my name. Melih and I stayed for Dinner (to which Yasar and Mohamed also joined) before making our way to the bus station, to take the bus back to Bursa. I am still so grateful, that I could rely on Meral and her family to help me lay Cali to rest.
My cold had gotten better, but was still not fully gone, so Zeynep, like many of the Rescuers I visited, chimed in trying to nurse me back to full health, with a hot tea, another specialty medicinal drink and fruits, while we watched Shrek on her TV as it had gotten dark outside. Melih and I caught the bus back to Bursa city center at last and made our way back to his place. We stopped at a local bakery for some dessert, where we also met a very sweet kitty, before heading back to his flat.
Hatime lived relatively close by in the center of Bursa. The family home was rather large, and filled with cats in almost every level. She and her sister were caring for a cat that had to be hand-fed, due to symptoms of neurological FIP. They showed me how to do it and let me try my hand at feeding her as well. Hatime showed us around. Groups of cats were living in different rooms throughout the house. Some of them were receiving treatment at home, others were families, who were waiting for neutering. A big room in the basement level was equipped with lots of cat furniture, and beds, and also had access to a tunnel leading from the basement room to the fenced in cat yard. Melih translated, as I told Hatime all about Kindness for Kitties. At the time of our visit it was already dark, but I made plans to return the next day, so that I could take daylight photos of the cats and the yard, before leaving for the next city. Hatimes private shelter was amazing, and truly what I wish every Rescuer could have. She told me, that there were more than 100 cats in total, and that of course making sure they were all fed and healthy was a big financial burden. I told her, that she could join Kindness for Kitties if she wanted to, as I would love to support her, that the association is less than a year old (at that time) is still small at the moment, but that I am trying to help it grow and that I have many ideas for the future.
The next day, I made my way to Hatime for the daytime photosession and then it was already time for the next intercity bus ride.
My thoughts on Bursa:
I saw quite a bit of Bursa as we mostly travelled by Metro. There were slightly fewer stray cats than in Istanbul, but definitely more than in Ankara. It seemed that the closer you got to the cost, the more stray cats you would see. We definitely saw a lot of stray cats while visiting Zeynep. The number of stray dogs relative to stray cats seemed to be similar to Istanbul. The city itself was very beautiful. Is seemed clean, had some parks and navigating the city was easy enough (as long as you had working google maps). The center of the city is built in a mountainous area, so part of the city was built with steep narrow roads which made me glad to not be driving my own or a rental car here.
Final stop: Izmir
The next day, we went around the neighbourhood, to No. 4 (a house in the area close to the shore where another fellow cat-lover lives) and to the beach feeding strays. We met a ton of gorgeous fluffy stray kitties and even some cats that had been listed on the KfK website, who had since been released.
After that, we visited the local animal shelter. I was very interested to compare it to the Ankara shelter (or rather, what I had been able to see of the Ankara shelter). My immediate impression was, that it seemed much better run than the Ankara shelter. The dog enclosures were bigger, the dogs were calmer and I was able to visit the cats as well. There were 5 very sweet special needs cats in the shelter. They had a roofed outdoor enclosure with a large cat house inside (which had several levels). We were even allowed to go inside the enclosure to pet the cats and take photos of them. Ayse told me, that she visits the shelter regulary, as she typically comes here for the first basic treatment of stray cats (since it is free). She noticed one of the cats getting thinner. The cat was also limping, which she told me was due to a fracture of her front leg that the shelter was not able to treat, because they lacked the proper surgical equipment. Unfortunately their course of action was to just ignore the issue instead. We asked, if we would be allowed to take her to the vet, to find out why she was loosing weight and what could be done about her leg.
Impressions from the shelter in Izmir (the few cats they had were mostly special needs cats)
We also took Orora (the limping cat who lost weight) from the Shelter to the Vet clinic that day. Her elbow joint had fused in the wrong position, making it painful for her to move the joint or put weight on it. They ran blood tests and raised the concern that she might have FIP (which would explain her weightloss). All in all, it felt like quite an accomplished day, with feeding and helping two cats in need.
On our way back, we stopped to visit Sigacik castle. Within the castle walls, you find a very beautiful historical village full of cute little cobblestone walkways with shops, cafes and of course, pretty stray cats. We wandered around the castle area and the port, before heading back to Ayse’s place.
Impressions from Sigacik castle
At last, February 5th came, when I had to pack my suitcases into the trunk of the rental car, head to the airport and boarded my return flight home to Düsseldorf. I was sad to leave the Rescuers and the many many stray cats behind, as I had seen that there was so much more work to do, to help the strays. Especially considering, I had only visited 5 cities within Turkey.
My thoughts on Izmir:
I didn’t see all that much of the city, since I mostly spent time in Sefihisar, where Ayse lives. We had a few beautiful sunny days to enjoy (plus, I was finally back to health by the end of my trip) and I did manage to at least do a little bit of sightseeing with Ayse. Regarding the number of strays, it seemed close to Bursa, with maaaybe a little fewer stray dogs.
The story of Cali
I found Cali when travelling back from Buse to Meral. After I had left the subway and was on my way to walk the rest of the way, I came across several stray cats, as one does in Istanbul. When I was approached by one of the stray cats, I noticed some stairs leading down from the streets towards a basement. And at the bottom of those stairs, something caught my eyes. I took a closer look and the gray something down there turned out to be a cat. It did not move, even when I approached, it just barely lifted its head and meowed in distress. I could not see any visible injuries or signs of a respiratory or eye infection in the cats face, but its demeanor and the distressed meows led me to believe that it was not okay and needed my help. I immediately made my way to Yasar’s vet clinic to ask for help. I was scared, that if I attempted to pick the cat up and carry it, it would run off. Mustafa and I took some food and a transport box and went to get it. The little kitty refused the food and seemed too weak to even attempt to run off. He agreed, that it was in need of help.
At the vet clinic, the cat was examined. It was a female cat, about 1 year old. She was severely dehydrated and could not stand or walk on her own. She displayed pain posture, trying to curl herself up into as small of a ball as possible and seemed to have a lot of abdominal pain. Her teeth were okay and her body temperature was normal. The x-ray showed a swollen intestine, most likely from inflammation. She was admitted and given antibiotics and intravenous fluid. It was not possible to draw blood the first day, due to the severe dehydration. She was tested for different viruses and was diagnosed with feline distemper/ panleukopenia virus.
I asked the vet about her prognosis without treatment. He said, if I had not found her and brought her here, she would have definitely died in 3-4, maybe 5 days at most.
Calis condition improved a bit over the course of the day with the serum given, however her condition remained critical. Since Yasar had to leave for a trip to Ankara, we decided to transfer her to a different vet clinic on the following day, so that she could continue to be monitored closely by a vet and get the best treatment to give her a chance to survive.
That day, she was a bit more lively (she could take a few uncertain steps), but also hypothermic despite having received heated serum. The second vet could finally draw blood and wanted to repeat some of the tests. The blood results pointed towards FIP, despite the initial negative test result for FCoV. Her kidney and liver values were elevated and her calcium was low. Her treatment was intensivised, and new medication added for the new diagnosis.Meral was kind enough to help me organize getting the new medication, so that Cali could be treated as best as possible as per the advice of the veterinarian.
While I was in Ankara, it was hard getting updates, due to the language barrier. The new medication had arrived and her treatment continued, but I could not really figure out if her condition was improving or not. I made plans to add in a day trip to Istanbul during my planned time in Bursa (since Bursa is relatively close and has a good connection to Istanbul).
On the morning of January 28th, while I was in Eskisehir, I woke up to a missed call from the vet clinic. I texted them immediately and unfortunately recieved the devastating news that Cali had died, despite all efforts. I was heartbroken that I couldn’t visit her again. I wish I could have been by her side, even if she still would have died, I wish I could have been with her and comforted her. I can’t be fully sure wether she was fond of humans or was just too weak to object when I found her, but when she was being treated at Vetumay (the first Vet clinic), she started purring when I pet her, so I like to think that it wasat least a little comforting to her to not be alone.
The day that I got the sad news of her passing was also the day, that I travelled from Eskisehir to Bursa, so the next day, I made my trip back to Istanbul, picked up her body and with the help of Meral and her Husband Refik, buried her in their Garden. With the difficulties of making the payment at the 2nd vet clinic and having to buy anther set of clothes to change into after the burial, I didn’t find the time to also buy flowers for her grave, which I reget. I asked Meral, if she could put flowers on the grvae in my name which she was so kind to do. Her support means a lot to me.
Calis story is still difficult for me to think about. In retrospect, I believe that Cali was already dying when I found her and had chosen that spot at the bottom of the stairs as her place to rest. I hope that her passing was less painful in the end, and I wish I could have spent more time with her, even if it wouldn’t have made a difference in the outcome of her story. She is just one of many many strays, who die on the street of diseases, that could be prevented with vaccines. She represents all of the cats, who were condemned to a life in the streets where their chance of survival depends on luck, on being found by someone who cares and being found at the right time. For Cali, my help was too late, but her memory will live on in everythink that I do for Kindness for Kitties and in everyone who reads her story and who stops to help a stray cat in need.
Greece (Aug 2025)
After visiting Rescuers in Turkey, I had also planned to visit Greece and Bulgaria at some point in the future, although I had not yet planned a specific time for these trips. When Flora, one of our Greek Rescuers, told me about her troubles with staff and volunteers leaving and her now having to manage her business and her two shelters (as well as feeding cat colonies) on her own, I knew I wanted to help. I asked my boyfriend Chris, if we could change our vacation (which was originally planned as a trip to England) and fly to Greece instead, which would give me the chance to help out at the shelter, while also doing some sightseeing and beach trips with him.
He was a little hesitant, not knowing how much of our vacation would turn into shelter work and wether or not he would have to spend his well-deserved time off from work doing a different kind of work. But nevertheless, he agreed.
I booked an AirBnB in Nikea, which is located between Athens itself and the harbour of Piraeus, and two flighttickets from Düsseldorf to Athens. I had chosen an AirBnB that was as close to the location of Floras shelters as possible, so that the time spent for shelter work would not be further increased with lengthy travel time. (Although I have to admit, the walk from our AirBnB to the shelters always took a bit longer due to seeing skinny or sick strays on my way. More about that later). We took off from Düsseldorf Airport in Germany on August 6th and arrived in the late afternoon in Athens. After checking into our AirBnB and a short trip to the supermarket (where I stocked up on cat food pouches), we met up with Flora on the first evening, so that she could show me around in the shelters, could tell me what work needed to be done, show me where the food and litter was, where I could clean the toilets, which cats to especially look out for, and to give me a set of keys for the shelters.
We had a lovely greek dinner with her and her boyfriend afterwards, talking about culture differences and our sightseeing plans. While sitting in front of the restaurant, I noticed some hungry-looking stray cats, took out the cat food I had bought and already fed my first group of greek stray cats.
The bigger shelter housed around 50-55 cats, some in enclosures of around 3,5-4m2, others in separate rooms (one room had a small group of 4 cats, the other a large group of around 15 cats) and some in crates (those were cats in need of special care or waiting for their vaccinations, before they could be placed with other cats). Each crate was equipped with a food bowl, water bowl and a toilet. Some of them even had extra levels, so that the kittens within could climb and maximize use of the limited space they had. The larger enclosures and rooms each had several food bowls/ water bowls and toilets per room. A small bathroom could be used to wash out soiled toilets and a kitchen was available to store wet food in the refrigerator, wash the food and water bowls, as well as store and prepare medications.
Impressions from the bigger shelter
The smaller shelter had 5 enclosures (for small groups of cats) and 6 crates (for individual cats) as well. In total, this shelter housed around 30 cats. The enclosures and crates were equipped with food/ water bowls and toilets in the same way as the bigger shelter. There was no kitchen here, but a refrigerator, a sink and a small toilet.
In both shelters, Flora had put up wall mounted cubes or shelves for the cats to make use of the vertical space, seeing as the floor space was limited.
Impressions from the smaller shelter
There were demanding cuddly cats, who would meow at me for attention and demand pets whenever I entered their shelter, curious mischievous cats, trying to follow me around (one blue eyed white cat in the bigger shelter was especially curious and managed to slip through the doors a lot) and timid ones, who would hurry to get away from me or hiss at me (understandable, seeing as from their perspective I was the stranger who invaded their space).
Most days of our trip, I spent part of the day with my boyfriend, doing guided tours or visiting nearby greek islands by ferry, while visiting one of the shelters in the evening (always coordinated with Flora), to change water bowls, top up or refresh food, clean the litter boxes and sweep the cages/ floors. Unfortunately neither shelter had AC while I was there (the AC in shelter 1 had stopped working just a few days before my arrival), so it was sweaty work, even in the evenings when the temperature had cooled down a bit.
Most evenings I came home exhausted, with my feet feeling absolutely flattened, eager for a shower and some fresh clothes. But at the same time, I was very happy to be able to help the cats and Flora. I really don’t know how one person can manage to do all of the work that needs to be done for both shelters while also running a business! Having some sweet cats to cuddle also helped me miss my cats at home a little less. I knew that every bit of time that I spent with the shelter cats was time well spent, for they were grateful for the care and the needy cats were happy getting some pets and cuddles (and sometimes even some brushing).
Some of the shelter cats
We did get in some sightseeing as well.
One of the first few days was spent going on a walking tour through different areas in Athens. On two separate days, we took a ferry to Agistri and Hydra for a day trip to the beach and spent some time snorkeling in the beautiful clear water. Some days were simply spent exploring Athens (we visited the Olympic stadium and checked out the flea market), one day was reserved for visiting the Acropolis and Parthenon on a guided tour and one last day was spent at the beach, just south of Athens.
Overall, considering that this trip was meant to be a mixture of vacation and rescue work, I think we found a fairly good balance, so that I still feel like I was able to take some weight off of Floras shoulders.
There was never a day where I didn’t see a hungry stray cat or a stray in need of help on the street (often on my way to or from the shelters). Most of the time, I would take a photo of cats that I thought needed medical attention (for example a salivating cat that likely had teeth problems, or a cat that seemed to have an eye infection) and send Flora the location. She usually knew the person who took care of the group of cats living there and could check in with them about my concerns. However there were also two kittens with eye infections (one very badly affected), that I first saw in the evening walking from the metro station to our AirBnB. I took photos (as best as I could) and sent Flora the location, and she wanted to contact a woman who feeds them. I saw the kittens again in the evening one or two days later and then a third time (the first time that I saw them in daylight) the next day. The daylight revealed the eye infection to be even worse than I had initially thought, and I decided to take matters into my own hands. I called around trying to find a vet clinic that was open (Chris and I had come at an unconvenient time of the month, where many businesses closed for holiday), bought a pet backpack at the pet shop and went to look for the kittens again. I’d gotten a recommendation for a vet clinic in Piraeus and had discussed with them about bringing in the kittens. Back at their usual spot, I found their mother cat and some of their other colony cats, but didn’t see the kittens at first. Determined to find them, I searched around in the alleyway between the houses and finally found the kitten that was more affected at the top of some stairs. I gave it some food and then scooped it up into my backpack. As I want back down the stairs, on the lookout for its sibling, I spottet the second kitten climbing down a tree. This one was a little more feisty (or maybe it just had more energy than the other one), because it hissed at me when I got closer, but my food still lured it in and I managed to scoop the second kitten up as well, place it in my backpack with the first and took off towards the metro.
The little kittens were meowing (it were the cutest little meows!) making me feel soo bad for taking them away from their family, but alas, their eyes needed veterinary care. I was hopeful, that maybe they could recieve a shot of antibiotics and be placed back with their family as quickly as possible after the vet trip, so off we went.
The two tiny orange kittens were not only stealing my heart, but also the hearts of the vet tech and the veterinarian herself. They were examined to be a boy cat and a girl cat, estimated to be around 2 months old and likely had a viral infection of the eyes as well as ear mites. They had their eyes and ears cleaned, their temperature taken (thankfully normal), were weighed and received some antibiotics. I was given antiparasite meds and an eye cream as well as instructions to administer the eye cream 2-3x daily for 8-10 days. Knowing we would be flying back home in just 2 days and how full the two shelters were, I had to find a solution to where they could stay and continue to receive their treatment. I relayed all of this information to Flora, who was extremely helpful and organized for someone to foster them for the time that their treatment would take, until they could be taken in to the shelter, get their vaccinations and then be brought back to their family.
We arranged to bring them to the foster lady the next day and prepared the bathroom of our AirBnB for them for the night. They had wet food, water, a makeshift toilet and their backpack (they seemed to like it and cuddled up in it together). I like to think that Chris took a liking to the tiny kittens, despite his fear of having me bring home more cats. He seemed happy that a foster plan had been arranged. I think he was already afraid that I might suggest for us to take the kittens back home (to Germany) with us (which of course would not have been possible, seeing as they would have needed passports and rabies vaccines to travel).
The next day came and we brought the little kittens to their foster home. Saying goodbye was a little hard for me, as they were truly two precious little fluff balls, but I knew it was for the best that they would stay with someone who could take care of them until their infection was cleared and their immune system had gotten some help. After all, I wanted to give them the best shot at life that we could provide right now.
I later decided to call them Fred and Georgina (after Fred and George from Harry Potter). I stayed in contact with the foster lady and heard that they are doing much better now than they did when I first took them in. They will soon be ready for their vaccinations and to be reunited with their family.
Overall thoughts and comparison to Turkey:
There were a similar number of stray cats in Greece and Turkey. We also saw little feeding stations quite frequently. A noticable difference was the lack of stray dogs. We saw one stray dog on an evening out (it seemed very chill, taking a nap in front of a house on the other side of the road, while we were having cocktails and then wandering off somewhere), but other than that, all dogs that we saw were leashed or pets who spent time looking from the balconies (barking at people walking below).
Generally there were a lot of stray cats in Nikea compared to the center of Athens or Piraeus (although that might also have to do with the time of day that we usually visited those areas vs walking to and from the shelters rather late at night in Nikea). Many of the cats that we saw were already neutered, but there were also the apparently unneutered mother cat of Fred and Georgina, another pregnant stray cat and more young looking cats (a few months old, but visibly not fully grown), who would still need to be neutered. There were cats that were visibly hungry or would have benefitted from vet care (I saw two cats that seemed to have teeth problems, with a high likelyhood of more cats having problems that were just not as easily visible).
Both in Greece and in Turkey there was a noticable difference in the softness of the fur between the strays and e.g. our cats at home, as can be expected, when pets usually have access to better food (ours are fed wet food, with dry food beeing used as treats mostly). In both countries, there were cats that seemed in need of more human attention and enjoyed beeing petted, as well as cats that were happy to get some food, but anxious if humans got too close. I think the cats in Istanbul might have on average leaned more towards the first category, while the cats in other cities including Nikea were a little more mixed.
Overall, while many people do seem to care, there is too little public support (in regards to financial and human resources). Many efforts are made by private people and their means of helping the stray cats are just too limited for the number of strays living in the area. Every bit of support we can get is going to help to make a bigger difference and work towards reducing the number of strays born into life on the streets and the hardships that come with it.
