Hi from Spain

Hi all, thanks for this wonderful site. There aren't many cat lovers where I live in Spain and nobody wants to talk about them! I have an 8 year old black male who I rescued. I was driving along a main road when I passed this little black bundle of fur. Through my rear view mirror I saw a little tail moving. I thought it must be almost dead as I had seen the rest of the kitten dead on the side of the road. Anyway I made a dangerous U turn to get back to the kitten. To my surprise it had disappeared and I couldn't find it anywhere. I was just about to get back in my car when I heard it crying. It had jumped underneath my car and was clinging above the wheel. I had to prise it off and it scratched me to bits with it's needlelike claws. It was only about 4 weeks old. I then picked my 8 year old daughter up from school. It was her birthday and she had always asked me for a cat. So she got in the car and I said "Happy Birthday, here's your present". She fell in love at first sight. The poor mite was full of fleas, being to young to spray, my daughter used to sit for hours handpicking them off! First days were tricky, I warned her that it might not make it until morning, but she got a little medicine syringe and fed it milk every hour, cuddled it and picked off the fleas. As it grew it was quite wild, it used to almost attack us for food and knock it out of our hands. Even though he was handled a lot he didn't like to sit on laps or be cuddled and stroked. Slowly he began to change, even though he didn't approach people for strokes, he allowed us to touch him for a little while before going off again.We just let him be him do his own thing and didn't force him. He gradually became tamer but it took over 2 years before he would actually seek company, plonk himself on our laps and demand to be stroked. He is now very affectionate and chatty. So if you rescue a wild cat be very patient, some cats never like company and cuddles. It is heartbreaking to see how cats are treated here in Spain there are no cat shelters that I know of, but various individuals, usually from the uK, who help with neutering and work with local vets. THere are thousands living out of rubbish bins and many die on the roads every day, it's a common sight. well thanks for reading all have a nice day

Thank you all for such a wonderfully warm welcome. My little treasure's name is Kitty even though he is a boy. My daughter originally named him in Spanish but it turned out to be a really bad Spanish swear word, even though it sounded real cute!! so we had to change it in a hurry. Have a wonderful day all x

How wonderful that you took some of your cats with you. I had a friend here who sadly died recently, who devoted his life to rescuing cats. He paid for all the neutering and vacines from his own pension. He died leaving a house full of around 30 cats, the landlord was horrified. Another friend of his was able to secure some premises to take them all in until she found homes. I think she still has about 5 left, the stragglers including a half blind one and a three legged one.

Thank you, I always had cats growing up, even though my dad professed to hate cats, he was always the one who rescued them and then complained. My daughter is now 16 and her beloved Kitty is still a huge source of daily love and joy, they can always be found together. x

Hi all, I just want you all to see this pic. This little fella was rescued by my hubby in Afghanistan last year. He lived with hubby for a few months in very basic conditions before being transported on a 4 hour drive via armoured vehicle to relative luxury. He is now fed and cuddled everyday and has unlimited mice to catch!!

Hi, I joined last week from Spain and have had such a warm welcome. I wanted to share a pic of my kitty who doesn't live with us. He was rescued in Afghanistan by my husband who was serving there last year. They both lived in a rotten camp until the kitty was transported by armoured vehicle to a new camp where he is fed and fussed and has unlimited access to chasing mice. I will post a pic of my current Kitty soon. Unforutnately computer broke recently erasing 8 years' of family and pet pics so please back up on external hardrive (like I was told a million times!!!). x
ps I am having trouble uploading a pic. It says that the file is attached but it doesn't appear??

Hi All, please look at the pic of my rescue kitty, it is in the strays thread entitled Afghan Rescue, there are two pics. I can't seem to attach fotos anymore, sorry I'm not very good a this stuff. Have a wonderful day everyone