Is it wise and sensible to open a cat café in the Gaza Strip?

News media today reports that a 52-year-old woman, Naema Mabed, decided to open a cat café in the Gaza Strip because she envisaged the spot as a unique escape from the pressures of life in Gaza. My immediate thought was a cat café will certainly be a sanctuary of calm for people visiting it. So, she is correct in that respect.

Mabed's cat cafe. Image: AP.

But I am sure like many other people, I question whether it was wise and sensible to open a cat café in this area of the world. The Gaza Strip is synonymous with violence; being shelled by Israel. So, I did a quick search on Google, "How dangerous is the Gaza Strip?"

And a smart traveller website said that Gaza is extremely dangerous as the security situation is unpredictable and conflict can happen at any time without warning. They confirm that many rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza into Israel since 2001. And Israel retaliates by bombing parts of Gaza.

The dangers of living in the Gaza Strip are confirmed by the US Department of State which states that "The security environment within Gaza and on its borders is dangerous and volatile".

I guess we know that so I don't really need to quote government agencies. However, it does confirm in my mind that it might be unfair on the cats to open a cat café in the Gaza Strip. The café might be shelled.

But there is a counterargument as I see it. The cats are probably shelter cats. Or they might be community cats and therefore to provide them with a home in a cat café is no bad thing.

The new Meow Café opened I believe last Thursday and it was successful. The owner of the café has some basic rules which is that visitors must cover their shoes with plastic and wash their hands before cuddling the cats. 

I guess she wants to stop diseases being transferred from people to cats. It is very unusual for people to pass diseases to cats by the way as there are very few diseases that can be transmitted from people to cats.

But the rules are quite nice. They help to keep the place clean and set some standards of hygiene.

The founder describes interacting with cats as a "global anti-depressant". She wants people who visit her cat café to feel better - to lighten their mood - and that's a very good objective.

The entrance fee is five Israeli shekels which translates to $1.30 and you can spend 30 minutes in the company of some beautiful cats.

This cat café will be a therapy to many people who've been scarred by years of war and hardship. A psychologist said that, "Any place that provides humans a kind of interaction with animals has a positive psychological impact". That's the power of interacting with animals. It is a known concept. 

It's great to get away from people interactions especially when the people are fighting each other all the time!

Postscript: in an ideal world, if you were thinking of animal welfare only, there should be no domestic cats in the Gaza Strip because of the inherent dangers of the place. If people want to kill each other then let them do it but don't involve animals who are innocent bystanders. And where there are domestic cats there are inevitably feral and stray cats. There should be none in Gaza Strip but that's a fictional ideal and a philosophical point.

Woman who cared for community cats for 25 years, dies

NEWS AND COMMENT: This is a story from Singapore. A 74-year-old woman who cared for community cats where she lived has died. She was well known. There have been tributes online. She had a good (but physically weak) heart and she had to scrimp and save over those 25 years. She made sacrifices for the well-being of unwanted cats who should not be in their predicament. She is the kind of person I admire above all others. She got on with helping quietly and persistently, not asking for rewards from people.

Chen Tai and cat. Pic: Facebook

It appears that she had two names because the name is reported on the mothership.sg website namely  Liu Fang Fang is different to her name as reported on Facebook in tributes to her namely Mdm Tan (Chen Tai).

I don't think that matters because she was a well-known personality. She taught others how to care for community cats and when feeding her cats she covered an area of about six bus stops. I think that gives you a nice feel for the effort she put into her voluntary tasks.

She started out within the vicinity of her block at Jurong West Street 75. Apparently she was known to have a frail heart and died of a heart attack. She kept going despite her frailty which was obviously known to her.

She was admitted to hospital in November 2021. She became more seriously ill while in hospital and succumbed in December 9. She was known for her generosity. There was a funeral procession at 2 PM on 12 December 2021. The local newspaper reported on it.

The Facebook post tells me that her wish was that cat owners must always sterilise their cats and that people in general should love and have compassion for community cats. She wanted people to educate others on how to look after cats.

The Facebook post is written by Siau Li Chao who said that she knew Chen Tai since 2004. At that time she had just started feeding community cats. She met her in a pet shop. She was given guidance for which she was thankful.

She said that she had one vaccination by which I will presume she means one vaccination against Covid. She's kind of implying that Chen Tai died of Covid but I don't think that is what happened. In fact I'm sure of it because she died of a heart attack. But no doubt she took risks with Covid to help the cats. Although Singapore has a very good record in managing Covid.

Siau Li Chao says that somebody else has taken over caring for the community cats. They would have pleased her to know that.

Elderly woman’s phone, ID & ATM card stolen while feeding community cats

NEWS AND COMMENT-SINGAPORE: It's been reported that an elderly woman's phone, ID and ATM card were stolen while she was feeding community cats in Meiling Street. I get the distinct impression that this is a street which is known for community cats and where people feed them regularly. There is a Facebook page called Cats of MeilingSt. Google Maps calls it 'Mei Ling St.', which looks more accurate.

Allegedly Lim feeding community cats on Mei Ling St.. Photo: Microsoft News.

There is a post on that Facebook page which is embedded into this page below. Please note though that this may disappear in time because I'm reliant upon the person who posted it on Facebook to keep it on Facebook. They can delete it at any time.

ASSOCIATED PAGE: Singapore: 250 cats fall from high rise apartments every year. Fifty percent die on impact.

It is pretty self-explanatory. The alleged theft took place in broad daylight. Microsoft News have the story on their website but they say they are reviewing it's accuracy. They are implying that the social media source might not be reliable. My distinct impression is that it is reliable as it comes from this group of volunteers who feed cats on this particular Street in Singapore.

ASSOCIATED: Almost 80% of Singapore residents are barred from having a cat companion

The lady concerned is Lim. She was feeding cats and her phone was in her bag in a trolley beside her. As a result, they recommend that people feeding cats should keep their phone with them at all times, together with any other important documentation and cards et cetera. The thief allegedly walked by and put his hand in her bag. Very easy to do when the owner of the handbag is distracted while feeding community cats.

Outdoorsy rescue cats are harder to find a home for than more sociable cats

NEWS AND COMMENT - UK: The RSPCA in the UK has appealed for people who have suitable facilities to rehome outdoorsy cats to mark International Cat Date this week. The sort of place they're considering for these cats, who prefer to be outside because of their background are: riding stables, smallholdings and farms. There are other options too provided the environment allows the rehomed cat to live predominantly outside while being cared for to the same standard as an indoor cat which means providing food, water, shelter and veterinary care when needed.

Experienced barn cats Butters and Grayson. Photo in public domain.

Alice Potter, RSPCA's cat welfare expert, said that cats have a wide variety of personalities and they try and match the personality to the environment in which they place a cat. Their spectrum of rescue cats ranges from the inveterate lap cat through the inbetweener cats who are less likely to sit on a person's lap and who doesn't like to be picked up all the way through to the community cat and feral cat who are happy to live independently from humans but who are ultimately reliant upon humans.

This huge variation in personality probably primarily comes about because of early experiences. Some of their cats have lived for a long time as strays and of course you can rehome feral cats provided they are already semi-domesticated. They can make ideal barn cats on farms. Some domestic cats inherit a desire to live outside but they are relatively rare.

It is unsurprising that the RSPCA find it difficult to rehome these outdoor-loving cat because most adopters want a house cat, which today can often mean a full-time indoor cat, the sort of environment that would be anathema to a feral cat.

The RSPCA say that there is a lack of awareness from the general public about these outdoor-loving cats. The general view of the domestic cat is the one that curls up in front of the fire or sits on your lap keeping you company. However, a lot of cats have never had that luxury and therefore their personality is attuned to a different lifestyle. They're still dependent on human support as mentioned.

What can happen sometimes, in my opinion, is that outdoorsy cats can come inside eventually as they become older. This happens for at least two reasons. Firstly, they become more sensitive to the harsher life of living outside when they're older and want the comforts of indoors. Secondly, in interacting with a person who might own, for example, a smallholding they become more domesticated to people and learn to integrate with the human lifestyle.

In other words, many of these cats are under-socialised which leads to the possibility that they can be socialised when rehomed with a person who is sensitive to those needs. It is the kind of process that can take a number of years but with great rewards for both parties.

The report comes from the Shropshire Star newspaper. Plus, my occasional thoughts.