I found a litter of kittens in my housing compound. I think they were born feral but they're very young so they're slowly beginning to socialize. They hang out with some adult cats. It's good in some ways because at least they have some bigger cats looking out for them, but bad because they often don't feel the need to socialize with humans. The two grey tabbies are used to me now. One of them even crawled onto my lap the other day. The orange one, on the other hand, just plain dislikes people. I call it Taz because it does a great impression of the Loony Tunes Tasmanian Devil (a claw tornado) if you try to pick it up.
A Swedish couple from the compound is helping me feed them every day. They want to adopt one or two of them as soon as they're socialized. They have a cat of their own so they also know where the good veterinary clinics are. Qatar, unfortunately, does not have any no-kill shelters. Stray cats are so common that they're mostly left to a nasty, brutish, and short existence before they die from heat stroke or get run over by a car.
I'm not taking the kittens inside because I'm gone at work all day. I don't want to leave them trapped inside, scared and alone, while I'm away. There's plenty of shade in the compound and it's starting to cool off finally, so I don't have to worry about that. I think the best I can do right now is feed them every night. The supermarkets don't have any wet food so I give them canned tuna (the kind that's packed in water). They know they get regular meals from me so they're staying in one spot.
And that leads me to another hitch: Jabba the Hutt. He's either a Persian or Himalayan cat. I know he has a comfortable home nearby because he is too clean and overfed to be a stray. He also has a collar that barely fits around his neck rolls. As soon as I leave, he waddles in and drives the kittens away so he can steal their food. Sometimes I'll switch out their food the next day and I'll see him hunched over an empty can, growling at the kittens if they get close. He doesn't approach so long as I'm around, and I usually stay until the kittens have eaten their fill. He's a real jerk and one of my neighbors is thinking about stuffing him into a sack and tossing him over the wall.
Anyways, you're probably all dying for pics so here they are. If you have any advice I'd appreciate it.
A Swedish couple from the compound is helping me feed them every day. They want to adopt one or two of them as soon as they're socialized. They have a cat of their own so they also know where the good veterinary clinics are. Qatar, unfortunately, does not have any no-kill shelters. Stray cats are so common that they're mostly left to a nasty, brutish, and short existence before they die from heat stroke or get run over by a car.
I'm not taking the kittens inside because I'm gone at work all day. I don't want to leave them trapped inside, scared and alone, while I'm away. There's plenty of shade in the compound and it's starting to cool off finally, so I don't have to worry about that. I think the best I can do right now is feed them every night. The supermarkets don't have any wet food so I give them canned tuna (the kind that's packed in water). They know they get regular meals from me so they're staying in one spot.
And that leads me to another hitch: Jabba the Hutt. He's either a Persian or Himalayan cat. I know he has a comfortable home nearby because he is too clean and overfed to be a stray. He also has a collar that barely fits around his neck rolls. As soon as I leave, he waddles in and drives the kittens away so he can steal their food. Sometimes I'll switch out their food the next day and I'll see him hunched over an empty can, growling at the kittens if they get close. He doesn't approach so long as I'm around, and I usually stay until the kittens have eaten their fill. He's a real jerk and one of my neighbors is thinking about stuffing him into a sack and tossing him over the wall.
Anyways, you're probably all dying for pics so here they are. If you have any advice I'd appreciate it.
