Caramella
The love of stray cats
An animal-loving gentleman has lost his heart to stray cats and has even built them their own refuge. There are cosy cat beds, water and plenty of food for homeless cats.
A few weeks ago, the heavily pregnant Caramella sought refuge in this cat house and a few days after her arrival, she gave birth to three beautiful kittens.
The young cat family now lives at Gut Aiderbichl in Maria Schmolln
The Aiderbichl animal rescuers arrived with a transport box, into which Caramella and her kittens Kiwi (brown), Litschi (black) and Pepino (grey) climbed without any problems. The journey went to Gut Aiderbichl Maria Schmolln in Upper Austria. Rosi, the caretaker, was already waiting there for the young family of velvet paws. Everything was prepared for the cats’ arrival: a quarantine room, cosy cat beds, food bowls and toys for the little Schnurre Tigers.
In a few days, the kittens will be six weeks old, and it’s just a joy to watch them play, grow up and cuddle with Caramella. They come out of quarantine after a health check, worming and the necessary vaccinations. After this “compulsory programme”, they go out into the green grass with the other cats. And then: let’s see if there are people who would like to take Caramella or one of the young kittens into their home?
The life of stray cats
Stray cats are the descendants of unneutered domestic cats that live outside. If we now consider that a cat can have kittens two to three times a year, an interesting extrapolation emerges. A cat has three to five kittens in a litter – mostly females. At around five months of age, these female cats are sexually mature and can continue to reproduce. A single cat can produce more than 12,500 offspring in five years. Humans can counteract this by neutering cats. A lot of suffering in southern Europe or in Austria, Germany etc. could be spared for newborn cats if adult female cats were neutered. Stray cats settle on farms, rubbish dumps, in industrial areas and in winter in garages and garden sheds. Unfortunately, despite mandatory neutering, there are pet owners who neuter their cats too late or not at all.
Caramella and her babies are very bright
With a few exceptions, stray cats tend not to be socialisable and always want to return to the wild. With Caramella, Kiwi, Litschi and Pepino, you immediately sense that they are happy to have caring and feeding people around them. They listen to the carers’ voices and are happy to be played with or cuddled.
Mum Caramella still has a long life ahead of her at the age of two and the three baby velvet paws look out into the world full of confidence. Your cat’s life would be even more perfect if you decided to take in one of these tigers.
They come on quiet paws like messengers of silence, and gently, very gently, they sneak into our hearts and occupy them forever with all their might.
– Eleonore Gualdi
