She bestows her presence in my life as a bigger gift

It was the first day of Eid when I went to the Turkish House Restaurant to have dinner with my parents after a long day of welcoming guests in our house

As we left the venue with a bag of leftovers for my stray dogs, I was welcomed by the sight of a long-haired, grey breed cat glued to the door along with her two kittens, trying to catch a draft of the cool air coming from inside the restaurant. It was no surprise, of course, as the temperature that day had reached forty-five degrees and all living beings were trying to cool off one way or another. What captured my attention was the sight of her almost four-month-old kittens trying to feed from their mother, which meant that they were starving. This broke my heart and I decided to feed them the leftovers, which they devoured in seconds along with other starving cats that were nearby.

Going home, I was tortured by the thought of the dumped breed cat and how she could survive the heat. I wanted to help, but I wasn’t sure how, so I contacted my neighbour and suggested that we divide the cats between us; she could take the mother, and I’d take the kittens, as keeping them together meant an endless war in our respective feline colonies, as the mother would keep trying to protect her kittens from other cat attacks. Unfortunately, my neighbour couldn’t take the mother as her cats had just kicked out an injured cat that she’d brought home in order to help and keep. However, she promised to contact her rescuing cat friends to see if anyone would be interested in helping out.

For the next three days, I kept going to the restaurant every evening to feed the mother and noticed that her kittens were not around anymore. By the fourth day, I decided to take her in and name her Hanem (madam in Egyptian slang) and hope that she’d blend with the rest of the Kitzanians. She was isolated for a week and treated for ear mites and the flu before being totally shaved and neutered. The following week, Hanem was ready to face the rest of the Kitzanians and what an experience it was! The minute she set a paw in the garden, Hanem started living up to her name by sniffing the plates of rice and chicken with total dismay and glaring at the Kitzanians.

Even Abjar, the Persian cat who seemed happy to see another breed of cat in the colony, was welcomed with a hiss and a slap that made him maintain his distance. The initial plan was to gradually integrate Hanem in the colony by putting her in the garden in the morning and inside the bathroom in the evening, till the weather was cool enough for her to stay outdoors fully. What I didn’t expect was how Hanem was used to living in the bathroom that she didn’t want to go outdoors at all, which made me think of how her previous owners must’ve kept her there the whole time. It took a month of training to get her used to staying outdoors and lying on the wet ground to combat heat like the rest before getting her back in the bathroom at noon.

Hanem is very vocal and assertive. I thought I was doing her a favour by taking her off the streets, to be surprised that she was bestowing her presence in my life as a bigger gift. Welcome to Kitzania, Hanem!