*This post is dedicated to Sierra Marie, the cat-lover, for her birthday!
During our Moroccan travels, we were quite surprised by the number of street cats we met. Their ruggedness and ability to adapt to a tough life on the streets impressed us and we began to photograph them in order to share their story with you.
In Fès:
An ancient city, Fès had lots of ancient dust and dirt- layers of it. And the cats live in it. Needless to say they were generally pretty scruffy and seasoned and we were warned not to touch them. Unfortunately, we didn't take too many cat pics in the medieval medina of Fès. These were our first few days in Morocco and we were overwhelmed with culture shock. We were hesitant to pull out the camera for fear of looking too much like a tourist- as if we could have looked like anything else!!!!
Curious yet indifferent, these guys watch an endless stream of passerbys along a busy street.
This smart cat found a great place to hang out- the market selling chickens! We also often saw cats below the windows at the meat shops, waiting for any scraps to be thrown into the street by the butcher.
At the Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou:
This guy looks pretty well cared for.
In Islamic culture, cats are revered and are thought to be very clean animals, as opposed to dogs, which are considered to be dirty. This is why you are much more likely to come across stray cats versus stray dogs in Morocco. Ironically, many of the street cats we met were perhaps some the most filthy creatures we'd ever met.
In Marrakech:
Being curious, Melinda followed her out & watched as she jumped over the railing onto a tin roof and began herding her wee kittens.....
...through the bars on a window into a nook to be fed.
Later, out and about, we came across numerous cats while walking the narrow streets back to our riad.
Cleaning and sunning.......
Out for a stroll too......
On the terrace..........
Watching the world go by.....
Looking for affection.....
In a quiet alley way- they were everywhere we turned!
That night, when out for a late dinner, a friendly cat jumped up on the bench next to boB.
At first she was interested in striking up a friendship...
until she later became bored realizing that hors d'oeuvres had not been ordered.
She thus decided that....
Maybe she'd just lie down and watch the kitchen staff instead.
Oh well.
When I bent down to take this photo, this cat thought I was offering a treat and became quite vocal. Hungry cat.
Sweet & scruffy.
Walking along a busy street in Marrakech, we stopped for a brief moment to watch this cat nestled next to a lamp post. Just moments afterwards, a young Moroccan girl dropped a wee plastic bag of cat food next to kitty, which she is sniffing with glee in the picture above.
As we headed back to the plaza, we paused to watch these cats down an alley. Just moments afterwards, two children came out and began to taunt one of the cats. The trials and tribulations of a street cat are many.
Seriously scruffy.
Hanging out below the butcher's counter = pretty smart strategy! This fellow had some sort of oral tumor/growth. He needed all the scraps that fell his way.
This wee kitten hit the jackpot! Some scraps of organ meat! Ladhidh! (Arabic=delicious)
This dude was ready for an afternoon ride! Funnily, it is the same cat as above, with the tumor, but several days later.
In Essaouira:
This cat was curled up at a restaurant we stopped at on the way to Essaouira:
He jumped from table to table making friends and looking for scraps.
As we strolled down the street, we came upon this quiet calico.
And here is the the kind of cat that pulls on your heartstrings and makes you wish you could give veterinarian services.
We stopped at a wee provisions shop and came upon this (relatively) fat cat who had it pretty good.
The shop owner picked him up and set him on a stack of bottles to show him off.
He, being a cat, determined that he knew best and jumped higher next to the cereals. You know, where lions roar.
This sweet cat was quite content. The shop keeper made the point of telling us that it was NOT his cat. Although later explained the cat came everyday to the shop and was fed there routinely. From what we gathered, this sort of informal "ownership" is common.
On our way home later that night, we found this gal curled up on some cozy discarded plastic to rest.
Another cat at night...
And then down the street, a real cutie:
A wee kitty behind the front wheel of a parked bicycle in the alley peered out as we walked by.
When we stopped to take a pic of Kitty, this fine lady (assumed to be mom) came out from behind the back wheel. We were sad we didn't have food for them- they would have gladly eaten it.
We saw the beautiful black cat curled up on a pile of garbage for a nap. By the time we pulled out the phone to take a picture he got spooked and ran.
Just down the street this dirty tabby had found a wee corner to watch the world go by.
In the early morning, we trekked from our hostel inside the medina to the bus station. Just outside of the medina walls we came to a narrow grassy area and spotted a sleeping cat curled up in the sun.
Walking a little farther down we spotted yet another sleeping cat.
And another.
And another! We had found the Essaouira street cat lair!
What a lovely place to take in the morning sun!
Down by the dock & shipyard, this tiger-stripped feline sunned on the pavement.
And these guys found a quiet alleyway to do the same.
In Tangier:
The tough cat featured above was spotted in the parking lot of the ferry terminal- a spot conveniently located near the fish market. Smart cat!
This fellow, upon closer inspection, was noted to have several neck wounds. He looked quite at home cuddled up on the bench at the train station. Shortly after this photo was snapped, a traveler sat next to this fellow and gave him a good pet and snuggle. The fellow seemed quite happy with the affection.
It was fascinatng to witness the role of cats in Moroccan culture and to compare it to our own experience in the U.S. and Europe. We've never before seen so many stray cats, and to us it was shocking and difficult to see cats in a poor state of health.
We gather that in the Moroccan cities we visited, cats were not seen as pets, and their health and wellbeing was not seen as the responsibility of any particular person. On the contrary, they may be viewed simply as co-inhabitants of the city- somewhat like pigeons and squirrels in cities of the western world. It was endearing to witness some cats being well cared for in shops and restaurants- where they may be informally adopted by the owner. And, it was appalling to otherwise witness the neglect of those less fortunate cats. Yet, what can one expect in a society where poverty is rampant and where people are challenged even to care for their children?
To end on an uplifting note, we recently came across this fantastic video about street cats in Essaouira-
http://www.hsam.org.uk
We hope you will take a few minutes to check it out. It is really inspiring to see what a difference this group has made in the lives of many of these cats.
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