Bumper Kitten Season at Syros Cats!

This kitten season, we have rescued no less than 22 kittens. Eleven of those were from our village of Kini, a sad but realistic result of less sterilising last winter due to lack of funds. The remaining kittens came from Ermoupoli, Finikas and Agathopes. On the positive side though, of those kittens rescued, we found and sterilised the mother cats of 10. An excellent result, as often we rescue or are brought orphan kittens with no hope of finding the mother cat, knowing she’s having a hard life of endless pregnancies or could be already dead from disease, road accident or malnutrition and exhaustion.

Another positive is that 4 kittens are being hosted by us temporarily until some caring tourists can take them home with them – so less pressure on us to find suitable homes.

Having so many kittens to care for all at once means we are truly stretched to the limit and sadly, that means we’ve had to turn down too many other requests for help, which is always heartbreaking. We can only do so much.

Of course, every kitten that rocks up on our doorstep has their own backstory, none more so than Nikolas and Shiro.

Nikolas

Nikolas was found in Ermoupoli and was being cared for there by no less than three people at the same time: our veterinary nurse friend and volunteer Isabelle, an elderly local, and another of our friends, Carly. All were unaware that they were caring for the same kitten! When Carly asked us to help him, we agreed and he came to live with us.  He’s a very lucky boy to have been found by such caring people in those early days, because he really did need some help.

Nikolas arrived with a badly infected eye, a common problem seen in many street kittens and the result of malnutrition and rapidly spreading viral disease in unvaccinated colonies. We continued administering eye drops that his trio of carers had originally been giving him but it really looked like he would need surgery to remove the eye. This little fighter proved us wrong, though! With consistent medication, good food and, of course, lots of Syros Cats speciality TLC, Nikolas’s eye gradually began to heal as you can see in the photos. He’s not out of the woods yet, but he’s made fantastic progress and it won’t be long before this little boy will be ready to find his forever home. Right now, he is seeking sponsors to help with his care. If you could help him, please head over to the Sponsorship page and help him out!

Shiro

Shiro is very much a local kitten! In June this year, he showed up on the porch of a house close to the bus stop, just across the road from us. So obviously, we knew we had to try to catch him and bring him to safety, away from the main road and traffic.

It’s been no easy ride with Shiro since his arrival! Initially, he was a feisty little boy, mainly due to fear. And that was understandable because we’d no idea if he’d known any humans before. Every time we went to feed him and clean his cage, he would just hide and hiss at us. Poor Shiro was also infested with fleas, to the extent that we could see them running over his belly! Thankfully, he did let us bathe him, not once but twice! Happily he is now flea-free.

It was noticeable though, that he never tried to scratch or bite us, so we knew he would become friendly at some point. It was just a case of gaining trust on both sides. He started to make progress, realising we were not a threat to him, and even though the hissing didn’t stop right away, he started purring. The first time he did it, he was as surprised as we were!

And now, oh now he is the sweetest! He rushes to greet us, purrs away happily and asks for pets. He enjoys playing with us and even drools when he’s happy. Finally, this handsome boy can start to enjoy life in the company of humans, free from stress.

We think Shiro is now ready to find his forever home. He would prefer to share his home with some feline friends and needs someone who can give him the time he needs to adjust to his new life.

If you think you would like to adopt Shiro, head over to his profile on our website and follow the steps to complete the application form.