Cretan cats

An uphill struggle

Cat Care Assistant Holly, creator of the blog has been on holiday to Crete for two weeks. During her stay there she met many feline friends, here are their stories...

During my stay on the beautiful island of Crete I got my cat fix everyday meeting all the local cats. Most of the cats I saw were un-neutered, wary of people and independent. A few of them were also neutered and cared for.

Behind the scenes though, the story darkens and I was told of cats being poisoned. As most of the people here are deeply religious this also posed a problem for the cats. A lot of people believe that neutering a cat is against god. Unfortunately due to this in some areas of Crete the cat population has spiralled out of control. I began to realise that cats for the most part cats are not seen as pets, but rather as pests. For me is was very hard to deal with, I care so much for all the defenceless felines.

During the second week of my holiday I went to a lovely village called Plaka, which overlooks Spinalonga Island a former leppar colony. I met a wonderful lady called Mo who runs an organisation called Plakakats. She helps all the cats in the area of Plaka and Spinalonga Island. She provides them all with daily water and food, medical assistance and takes them to the vets to be neutered.

Currently in the care of Plakakats is a cat called Oliver. Sadly Oliver has tested positive for FIV. He was found with a hole in his throat the size of a pound coin which exposed his main artery. He also had a wound the full length of his tail and wounds to one of his legs. The poor boy also had cat flu, ringworm and was riddled with fleas and worms! 
 










Just look at him now, what a handsome fella. What an amazing job Mo has done. Don't you just want to give Oliver a cuddle?! 

Oliver desperately needs a foster home or permanent loving home as the only cat. So please is you know anyone who lives in Crete and would take good care of him, let me know! 


Organisations like Plakakats are so important in Crete and all over Greece. The relationship between the people and the cats here is totally different to the UK. The culture and lifestyle in Greece also reflects this. In one town alone I saw three fur shops, it really is a uphill struggle. It made me realise just how lucky the cats are in the UK to have charities like Cats Protection and other animal charities caring for their needs.