With two to three times more cats than humans in Qatar, the Catar reference is hardly surprising. Cats are everywhere – living it up in luxurious villas, scrounging for survival on the city’s streets or, of late, parking off on my balcony.

Cats are synonymous with Qatar.

The picture postcard shots of the swanky Doha skyline and sweeping desert landscapes will have you believe otherwise. But come the cooler climes and nightfall, Catar comes to life.

The cats, feral, stray and domesticated, are out in numbers, including our two new balcony squatters, Sammy and Snowy. But more of these two later.

Initially, I couldn’t correlate what I took to be a contradiction in terms: a super wealthy country with an excessive cat population of between 3 and 4 million.   

According to research undertaken by Hamad bin Khalifa University, cats were introduced to Qatar in the 1960s to deal with a “significant rodent problem”. Unfortunately, the cat population exploded in “an uncontrollable manner” bringing risk of disease to both felines and humans.

Conservation biologists have referred to feral cats as “the worst invasive species on earth”.

Cats are revered

But in Qatar, cats are held in high regard because of their place in the Muslim faith.

Cats are viewed as holy, thanks to historical references about prophet Mohammed’s love of cats.

Many of the Islamic faithful not only have domestic cats of their own, but also leave food and water out for the street cats.

Even this kindness, however, cannot compensate for what is generally a harsh life for felines. They often have to navigate blistering summer temperatures, cruelty and a lack of food.

  

Cat blinkers on

The presence of all these cats means I have to put blinkers on when out and about. Well, it’s this or accept that when returning to South Africa, I’ll be in for a quick R20 000-plus for documentation, flights, terminal charges, post-arrival quarantine and delivery for every kitty I might choose to rescue.

(And to think, my friend rescued four cats in Qatar before moving them to England about two years ago. Then he moved from the UK to New Zealand this year with those same old Qatar strays … )     

Stray cats and kittens literally cross your path. There’s no need to go out in search of them.

This is what happened when Dave, the stray cat who joined the England football squad at their Qatar training site during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He went home with English defender Kyle Walker.

Their “lucky charm” however has since been rehomed by the Football Association’s media operations manager in the United Kingdom.

If you want to follow official channels, adopting a cat or kitten costs about QAR600 (that’s about R3000). It’s a pity other teams didn’t follow England’s lead.

Facebook felines

Qatar Facebook sites are awash with appeals to animal lovers to adopt cats and kittens. These heartfelt stories come from those whose contracts have ended and those who have stepped in to help abandoned cats and kittens.

There are groups like QAWS (Qatar Animal Welfare Society), Paws Rescue Qatar, the Qatar Cat Control Unit and Trap Neuter and Return, each of which does fabulous work to address the cat overpopulation challenge.

Personally, I’ve stopped looking, blinkering myself to these sites too. 

And my friends, cat lovers otherwise known as Dr Doolittle and LC, put me to shame.   

Pampered cats

LC has adopted six cats during her three-year teaching stint in Qatar. (She still looks at FB sites!)

They’re all gorgeous cats who were rescued across a range of circumstances and are now living it up in her fourth-floor flat overlooking the Arabian Gulf.

The literary half dozen (all are named after book characters, bar one) have never been outside of her home, except to visit the vet.

This may shock you, but this is the norm for many pets in the Middle East. The searing heat, lack of greenery and high-rise lifestyle being commonplace means indoor living is often the safest option for domestic cats.

While LC’s cats have never known a life of stalking birds, digging in the garden dirt or fresh air, they appear none the worse for their cloistered lifestyle.

Dr Doolittle

My other cat friend, Dr Doolittle, not only talks to the animals, but has an inbuilt default rescue response for any neglected, injured or abandoned animal.

Her kindness meant Lucky, who wandered into Legoland where we both live, literally became the luckiest dog in Doha, Qatar. Lucky received all the nutritional fare, training and love a dog could hope for before jetting off to the United Kingdom, with help from the Paws group, to join a retired teacher living in Cambridge.

Dr Doolittle has two other dogs and two rescue cats who walk around our compound with her at least twice daily. Yes, the cats join the walk, too.

Cats, Sammy and Snowy

Which leads me to Sammy and Snowy, our cat squatters.

Sammy, a handsome ginger kitty, has an owner, our Egyptian neighbour upstairs, but Snowy, his mate …

Well, Snowy is a cat who wandered onto our compound too. With the know-how and support of Dr Doolittle, Snowy has been neutered. Many vets in Qatar provide a discounted service for spaying and castration.

She is a scrawny white cat with blue eyes.

My proverbial blinkers all but come off whenever Snowy jumps up and greets our return home with loud meowing … “Oh, shame, how sweet,” I think. “She misses us. She thinks we are her adopted human parents.” 

But every effort we’ve made to stroke Snowy, (the irony of her name is not lost on us), she skitters away.

She’s a feral cat, one who has learnt to survive on the streets.

And if that means meowing in the hope of a scrap or three, she’ll do it …

With my blinkers fully removed, I’ve watched her.

This clever cat meows at everyone who arrives at our three-storey apartment block – and the food keeps coming, especially from our Muslim neighbours!