The Cats of Greece- contd.

 By Clem Latham

In Athens, the cat saga continued. By the time we left Athens, the cat count was up to 66, and my phone photos became full of random stray cats. Something very interesting about the stray cats in Athens was how you’d see them in random ruins throughout the city, going about their business as if they weren’t living in a piece of ancient history. It led to some of my favorite sights- seeing little cat food and water bowls atop the ruins of ancient Greek buildings. My favorite cat I saw was living all the way at the top of the Acropolis- it seemed unbothered by the intense winds and tourists milling about, and practically posed for me.

    This photo has to be one of my favorites, as it combines Greek cats with Greek ruins (the Temple of Athena Nike is visible in the background). It really warmed my heart to see how well the stray cats were treated in all of Greece, because it is not the same in America. At one point I witnessed a clump of 13 cats in one spot, just because someone was feeding them at that time. I personally feed the strays in my area at home, but neighbors often have… choice words about that. It really was so nice to see a culture that loves their strays. I also enjoyed how much cat merchandise they had in turn. I ended up getting my mom (a fellow cat-lover) a postcard with “The Kitty-Cats of Greece” on it, not to send her, but just as a souvenir to get across just how many cats there were. Overall, Greece is certainly the place to go if you’re a cat lover!