Help Fiona Care for Egyptian Street Mamma, Puppies & Kitties

My name is Fiona and I currently live in Cairo, Egypt. There are heroic efforts made here for the large population of street animals by shelters - but the sheer volume of dogs and cats means that the shelters can only accept injured and abused animals now.

UPDATE 8 November 2024

Tragically four weeks ago we lost two of the puppies.

All five puppies got very ill.

I took them to the vet and found out there had been an attempt to POISON them!!! ❌❌❌

I have raised our goal money to get them to a safer boarding situation. Please read on and see latest update in the updates section below ❤️

Thanks to your love and support in August 2024 we reached our $1500 goal and have dedicated ourselves to caring for this special family! See reports and updates below . Kitties, Petal, Gutsy, and puppies, Fifi, Butch and Gamila (Arabic for beautiful) now need more support as they commence their vaccinations and other essential health cares. So we are hoping to raise a further $1000 or even more - if we go over it will only help.

Four months ago I saw that a mother had given birth to 5 puppies under a car in an outdoor parking lot in my neighborhood.

She also has two orphaned kitties nursing with her

I fed her under the car for three days as I built a shelter for her family in the far corner of the lot under a big tree. It was ideal, safe and private and more cool on Egypt's 40 degree Celsius summer days.

When the day came I carried the puppies and kittens from under the car (with the help of Betham a local street person) to the new shelter and ....

Mamma accepted their new home! See what happened!

Daily I started feeding and helping her care for them. The bawab (Egyptian unpaid guardian of the car park who lives in an old car on the lot) allowed me to do this as he was happy the animals were no longer under the car and risking being injured by other cars coming and going as the car park is busy during the day.

A month later the family is thriving and we are all very close. Betham continues to help me keep an eye on them when he is around and a nearby office worker named Khaled, helps me feed them when I cannot get there.

Currently I go there twice a day to feed and water them and play with them and spend time with Mamma. She is an incredible spirit with big hazel eyes and sometimes she just looks at me with so much love and smiles and I am grateful to be helping her look after her family.

It is incredible to see her pour as much love on the two orphaned kitties as she does her own pups. They are such a special family. The puppies and kitties play and sleep together.

I have met their father too. He is a spunky white Egyptian Balady dog who comes by in the evening and checks on them. He never eats their food and Mamma and he touch noses when they see each other. It’s incredible to have insight into this family of street animals. So much love and familiar rituals of bonding and care as they fend for themselves.

I cook free range chicken, rice and vegetables combined with healthy puppy and kitten food for them as advised by a vet - and they are also still nursing from Mamma… but starting to wean. Incredibly human food is less expensive in Egypt than healthy dog and cat food … so making them fresh food is a good choice, but it needs to be mixed with other specialized food for full nutrition.

I have been funding everything myself but now upcoming vaccinations, spaying and neutering and tagging (for the babies when it’s time and Mamma as soon as possible) and then adoption efforts are now putting me in a position to ask for financial help.

It is hard to have Egyptian Balady (local) dogs and cats adopted here. People tend to seek out more exotic breeds. I spoke to rescue shelters, and the vet and they all said what I am doing to help this family and give these babies a good start in life is possibly the best they can have. They can have a happy safe life in the corner of the lot if adoption is not possible.

But I will do my best to find them loving forever homes.

Egyptian Balady dogs and cats are the smartest, most loyal and good spirited animals… and just so very sweet and adorable!

I hope to raise 1000 USD or more to cover their ongoing food, housing and medical expenses and my efforts to get them adopted which may include transporting them to different areas at times for adoption events … or whatever it takes. Paid social media campaigns… whatever I can do.

If I raise over this amount I will try to arrange different housing for them if I can find a really good foster situation for them in a home ahead of their forever homes.

Thank you so much for considering my request. I love them so much that if I had my own home I honestly would just take them all myself. But right now due to some personal circumstances I am a bit of an orphan too and just cannot do this.

So I focus on being their street foster mum which I love, but also sometimes I just feel paralyzed with fear of the future for them. But I am in a program of sobriety that suggests I take it one day at a time … and so I am taking care of these sweet creatures one day at a time too. And trusting that somehow everything will work out for the best.

I am setting up this go fund me that I will receive the money and then use it to pay for everything as I have been.

Some people have said to me I am extremely kind to help these animals and are surprised at the lengths I am going to for them. There are so many street animals. But when I looked into Mamma's big hazel eyes as she nursed her puppies and kitties under the car that first time, I didn't know what else to do except help her and her family.

Thank you so very much for anything you can give - it all adds up.

My Instagram account has more pictures and stories about this special family - please take a look - captainfifi

And here is a special video I made to welcome you into this wonderful families' life!

with gratitude,

Fiona

PS - on the 17th August we reached our original goal of $1000. Thank you sooo very much - I was immediately able to buy new fencing and build a safer large enclosure and commence all their medical treatments. When we went over the goal amount on the same day I decided to raise it a little to be better prepared further down the track for fostering and adoption.

Mamma, her babies and I are so grateful for your generosity.