Winter Shelter for Cat Colony

Dear reader,

We need your help. To be exact, about 80 cats need your help.

There are many stray animals worldwide, and it is almost impossible to help all of them. But this is not about you or any specific person changing the world; it is about us MANY to make TINY changes. And this is how you can help.

In September 2022, we went from our sunny and cold Norway to an even brighter and super warm Cyprus on vacation. Unexpectedly, we encountered a colony of cats near Limassol desperately needing our help.

There are many cats in Cyprus. They were brought to the island to hunt snakes and roddents, protect humans, and be their companions. Unfortunately, all the love that cats gave was not enough to teach us, humans, to control the situation. There are 1.2 mln people in Cyprus and 1.5 million stray cats there. But we will not talk about that.

I want to tell you about Cat Colony at the Monastery of St. Nicolas of the Cats near Limassol. Saint Nicolas was very fond of cats and cared for them. Naturally, people thought that it would make a cat-dumping place.

Three years ago, volunteers discovered the place and around 10-15 cats at that time. There were sick and hungry. The monastery does not (we will not talk about it either) have an opportunity to feed the cats, so EVERYTHING, and I mean it, EVERYTHING, is done by volunteers. Food and vet bills never end. People spend their last money to help.

They were given space near the parking lot, where over the years, they built a small shed to keep some supplies in and a few cat houses and got a water pipe to pour fresh water for cats.

ALL is DONE thanks to donations by volunteers and those who want to help.

The colony grew from 15 to 80 CATS. People keep bringing their sick, old, pregnant, unwanted cats... They infect already healthy cats, and the vicious cycle starts again.

They decided that the time had come to build a small winter shelter and two multilevel cat houses this winter.

People might think winter in Cyprus is no problem; it is a vacation destination. BUT WE ARE WRONG. Winters are cold at night; it rains and is incredibly windy. The seasons are harsh.

The shelter will help the cats to stay dry and catch less cat flu and other diseases. They will fight less for dry and warm sleeping spaces, meaning fewer sick cats (wounds are unbelievable). Volunteers can focus on feeding, vet visits and rehoming instead of a constant battle for cats' lives.

Here is what is being built:

One Winter Shelter with three walls and sides, roof and floor.

Wooden frame covered with plasterboard, puttied and painted. The floor and the ceiling are made of OFacebook Group SB, painted with protective paint wood, protecting for ten years. The roof is additionally covered with roofing material.

Multilevel cat houses - legged 2-story houses with four cat "caves" per level.

The project costs 3,000 EUR/USD or 33,000 NOK.

1850 EUR is for materials

450 EUR for all construction work (including some electrical wires)

700 EUR for two multi-level cat houses (home for 16 cats)

The great news is that local volunteering groups gathered 1900 EUR! They will start the construction now and have already paid for the materials. There is no money yet to pay for work and cat houses.

We need just 1100 EUR to finish the winter shelter.

We need to collect this by the end of October. However, we will keep this campaign running in November as well if we need more time to get enough money for cat houses. ALL DONATIONS WILL BE FORWARDED TO THE RESPONSIBLE VOLUNTEERING GROUP. If we collect more than a named amount (and I hope we will), it will be put to good use - building an additional fence, covering vet bills (there is plenty of debt every week to cover vaccinations, neutering, treatments, etc.)

ONE of us cannot change everything, but ALL or at least SOME could make the right amount of change.

All donation amounts count - 5, 10, 20, 30+ EUR/USD/GBP (50 NOK). You can be a hero and not even get up the coach. One coffee shop visit for us is a life-changing opportunity for those cats and tremendous financial, physical and moral support to volunteers.

Let's make the change!