During the eight years of my work in Qatar, I have rescued over 20 cats, paid for their medical expenses out of my own pocket and found them a safe home either in Qatar or abroad.

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I have been living in Qatar since 2015 and work as a trainer at a health clinic in the physiotherapy department. It may seem to everyone that the Arab landscape must be a dream to live and work here and have a lot of money. But who defines what is a lot of money?I definitely don't have the money. Why? Because I have been saving street animals for a few years now. I specialize specifically in cats, but the circle of rescuers in my area is much wider. Dogs, birds, rodents and the likeis just a short list that I am giving.

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Doha, the capital of the State of Qatar, is a beautiful city, but the situation of street animals is catastrophic. At every corner you can see dozens and dozens of cats, dogs, birds, and when you go outside the capital, deeper into the desert, you can find hundreds of dogs. Feeding street cats, trapping, neutering and treating their health problems is a never-ending job that I do in my spare time at my own expense. And there are so many of us. But that's still not enough. The colonies of cats that I feed in more than five places are still growing. It's a fight that can't be stopped. The worst situations are when I find an injured kitten or a kitten that is without its mother because it was hit by a car and did not survive. For me, it is unimaginable to leave a small innocent creature on the street at the expense of its fate and not help. In the summer, when the temperature rises to 50 degrees, it is impossible to even breathe for five minutes outside, let alone survive there. The animals have nowhere to hide, no access to water or food.

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Rescuing a cat is a process that every cat lover will recognize. What about the prices of veterinary care in Qatar? I could have already built a house in Slovakia or bought a new luxury car in those years, and I'm not really exaggerating. There are veterinarians who have discounts for street cats, but there are also those who, when they smell money from people, will "rub" your skin off. Just for comparison. I have two rescued cats at home. The cat Zizou is 4 years old and the cat Gaia is 2 years old. The total blood analysis at the vet in Slovakia for both my cats cost me 80 euros. I will pay this price, just open the door from the doctor's office for a doctor's consultation.

 

My four-year-old cat was tested positive for the corona virus, which mutated. Fortunately, thanks to a wonderful doctor, who of course has already left the country, the cat survived. Well, hospitalization for 5 days with antibiotics and tests cost me 1750 euros. Repeated blood tests followed, every two weeks for 3 months, when one test cost me 100 euros. I'm not even talking about the special diet and the costs associated with it.

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The two-year-old kitten Gaia, whom I rescued from the parking lot next to the promenade, where men were digging, is my little princess. Little Gaia was 700 grams, almost 3 months old, and she was suffering from a skin disease that I treated for 6 weeks. She had an ear infection and tested positive for FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Infection). The medical costs rose to almost 3,000 euros. And I'm only counting special baths and antibiotics with tests.

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For eight during the years of my work in Qatar, I rescued over 20 cats, which I paid for their medical expenses out of my own pocket and found a safe home either in Qatar or abroad.

 

As an example, I present a few cases that you can find in the sectionStories and photos of cats. Here you will find photos from before the rescue period and after the rescue from the new home, and I am attaching a short story to each one.