Why does every Holiday Destination have Stray Cats

[Aquarius1234]

Are there any European coastal/ city breaks that don't have millions of stray cats?

I was thinking of France but apparently 11 millions cats.
I get Greek islands and Cyprus oh and Croatia had a crazy amount....

Why can't you go anywhere and not be surrounded by cats when out for dinner.
I thought western Europe wouldn't be littered ?

I guess the only way to fix the problem is to make a regular donation to one of those charities that regularly round up the stray cats and sterilise them. Thats very effective although obviously it takes a while to work.

The UK doesn't seem to have many stray cats.
Are we the only country in Europe like this?

Because a lot of people don’t value the life of animals? It is a world wide issue. If you want to change it, do something. We travel to a country with a lot of stray animals. We’ve adopted some, but obviously we can’t take them all. But every time we go, we get a trap from the vet, trap a cat or two, take them to the vet, get them spayed/neutered/ treated for any issues. It costs about €60 euros per cat and takes about 2 hrs per cat of my time. Since cats can have many, many kittens, it makes a difference. For me, it’s time and money well spent.

I've never seen many stray cats in Italy or Spain.

Breaks my heart to see them in other countries though, I wish I could take them all home. I just feed them when I'm there. I did TNR for a few years in a ME country, it's even worse there than it is in Europe.

It does seem like a lot of popular holiday destinations are very lacking in the animal care dept.

I don’t know where you go on holiday but I’ve only been to a couple of places that had stray cats.

Apparently there are high numbers in Italy and Spain says over 5 million. Maybe cos the countries are large they are more spread out and don't wonder the streets in tourist areas so much ?
I don't remember seeing many years ago when I went to Spain.
Apparently loads in Sardinia.. shame.

Last place I went to for a proper city break was Dubrovnik and surrounding areas. Too many cats. Am really not keen on them.

Only seen one cat on holiday this year and it was on a leash 🤷🏻‍♀️ haven never noticed loads on previous trips although my crazy cat lady friend had 22 cats turn up in Gran Canaria as she was leaving out treats.

I'm in spain atm not seen one cat, near malaga

Rome has a reputation for stray cats, but I only saw one. I visited their cat sanctuary.

But I like meeting cats.

I voted YANBU as we find this really difficult. We normally holiday in the UK so not an issue, but last year spent a week in Greece which was lovely, but the cats were really challenging. Not because we don’t like them, we love cats and have 2, but because it’s so upsetting. They were scrawny, missing ears, eyes, fighting around us at dinner, etc. We bought food for them while there, but this has reminded me to set up a regular donation to a charity which helps with this issue.

the only place I saw loads was Istanbul. So many cats.

I know Turkey is notorious for having loads of stray cats,but I didn't know that it was an issue in France and Greece as well.

Weirdly I don't remember seeing many in Mykonos but wouldn't visit another Greek island as always here about how many stray cats there are. I just can't relax with them so close by.
Oh and someone I know said there was even more in Cyprus.

It is annoying when your potentially spending a good amount of money on holiday esp for me when I don't go away much.

Malta has loads.

They're valued and locals feed and water them, some of them are as fat as butter.

The UK is not without stray cat issues. Where I work there are both ferals and strays.

I'm trying to coax a stray to come and eat regularly at the moment so I can get it scanned to see if it is lost.

So I take it you have a cat phobia? Is this what’s bothering you?

I lived in Spain for 7 years in early 2000s, both rural and big town/ city. Met some of the loveliest people of my life (including my ex husbands family ) but my word their attitude to animals could not have been more different from a British one….

Broadly speaking, the poorer the country, the worse the animal care. Where human life is valued less, animals will be treated worse. Can’t explain Spain and Italy though. I have been to Italy loads and never seen this cat issue.

Even if I was neutral about cats I wouldn't be keen on going to places or enjoy holidays with so many strays.
I always here from people that have no particular issue with them. So it tells me they would rather there wasn't loads of cats all over their pretty holiday destinations.
It's a negative.

I think there has been a lot of work over the years in Rome. I first visited in the 90s on a school trip and the huge colonies of cats made a real impression. Saw a few strays around the archaeological sites when I was there last year, but that was it.

Italy really isn’t a stray cat country in the same way as Greece or Turkey. And I wouldn’t people in those countries don’t care - there are always people providing food and the cats seem to get a lot of fuss and and affection, but you see an awful lot with visible injuries and infections. Obviously, it’s not a good situation overall.

You want to complain about it but won’t do anything to help? Who do you think should? Or will?

Yea that's what I thought. So surprised about the huge number in France and Italy.
I'm guessing when you've gone to Italy and Spain lots you have noticed cats about in the evenings in the same way you would in the UK? But a little bit more.
Not like always 10 cats around your table and wondering the street all the time.

In Croatia you could never walk down a street and not see cats. Whatever time.

Well of course no one wants strays - it’s a sign they’re not being cared for properly - ie neutered etc. I am a cat lover and it breaks my heart to see unwanted and unloved cats so I would rather not go to places where strays are mistreated. I wouldn’t go to places like Egypt etc because of the ways they treat their donkeys etc.

The only cats I’ve seen in Menorca and Mallorca were extremely well fed hotel cats and they were few and far between. Turkey is the worst for stray animals, especially dogs.

If you don't want strays you need somewhere where the winters are cold. One reason strays flourish around the Mediterranean is that the climate is more conducive to survival. I do think Rome has improved in recent years but any large city will have strays.