A multitude of stray Cats in Israel

[AsheDina]

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

I bet you that most cats in Israel have a better grasp of how to deal with the Arabs than most Jews.

[TruthSpreader]

I bet you that most cats in Israel have a better grasp of how to deal with the Arabs than most Jews.

Well I rather have a million cats in Israel than one Arab.

[Ari Ben-Canaan]

This looks like one of my cute cats:

That cat looks kinda like my cat, Frankie.  She weighs 4.5 pounds in these pictures.  She has beefed up to a whopping 6 pounds now.  She insists on sleeping on me every night.



[The buddha statue belonged to my roommate, and no longer inhabits our home.]
And this is Thorberg.  He is hard to photograph because he has black fur.  We consider him to be a small dog.  He is a beast!

Here is his birthday present; catnip and a giant scratch post.  He turned 4.

This is Jamie, my roommates cat.  She is a Nebalung, so she is extra fancy.

[Rubystars]

TNR is the only humane solution to the feral cat problem. Trap/Neuter/Return. That way the population can be humanely reduced over time without killing the cats. If you only spay the females then that's good enough but it's better to neuter the males too. Would it be possible to hire Israeli gentiles for that job to get around the halachic problems? My four inside cats are former feral kittens.

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

Would it be possible to hire Israeli gentiles for that job to get around the halachic problems?

That's some good thinking.

[eb22]

Aish.com had a article on cats recently..


http://www.aish.com/jl/heb/s/92163084.html


The most popular pet in the world.

The master of the house – and the alley – is the cat ( chatul). Cats are the most popular pet in the world ( chayat machmad). Traditionally, historians have thought that ancient Egypt was the site of cat domestication, due to the clear depictions of house cats in Egyptian paintings about 3,600 years old.

Unlike many animals, the cat's language seems to be universal and all cats have the same meow ( ). In Israel you can see cats everywhere in every street, on fences, in garbage cans, or next to any possible food supply. Legend is that in the 1930s, the British brought cats to the Holy Land to control the rat population; that was solved and now Israel’s cities have a preponderance of wild cats.

Many cultures have negative superstitions about cats. An example would be the belief that a black cat "crossing your path" leads to bad luck. Believing in this would be a violation of the Torah commandment not to ascribe power to omens (Leviticus 19:26).

Cats are mentioned fondly in the Talmud. Our Sages of Blessed Memory ( ) refer to cats as an example of modesty, for the way they cover their droppings:

Thanks to the input that you,  Kahane-Was-Right BT,   and everyone provided.     


Though I like cats,    the amount of stray undersized cats was noticeable.     The good news is not surprisingly,   I didn't see any rats or mice.         

[eb22]

The cats to Israelis are like the rats and mice to us here.  Back in the 80's and 90's there were probably a ton more until the Thai workers were hired temporarily to work.  And sure enough the cat population went down...the rest you can figure out.  no need for me to say more than that.

Someone I met on the trip mentioned that the Thai workers were mainly in Tel Aviv and some other parts in the Western part of Israel.     If that was the case,   maybe that explains why Jerusalem still has so many stray cats. 

[Dr. Dan]

They are beautiful but terrible personalities compared to dogs. Dogs are predictable and obedient. Cats on the other hand are tempramental. Not a fan of having one.

[takebackourtemple]

There is no shortage of cats here in the US. The one thing I did notice there was that the cats were much more social towards humans. I was sitting on steps and one of them jumped on my lap and went to sleep. Probably the bug difference is that people treat them more humanely in the Jewish neighborhoods. My big question is whether the cats have the same behaviors in the Arab neighborhoods?

[Ari Ben-Canaan]

There is no shortage of cats here in the US. The one thing I did notice there was that the cats were much more social towards humans. I was sitting on steps and one of them jumped on my lap and went to sleep. Probably the bug difference is that people treat them more humanely in the Jewish neighborhoods. My big question is whether the cats have the same behaviors in the Arab neighborhoods?

The latest episode of a popular Hamas children's TV show, Tomorrow's Pioneers, features its main character cruelly swinging cats by their tails and throwing stones at caged lions in the Gaza zoo.
The episode of Tomorrow's Pioneers features a costumed adult playing Nahool the Bee at the zoo, tormenting domestic cats and lions. The lions become so enraged by the abuse that one of them repeatedly tries to attack Nahool.
Every time Nahool swings a cat by the tail, an act that can cause permanent physical and behavior problems for the animal, children can be heard bursting into laughter.
Ironically, the decision to terrorize and inflict physical pain on real animals in the episode is an attempt to teach children not to abuse animals. When the program returns to the studio, the children in the audience criticize Nahool for his behavior, and he is told never to do it again.

NOTE: Nahool is the character that replaced Farfur, the Mickey Mouse clone that was killed off in response to widespread international outrage that a knockoff of the lovable Walt Disney character was teaching children about hatred and world Islamic domination.

[syyuge]

Do something with arabs, then think about cats. Throw the arabs keep the cats.
 

[Ari Ben-Canaan]

Do something with arabs, then think about cats. Throw the arabs keep the cats.
 

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

Why does everybody in this thread hate cats? It's not their fault that they have been forced to live like cucarachas in the Holy Land.

 

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

Now I do remember hearing the story like others here said, except when it was told to me, they said the rat infestation was actually in egypt, so British brought the cats into egypt and from their they bred "like rabbits" and spread all over the middle east, including in Israel.   

Was there a big rat problem in the Land of Israel in the beginning of the British mandate also?  Or was that problem an Egyptian one?   Maybe I'm getting my egyptian references mixed up....

[takebackourtemple]

Do something with arabs, then think about cats. Throw the arabs keep the cats.
 

What is so funny about that?

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

I disagree with you, Dr. Dan. It is true that cats are less predictable than dogs but a very sweet cat, if it bonds to you, will arguably be more loyal to you than a dog. (Granted, it's harder to find a sweet cat than a sweet dog; they have to be raised just right as kittens, and their cat-mother's level of tameness has a lot to do with it too.)

I am very much a cat person, and although I cannot say I love every single cat, I definitely think they are noble animals.

[Dr. Dan]

I disagree with you, Dr. Dan. It is true that cats are less predictable than dogs but a very sweet cat, if it bonds to you, will arguably be more loyal to you than a dog. (Granted, it's harder to find a sweet cat than a sweet dog; they have to be raised just right as kittens, and their cat-mother's level of tameness has a lot to do with it too.)

I am very much a cat person, and although I cannot say I love every single cat, I definitely think they are noble animals.

From my personal experience, I have had cats turn on me and be particularly annoying.  If a dog wines and barks, you can tell it to shut up and it will listen...You do that to the cat, it will hiss and hate you FOREVER.

[Rubystars]

If a cat is whining at you it's because you need to do something to serve it, and if you don't then of course it will see you as less than useless.

[Dr. Dan]

If a cat is whining at you it's because you need to do something to serve it, and if you don't then of course it will see you as less than useless.

4AM in the morning?  3 AM...and then they poop all over the place?  No thanks...

Dogs rule.  Here is a very special one.

[muman613]

I have had some of the most loyal and loving cats... I don't know how anyone can say that Cats are less social than Dogs... Sometimes cats are very introverted, but sometimes some other cats are very social and playful.

I prefer Cats to Dogs any day because cats require much less maintenance {I dont have to walk my cat, I can let them wander in my yard without fences, The cat can feed itself when hungry (I place water and food where the cats can find them)}...

I can go on about the reasons I prefer cats to dogs... When I was a young boy we had a Beagle dog and it was very hard on us to keep the dog happy... My cats are very much self-reliant and yet they both enjoy sitting with me and playing.

[Rubystars]

Muman I think most cats can be loving and sweet, as long as they are socialized young enough. Truly feral cats should not be taken inside but should just be sterilized. Some are former pets and can be re-socialized. Whitenose for example was once a housepet, I can tell by her friendly demeanor.

I had to socialize Miss Kitty. When I first brought Miss Kitty in she was still young enough to be socialized but she was almost too old.

She was fearful and would hide and stay in one place, and when I held her, she would grip on tightly with her claws and act panicked.

It took a lot of patience and work to calm her down. I had to teach her how to play with her toys and not to be afraid of me. Now she's almost as tame as a regular housecat. It just took a lot of handling and talking to her.

I'm working on getting her to be able to let me touch her paws and claws now so I can eventually put colored nail caps on her. I want to do that because sometimes she still grips me with her claws on my shoulder when I'm holding her but not nearly as deeply as she used to.

I love dogs too. I never thought I'd be a cat person but somehow I ended up with four! lol I think puppies are probably the cutest animals on earth.

[nessuno]

If a cat is whining at you it's because you need to do something to serve it, and if you don't then of course it will see you as less than useless.

4AM in the morning?  3 AM...and then they poop all over the place?  No thanks...

Dogs rule.  Here is a very special one.

I always enjoy seeing that video.
Cookie is so smart.

Dogs do rule. 

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

and then they poop all over the place?  No thanks...

Cats are among the cleanest animals on the planet. If a cat is doing that it is trying to tell you that something is wrong.

[Ari Ben-Canaan]

and then they poop all over the place?  No thanks...

Cats are among the cleanest animals on the planet. If a cat is doing that it is trying to tell you that something is wrong.

I can't imagine my cats deciding to poop anywhere but their litter area!  What a tragedy!