Help Kai build a home for Kyma and her kittens

Aim

I'm building a new enclosure at a local shelter to house Kyma, a stray cat, and her kittens until the kittens are old enough to be adopted.

Meet Kyma the stray cat

If you haven't heard about Kyma, let me quickly introduce you. Kyma is a cuddly stray cat that I've been fostering during my short stay in Crete. It wasn't just Kyma's comically large pregnant belly that made her stand out among the group of stray cats I've been regularly feeding in the neighbourhood. Kyma seemed more interested in rubs behind her ears than food, in following me home than waiting for me to bring a meal. And sure enough, she found her way onto the balcony of the apartment I'm staying at. A little while later, we were joined by four adorable kittens.

No place available in Crete for Kyma and her kittens

My stay in Crete is ending later this month, much before Kyma's kittens will be old enough to be adopted. Unless I can find a place for Kyma and her kittens to go to, they'll be back on the street after I leave the country. We reached out to several shelters and animal groups across Crete but, as much as folks wanted to help us, there just isn’t any availability anywhere. There are just too many stray cats in Crete and not enough resources or shelters for them. We tried to find somebody to foster Kyma and her kittens in their own home by posting online and asking local shelters and veterinarians to ask through their networks, but again no luck.

We decided to make new space for Kyma and future mama cats

After weeks of searching, we got an interesting suggestion from Maria’s Cathouse, a small shelter setup and personally run by Maria Malama in Chania, a nearby city. Maria’s Cathouse recently relocated to a new permanent location where Maria has been steadily building facilities with the help of online donations. Maria’s Cathouse doesn’t currently have a structure to house Kyma and her kittens in, but the shelter is keen to build one if we can help raise enough money for it. Which brings us to this fundraiser!

The new enclosure at Maria’s Cathouse

A new enclosure is needed to house Kyma and her kittens for two main reasons: safety and hygiene. Until the kittens are old enough to fend for themselves, they’ll be in danger of getting seriously harmed by some of the older cats at the shelter. And until the kittens are old enough to have their first vaccines, they’ll be at risk of catching diseases from some of the other cats.

With a new enclosure, Maria’s Cathouse would be able to safely house Kyma and their kittens, keep them fed, happy and loved as they grow, make sure they get all the medical treatment they need, and find new homes for the kittens once their old enough to be adopted in two months' time. After the kittens are adopted, the enclosure will be used to house other stray mama cat’s and their kittens. If Kyma’s kittens, don’t get adopted, they’ll still have a home at Maria’s Cathouse.

The new enclosure:

• Will be 3 by 3 meters, giving the kittens plenty of space to run around as they learn to walk, climb and play.
• Will have a half covered, insulated roof, letting in plenty of sunshine to lounge around in on a sunny day while providing cover when it rains or the sun gets too hot.
• Will cost £700 altogether to be built locally.

The kitten's medical costs

Along with shelter, the kittens need vaccinations to grow up healthy and improve their chances of getting adopted. Each kitten will need to vaccinated twice, with each shot costing £30. Neutering and spaying kittens once their old enough will cost £160 altogether. Although neutering and spaying may not seem necessary at this stage, it’s vital for responsibly helping curb Crete’s cat overpopulation and for reducing the risk of the female kittens getting abandoned due to pregnancy in the future.

In total, medical treatments for the four kittens will cost £400.

Additional costs

My fundraising target is to raise £1100 to cover the cost of the enclosure, vaccinations and spaying and neutering.

There are some additional costs like flea and worm treatment, and food supplies. I’m planning to cover these costs myself. If we’re lucky enough to exceed our fundraising target, any money raised above £1100 will be used to cover these additional costs.

What about Kyma?

If everything works out, my story with Kyma won’t have to end here. I’ll be paying for Kyma’s vaccinations and spaying myself. And once the kittens are old enough, I’m planning to transport Kyma to Brighton to live with me. But of course, this is only possible if, with your help, we can raise enough money for Maria's Cathouse to be able to house Kyma and her kittens.

What your donation can do

£5 – Equivalent of one anti-flea treatment
£10 – Equivalent of one anti-worm treatment
£20 – Equivalent of feeding a kitten for a month
£30 – Covers one vaccine
£60 – Covers fully vaccinating one kitten
£80 – Covers spaying one of the kittens
£700 – Wow! Really? Ok, covers one enclosure which we’ll name the after you!

Get a print of Kyma

Long before Kyma made herself at home on my balcony, I painted Kyma while she was pregnant so that I can have a memento to remember her by. To help raise funds for Kyma and her kittens, I’ve now made prints of my painting of Kyma available for ordering online. I’m donating all profits from the prints of Kyma, and from prints of two other paintings of mine featuring cats, to this fundraiser. If you’d like to bring Kyma into your own home in the form of a print, you can order one here:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KaiNemraArt

About Maria’s Cathouse

Maria’s Cathouse helps the stray cats of Chania on the Greek island of Crete by providing vet care, shelter, neutering and rehoming. You can follow the shelter here: https://www.facebook.com/mariascathouse/ 

Want to adopt a kitten?

Need one of these kittens in your life? Drop me an email and I’ll share more information about how adoption can be arranged. If you live in Greece, the earliest the kittens can be adopted is by late June. If you live abroad, the earliest the kittens can transported is mid-August. I can share additional information about getting kittens ready for travel and the costs involved in transporting a kitten abroad by email. 

This project successfully funded on 8th June 2021