The Cats of Lanzarote, Canary Islands Part 1

Hi everyone,

Today I’ve got to pick up on an important topic… The poor stray cats of a small island called Lanzarote.

The island itself is part of the Canary Islands which is part of Spain and a popular holiday destination with many of the British and Continental European tourists due to the fact that the island is warm and dry (SUNSHINE) all year around!

For years the hotels and many restaurants kept cats in order to keep the vermin under control so many cats found a home in these places.

The island sounds like a dream come true right? Unfortunately it does have a dark side to it when it comes to the feral cat population…

Many of the cats on the island were and still are not neutered causing huge amount of kittens every year… We took a look at one of the feral cat colonies in a small village on the island and there alone we found hundreds of cats on a field living of the scraps that the nearby restaurant gave them. 🙁

These were the kittens that we spotted originally all of which looked stunning but if you looked closely you could tell that their health wasn’t in the best condition. 🙁

A lot of the feral cats seem to have some Siamese mixed into their gene pool and one could find many stunning, friendly cats that really should be re-homed to a forever home…

The most heart breaking thing was to see the little kittens. (What you can’t tell from the photos is that some of them had poor eye conditions… possibly infections)

But the mothers are hard at work to keep their kittens safe!

But where is it going to end? How many more cats will be born on this island that is seemingly already over-populated by stray cats?

This is there the work of charities such as our partner charity International Cat Care, they have a whole page on neutering advice and it would be great if everyone could share this.

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Of course there are also local charities hard at work with their spay/neuter programme to reduce the amount of unwanted kittens on the island. 9 Lives is run by a dedicated cat loving woman who has put her passion at the base of what she does.

And don’t forget if you live in Europe, go on holiday to Lanzarote it is possible to work with local charities and plane operators to help re-home these cats to your home in your own country!

Thanks,

Marc

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58 thoughts on “The Cats of Lanzarote, Canary Islands Part 1

  1. mvaden1948 says:

    There is a similar situation on many of the Greek islands frequented by tourists. My friends on Antiparos take in as many as they can and have them spayed/neutered and take care of them….38 at last count….or the last I heard from them.

      • mvaden1948 says:

        So true. A lot of the cats my friends take in are the “abandoned household pets”. People come for the summer and take in a local cat then leave it behind when they go home. My friends try to work with a traveling vet or bundle the cats into carriers and take them on the ferry to the neighbor island for spay/neuter. It is good to have cats to keep the pests down but as we know allowing them to continuously breed isn’t good for cats or humans.

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  3. Crystal Stewart says:

    Marc, I found this article interesting. The cats in the pictures, are they all feral cats? Also, wanted you to know that I found the article so interesting I shared it on Linkedin. Can’t wait for the update or second part.

  4. Diana says:

    Such beautiful cats/kittens. But the population is out of hand. They need help.
    Such a common occurrence, even here in the U.S. I have seen it countless times at barns I have boarded at, or neighbor barns. And have implemented a neuter/spay program for some of them. Others’ the people enjoy the kittens and continue to allow breeding to continue.
    Hope someone is successful in getting them some help.

  5. Rick Thomas says:

    Hello in Lanzarote there are a number of animal charities trying to address the situation, Freddyscathouse, Sara, and 9 Lives. Check them out on Facebook or the web.

    • Marc-André says:

      Yes the charities on the island are working hard for this. And so is our charity partner on a global scale through partnerships and education.

      But there is much work yet to be done… people need to be made aware of situations such as this.

  6. Pingback: The Cats of Lanzarote, Canary Islands Part 1 – Rattiesforeverworldpresscom

    • Marc-André says:

      The local charities have cat feeding stations and encourage people to contact them to volunteer and help with things such as refilling these. Making food donations to them. Or even adopt one of the kitties.

      When I was a child we used to go to this island every year with my family and my dad always helped the local charity by agreeing to take a cat back on the plane to Germany for rehoming Centers over there.

      The charity used to bring the cat all ready for flight to the airport and their local partner in Germany picked them up on the other side.
      Not sure if this part is still possible in today’s times but was a very good way to help back in the days.

  7. chrisscatmeow says:

    Just found out you actually sold cat toys etc it’s amazing I have put an order in.Where are you based? Also how can I get on to The Cats Of Lanzarote blog…..Thank you.Christine x

    • Marc-André says:

      Hi Christine! 🙂

      Only just saw this comment. Been a busy weekend at a cat conference.

      The cats of Lanzarote rely a lot on the local charities out there. Such as 9 Lives which is the one I knew about and my parents introduced me to when we used to go to the island when I was a teenager.

  8. Pingback: The Cats of Lanzarote, Canary Islands Part 2 – Katzenworld

  9. samba2017 says:

    I want to rescue them all poor little things! We are going to Lanzarote later on this year so will try and donate to one of the local charities.

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