The famous cats of Athens - how one organization is feeding 500 stray cats a day!
When you think of Greece, you may think of the crystal clear blue water, the delicious fresh good or the Parthenon.
Well…. I think of cats.
Opening Google Maps in Athens, in between searches for restaurants and historic sights, you’ll notice literal cats pinned as “attractions” in places around Athens.
Where are you, Titan?
One of the more famous cats is named Titan. He has a pin on Google Maps in the area where he is most sighted in Athens.
He’s known as Athen’s "chonkiest" tourist attraction with all reviews giving him a very respectable 5 stars and comments such as “he did not disappoint” and “an absolute unit”.
I had to find him.
There are no shortage of cats in Athens, or in Greece in general. Walking around central Athens in late October in a failed attempt to find Titan, I noticed little piles of cat food tucked away in street corners, behind plant pots and down side streets. I wondered, who is feeding these cats?!
After doing some searching online, I came across Nine Lives Greece – a volunteer organization that helps stray cats in Athens through feeding, vet care, neutering and adoption. I reached out to them and had the wonderful opportunity to join one of their volunteers, Eftihia, on a feeding route around central Athens one evening.
A special walk around Athens
Eftihia was waiting for me outside the Acropolis metro station with the biggest bag of cat food I ever seen! Eftihia lives in Athens where she lives, works and volunteers her spare time to Nine Lives Greece as a board member. She was the perfect person to tell me all about the charity, the stray cat situation in Athens and personally introduce me to some of the cats!
Nine Lives was created 17 years ago, back in 2006 and officially became a society in 2008. At the time, there was no other charity in Athens for the cats and no municipal or state programme for the strays.
We headed off on Eftihia’s usual feeding route which circled the main touristy area of Athens and the Acropolis. She told me it was impossible to estimate the number of stray cats in Athens, but it is definitely in the upper thousands!!
Animal Welfare in Greece
As we walked around and stopped at various spots to feed the cats, I asked her to tell me a little bit about the overall animal welfare situation in Greece.
“Unfortunately, standards of animal welfare in Greece overall are below par and the necessary legislation is not adequately implemented. Unlike other European member states, we do not closely regulate pet ownership or licensing and do not impose sanctions on neglect or abuse as often as we should, however in recent years this is improving.
I must say that it does depend a lot on the area, having grown up on a very touristic island myself, there is a massive difference between the areas in which expats live and the areas in which they don’t. Wherever there is a large expat population there are usually various charities and societies set up that care for the strays. There are still some anachronistic attitudes towards animals in Greece and lacklustre or even non-existent government involvement for decades.
Often, cats are considered working animals with the job to keep down the rodent population, so it means people don't feed them as there is the myth that they need to be hungry in order to hunt. Also, Greek culture is still quite averse to neutering and spaying stray cats, and due to the mild climate and the abundance of food sources it's very easy for the stray cat population to grow exponentially. Some people consider neutering unnatural which leads to the inevitable frequent litters of unwanted kittens and then of course to diseases and malnutrition.
“Thankfully, the resistance to neutering is gradually waning and the government seems to be more willing to help so hopefully in the future significant changes can be observed.”
The Story of Nine Lives
Eftihia told me some more about the founders of Nine Lives and the important role they play in the welfare of stray cats in Athens.
“All the founders have a strong background in animal welfare and a special connection and love for cats.
We help in a variety of ways, first and foremost with TNR (Trap Neuter Release) programmes, that we run throughout Athen. We are proud to say that last year we managed to neuter over 1,700 cats!! We also have numerous colonies that we feed, around 500 cats per day, with the help of our volunteers. We aim to rehome the cats that simply cannot survive on the streets, so we also run adoption programmes and of course we try to educate the locals as much as possible to build more compassionate attitudes towards the strays.
Nine Lives feeds 500 stray cats in central Athens every single day.
The work we do is important, as if it wasn’t for Nine Lives and other charities around the city, the situation for the poor cats would be even more dire than it is currently.
The spay/neuter aspect of our work is particularly important so keep cat colonies healthy and stable.”
Eftihia got involved with Nine Lives first and foremost for her love of cats. It was so clear when walking around with her how much she adored these cats and how much these cats adored her. She knew each and every one of them by name and they would run to her from everywhere as soon as they heard her voice. It was amazing to see the bond and trust Eftihia had created with these cats.
“It was not enough for me to just feed the strays in my neighbourhood, I wanted to become more involved in a cause, and to make significant change. I began feeding with Nine Lives once a week and shortly became a member of the organisation’s board. It is great to be part of such a community that cares so much, is so involved with cat welfare and has a common goal. I give and take so much love from these cats and its a great feeling to know that I am doing as much as I possibly can to truly help these babies stay healthy and happy.”
How can tourists help?
Approximately 6.4 million tourists visit Athens every year!! Even in late October, and officially the “low season”, the crowds were still there! I asked Eftihia about how tourists can help with the stray cats when they visit.
“Anyone visiting Greece is sure to run in to a stray cat. If they want to, they could always carry some cat food with them to feed any hungry strays they might encounter. However, as a general rule we would suggest not feeding stray cats when in a restaurant or other places, as it could irritate the owners or even other customers which could then result in the cats being harmed. But it is great idea to keep any leftover meat or fish and feed it to the stray cats by the nearest rubbish bin and providing them with water is also very important, especially throughout the summer as they tend to resort to drinking the water dripping from air conditioning units.
Something we do see is people giving milk to cats and kittens and this is not a good ideas as it gives them diarrhoea. I know that giving kittens milk is quite a common practice but is it a complete misconception that it is actually good for them!
Of course report any abuse or poisoning to the police and take any ill or injured cats to the nearest vet. It’s not always easy to do in a foreign country but on the internet you can easily find the contact to the local animal welfare group which can guide you.”
Finding Titan
At one of the final feeding spots, a large orange cat slowly made his way over to us. It was none other than the famous Titan!!! We had finally found him. Eftihia explained that he had actually lost some weight after being treated for a stomach fluid issue…which explained his past “chonky” reputation!
The future of cats in Athens
Finally, I asked Eftihia about her vision for future for the cats in Athens.
“Overall, we want to promote cat welfare through neutering, education and enhanced relations between humans and cats in Greece. In the future we would like Greece to become a cat-friendly country where humans treat cats with justice and respect.”
A big thank you to Eftihia for taking the time to bring me around Athens to feed the cats and tell me more about Nine Lives – a truly wonderful charity making a really big impact in Greece!!
Find out more!
To find out more about Nine Lives Greece and to give a donation to help these cats, see the links below:
· Visit the Nine Lives website.
· Donate to Nine Lives here. 100% of funds go straight to the cats and their wonderful programmes.
· Follow Nine Lives on on social media (Instagram).
· Volunteer if you are visiting Athens or join Eftihia or one of the other lovely charity members for a very unique walking tour around Athens (with lots of cat interaction guaranteed!).