Gozo Animal Lovers Launch Fundraiser For Mobile Cat Café [Lovin Malta]

From Lovin Malta, 20 May 2026: A group of animal lovers in Għajnsielem has launched a fundraiser to help open a mobile cat café aimed at supporting stray animals across Gozo.

The project hopes to visit different villages around the island while donating proceeds towards food and medical care for stray cats and other animals in need.

The team behind the initiative said the project was created partly in response to what they described as a lack of proper funding and support for stray animal welfare... » read more.

Malta & Gozo - Islands of Cats with new Book Cover

To better illustrate the true purpose of 'Malta & Gozo - Islands of Cats', we have created a new book cover for the print-on-demand paperback as well as the Kindle/Ebook edition. 

The new cover shows one of our own photographs of Valletta and Upper Barrakka across the Grand Harbour from a position at the end of the pier Xatt Il-Forn at the Vittoriosa Yacht Marina, putting the picturesque watch tower perched on top of Fort St. Angelo's bastion into perspective. 

We also posted the cut-out from a shot of a cat colony being fed prominently into the center of the book cover, supported by the book's sub-title 'The Humble Stray Cat Carers of the Maltese Islands'. We hope you like it.

The hardcover edition still comes with Maltese sculptor Matthew Pandolfino's statue in its original look from 2015/2016. If you prefer this colourful, elegant edition, hurry, it will not be reprinted.

Is Malta really the island of cats? We have proof! by GuideMeMalta

What a nice surprise when a friend in Malta sent us the link to a post about stray and feral cats in Malta, which actually quotes our book 'Islands of Cats' on GuideMeMalta.com. Some time in July 2018,  by Melanie Drury wrote:

"Every visitor will notice the presence of several felines around the Maltese Islands. What about the cats of Malta and why is it becoming known as the island of cats?"

A hungry stray cat colony waiting to be fed on Gozo © 2016 Gabriele Ruttloff-Bauer

"There are many cats in Malta. In the homes, in the streets, in the parks, by the water’s edge, fat cats live happily. In fact, Malta could well be the best place in the world to be a stray.

Locals are so accustomed to their presence that cats have come to play an integral role in the cultural landscape. It’s ordinary to shoo a snoozing cat off the roof off your car and to see cats gathering at the time the cat lady is due to appear with food. Most people tolerate them happily; others leave food and water on their doorstep; and some take it upon themselves to..." read more.

Just a tiny note, the author states that 3,000 feral cats live in the Maltese Islands. A conservative estimation actually comes to 350,000 animals, and that's why neutering and spaying is so important, a topic covered in our book. We financially support the free neutering program of Happy Paws Malta with every book we sell.

Owners must neuter free-roaming cats, say animal welfare groups - by SwissInfo.ch

Having whitnessed first hand in Malta how rapidly uncontrolled feral cat colonies can grow, we, the authors Islands of Cats are ardent defenders of TNR - Trap-Neuter-Release. The call for a neuter/spay obligation has become louder recently, with an an estimate of 300'000 feral cats roaming the country. On June 12, Swissinfo.ch wrote online:

Swiss animal protection groups have collected more than 115,000 signatures calling for the obligatory castration of cats that go outside.

Symbolic image - stray cats in Floriana, Malta - © 2016 Gabriele Ruttloff-Bauer

The aim of the non-binding petition is to curb the number of stray cats and reduce unnecessary suffering. The Network for Animal Protection (NetAP) and Tier im Recht (TIR) handed in the petition, backed by more than 150 organisations, to parliament on Tuesday. They estimate that 100,000-300,000 stray cats live in Switzerland. One of the main causes of the stray-cat problem is that owners of free-roaming house cats don’t always neuter them, with the result that these cats mate with strays, producing offspring. ... read more.

Humans are the problems, not the feral cats! (via HuffPost)

Feral cat by the sea © Gabriele Ruttloff-Bauer

Found on the Huffington Post, an article by Julia Orr 5 March 2017: "Humans hate to take responsibility for our actions especially when it comes to the fallout of those actions surrounding domesticated companion animals. In the case of feral cats, this is doubly so. Humans domesticated the cat, humans abandon their cats, and humans fail to spay and neuter their cats. And, when a cat is abandoned and not fixed they populate ..amazing I know but true. Then, humans blame the cats for their predicament. It’s the cat’s fault it became domesticated, it’s the cat’s fault it got abandoned, and it’s the cat’s fault she gets pregnant, cos little Johnny Cat just refused to use that kitty condom. Sound ridiculous? Well, it is about as ridiculous as hating cats because they suddenly find themselves abandoned and alone. Abandoned unfixed cats, breed and for some, soon become a “feral cat problem.” Although, personally I don’t see a “feral cat problem” only a “human problem.”

Every now and again someone reveals their ugly selves online, and this is true of Sam Wood. Wood is a hunter from Wisconsin who is an unapologetic cat killer. He is not a stupid man as he’s now rephrasing his initial abusive vitriol to one of him “helping” the environment because he’s another..." » read on.

We are featured in leading German cat magazine "Our Cats"

"Islands of Cats" has been featured in one of Germany's leading cat magazines, "Our Cats", edition  2/17 and published in print and online on 17 January 2017. 

This 2-page article (»png, »pdf) presents a short introduction as well as photographic impressions from the German version of our photostory-book "Islands of Cats". We would like to express our appreciation to Publisher Verlag Minerva in Mönchengladbach, Germany, and we do hope that this feature will gain a lot of interest for the valuable work of the stray cat carers in Malta and Gozo.

Grazzi ħafna !  Thank you very much !

Islands of Cats is now available on Amazon UK and Germany

The colourful hardcover photo-story books 'Islands of Cats', 'Inseln der Katzen' and 'Il-Gżejjer tal-Qtates' can now be purchased via Amazon UK or Amazon Germany:
We will make all books available in more Amazon online stores in Europe as well as Amazon USA and Japan. Use your Amazon buyer account for your purchase in a safe online shopping environment, or have a book shipped to a friend. In the near future our books will also be shipped from the nearest Amazon fulfilment center which makes it easy for you to group with other purchases and save on shipping costs.

From 'Islands of Cats': daily stray cat dinner buffet in Birżebbuġa

Feral and Stray Cats—An Important Difference (via Alley Cat Allies)

Stray in Malta (photo Gabriele Ruttloff-Bauer)

Alley Cat Allies: Feral, stray, and pet cats are all members of the same species; they are all domestic cats. But stray cats and feral cats are also different from each other in a very important way—in their relationship to and interactions with people.

Whether you are a shelter worker, veterinarian, or feral cat advocate—or you just share your neighborhood with feral cats—knowing how to tell the difference can help inform how best to interact with a cat or what, if any, intervention would be in each cat’s best interest.

• What is socialization?
• What is the difference between a stray cat and a feral cat?
• Why does it matter?
• How do I tell the difference when the cats are outdoors?
• How do I tell feral and stray cats apart once I have trapped them?
• What do I do next?

Read on and download documentation

These Linguists Want to Help You Speak Fluent Cat

illustration original post

Science of Us 27 April 2016: "There’s a mystery in The Aristocats — that classic 1970 Disney movie about felines falling in love, dodging murder, and prowling around Paris — that no one has been able to satisfyingly explain: Why, when all of the cats are French, do they have such a wide variety of accents? Family matriarch Duchess is vaguely French, I guess, but O’Malley the alley cat is American, and I don’t even know what the kittens are — British, maybe.

The simplest explanation, if we’re going to seriously engage with the linguistics of a kids’ movie about anthropomorphic cats, is that they have different accents for the same reason humans do: They’re all from different places. Previous research has found that whales, cows, and macaques all have their own regional..." read on.

Ferals, Strays and Barn Cats

The Columbian Blogs 25 April 2016: "You’ve seen them around, cats that seem to have no home and may be skittish towards you. These are cats that have either lost their home and have to fend for their self or they were born in the wild. These are usually called stray or feral cats. A stray cat is one that has been socialized to people at some point in her life, but has left or lost her domestic home, as well as most human contact and dependence. A feral cat may never have had any contact with humans or her contact was minimal. She is fearful of people and survives on her own outdoors. You can often find colonies of these cats around out-buildings on country property. They are sometimes called barn cats or farm cats.

When not properly taken care of, they can live miserable lives. Over population, diseases and predators are some of the dangers that these cats face. But people are often the biggest danger to these cats. People get upset with the number of cats on their property and they shoot, poison, drown or torture the cats. Some will trap the cats and take them to the..." read on

‘C’ word has become the elephant in the room

THE conservation lobby/industry/movement . . . call it what you will . . . is something most of us would support.

illustration by original post

Edinburgh News 18 April 2016: Mention the “C” word and we think of the many species being wiped out around the world as man industrialises their native environments; the perils facing big cats and elephants facing extermination at the hands of brutal hunters and poachers; and even native, UK, hedgerow wildlife that has been drastically reduced by large scale, open-field farming, or the paving, patios and fences in suburban gardens.

But there’s another side to conservation. It belongs to the body of scientists and academics who want to preserve species by interfering with nature... read more.

Trap-neuter-release works

Keys Info Net 31 March 2016:  Regarding Duff Smith's letter to the editor. 

Cats are not the problem. Never have been, nor will they ever be. Citizens abandoning and discarding these sentient creatures as garbage into the wild are the problem.

Rather than emphasizing an “accelerated killing program” for these innocent animals, perhaps a determined and collaborative mode of policing can apprehend and punish the guilty parties, which have chosen to recklessly abandon and cast away their cats into our extended community. Senselessly killing a beautiful creation because of its owner's negligence, is cruel and barbaric.   

We are in agreement, cats are best cared for when living indoors or under the supervision of their owners. However, what shall be done with those that have been released to roam outdoors, or those beaten to near death and deposited into a dumpster; after they've been taken into a cat colony and are now living a healthy and fruitful life under the supervision of a loving and dedicated caretaker?

Shall these innocent creatures be rounded up and killed, because of the sins and malfeasance of their previous owners; after they've been adopted and shown kindness by their present caregivers for an extended period of time (In one case, a 17-year relationship with the oldest cat)? Shall the supervisors of these colonies providing this service, at no cost to the taxpayer, be....read on.

Special Diet? Cats Living in Moscow Garden Eat Entire Crop of Bananas

Cats living in Moscow’s Apothecary Garden gobbled up the first crop of bananas which was meant for the park visitors, the press service of the botanical garden reported

Sputnik International 2 April 2016: “Recently, we gathered a harvest of velvet bananas and laid the flesh with seeds to dry on a saucer. When I walked into the greenhouse, a large portion had been eaten and near the crime scene a tortoiseshell cat sat licking herself. In the same spot a black cat was chewing on a piece of banana,” the curator of tropical plants Vitaly Alenkin said.

According to him, because of the naughty felines the autumn distribution of bananas for the garden visitors has come under...read on

Cat hotel nick-named the Meow-maison has housed more than 3,000 rescue cats

Cat hotel nick-named the Meow-maison that even provides Sky TV has housed more than 3,000 rescue cats and cost the owner £430,000 

Mail Online 27 March 2016: A luxury hotel for rescue cats, nicknamed 'The Meow-maison' has cost its owner £430,000 - and even provides Sky TV for the pampered felines.

Jane Lynegar, 54, from Swanwick, Derbyshire, has taken in over 3,000 unwanted cats in 23 years but had to build a separate bungalow in her back garden just to accommodate them all.

And although the cats who frequent the self-styled hotel live in luxury - with Sky television and a kitchen complete with dishwasher and washing machine - Mrs Lynegar and her husband Paul, 58, even have 15 live-in cats of their own.

On average, Mrs Lynegar has rescued 150 cats a year and while she originally had a shed to keep all of her charges Paul, a technical director, built a...read on.

Newsletter #5: «Islands of Cats» in Malta & Gozo - 25 Carers 19'000 Words 120 Pages 200+ Photos

» read newsletter online   » newsletter in German

Malta and Gozo are busy preparing for the Easter celebrations, with traditional ceremonies, and historical processions in many towns and villages. A welcome break for many, but more than 1000 men and women in the Islands look after the well-being of stray and abandoned cats - just like every day and all year round. The upcoming photo-story book «Islands of Cats» highlights their commitment to the feral cats in the Maltese Islands and the impact it has on society and environment.

We started our project in September 2015. Today we counted

• 19'000 words worth ...
• 25 stories of stray cats carers, cat workers, shelters
• previews of places of interest in Malta and Gozo
• fun facts and stories about cats.
• 200+ colourful photos selected from 2500+ motifs
• and 120 pages designed.

An entertaining, socio-critical book that will be published as e-book and hardcover, in English, German and Maltese, available to animal lovers around the world.

Help us to help the stray cats carers.
We are still looking for start-up support, primarily for the printing of the first 1000 hardcovers. Your contribution is very welcome  » Click here, or contact us for co-marketing and sponsorship opportunities.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration, and stay tuned for more.
Happy Easter Wishes & Greetings !

Feral Cat Colonies Help Manage Outdoor Cats

thestar.com 17 March 2016: Toronto Humane Society’s Barn Cat program helps manage local feral population, but some worry about the effects on other species. Standing in the back of a building’s off-loading station in a Caledon industrial park, Lorena Rossi and Francesca Cicca de Marco blow kisses at two cats sitting warily on the other side of a fence.

Teddy and Cheddar are half of one of the feral cat colonies Rossi takes care of. It’s a way of managing the seemingly ever-growing and roaming outdoor cat populations. By setting up feeding stations and small insulated shelters, the pair says, the territorial cats establish a colony.

They don’t reproduce, either. Rossi’s feral cat colonies in Caledon are part of “trap, neuter, return” (TNR) programs, which the City of Toronto has endorsed. Businesses in the industrial parks call Rossi to have cats that have found shelter in...read on.

How To Identify Stray And Feral Cats, And How To Help Them Survive!

TheAnimalRescueSite 2015: (As winter fast approaches, there is a greater) need for generosity and kindness toward the stray animals that populate almost every neighborhood in the country.  This month we are helping to raise awareness of both stray and feral cats. The most important part is to share information on how to tell the difference between the two, and how you can help protect them over the coming months.

The most common misconception with strays and feral cats is that they are “wild” animals. Feral and stray cats are both domestic animals, although stray cats are socialized to be near people and are typically the product of abandonment or getting lost and separated from their homes. Feral cats are cats that have had little to no contact with humans and act accordingly. They have strong family bonds and live..read on for full comparison.

Cool Initiative: Cats won’t wear condoms - get your cat fixed

wellandtribune.ca 28 February 2016:When it comes to having safe sex, count cats out. That’s the message the Port Colborne Feline Initiative wants you to know.

The organization launched a new T-shirt design Friday at the Port Colborne fire hall. The shirt was created to bring awareness to spay and neuter importance and programs. The front of the shirt reads “Cats won’t wear condoms, fix your cat.” Kristi Vogel of the Port Colborne Feline Initiative said the organization chose this slogan because it was provocative and eye-catching. She said it also gets the message across in a fun way.

For Vogel it is important to get cats fixed because the community is dealing with a large cat population. There are many strays in the city. The feline initiative is trying to help. “I think it is the right thing to do on so many different levels. It helps the community to have less cats roaming around, less cats ending up at the shelter, and it is just better for...read on.

What to Do (and NOT Do) If You Find a Newborn Kitten

Out of the Cage: During high kitten season in the spring and summer, it’s not unusual to discover a nest of unattended kittens or a single kitten seemingly abandoned by the mother. You want to help, right? Before jumping to the rescue, consider these recommendations.

First: Wait & Watch
You might have come across the kittens while their mother is off searching for food, or is in the process of moving them to a different location. Try to determine if the mother is coming back for them, or if they are truly orphaned.

To do this, stand far away from the kittens — 35 feet or more. If you stand too close, the mom will not approach...read on.

Kangaroo Island wages war on feral cat threat to Native birdlife

I'm certain this post will shock and disgust most of the readers. However, it demonstrates a worst case scenario if feral colonies are left, wild, to their own sustentation. It also underscores the importance of cat caregivers, who not only sustain feral colonies, but make sure that the felines are sterilised. 

"I am not sure if  'environmentalist' is the right title for Mr. Green. Besides what I see to be his passion for animal fur, there are more humane methods to curb the feral cat population."

Catman, Barry Green, an environmentalist on Kangaroo Island, culls feral cats. Photo: Emma Byrnes

The Sydney Morning Herald 21 Febaruary 2016: You won't find Kangaroo Island's Catman on the tourist brochures but ask any local and they'll point you in the right direction. First, turn off the main road to American River down a gravel cul-de-sac and look for the gently swaying  skull (wallaby and kangaroos) mobile.
 
Past a ragtag collection of gnomes sheltering beneath the 'beer tree' (a dwarf pine festooned with hundreds of upended aluminium tinnies) you'll spot the hand-painted sign above the door that makes it pretty clear you're in the right place: Feral's End.

It's the home of Barry Green, a twinkly eyed, grey-bearded 64-year-old environmentalist, who has been trapping, skinning and tanning the...read on.