Kittens

“Come see, Mum, a kitten. Oh, another one.”
They are hiding in the bushes near the small temple La Ermita de la Virgen de la Peña, in the Spanish village of Mijas Pueblo. It could just as well have been in Norway. Kittens, beautiful, adorable kittens can be found in bushes and sheds, old barns, and as unwelcome “guests” of those who have not neutered their cats.

Clicks

More tourists arrive. Many languages are spoken—most we don’t understand—but the tone and gestures all say the same thing: So cute. So beautiful, so lovely, so soft. What a perfect photo.
Click.

Photos of cute kittens often get large numbers of clicks and likes on social media. But these clicks, all those likes, don’t always reflect reality. They are kittens that are so cute right now, with their big eyes and soft fur. They are adorable sitting there, curious, bright eyes following the people who watch them—yet reserved as they carefully tumble around under the green branches.

They are still too cute for anyone to have kicked them away. Too cute for anyone to have thrown stones at them, hosed them with water, or harassed them in worse ways.
Still so sweet and small that their mother slips out to find food for them.
But it won’t last long.

In a few months they will be young cats. They won’t be so cute anymore. Then they are just cats, and the tourists who took pictures and perhaps tossed them some food have gone home. Then they are homeless cats that must survive the winter, unwanted pests people don’t want in their gardens.

Winter

Winter will come for these cute kittens living in the bushes in Mijas Pueblo—or perhaps they will die before it arrives. For homeless cats and kittens in Norway, winter is an even greater challenge.

In Norway, winter is also bitterly cold.

In a few months, the cute kittens may look more like the ageing cat on the opposite side of the temple. Some compassionate people have placed dry food for it on a ledge in the rock, but for some reason its mouth doesn’t work. It cannot chew; it takes bites of food that fall out again. It has notches in its ears, and its coat probably hides more than parasites.

Once, it too was the sweetest kitten. The one everyone wanted to photograph and pet. A kitten that perhaps got thousands of likes on Facebook and countless hearts on Instagram.
Perhaps it had a home. Perhaps that home lasted only until it was no longer so cute.

A hopeless fight

As a child, I encountered kittens on several farms and in private homes. Kittens that were born, played with, cuddled—then, when they grew large enough to resemble an adult cat, when the cuteness faded, they were killed. Often at the farm or house where they were born. Drowned. Beaten to death. Creativity was plentiful.

When I was thirteen, I cried and pleaded until I was allowed to take five such kittens home. My parents gave in, and a local animal welfare organization helped me find new homes for them.
It sometimes feels like a hopeless fight, because there are always more homeless cats. Despite campaigns and information, there are still those who believe they don’t need to neuter their cats—and worse, that we don’t need to care for a cat, because it’s so easy to find a new one, a cuter one, a younger one.

Looking for another

On social media, the world often appears different than it is. It’s the same with kittens. Cute kittens are loved as long as they are exactly that. Then it’s over. Then they are adults, hungry for attention, for love, for care, food, and a home. But we don’t see that. Those pictures and adverts are easy to scroll past.
The world moves so fast, and life is so busy that there’s no time to stop and think.
Far too many are already looking for the next cute kitten.