Kuzumuz

You all know we are cat people and have left five babies at home in the loving care of Stephani and David Brown (and by the latest picture we have received our Tom Tom is getting even chubbier!).  Shortly after arriving at Bilkent I was speaking with the lady in charge of foreign faculty at the university (she orients us and helps us navigate through all things Turkish) and noticed she had an animal calendar on her wall.  I asked her if she had pets and it turned out she is a pet lover.  I told her we would be happy to baby sit any pets (preferably cats) of faculty who are out of town or could "foster" any animal (preferably a cat) for a temporary period until a permanent home could be identified.  She thought that was a good idea and sent out my offer on the foreign faculty listserv.  I got a couple of responses from people planning short trips this spring and offered to watch their cats.  I also got a reply from a faculty member (Tore) about Bilcat.

Bilcat is an amazing organization.  It is all volunteer and helps all cats in the university area (and keeps an eye on the dogs too).  Bilcat arranges medical care for outdoor (homeless) cats and for those who are newly lost or abandoned on campus.  It also tries to find homes for adoptable cats (this would exclude most outdoor cats) and gives alerts for lost pets or injured animals.  The faculty and students around campus feed outdoor cats regularly and they are loved members of the community.  Tore is the leader of this wonderful group.

Several weeks ago a report of a "fluffy" cat was made.  This cat was a young male and very people friendly so apparently a lost or abandoned pet.  He was very pretty with long hair.  He was around for a week or so in one campus location.  Since Bilcat could find an owner who lost him, Tore was going to take him to the vet and have him examined and then Bilcat could try to find a home for him.  I offered to foster him until a permanent home could be arranged.  Then the cat disappeared for about a week.  Finally a report from another location on campus came and the cat had reappeared.  Tore found him but by this time he had suffered a tail injury apparently a bite from another cat.  At the vet they neutered him and assessed his age as eight to ten months.  He is good health except for the tail which was infected.  After about five days at the vet, we took him home.

We have had Fluffy (yes, we kept the name) for about a week and he is the sweetest cat.  He is very friendly and purrs a lot.  He requires vet care every other day for his tail (rebandaging) but otherwise he is perfect.  His tail is improving and should be well soon.  Sadly, he has to wear a collar to keep him from licking his bandage (removed from the pictures below).  He likes watching the birds in the forest out the big windows in the living room.  He was also shy of wet food (Whiskas) but after he found the pleasures of this, he now eagerly looks forward to his morning and nightly allotments.  He always has dry food (also Whiskas) from which he eats his favorite kind of morsels first and leaves the small brown ones until last (they must be the least delicious).  We found that both the cat carriers and the litter boxes are smaller (and more expensive) in Turkey than in the U.S.  We also found that the vets are so accommodating and friendly.  This set of vets is at the big Bilkent 1 apartment complex near campus and consists of three ladies, all nice and competent.  They are always welcoming and helpful.  As they treat Fluffy they coo to him, "kuzum", or my lamb.  Fluffy has indeed become our lamb (kuzumuz).  If you know someone in Turkey who would like to adopt this lamb and would provide an excellent home, please let us know.  We are trying to find a permanent home for him before we leave Turkey in mid-June.  As much as we love him, we have five kuzumuz at home waiting for us and bringing a pet from Turkey to the U.S. is no easy thing.  Until then, we are happy to be a cat family again!

Our lamb Fluffy

He looks big but he is mostly fur