Advice for Tourists

You may think of Greek Islands as a paradise for the many cute cats you see on tourist pages or postcards. However, if you are planning to visit Greece, be prepared to face the ugly truth. There are millions of strays who live their short lives in misery, fighting for survival. You will see sick, wounded, injured cats and kittens and nobody seems to care. You may want to help, but there are some "Dos and Don'ts" that you should be aware of:

Don't pick up a small kitten, even if it seems abandoned. The mother may very likely be around searching for food, and she will return. Observe the kitten from a distance. If you go to close you can scare the mother away. Leave it alone for at least 6 hours before you interact.
Don’t let a stray get attached to you as, once you leave, it will be alone
Don’t be frightened that you might catch rabies: the disease has not been seen in cats in Greece since the 1970s.
Don’t feed stray cats from your restaurant table. You could irritate the owners or other customers, which could result in the cats being harmed.
Don’t take a stray to your hotel/appartment, and if you do feed a stray, do it some distance from hotels as many hotel owners don’t like having strays hanging around or too close to their guests and they may harm the cats.
Don't feed the strays with bread or cow milk which they don’t digest well. Remember that garlic, onion and chocolate can be poisonous to cats.

Do keep leftover meat or fish and feed it to stray cats by the nearest rubbish bin or underneath a parked car.
Do keep a bag or box of dry cat food with you to feed to any hungry strays you meet.
Do try to make sure that stray cats have access to clean water.

Do act if you see kittens or cats with runny noses and eyes sealed shut with pus. This is cat-flu, a disease that requires immediate and long-term treatment. Try to wipe the animal’s eyes clean with Tobrex drops from the chemist, and take to the nearest vet for a course of antibiotics.
Do take ill or injured street cats to the nearest vet. Call them to make sure they are open and ask what can be done.
Do report poisonings to the police. Poisoning companion animals is illegal under Greek law (4039/2012). Common signs of poisoning are blood from eyes, nose, mouth and general weakness. Take photos, notice the location.
Do react to animal abuse/cruelty. Report the incident to the nearest police station and file a formal complaint. You will be required to give your personal details.

White kitten and text saying Please leave me alone, I am waiting for my Mum

Why do many stray cats have a cut in one ear?

You may have noticed that many of the stray cats in Corfu have a cut in their ear. This is called "ear tipping", and it is an international, visible sign that the cat has been neutered.

The use of ear tipping as a form of identification in managed cat colonies. The ear tipping is done when the cat is under anesthesia and it is not harmful to the cat.

By ear tipping all of the neutered cats in a colony, caretakers can easily keep track of which cats have been sterilized and vaccinated. This prevents catching and giving anesthesia to the same cat multiple times.