WELCOME ESKANDER!

Meet the newest “member” of the Daily Mews family! Eskander is now being sponsored by Pauline and Daily Mewsers, as of November 2005!. Eskander is a 4-5 month old bronze Egyptian Mau kitten, living in Cairo Egypt. He is feral (wild). The Egyptian Mau Rescue Organization (EMRO) sent out a plea for sponsorship of their Egyptian Mau rescues, both feral and tame, adopted him from a local Cairo animal shelter (The Egyptian Society of Animal Friends, or ESAF). Tame ones can be adopted, and it is hoped the feral ones will receive sponsorship to help with their ongoing care.  

EMRO is a new, non-profit, registered charitable animal welfare group operating in Egypt, solely for the benefit of the abused and neglected ancient spotted cat, the Egyptian Mau. These cats largely run feral in the streets of Cairo, foraging for food, and dodging dogs and people, and the frequent poisoning campaigns by the government to try to control the overpopulation of feral cats and dogs.   

Eskander was located at ESAF, and was the youngest cat in a large room of 45+ cats, cowering in a corner, and picked on by many of the older cats. He was an orphan, and although raised from a young age by shelter workers, did not have the luxury of a lot of care and handling, so he is still nervous of people but anxious to have friends. He is shown above in the shelter, and being examined by veterinarian Dr. Rainya of Animal Friends, along with a shelter animal worker.  Eskander now lives with about a dozen other cats, many from the same shelter, in a comfortable room in EMRO’s headquarters, in Mokattam, a suburb in Cairo.

Eskander came into EMRO semi-crippled and his walking appeared cramped. His nails were long since there were few places to sharpen and wear the nails down at the shelter. He was browbeaten and miserable and had to try to forage for food among the many competitors. He would get his nails caught on the rug, blankets and scratching post and helplessly tug away at freeing himself. EMRO staff would sometimes try to free him but he was very scared of people and usually untangled himself before being touched.

Now about a month later, Eskander is happier. He has fewer competitors for food and he confidently eats among them. A couple of cats still pick on him, but he has found a friend, Possom, a Mau mix, who has generally taken pity on him, although she will occasionally turn on him as well for no known reason. He no longer hides in the cardboard box we provided, but sleeps up on the old sofa in the room, among the other cats. His walking has greatly improved (perhaps with better nutrition and getting more regular meals?) and there is barely a trace of his earlier cramped walking. He can run and jump relatively easily now.

However, he has developed a throaty breathing problem. Sometimes when he eats, it sounds gurgly, and he occasionally has a wheezing attack after running, as though trying to dislodge a hairball. Dr. Rainya came in mid-November to check on him and prescribed an antibiotic, for upper respiratory problems. He also needs to be vaccinated, and soon, neutered. It is difficult to get the medicine into him, since it has to be administered orally. We are trying to get some cages to temporarily house him, and add the medicine into his food, as it is difficult to separate him presently to ensure he gets the medicine he needs.

Thanks to the sponsorship of Eskander, he now has more resources to get more attention and now he will be famous, on the Daily Mews website!

For more information about EMRO or other cats for adoption or sponsorship, please go to www.emaurescue.org or write to info@emaurescue.org. The sponsorship program has only been available for about a month and already the response has been very good. When Pauline heard about the opportunity to sponsor, after the article on Egyptian Maus featured recently in the MEWSLETTER, she was first on the waiting list for sponsorship and waited patiently a few months until EMRO was able to track down its first cats for adoption and sponsorship.

For $10US a month, a Mau or Mau mix sponsor will get a virtual passport of the sponsored cat, with e-photo and health information, and a monthly update with more recent photos. In addition, the sponsor’s first name and country will be posted as the adopter of the cat, on the website, in thanks for their support!

Stay turned for regular updates on Eskander!

For more information on the work that EMRO is doing, please click here:

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