At her home in a tiny apartment in the city of Gaza, Raneya Murad takes care of dozens of cats. The continued violence is ripping through the region and leaving these animals in an increasingly desperate position. They are starving to death due to acute malnutrition and neglect. The plight of the cats has largely gone unnoticed amid the chaos of war, yet they endure the same struggles for survival as their human counterparts.
Back in her apartment, Murad finds herself watching her cats die one by one. Their weight drops by half, so much so that the vertebrae on their backs become visible. One of her cats is showing patchy hair loss, an obvious marker of starvation. She describes how the humanitarian crisis has escalated over the course of the war. Today, she can barely scrape together enough resources to ensure that her pets receive proper nutrition.
At the peak of the crisis, Murad took extreme measures in order to keep her animals fed. She fed them twice a day, with a diet of canned goods, canned peas, canned beans. Closing the National Archives exhibit as the war dragged on, provisions ran low. She started cooking mean for herself and her kids, and food was so scarce, she had to collect leftovers to provide for the cats.
“At the beginning of the crisis I used to feed the cats two meals per day; these two meals consisted of canned food; peas, beans. At first it was challenging for them to eat – but later with the hunger they accepted this and ate it,” – Raneya Murad.
To make matters even worse, the supply of pet food has dried up. Thousands of felines across the Gaza Strip experience this same anguish, with their guardians forced to seek out appropriate sustenance. Local pet shop owner Mohammed Abu Salmieh corroborates the dark fate that these animals are met with.
“We suffer from a big problem which is finding food for cats, pets and birds. This cat is among thousands of cats that suffer from malnutrition in Gaza Strip. It became so thin, its hair is thinning because of the malnutrition and lack of food, as its food is not available in the Gaza Strip,” – Mohammed Abu Salmieh.
Murad’s attempts to find assistance have led to anger and despair. She’s contacted every organization you can think of to get help, with very limited success. The perils of animals like her cats still get drowned out by more pressing human tragedies in the area.
“Throughout the whole war, nobody asked what the animals are eating. I got exhausted while looking for institutions that take care of them,” – Raneya Murad.
The cats, health-wise, are declining extremely fast. Murad explains one of the downsides is that they are susceptible to disease and infection because their immune systems are compromised. The constant starvation takes a heartbreaking toll on the animals. Caregivers, including those like her, are hit hard, as they too feel a profound sense to keep them safe.
“The starvation affected my personal life, just like it did for the rest of the people of Gaza. There are no sources of protein; we’re missing everything. But maybe we, as cat carers, were a little more affected because we are responsible for souls other than our children,” – Raneya Murad.
