We noticed "street cats" first in Morocco,
unfortunately most were scrawny and unkempt. We spotted them on the street, then in the Medina, a Mosque, beside a market stall and in gardens.
Apparently the prophet "Muhammad surrounded himself with cats and doted on his favourite Muezza. One day Muhammad woke up for the dawn call to prayer and found Muezza asleep on the sleeve of his robe. Rather than disturb his pet he cut off his sleeve and went on his way. When he came home later, Muezza bowed in gratitude. The prophet stroked Muezza three times thereby granting her nine lives and the ability to land on her feet. Muhammad was known to give sermons with a cat on his lap and to share food and a water dish with Muezza."*
I couldn't bring myself to take photos of all the unhealthy cats so here is one of the healthier cats in Tangier.
In Salema, Portugal we were old that the resident cats are wild. They looked healthy because visitors feed them in the tourist season but they go hungry in the winter when no tourists are around. Our hotel manager said she buys kibble for them in the winter. Here is a Tabby patiently waiting for scraps under our restaurant table - she was rewarded.
The remainder of the cats in these photos are in Lisbon and Porto. Unlike the stray dogs that followed us in Mexico and elsewhere as you can see from these photos the cats ignored us.
