Street cats of Montenegro

Montenegro only has a human population of around 630.000 people. Meanwhile the estimated street cat population of Montenegro is much higher than that.

Cats can reproduce at a rate of up to 6 kittens per litter and about 3 litters a year. A female cat can get pregnant from six months old and never really stops being able to get pregnant, even though the pregnancies become much more high risk after they pass the 7 year mark. In this sample calculation we’ll also assume that only half of the kittens survive, since they are street cats. Even then a single female cat can produce 58 kittens until she turns 7. If half of these surviving kittens are also female this number grows to a staggering 2088 kittens over only her childrens fertile time.

Multiply that by 100 female street cats to begin with = 208.800 kittens per year these street cats and their children in 7 years. And you have a lot more than 100… THAT is why spay & neuter programs are so important!

Overview of the post Street cats of Montenegro

• Why are there so many street cats in Montenegro?
• Why spay and neuter the cats?
• Street cats in Kotor
• Street cats all along the coast
• Kotor Kitties – Charity

Why are there so many street cats in Montenegro?

Stray cats can be found in Montenegro in large numbers especially in the coastal cites. It is assumed that many ships had cats as part of their crew to keep vermin away from the cargo and the food on board. These cats would hop off at the next port and several would stay in the cities, rather than return to the sea. And from the numbers above we can see that only 10 cats can already lead to a large population.

Why spay and neuter the cats?

Since the street cats are large in numbers and resources are limited many of them die young: starved, diseased, infested with vermin, or from fights. There are too many cats to be adopted by the local people. While many residents have taken to feeding the street cats, money is tight and vet visits are expensive. Today there are three all-volunteer organizations who aim to improve the situation of the street cats in the country. They all operate under the umbrella “Kotor Kitties“.

Street cats in Kotor

Kotor has somewhat adopted their street cats as the cities mascots, souvenirs everywhere are connected to the cats, there is a cat museum, even a cat statue, but apart from a few exceptions it seems like most just want to profit off of the cats, but not care for them more than leaving out food.

Locals also told me that Kotor is seen as somewhat of a safe haven to drop off unwanted kittens and cats, since the old town is car free and the cats “are fed here”. Which then leads to even more cats!

I saw many more cats in Kotor than in most cities I have been to, but at the same time less cats than I expected. I was there in October, so in shoulder season with less tourists overall, from mid-day to early evening. There were definitely more cats as the cruise ship people left, so maybe there would be even more at night time when only locals remain.

Since I had read so much about the charity work being done in spaying and neutering the street-cats of Montenegro I also expected to see more cats with a snipped ear – a sign that they have been treated already. Instead more cats had intact ears than not. A sign that much more work has yet to be done.

Street cats all along the coast

In every single coastal town (Budva, Bar, Tivat, Kotor, Perast, Herceg Novi) I saw street cats, while Podgorica (the capital), Cetinje (the former capital) and Virpazar (a popular boat tour village near Skadar Lake) seemed to have more street-dogs.

Everything I earn through affiliate Links in ALL the posts in the category Montenegro will go to the charity “Kotor Kitties” that takes care of street cats in Montenegro. That means YOU can also give to the charity, without spending an extra cent! Just book a tour through my blog you’d book anyway and a portion of the price goes to help the cats!

Kotor Kitties – Charity