A long overdue update to let folks know that cat central is still plugging away! Armed with a new computer I am back in action with working tools to keep in touch after having had a trip back to Australia to visit family and get out of the stifling Greek summer heat.

Getting away would not be an option if it was not possible to make solid arrangements for the feline family. We are blessed indeed that my brother and I played tag team and he arrived as I left and took over the cat care. Through the hottest part of the summer my brother fed and watered the ever expanding crew supported by the funds from this site and his own contribution for which I am extremely grateful. Our visitors treated them with extra scraps from their dinners and I know this would have gone down very well with them!

I have arrived back to a very warm greeting from all the inner circle and was thrilled to discover that 'Red' one of the kittens that has grown up in the garden which was less amenable to handling is now enjoying petting and is over his reticence of handling. My brother has worked some magic there, for I had resigned myself to the notion that Red would never accept handling. What he doesn't realise is that this now puts him in line for neutering along with Bubble and Squeak two of last year's other kittens; something I will get onto as soon as I recover fully from the long haul back from Australia.

Theo, Cleo and Chrysoula are all looking leaner but very happy to see me also and making up for lost time in terms of cuddles :-) I am feeling that Chrysoula in particular may need to get onto wet food as she has lost quite a bit of condition; the teeth she had extracted last year has clearly made it more difficult for her to eat. Another of last year's kittens 'Tiny' is also around but continues to be shunned by the others for reasons I don't really understand; he is such a sweet cat. The cat which had 5 kittens when I left and had brought them up to our garden for safety and feeding is still around; alas I only seem to have one of her kittens here. I am still hoping I will see more.

Summer is just another form of challenging for the cats of Greece, for while there is more food around because of tourism and extra rubbish, there is also a lot more traffic on the road. This makes the roads much more dangerous as visitors and locals alike buzz around far too quickly; this time will be sure to have had its casualties and I am surely yet to discover which feline faces are missing.

The next steps in cat care will be to play catch up with worming and flea spotting all the inner circle as this would have been just too much to ask of my brother, followed by getting the young males neutered one by one as I can cobble together the funds. Unfortunately the public sterilisation programme here only desexes the femaies :-(

Once again I express my ongoing gratitude for the support I get from my supporters here and in my local community. Everything helps! I will take some new photos of the gang and post them in the coming weeks so you can see how wonderful they all are :-)