CATS

I have finally given in to my extreme longing for a pet (and I'm sorry, David's goldfish just don't count!). I have decided that a cat would be most suitable; in other words, it's happy to use a litterbox thus eliminating the need for walks outside in 40 deg. Another plus factor that occurs to me is that during our vacations, a cat will not miss us as much as a dog would when placed in boarding for a few weeks. Conversely, I believe it is also more likely to punish us upon our return from said holiday.
So having talked about this for months, then discussed it with the kids (very excited), all that remains is to find a kitten. Easier said than done! The UAE seems to have a scarcity of kittens, and I have narrowed it down to two causes:
- The locals don't like pet animals, so pet cats are imported at great cost by expats. These are therefore the type of pet owners who carefully have their pets sterilised to avoid accidents.
- The cats not owned by sterilising expats, were a huge problem living off the streets and dustbins and over the past few years there has been a drive to collect cats, sterilise them and then release them. So although street cats can still be seen, street kittens are rare.

I have contact the cat welfare society (feline friends) and while they have plenty of cats abandoned by moving owners, they have few kittens. The kittens they do have, they will not release until they are old enough to be sterilised, which puts them past the cute chocolate-box kitten stage that I want my kids to enjoy.
Which also brings up the question - what next? What will happen once the current kittens are grown and not replaced by new kittens? Is this going to be a cat-less country? Will people have to adopt members of the burgeoning rat population instead?
Is nothing simple in this country?