The Rise & Fall of Kitty City

Trieste used to be a Kitty City.  I remember it so clearly. There were Cats everywhere, little communities of them nestled into man-made (never by men) bora-proof cat hotels hidden in nooks across town. There was one in the courtyard of my apartment building and another down the steps in the public park below. These little communes were a collection of kitty carriers lined up next to each other and on top of one another. Inside them there were blankets and/or pillows to keep our local felines comfy. They slept there in shifts.

In the same little cat-friendly zone there were bowls of dry cat food and cans of expensive cat food licked clean. Sometimes you would see one of Trieste's many "cat ladies" unloading her grocery bag with 10 cats taking turns walking past and rubbing up against her legs, meowing for her to hurry it up!

Not everyone liked Kitty City, though. Those same sweet cats found their way into our parking garage, where it was warm, especially on blustery nights. They slept on cars, scooter seats, they weren't picky...

On any given morning, it was commonplace to find your car full of kitty footprints. If they peed on your car anywhere near that vent between the hood of your car and the front wind shield, the inside of your car would reek for weeks and there was No Arbre Magique on the market that could do anything about it.

It was said that cats were afraid of shiny things, so people put 1.5 liter water bottles full of water on their cars and motorcycles to keep them away. I don't know if that worked.

There were lots of them, but I always saw the same cats. There was the one who would come out to greet me on the way to the bus stop, and others whose glowing eyes I would see when I peeked into their carriers.

Then, Poof!

The Kitty communes disappeared. One day the carriers just were not there. The crumbs were swept up, the whole area raked clean.

Who did that?

I still see cats sometimes, but I no longer know where to look for them. I keep hoping they will reappear at some point, but so far they have not.

Yesterday I came to the full realization that Trieste is no longer Kitty City. I was coming out of the parking garage and saw a disturbing sign on the door on the way out.

BEWARE. RATS FOUND IN GARAGE. 

This is not a good thing. First, because rats are gross. Second, because Rat does not rhyme with city. I want the cats back. I can't vote for the mayor because I am not an Italian citizen, but if I could, I would vote for the candidate who would bring Trieste back to it's heyday of cat greatness. It is the only issue I truly care about in the local political scene.

BRING BACK THE CATS, TRIESTE!