Our Cats

You Don’t Plan for Cats. They Just Come Along.

When we first moved to Southern Italy, we had no idea how much our lives were about to change. We had never lived with a cat, knew practically nothing about them and certainly had no plans to end up sharing our home with a whole feline family.

It all started with a group of stray cats gathering around some rubbish bins near our home. We noticed them searching for scraps of food and decided to buy a few cans of cat food. It seemed like such a small thing to do. Every day, we would return to feed them, slowly getting to know their different personalities.

A few months later, in the middle of a particularly cold winter, we brought our first cat home. We called her Neko, a tiny, frightened tabby who initially wanted nothing to do with living indoors. She panicked, searched for an escape and made us question whether taking her inside had been the right decision. But when we opened the door to let her leave, she chose to stay. Within weeks, Neko had become an affectionate little companion.

We were completely inexperienced cat parents, learning everything from scratch, but we couldn’t imagine life without her. And then came Barbara. Barbara was a heavily pregnant stray who decided that our home would be a suitable place to give birth. She delivered four beautiful boys.

Suddenly, we had six cats in the house, absolutely no experience raising kittens and a seemingly endless list of things to figure out. There were sleepless nights, digestive problems, emergency vet visits and more kitten poop than we ever thought possible.

As the months passed, other cats began finding their way into our home, too. Tina, Simona and Jürgen were among the first to join our growing family. We loved them all, but we were also completely overwhelmed. We knew very little about infectious diseases, vaccinations or the medical care that cats, especially those born on the streets, might need.

And we were discovering just how expensive veterinary treatment could become. We were still relatively new to caring for cats when we learned one of the hardest lessons imaginable. Neko and two of Barbara’s boys, Fatty and Jumbo, contracted feline panleukopenia, an often fatal viral disease.

All three needed intensive veterinary treatment, including daily infusions. On the fourth day, we had to make the heartbreaking decision to let Neko go. She was suffering, and our vet told us there was no longer any hope of recovery. Euthanasia was the kindest thing we could do for her. She was barely a year old, and losing her broke us.

Fatty and Jumbo, thankfully, somehow pulled through after five days of intensive treatment. Losing Neko was devastating, and it changed the way we approached caring for our cats. We started learning everything we could about infectious diseases, prevention and veterinary medicine.

But knowledge doesn’t guarantee a happy ending. Later, we encountered feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) and lost several more kittens. Meanwhile, we continued feeding the cats outside. Eventually, an elderly local woman named Marisa approached us.

We hadn’t known that she had spent years looking after the area’s stray cats, arranging veterinary care, organising neutering and finding homes for animals in need. By then, her age made it increasingly difficult to continue the work she had done for so long. She was delighted to see someone else caring for the cats and generously shared her experience and contacts with us.

Through Marisa, we found affordable neutering services and a kind veterinarian who understood what we were trying to do and kept his fees as low as possible. That made an enormous difference. We could finally do more than provide food and shelter. We began organising neutering appointments to prevent unwanted litters and started looking for loving homes for cats who could be adopted.

Some of them found their new families in Northern Italy. Through organised volunteer transport networks, known in Italy as staffette, cats could travel long distances to reach their adoptive homes. It was wonderful to know that animals who had once been struggling to survive on the streets were now sleeping on someone’s sofa, safe, loved and cared for. Over time, our own feline family continued to grow.

We have moved home twice since those early days, each time bringing a considerable number of cats along with us. Moving house is challenging enough under ordinary circumstances, but doing it with a whole feline household is an adventure of its own. Wherever we went, our cats came with us. They are family, after all.

What started with a few cans of cat food has become an inseparable part of our everyday lives. Our home is shared with former street cats, while others continue to rely on us for food and care outdoors. Some have been part of our family for years, while others have crossed our paths only briefly.

Sadly, not every story has a happy ending. We never set out to become cat rescuers. We simply started feeding a few hungry animals and couldn’t bring ourselves to look away. And that is how Rainbow Cats began.