Trash Cat Life

There are two things that stood out to me while walking around Amman, the cats and the garbage. They sort of go hand in hand.

There isn't any such thing as animal control when it comes to cats there, they are the pest control department of the city. While reducing the amount of yucky critters that a city this densely populated attracts, they are also friends. It's not uncommon to see a carboard box covered in cat food, thanking the felines for their service.

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I noticed that a LOT of the stray cats in Amman are orange, at least in the neighborhood I was staying in. Throughout the city I saw an unusual amount of them though as well, which made me smile. Something about an orange cat is just good.

Also, despite their daily activities, most of the cats around where I stayed were super clean. The care and consideration that the community gives them provides a better quality of life. This way, they aren't getting all beat up like strays in the USA. It shows too! They will walk up to you and let you pet them. It's phenomenal.

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I only saw a few cats that were filthy or diseased. They still manage to cause mischief while keeping their coats clean, however. There are dumpsters dispersed throughout residential areas, littering and cats make them essentially useless.

Amman cats are particularly skilled at pulling stuff out of trash bins. I've never lived anywhere that the cat population was allowed to flourish, so I thought it was neat to observe the social hierarchy that develops when there are cats everywhere.

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The last apartment Yaz and I stayed at in Amman had a litter of kittens about a street over. We would pass by their area a lot while walking to the store, which allowed us to see them grow up over the course of around 2 months.

Once they were teenagers, they split up but tolerated each other. You can see this sort of attitude all around, I think many cats are related on any given street. There aren't many cat fights. They work together when it suits them, and ignore each other otherwise.

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The level of indifference is somewhat amusing to me. The stray cats in Amman are a vibe.

There are so very many of them, that I developed a few feline friendships. One time, it led to a cat following us for nearly a mile. I mistakenly named her Cocoa, developing feelings for her that were destined to hurt me later. Dammit Cocoa, why were you so cute?!

Heartbreak came when we got back to the building. Yaz meanly said we could not simply bring a stray cat into the apartment. He was right obviously, but I cried anyhow.

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Some cats did have a human aversion though, which I totally get. This majestic dude didn't want ear scratches for example, he ran off as we approached.

The cats that did want to be buds might have been my favorite thing about the city. There wasn't much else that appealed to me outside of the interesting buildings and cats. Oh, and freaking PEPSI, the pepsi there is unlike any of the syrupy crud we get in the US. I became a pepsiaholic for a bit.

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This cat is the resident floof that guards some of that superior sugar shit. One time the owner saw me pet her, and told me to take her. I thought about it, but then remembered Cocoa.

There was some app called songify a long time ago, and I recall people making all kinds of silly autotuned songs. One was called "You Can't Hug Every Cat", I firmly believe that it should be the anthem of Amman.

I'm sorry I'm thinking about cats again!" 😭

Happy Caturday ya'll!

^{All photos are my own.}