In the end of October 2022, FOUR PAWS launched Project Kishka (Kishka means ‘female cat’ in Ukrainian) to help the stray cats of Ukraine, who often suffer in silence. 

While the project has been launched in the Ukrainian cities Chernihiv and Sumy, there are also requests for support in other parts of the country as well. Veterinarian Oleksandr Nazaryshyn – who is also our Project Kishka Coordinator – is often approached by caring people who are looking after stray cats in their own neighborhoods. They want the animals to be taken care of, to be vaccinated and protected.

It is heart-warming to realize that although stray cats are on their own, they are not completely alone: There are still many caring people that try their best to help them.

One example is cat Kisa – a cat that was treated by our veterinarian Oleksandr Nazaryshyn when he came in contact with Irina Kisileva. Irina is an elderly lady that did not have the possibility to flee the country when the war started, and therefore still lives in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

About 3 years ago, a little kitten with a determined personality showed up at her doorstep and basically decided that she belonged there. Irina allowed this: First and foremost because she fell in love with the tiny kitten, and also because the cat simply did not take no for an answer. She was called Kisa, which basically stands for “kitty kitty kitty”: a cute and very short way to call a female cat.

Kisa grew up to be an independent, stubborn cat with a strong character: Most of the day she wanders around minding her own business, and she is not very fond of people – apart from Irina. They have a very strong bond and every evening Kisa comes back to the woman who feeds her, cares for her and loves her. Irina is the only person in the world that is allowed to cuddle Kisa.

We are glad that we could support Kisa and Irina by providing her with all necessary vaccinations. By the end of 2022, 461 cats were treated within Project Kishka.