After living for over 3 years in Thailand, and when Carolina was only one year old, we moved to Cairo in Egypt because of the work of my husband Kari. We settled into a house in a lovely green suburb called Maadi, the river Nile passing by,it's banks lined up half way to town by Jacaranda and Flame trees. It was a place, with so many ups and downs but which after some time grew onto my heart.
We lived in a quiet street, our house the very last one in a row of four. Next to the house was an old Fig tree,its branches reaching the top of the roof. In front was a neat little garden, naturally fenced by a palm tree, banana tree, a huge cactus and many other plants. In the middle of the garden was nothing but green grass, just the way we liked it. Around all the streets of Cairo, there were lots of stray cats and dogs everywhere, most of them hungry. Only the strongest ones survived longer. Because of the presence of rabies, even I with my heart set on dogs since a child, I didn't attempt to pat any. Dogs had a higher risk of getting rabies from the carrier foxes out in the desert surrounding Cairo, simply because the cats were faster to get away and never as trusting as the dogs are.
The very next morning after we moved into our new house, we got a lesson to learn. Our back courtyard, where every house kept a plastic dustbin, was a terrible mess. In spite of the dustbin having a lid and a lock on it, the hungry animals learned all the tricks how to get to any food available and so they knocked the bins down and bang them around until the lids gave up. The food was eaten but the rest of the rubbish was spread all over the yard.
I decided that from then on, any kind of left over food would go into a big bowl, which would be placed daily outside for the strays ... It worked ! The bin stayed closed, the food eaten and the bowl cleaned out every single day. It was only the cats coming to eat and as I was very busy to settle our family down, I didn't pay much attention to our outside dinner guests at first, besides they were wild and never let anyone touch them or even come very close. Later on I noticed there was a cat that always turned up first, a very pretty and a big one, with a long, tricolour coat. By its size I presumed it was a male and very obviously the boss of all the others. This cat was always the first one to eat and only after having enough, would let the others to finish the rest. Out of curiosity, I asked our local gardener, if he knew anything about this big Tom Cat ... to my great surprise, he told me the cat was a 3 year old female and the place around our house was her own territory. She wouldn't tolerate any other female cats around, so all the rest of the cats were males and the members of her own harem .... what a girl, I thought! She made quite an impression and I realised, it was the other way round - she considered us the real intruders....
Some weeks had passed before she made quite another impression on all the inhabitants of the 4 houses ! The cats hardly ever dared to enter any of the houses but for some reason, maybe while trying to steal some better food, this very cat got herself cornered inside a kitchen of our French neighbours. The lady of the house made a bad mistake when instead of just opening the door and by clapping her hands, the cat would have run out - she tried to chase her out with a smack ... and lost the fight! The cat jumped up and used all her power to protect herself, with both paws scratching the lady's arm from her hand all the way down below the elbow. It looked so shocking, the lady screaming for help, blood pouring out from the deep, open scratch wounds all around her arm. From then on, we all held our breath when the cat strolled around and came closer, in our eyes she was a tiger and everyone tried to avoid her.
Not long after this, a young son of a family living in the first house decided to prove himself a hero by attempting to kill the cat in our courtyard, with a very big and heavy stone .... the very 'hero' already crippled by the same method a male cat by braking his paw and also blinding one of his eyes. Fortunately at the last moment, I managed to stop him possibly hurting this cat and at the same time forbid him to come anywhere near our house again. To protect the cat, the same day I let it known to all the families living around, that this cat now belonged to us and asked them to leave her alone, as she didn't display any bad will when ignored. They thought I was mad and I was not at all very sure, that they were not right ....
I knew next to nothing about cats and this one I dared to pass by only in safe distance ... Kari was not amused about my news to pretend the cat was now ours but we agreed that we did not want to see another crippled cat living her already unfortunate life in total misery. To convince the others we meant it, I insisted the cat had to get a name but I couldn't think of any suitable one myself. Kari came up with a name from one of his favourite cartoons and I thought that was most definitely the best name for this very cat. TC ( the Top Cat ) - never mind she was not HE ...
"Carolina and TC in Cairo"
Little did she know she had won a life lottery that day and little did we know, she would stay with us for another 10 years. Before I learned the cat language, she scared me to death quite a few times just trying to offer her friendship but I will never forget the very first time when she took the food from my stretched hand and didn't run away .... she never stopped trusting me since but she never lost her wild heart either. At times she was not exactly easy to handle but she was always so smart.
"Granny, Carolina & TC in Cairo"
From precisely identical six red Fiat cars in the common garage, she knew my own and had noontime naps on its roof ... and she sat hours on end on the pillar at the street side, waiting for us to return from where ever we went. When Carolina played alone in the sand box in our garden, TC sat on the edge of the box the whole time, guarding her and keeping her company. Once a bigger sized street dog wondered into our garden and TC went into a body-guarding action, which left us all speachless. Absolutely fearless she jumped on the dog, hanging down under his neck biting and scratching him at the same time. I was so sorry for the dog screaming out in pain and I kept yelling at TC to let go off him. She wouldn't give up until the poor dog started to move out of the garden and back to the street again. TC would often climb on the roof of the shed opposite our house to be able to watch into Carolina's room, making sure all was well. She was unbelievable and so full of surprises. Before we left Cairo, everyone around was very fond of the Tricolour Tiger.
When it was time to move back to Finland, we just couldn't leave her behind. TC travelled from Cairo to Prague, where she had a month of holidays before flying off to her new home in Finland ....she survived 4 months and an ordeal in a small cage, in a compulsory quarantine Finland had at that time. TC remained such a brave cat and a fighter but also became a faithful friend to us all.
"Carolina, Irena & TC - 1st day back from quarantene in Finland"
Carolina trained TC to play with her a self invented game of cards and dice, lasting even as long as half an hour ! What a devoted playmate and 'guarding dog ' of our little Carolina, since the day she decided in Cairo to trust our family till the day she died in Helsinki in 1989.
"Carolina & TC playing in the back garden of our appartment house in Helsinki"
Due to her transport fees and time in the quarantine,
we are convinced she was one of the most expensive
street cats of Cairo .... but well worth it !
I became
very allergic to cats and therefore TC was my first but also
the last one to keep.
After she died, we decided to finally have a dog, who could travel with us everywhere
we went. In honour of our so special Tricolour Cat, we decided to get a Tricolour
Cavalier.
" TC behind our window in Helsinki "
CHESTER arrived from England with us in February 1990.
To be continued.......
Irena, Chester & Higgins out for a ride"