The Feline Population of AUB
In my student days, the campus cat population was much smaller than it is now. No one ever really seemed to take much notice of the cats, let alone feed them as I occasionally did with “Picon” cheese while waiting for early morning classes. Their presence did not seem obtrusive, either, but you can’t really judge till you have an office where they can barge in uninvited. Why do they barge in if I longer feed them? Do some of them still remember me from back then? One would doubt that as they don’t live that long. It must be because others feed them, and they get used to it.
Times have certainly changed. Lately, the AUB cats have become a prominent campus phenomenon, something of a trademark. Having multiplied over the years despite seemingly serious efforts to curb their numbers, they now feature on university post cards and calendars, and in various publications, such as the student yearbook. They sleep in office buildings, such as Fisk Hall. One also suspects that they will soon outnumber the faculty members; as if it’s not enough that faculty have to compete with each other, they now find themselves competing with the cats for attention and recognition! A special cat budget was announced once, at a time when budgets were being tightened in other areas.
When the AUB administration decided to organize cat feeding, this seemed ironic: how could feeding the creatures help AUB? Wouldn’t it attract more of them to the campus? The answers are found in former AUB president Waterbury’s new book, A Photographic Remembrance of Lebanon (p. 138). He states that well-fed animals are less likely to fall ill and spread disease than neglected, sick ones. Besides, he confirms that many cats were spayed/ neutered over the years under the supervision of a university vet. Waterbury admits though that, after the 2006 war, AUB suffered from the effects of “a new surge in cat dumping”.
Personally, although I don’t like the creatures, I can easily recognize some of them. There’s an attractive white cat which, on close inspection, has different-colored eyes; you can see it on the 2010/11 AUB calendar. Sadly, a particularly charming grey Persian disappeared a couple of years ago; when I mentioned this to some animal feeders, they commented that its disappearance was a good sign – someone was probably taking good care of it.
Posted by May Mikati on 11 June 2011, 4:04 PM
In my student days, the campus cat population was much smaller than it is now. No one ever really seemed to take much notice of the cats, let alone feed them as I occasionally did with “Picon” cheese while waiting for early morning classes. Their presence did not seem obtrusive, either, but you can’t really judge till you have an office where they can barge in uninvited. Why do they barge in if I longer feed them? Do some of them still remember me from back then? One would doubt that as they don’t live that long. It must be because others feed them, and they get used to it.
Times have certainly changed. Lately, the AUB cats have become a prominent campus phenomenon, something of a trademark. Having multiplied over the years despite seemingly serious efforts to curb their numbers, they now feature on university post cards and calendars, and in various publications, such as the student yearbook. They sleep in office buildings, such as Fisk Hall. One also suspects that they will soon outnumber the faculty members; as if it’s not enough that faculty have to compete with each other, they now find themselves competing with the cats for attention and recognition! A special cat budget was announced once, at a time when budgets were being tightened in other areas.
When the AUB administration decided to organize cat feeding, this seemed ironic: how could feeding the creatures help AUB? Wouldn’t it attract more of them to the campus? The answers are found in former AUB president Waterbury’s new book, A Photographic Remembrance of Lebanon (p. 138). He states that well-fed animals are less likely to fall ill and spread disease than neglected, sick ones. Besides, he confirms that many cats were spayed/ neutered over the years under the supervision of a university vet. Waterbury admits though that, after the 2006 war, AUB suffered from the effects of “a new surge in cat dumping”.
Personally, although I don’t like the creatures, I can easily recognize some of them. There’s an attractive white cat which, on close inspection, has different-colored eyes; you can see it on the 2010/11 AUB calendar. Sadly, a particularly charming grey Persian disappeared a couple of years ago; when I mentioned this to some animal feeders, they commented that its disappearance was a good sign – someone was probably taking good care of it.
Posted by May Mikati on 11 June 2011, 4:04 PM
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