Her love for cats has seen Rachel Kabue house over 600 in her home. Sharing what many would find an absurd undertaking, Rachel told TRT Africa how she rescued a cat from the streets, and before she knew it, she was rescuing more felines.
The ‘cat woman’, as she’s popularly known, lives with the cats which take almost all her space as she told VOA,
“I live here with the cats, of course 95% of this space is dedicated to the cats and then I live in one corner,” Kabue said.
The inspiration to look after cats in danger was inspired by teachings of yoga she learned while on a visit to India.
The mother of five learnt ahensa which means non-cruelty to any sentient beings.
“I had gone to India to study Yoga and while there I got to learn about something called ahensa which means ‘non-cruelty’. I already knew about non-cruelty to fellow human beings but this knowledge hit differently because the study taught us that we should not be cruel to any sentient beings,” she told CapitalNews.
She was taken aback by the inhumane manner in which cats were treated and this is what drove her to adopt and rescue cats once she jetted back to the country.
In 2020, she founded the Nairobi Feline Sanctuary, a safe haven for cats. One of Kabue’s challenge is the expenses that comes with keeping the cats.
“At the moment we are struggling a bit but am lucky that they have never gone or slept hungry. The veterinarian is always here when they are unwell because unfortunately, this is a shelter where most of the cats that end up here are sick,” Kabue told the digital news outlet.
She also faced questions of what really motivated her to rescue the cats since they are associated with the dark world.
“I tried to tell people that’s not the case because so many cats have passed through my hands, so many cats are living here, but I’ve never encountered any of those things,” she VOA.
Rachel Kabue went on to add that the cats need care and have feelings of pain, happiness, sadness and get depressed just like human beings.