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The Middle East and North Africa are home to a lot of cats.
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And life isn't always easy.
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Because these cats have a whole host of worries that are foreign to their American brethren.
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They often have to contend with the threat of street violence.
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The aftermath of military coups.
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Local health risks, like tear gas canisters.
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Political exploitation.
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And homes, families, and loved ones lost to war.
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It's often a life on the margins.
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Then there's this enduring stereotype.
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But these cats don't need your pity, as they know they've also got it good.
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They get to laze around in Istanbul.
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Enjoy the fruits of the region's intellectual history.
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The comforts of religious traditions.
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And bask in the beauty of the Bosphorus.
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They can enjoy the time-honored trades of Morocco.
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And stroll through the blue streets of Chefchaouen.
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They are there to raise visitor numbers at Abu Simbal in Egypt.
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Guard Petra in Jordan from any more Indiana Jones types.
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Bear witness to the famed architecture of Syria.
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Take a stroll through ancient Jerusalem.
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And pose suggestively in front of religious institutions like any good tourist.
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But unlike tourists, they are not impressed with normative guidebook expectations.
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And instead do it their own way: I came, I saw, I napped.
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Other times, they work their local charm, cosying up to tourists to silently mock their cluelessness all while getting a belly rub out of it.
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Because cats understand way more about the "other" (you know, humans) than we think.
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They've mastered the art of hissing and staring at passerbys from their motorbikes.
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They know the best way to make use of local news.
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They are experts on the local cuisine.
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And they are always down to party. Especially the Lebanese ones.
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Of course, like everywhere, there's also a lot of this.
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And then afterwards this.
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All cats are there to be loved. And in the end, they may be our only hope.