'I adopted stray cats I fell in love with on holiday'

Twenty-four hours in Sissi, Crete, was enough to make cat lover Eve Gaut fall in love.

She had always fed strays on holidays, distressed by the sight of them scavenging in bins and begging for scraps.

But in September 2023, two black and white kittens that ran over to greet the Shropshire resident after she stepped out of her hire car, stole her heart.

"It sounds crazy, I just felt this connection", she said. "[Stavros] was really meowing, I just felt like I was being asked for help. I knew we could provide them with a better life if we could get them over to the UK."

The pair were brothers whose mum had been killed by a car, and reminded her of her two pets at home.

They followed her around town, and she fed them what she could.

But watching them scamper away from vans and motorbikes on the busy road left her terrified for their safety.

"I love these cats, and I'm going to save them," she told her husband.

She got straight to work, contacting local rescue charities. After she left, a volunteer armed with her photographs managed to catch the brothers and begin the rehoming process.

Following £1,500 worth of veterinary treatment, vaccinations, microchips, a stint in foster care and specialist transportation to the UK, she was reunited with both brothers, who she named Stavros and Nikos, in January 2024.

"They both adapted incredibly well," she said. "They're super affectionate. They're eating non-stop because I think they understand a world where food isn't readily available.

"They're just wonderful additions to the house and everybody loves them."

Street cats are a common sight in many European holiday destinations, where uncontrolled breeding has led to an "overwhelming problem", according to International Cat Care.

In Cyprus, for instance, there are thought to be as many as two million cats, outstripping the island country's 1.4 million inhabitants.

Harry Eckman, a global advisor on cat population management for the charity, said he understood why animal lovers felt compelled to act when they struck up a relationship with a stray.

"There's a lot of work to be done to help these animals and the need is great," he said.

However, he emphasised the need to consider the best interests of the cat above all else, suggesting people should ask, "are you doing it for yourself or are you doing it for the cat? "

"A cat that's happy to sit on your balcony and be given food and stroked is not necessarily a cat that is happy to be living in someone's house or apartment.

"Taking it out of familiar environment, especially if it's not used to living inside, can be incredibly distressing."

In places with well-managed local colonies, visitors will see cats with their ears clipped, signalling they have been neutered, and designated places for food.

In Lisbon, for instance, more than 1,300 managed colonies of cats are registered on a database, with local people keeping an eye on their care.

Eckman suggested concerned travellers could make the most impact by reaching out to teams on the ground.

"In every country that you go to there are going to be people who live there who are trying to help these cats as best they can," he said.

"Look for a local organisation, see if you can support them. That's going to make a massive difference to the cat you saw, and hundreds and thousands of cats over the coming months and years."

Gaut, who runs a marketing and PR firm, agrees, acknowledging some are better off cared for in their own environment.

"Mine's a happy story, I've heard sad stories where people have adopted and it's not turned out so well and you have to be realistic," she said.

She now spends hundreds of pounds on cat food while visiting Greece, and tries to influence local residents to do more.

On a recent trip to Andros, she knocked on a resident's door to alert him to a very poorly kitten, convincing him to take it to the vet.

"It breaks my heart, because I look at the cats on the street and I think, that was the life that Stavros and Nikos were living", she said.

"It makes me very sad every time I go, and sometimes I think, 'should I not return because it doesn't feel like a holiday?'… But then you feel like you're turning your back on a problem and every little helps.

"Realistically there isn't enough homes in Greece for all these cats, or they wouldn't be on the street."

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.