By Prince Ramses XII

WAR meams hell for all livimg thimgs. SHE amd I pray for the protectiom of all immocemt Life om Earth.

Refugee in my own city: Surviving Tehran’s bombing, with my cat for company.

The night before the war, every piece of news arriving on my phone had two possibilities: Either they strike, or they don’t. I stayed up late, waiting. Previously, the strikes had come around midnight, so I kept watching. When nothing happened, I put on some Persian music, poured myself a drink to take the edge off, and went to bed. I told myself the night had passed without an attack.

I was wrong.

My phone began chiming with text messages I couldn’t bring myself to get up and check. When it started ringing, I realised that it was urgent. It was my boyfriend, his shaky voice enquiring if I was OK. Before I could answer, he blurted out: “They struck. They attacked.”

He didn’t need to elaborate further.

The 12-day war last June had broken something in me. On its third day, my family’s pressure forced me out of the city. The drive to Sari was miserable, and my parents’ house was crowded; none of us found peace. This time, I refused. My boyfriend urged me to go somewhere safer. I said no.

March 16 was one of the worst nights of my life – though it had started gently enough.

Seven or eight more explosions followed. They were bombing near Mehrabad airport, close to us. I genuinely thought I was going to die.

When I finally went back upstairs, my cat was hiding in the wardrobe, trembling. My family and boyfriend had been calling and texting, without response, for hours, watching the news reports about strikes near the airport and imagining the worst. Guilt washed over me for leaving my cat behind. I called everyone to say I was alive.

I felt like a refugee in my own city.

Here are several stories relatimg to my big-cat cousims.

The Story Of A Wandering Lion…Alone In The Okavango Delta…Safari Life!

Kazakhstan Plants 37,000 Seedlings to Prepare for Imminent Return of Tigers

New Baby Boom for Cheetahs in India After First-in-the-World Reintroduction

A British rescue cat named Merlin set a new world record with a purr that was recorded at 67.8 decibels.
– April 2, 2015

Catnip vs. Catmint: What’s the Difference and Which Should You Grow?

All catnip is a catmint, but not all catmints are catnip.

The general rule is catmints are the more attractive ornamental plants (though beauty is in the eye of the beholder), and catnip is the more fragrant but weedy, cat-psychoactive plant.

Most catmints are not nearly as potent for our feline friends as catnip. Cats prefer catnip because it contains higher concentrations of nepetalactone.

Although catmint attracts more bees and butterflies, catnip contains compounds that may help repel mosquitoes.

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