When you enter the home of Norfaizah Ramli, fondly called Richi, in Jharuwarasi, Lalitpur, the first thing you notice is the quirky cat-themed keychains, with several cat-shaped keys dangling together so perfectly that you can almost hear their meows in the air.
As you try to figure out if the key holder has some sort of cat sound mechanism, you hear a series of meows asking you to enter the first room you see.
Inside, you find a cozy, plush room with warm, furry rugs, tiny, fluffy beds, and little balls of toys scattered around. In the room, you see a beautiful black beauty Yara playing; another black beauty, Pansa, and a mixed-race Korat, Jamila, taking a nap after their busy ‘parenting’ duties.
Or as Richi likes to call it, after ‘helping’ as a parental figure to the other little ones.
On the other side, in another room full of wooden playpens, best friends Messi and Asim live, alongside the shy younger ones. Upstairs, in a separate area, you will find Octavia, who, despite her age and disability in her back legs, remains cheerful.
Nearby you will find ‘Mama’, next to ‘Baby’, a darling with gray spots, and little Duffy, the youngest, just a month and a half old, who was recently rescued and is recovering her health at the age of few.
You may be wondering who they are. Well, you might have already guessed — they’re Richi’s beloved cats, furry children, and the heart and soul of Kathmandu Lovers, which Richi founded.
This “cat kingdom”, known as Kathmandu Lovers, is Richi’s passionate creation. Richi’s love for animals began in his childhood in Singapore. “I grew up in a family that loved animals,” she says, recalling her great-grandmother, who raised chickens, goats, cats and cows. “That’s how we became animal lovers.”
Singaporean Richi first visited Nepal in 2005 as a traveler. In 2012, she made Nepal her home and began working with the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Center (KAT), a non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of stray animals, especially dogs.
However, it wasn’t long before she discovered a different calling.
During the 2015 earthquake, Richi took in 18 kittens from the rescue team. This marked the beginning of Kathmandu Lovers. Neha Dongol, who worked with Richi, soon joined her.
She decided to focus on kittens because there was no organization dedicated exclusively to helping them. Kathmandu Lovers is not your typical animal shelter. It is a home care center where abandoned and orphaned neonatal kittens receive 24-hour care until they are healthy enough to be adopted.
“We are not a shelter or a rescue center,” Richi clarifies. “Neonatal kittens in our care are put up for adoption when they are healthy and reach the age of two months.”
Richi, who still proudly likes to call herself a volunteer, founded Kathmandu Lovers also with the mission of combating negative stereotypes about cats in Nepal. Reflecting on his journey, Richi often tells his team, “If you don’t have a strong belief and determination, you can’t work in this field because it’s about losing and gaining lives.”
The first few days were challenging. Richi recalls: “When we started, it was difficult. Many kittens were abandoned in landfills, plastic bags and in the wild.”
Despite their best efforts, the team faced high mortality rates among orphaned newborn kittens, who are highly fragile. Richi admits: “Losing them is heartbreaking. Many people ask me how I cope with it all, and the truth is that I still cry and grieve today.”
However, Richi and her team remain steadfast in their mission. She explains: “I can’t stop because I can’t bear to see kittens dying alone, abandoned in the trash and plastic. We must do our best so that even if one day they leave us, they will leave in our warm arms.”
As Catmandu Lovers has grown since 2015, the survival rate of newborn kittens has steadily improved. In 2022, they successfully fostered 50 kittens, a moment Richi describes as the happiest ever.
Today, they remain vigilant due to a three-year outbreak of the FPV virus, which tragically killed nearly 20 kittens in 2023 and four kittens this year. Richi explains: “We are now very strict about accepting kittens over two months old to avoid spreading the virus among those already here.”
During FPV outbreaks, they reluctantly refuse new kittens for the safety of those already in their care, as veterinarians suggest.
Despite its success, Richi has no plans to turn Kathmandu Lovers into a shelter. She fears this will encourage people to abandon their pets, as has happened before. Instead, she wants to promote responsible pet ownership and collaboration with animal welfare groups. She says: “It’s not just the responsibility of animal welfare groups — it’s everyone’s.”
Since its inception, Richi has noticed a significant shift in people’s views on cats. Many now actively seek to learn about and care for them, even donating time and resources to organizations like Catmandu Lovers.
Adoption rates have been impressive, with Richi reporting a 99% success rate.
However, there were challenges. Some adopters returned the cats after a short period of time, causing stress for the animals as they struggled to adapt.
To address this, Kathmandu Lovers now enforces strict adoption policies and closely monitors adopted cats. Richi opines: “These cats are living beings, not accessories to be discarded when inconvenient or tools for reproduction.”
Your adoption package includes incentives like vaccinations, deworming, and sterilization to ensure a healthy bond between cats and their new owners.
However, the organization faces ongoing problems, including requests to rehome pets due to owners moving abroad or misleading claims about ownership. Some even seek to breed rescued cats with their own untreated pets.
She also points out the prejudice against black cats, saying: “People often prefer white cats, showing a prejudice that is like racism even in the cat world. That is why we prioritize black and gray cats for adoption.”
The sterilization program they run is intended to help stray cats, but some people try to take advantage by lying about their ownership or adoption status to benefit from it.
Another challenge is that adopters sometimes neglect their cat’s care guidelines, which is crucial as cats are sensitive to changes in their environment, especially related to food and litter.
Yara, a lively black cat who is almost one year old, contracted the FPV virus in early January 2024. This dangerous virus has a low survival rate, but thanks to Richi’s dedicated care, which included medication and injections for three months, Yara recovered in early April.
Due to the risk of the virus recurring, Yara cannot be put up for adoption at the moment, and Richi, who has lost count of the cats in her care, has grown fond of this spirited feline.
Despite the challenges, Richi and her team find strength in cats like Yara and Octavia, who inspire her, although dealing with human interactions can be difficult. She reflects, “As animal lovers, we find joy in caring for these cats, but sometimes the human interactions can be the hardest part.”
Richi emphasizes responsible pet ownership, asking people not to treat cats as mere accessories. She advises students and parents to carefully consider their readiness and ability to care for a pet before adopting one, emphasizing that cats are living beings that deserve commitment and respect.
While cats have been a source of mental health support for Richi and others at KAT and Kathmandu Lovers, she warns against adopting animals solely for emotional reasons when she is not fully prepared to care for them properly. She reminds me, “Cats are not emotional garbage dumps.”
She urges all cat owners to prioritize the health and well-being of their pets by vaccinating them against diseases and keeping them indoors, especially when young, to avoid viruses, accidents or getting lost. For those considering adoption, she advises thorough research and preparation in advance.
“In the last two years, we have sterilised 689 stray cats,” says Richi. Currently, Kathmandu Lovers receives funding exclusively from Help Animals India and collaborates with Animal Nepal, Alliance Veterinary Clinic and Animal Medical Center to run this initiative.
Richi hopes that Catmandu Lovers will continue to grow because success stories like those of Yara, Duffy and all the other rescued cats who have found loving homes and lived peacefully to enjoy long lives bring him the greatest satisfaction.
