Help a Stray Cat

Home
Turkey
Istanbul
Help a Stray Cat

UK registered charity helping stray cats in Turkey by providing food, medical treatments & homes in the UK, EU and US🇬🇧
Rescues available for intl.

adoption
Charity no: 1209966

03/01/2026

✨ Adopt Totoro ✨

We found this handsome Scottish Fold boy abandoned in our neighbourhood back in August. He didn’t have a microchip and the neighbours told us he’d been wandering around for a few days, scared and unsure where to go.

When we finally found him, he was hiding inside a storage unit — who knows what he went through or where he came from 💔

At the vets we discovered he had an infection and was anaemic. Once he recovered, we had him microchipped and placed him in a cattery, hoping he’d find a loving home here in Istanbul.

But it’s now been 4 months and there’s been barely any interest in him. Sadly, the streets and government shelters are full of abandoned pedigree cats, and the chances of him being adopted here are very slim.
So we’ve made the decision to find him a safe and loving home abroad.

Once he’s adopted, we’ll begin his travel preparation so he can start his new life 🏡✈️

Totoro is calm-natured, gentle and incredibly friendly. He really deserves a peaceful forever home where he’ll finally be loved and safe.

Please consider opening your heart and home to this beautiful boy🙏🏻

By adopting one of our cats, you will make room for another cat on the streets

Adoption Application link in bio💜

✅ Male
✅ 2-3 years old
✅ Microchipped
✅ Fully Vaccinated
✅ Neutered
✅ Extremely affectionate
✅ Gets along with other cats

01/01/2026

✨Aslan✨

It’s almost two years since Aslan made his journey to the UK — a toothless little lion with the biggest heart. His first adoption didn’t work out, despite everyone trying so hard for a whole year. Sadly, he just didn’t get along with the resident cats.

But today… he’s living his best life as an only cat, soaking up all the love and attention from his amazing mum and dad. They absolutely dote on him — and it truly feels like he’s exactly where he was always meant to be.

We are so, so happy for you beautiful boy 🧡

28/12/2025

✨Adopt Ginny✨

Ginny was born in a car park in our neighbourhood. We had her mum spayed and returned to her territory, but we didn’t have the heart to leave Ginny and her sister Georgia behind. So we brought them to our garden in February 2025 — right in the middle of winter. With their weak immune systems, they barely survived. Both girls became very sick.

Ginny spent 32 days at the vets, and Georgia 24 days. Once they recovered, they were both spayed — and despite being only 6-month-old kittens they already had 8 rotten teeth removed between them 💔
Just two weeks after returning, Ginny became sick again. That’s when we knew: the streets were simply too tough for her.

Ginny has been safely with us in our office since June. We always promised her we’d bring Georgia too when space allowed — but sadly it never did. So Georgia is still outside, and now that it’s freezing in Istanbul, it absolutely breaks our hearts 💔

Ginny was finally microchipped this week and is preparing for travel to the UK…But we can only help cats like Ginny if more of our cats are adopted.Please adopt one of our cats and help us save more lives.

By adopting one of our cats, you will make room for another cat on the streets

Adoption Application link in bio💜

✅ Female
✅ 14 months old
✅ Microchipped
✅ Fully Vaccinated
✅ Spayed
✅ Very affectionate
✅ She gets along with calm-natured cats
✅ Indoor only

25/12/2025

Three former Istanbul street cats, now spending Christmas day in London — safe, loved, and truly living their best lives. They couldn’t have found better parents, and we couldn’t be happier for our lucky boys 🥰✨

21/12/2025

Mimi was just 3–4 months old when we found her scavenging from a bin. Sick, flea-ridden, with worms and giardia — yet still incredibly loving.

Mimi has been travel-ready since April.
But months have passed… and no one has shown interest.

Now a full year has passed since her rabies vaccine, meaning we’ve had to repeat her vaccination to keep her rabies titer test valid. Without this, Mimi cannot legally leave the country.

For those who don’t know:

Our cats cannot travel without a valid titer test. The test itself lasts for life, but only if annual rabies vaccines are kept up to date.

Preparing a cat for travel takes 4 months, lots of paperwork, vet visits, and money.
It’s heartbreaking when, after all that effort, a cat like Mimi is still waiting.

Mimi is ready.
She just needs someone to choose her. 🐾

14/12/2025

✨ Poppy ✨

This gorgeous girl recently joined the rest of the cats in our office after spending over three long months at the vets. When we found her, she was on the brink of death. She was battling a severe respiratory infection, anaemia, jaundice, neurological FIP, bed sores… the list goes on. Truly, it’s a miracle that Poppy is still alive.

But not only is she alive — she’s thriving 🧡
And now, we’re finally going to start preparing her for travel.

Poppy is already microchipped, as we had her spayed at the government clinic last year. The Istanbul municipality shelters microchip all cats they spay and neuter — but the chips aren’t registered to anyone. This makes them incredibly pointless and creates endless difficulties for rescuers like us.

So this week, we have to take her back to the government clinic to register the chip in our name, then go to the Agriculture Office to obtain her pet passport. Unfortunately, vets are not allowed to do this registration.
To make matters worse, as of 31 December, vets in Turkey will no longer be able to register cats over 6 months old on the system at all.

From 1 January 2026, everyone including rescues will be forced to take cats directly to shelters for microchipping first and then local Agriculture Offices for pet passports instead.

As if rescue work wasn’t already hard enough… once again, it’s being made even harder 💔

But for Poppy — and cats like her — we keep going.

13/12/2025

✨Adopt Wednesday✨

This pretty little lady was just 5-months old when she was hit by a car. The locals had sent her to the local municipality shelter for surgery. They amputated her left front leg and spayed her. A few days later, they brought her back to where she was found — but the locals didn’t want her there.

So they kept her locked inside a carrier all day until one of them finished work so they could dump her somewhere else😢 They said they didn’t want the “responsibility” of a 3-legged kitten.

When we heard what they planned to do, we couldn’t turn our backs. We took her in — and thank goodness we did.

Her wound was oozing with pus and she had a respiratory infection💔

After spending a month at the vets, she thankfully made a full recovery! She joined the rest of our cats recently and we couldn’t be happier to have her with us. Wednesday can travel to the UK in 3 months. Please consider opening your home to this sweet tripod🙏🏻

By adopting one of our cats, you will make room for another cat on the streets

Adoption Application link in bio💜

✅ Female
✅ 6 months old
✅ Microchipped
✅ Fully Vaccinated
✅ Spayed
✅ Very affectionate
✅ She loves other cats
✅ Indoor only

11/12/2025

✨ Our 2025 Adoptions✨

This year, we watched street cats who were once suffering on the streets of Istanbul, go to warm homes, soft beds and loving arms in the UK, Germany and even Canada!

Here are the lucky cats who got their second chance in 2025:

🎉 4 Siblings – Jupiter, Journey, Jinx & Jax
Now living their best lives together in Canada 🍁

🎉 Wesley & Robin
Adopted together in London 🐈🐈‍⬛

🎉 Arnold – now Hayko
Found his happy ending in Germany 🇩🇪

🎉 Toby – Brighton boy by the sea 🌊

🎉 Albert – Bristol thanks to 💕

🎉 Ella (Bella), Jade (Bonnie) & Jasper (Barry) - All adopted by Bob’s wonderful mummy in Kent 💜

🎉 Thomas – now O’Malley
Living in Wi******er 😻

🎉 Oscar – Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

🎉 Grace – London 🌸

🎉 Morris – London 🐼

Each one of these cats started the year on the streets of Türkiye… and ended it in a warm, loving home — because of you.
Thank you for adopting, supporting, donating, sharing and believing in our mission🙏🏻

Let’s get even more cats rehomed in 2026. They’re waiting. And we’re ready 🐾💫

08/12/2025

✨Adopt Dolly✨

We found this gorgeous little lady wandering inside a cemetery in our neighbourhood — half of her back leg was missing. Despite her disability, she had recently given birth to seven kittens. Only one survived. Can you imagine giving birth and caring for your babies while limping through the streets on three legs?

Well, those days are far behind her now that she’s in our care. We brought her to our office after she was spayed — she will never return to the streets again. She was microchipped and vaccinated against rabies.

Dolly can travel to the UK in 3.5 months. Please consider opening your home to her. She’s an incredibly sweet girl with a very quirky character. We absolutely adore her and cannot wait to see her live the life she deserves!

By adopting one of our cats, you will make room for another cat on the streets🙏🏻

Adoption Application link in bio💜

✅ Female
✅ 1 year old
✅ Microchipped
✅ Fully Vaccinated
✅ Spayed
✅ Very affectionate
✅ She tolerates other cats but would benefit from being an only cat
✅ Indoor only

Address

Istanbul

Website

https://linktr.ee/helpastraycat

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Help a Stray Cat posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Want your business to be the top-listed Pet Store/pet Service in Istanbul?