“7 Days Ago Everything Changed”: This Is What It’s Like To Live In The Kyiv Bomb Shelter When You’re A Cat

“Hello, world. My name is Kusia (means Bitey, from “bite”), I’m a 1.5-year-old cat from Kyiv.

When I was very young, I thought I would not survive. On the night of August 8, 2020, I was hiding under the car and that’s when I thought that a big black cat, three times my size, would kill me. I don’t have much courage, but I was so afraid that I started screaming out my fear as much as I could. I cried so hard. Some people were walking by. They saw that I was sitting under the car, pushed away from the angry cat and told me not to be afraid anymore. I went to their hands and from that moment these people became my parents. When they brought me to their place, they saw that all of my paws are white. Despite the fact that for some reason one sock slipped off on my back foot, they still fell in love with me. And they gave me my name — Kusia.

I’m really into playing fetch and bringing the ball. My parents say cats don’t do that. But I love it! Especially when my parents are still sleeping, I can bring a ball in my teeth and throw it at their noses. To definitely wake them up, because c’mon, let’s play! If they don’t respond, I can basically became a barber and start licking my dad’s beard. That’s when he wakes up and strokes me. Then we’d play and have breakfast.”

More info: Facebook

Kusia, a normal house cat, was startled to the core just over a week ago

Image credits: anuta.rudenko

“But 7 days ago everything changed. We woke up all together from a very loud siren. The sky was still grey. My parents quickly began to gather stuff. At first, I followed my mom everywhere and purred, still waiting for her to give me a treat. But it didn’t help. I had never seen my mom like this. She was panicking. And dad was very serious. I became very scared again. Just like when I was hiding under the car, waiting for a black cat to kill me. So I crawled under the bed and refused to go anywhere. But the sirens didn’t stop. And my parents forced me into a cat carrier — they said that we needed to evacuate into a bomb shelter. I didn’t know what it was. Until now. Since then, this is my new home.”

Image credits: anuta.rudenko

Kusia wanted to escape the shelter and go back home, but she realized it’s not an option

Image credits: anuta.rudenko

“At first, I couldn’t calm down and I was looking for a way back home. I checked all the cracks and flaws of the bomb shelter, trying to find a way out. But my mom took me in her arms, hugged and cried. I don’t like the taste of her tears, they’re salty. So I tried to purr louder because then my mother smiles through her tears.”

But even in the times of trouble, Kusia finds comfort in trying to enjoy her feline self the best she can

Image credits: anuta.rudenko

“Kusia doesn’t have her favorite ball here, but we found a straw, so she plays with it. This is what distracts me from falling down. Overwhelming is just normal for now.”

She has a sibling Mutya to keep her company. In this picture Mutya’s making bread

Kusia can’t wait to go home, a place that she rightfully rules

Image credits: anuta.rudenko

“I’m not bored here. Three more cats live in my new house – Stepan, Kuzya, Mutya and Gerda the dog. All the cats are also adopted from the streets, just like me. From the very beginning, Kuzya pissed me off, I hissed at him a lot. But now we are friends and we can even play together. Those games distract us, so we almost can’t hear the explosions and sirens. My mom doesn’t cry so often anymore, but tries with all her might to find insulin, and dad is on the phone all the time, even more serious. I think his hair went silver. I miss my favorite cozy bed, I’m tired of sleeping on the floor. I really want to go back home and live in a world where no evil unbearable black cat can attack.”

Here’s what I, Kusia’s owner, have to say:

Image credits: anuta.rudenko

Here’s a little update on the situation in Kyiv as of March 3rd:

Tonight was insane, we couldn’t sleep at all, because the city of my grandmother was under attack. It’s a really small city called Izyum (means “raisin”) in Eastern Ukraine, only civilians there. And we couldn’t reach her by this morning. It’s impossible to explain how I felt the whole night, but it’s like your heart doesn’t belong to you anymore and your full mind is so shocked that someone you love, you already lost… you’re trying to put those thoughts down, but it’s like a tsunami. With all hope and prayers, we already reached her, she was also hiding in a bomb shelter with her dog.”

Also, this night, there were a few huge explosions over Kyiv and we could feel it really close. Animals were shocked and they were trying to hide everywhere. Kusia usually sleeps with me and she really was trying to calm me down this night, because I was beyond my maximum. She’s an angel and the best kittydepressant ever.

For now we’re ok with supplies like food, I think everyone has seen some apocalyptic movies, so it’s like this — high-carb food and water is a must. But still got some problems with medication. I hope with the logistics, it will soon be better.

A lot of people usually underestimate the power of vibes animals can give to you, but right now we’re all in one place, living through this hell and hoping this will end soon.”

Kusia isn’t the only cat that suffers from war in Ukraine. There are many stories like this:

Image credits: nolanwpeterson

If you want to check out how other animals are doing in bomb Shelters of Kyiv, we’ve made a post covering this horrifying topic.

Image credits: ErinBurnett

This cat has every reason to be grumpy and comfy

Image credits: Lesia Smykovska

The felines try to find comfort wherever they can, just like people

Image credits: Lesia Smykovska

This cat seems to be looking straight into the eyes of the culprits of this mess

Image credits: Lesia Smykovska

Image credits: Xenta777

Image credits: SoftwillyAlt

Image credits: GundamNorthrop

Image credits: JandlPaul

This whole situation doesn’t just revolve around cats (sorry, cats) but all pets and animals in general

Image credits: uanimals.official

Image credits: Lesia Smykovska

Every animal deserves peace. Including humans

Image credits: BlueParrotBooks

If you want to help you can do this by spreading the information, and supporting official Ukrainian humanitarian channels. If you want to help the cause of Ukrainian animals, I highly suggest Gostomel.Shelter! I’ll keep you posted with more links if I’ll have the time.

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