Cats are stealing the World Cup limelight, but not everything's purrfect for Qatar's felines

They're roaming the stadiums, the streets and even press con-fur-rences. It seems like Qatar's two to three million-strong cat population have its paws in every World Cup pie, but life for the country's feral cats is far from purrfect.

A cat takes to the field in Qatar.

Key Points

• Cats have taken the spotlight at the Qatar World Cup.
• There's an estimated two to three million stray cats in the country.
• Life for cats in Qatar can be very harsh.

Safe in the knowledge they were once worshipped as gods in ancient Egypt and Babylon and are revered as the quintessential pets in Islam, it would seem that cats in Qatar have been wielding their feline paw-er.

France winger Ousmane Dembele is allegedly afraid of them, England defender Kyle Walker is doing his best to adopt one, and despite a rough attempt to evict one, not even Brazil's press conference could steal their spotlight.

They're calling it the Cat-ari cup, but life for Qatar's feral cats can be incredibly harsh.

According to Trap Neuter and Return (TNR), a volunteer organisation that works to improve the lives of Qatar's street cats, they face a life of food scarcity, summer temperatures that regularly pass 45 degrees, busy roads and human cruelty.

In 2016 Qatar Cat Control Unit estimated Qatar's cat population to be between two and three million, almost on par with the country's 2.9 million human population.

According to a report published by Qatar's Hamad bin Khalifa University, cats were introduced in the 1960s to deal with a 'significant rodent problem'.

A feral cat colony in Qatar. Source: Supplied / www.tnrqatar.com

With plenty of access to water and food, their numbers rapidly exploded 'in an uncontrollable manner' increasing the risk of disease to both felines and humans.

According to TNR's website, trapping feral cats, spaying them and returning them to their colonies help protect Qatar's cats by controlling cat population. Neutered males tend to be less aggressive, resulting in 'fewer injuries and less transmission of diseases', in females, it reduces the risk of tumours and infections associated with giving birth up to three times a year.

England team have adopted "Dave", a stray cat who wandered into their training base, as the team mascot. Source: Getty / The FA/Eddie Keogh

Dave the cat has become an icon of England and their fans, the team describing him as their 'lucky charm'.

England defender Kyle Walker has become so attached to Dave that he hopes to adopt his new best friend, but millions of Qatar's cats won't be so lucky.

TNR says that many of the cats living in shelters and on the streets will be 'euthanised, or die from trauma, exposure, starvation or disease', things they say can be prevented with humane methods of population control like their 'trap, neuter and release' approach.