SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

At 9am, Suzana, her dog and kitty meet me in the heated kitchen, which radiates a special warmth on winter days.

After a deep breath, he starts to say that they have always lived with kittens. They had one or two, no more. Wherever they got them or found them, they brought them home.   

They were kept happy by a grumpy cat called Morči, but when their son Sašo went to university, he left home. And a big beautiful black cat, Puhi, for 18 years.

The new story began when Suzana found a kitten in a ditch under the by the pints.  "It made me laugh, so I brought it home. He was so poor he couldn't even walk; that's this grey one." He was lying comfortably next to my jacket. "But when he stood up, he got a catch in the back of his body. The vet came to us and gave him four injections."

Later, she and her husband drove him to Ljutomer every day for a week to say hello. For two weeks he ate all the time. It was as if he was afraid that he would go without food again. His tummy was shaped like a light bulb. They adopted him and named him Srečko because he was lucky to be found.

The following story concerns a cat that gave birth to kittens in firewood that was stacked outside. They were fed, but the mother cat moved them elsewhere shortly afterwards. When it started to get cold, she brought them back to the hay in the barn. Suzana and her daughter-in-law caught the kittens and gave them to good people, but kept one. They named him Lucky because he was also lucky.

Luna will celebrate her sixth birthday on 20 March. She was brought to the house by Sašo. She is a very sensitive breed. She has already had surgery on her front and back paws. Before her, Cafi, who was the same breed, was at the house. Luna is by no means inconspicuous. She is always sweetly playful, in a good mood and with a slipper in her mouth in front of me.

The kittens have stayed with her in different ways over the years. Puhi was outside, so she could move around freely. Suzana let her out and welcomed her back into the apartment. But once Srečko had gone to the neighbours, there was a panic in the house that he would not be back. Her sons, daughter-in-law and husband were worried that something might happen to one of them, that he might go somewhere, but she wanted it to be like in nature; a little inside and a little outside.

When did this love for kittens and animals in general start?

"Even when I was a little girl, I realised how much I loved kittens and animals in general. Everyone in our house loves them. They require a lot of care, but they also give us a lot. They calm you down. They feel when you are sad, they come to you to cuddle with you."

The coexistence of all and the respect for life can be felt throughout the visit. One day, Suzana and her husband saw a stork with an injured leg in the meadow. They picked it up with a sheet and carried it home. A neighbour came to their rescue and gave them food for it; fish, because he is a fisherman. They called the wildlife shelter to come and get them.

Once they found a hedgehog family. Suzana made a shelter for them with straw. She found out how to feed them. Milk is not a good choice, but kitten briquettes are. They were not afraid of anything. When they grew up, they left. Until they put up an outside door, one of the hedgehogs was completely domesticated. While she and her husband worked in the barn, he walked and ate next to them. Every year the hedgehogs are in the straw, so all the family members are very careful when holding the pitchforks.

Lea Lebar, 15. 2. 2025