The campus cats — infamous members of the NYUAD community who have their own Instagram page — got tangled up in a heated debate among students in recent weeks about their role on campus. Are they an integral part of campus? Should they remain? Should more effort be put into finding them new homes?

Students and staff members on campus provided insight into who these enigmatic campus cats are and how we can navigate student concerns over them.

The cats weren’t always part of campus life. Sharon Lee, Class of 2022, who often volunteers to help out with the campus cats, highlighted how there weren’t many cats on campus when she was a freshman. The number of cats only increased through the years.

Mayada Oudah, a Postdoctoral Associate in Social Science at NYUAD, has been actively involved in taking care of the cats and their needs — including covering medical bills — since joining in 2018. She commented that no one really knows how they first got on campus. “Some could be dumped pets by someone… living or working on campus, some could have been relocated from a very dangerous place to campus… and some would be cats living in neighboring areas,” Oudah explained. “We could clearly see their number increasing when the residential projects Park View and Soho Square were completed and started housing people.”

Lee noted that people should recognize that they were dumped here and have nowhere else to go. “There are some stray cats who end up here, … but some of them are already vaccinated,” she added. As such, she emphasized how many of the campus cats are used to human contact and are inexperienced with the actual street cat life.

Photo Courtesy of Megan Binnis Davalos

Many people who help the cats do so on a voluntary basis. Oudah described a few of the many individuals who help: “In addition to myself, there are few postdoctoral associates and research scientists who spend a lot of their time and resources taking care of the cats,” she explained. “We also received help from NYUAD’s IT department to create an email dedicated for the cats on campus, nyuad.campus-cats-welfare@nyu.edu, through which we receive concerns or notifications about the cats and do our best to address them…”

Lee commented further on NYUAD’s contributions to the campus cats. “The school provides the dry food, although [food stations are] refilled by volunteers since the pandemic as the Facilities management is too busy dealing with sanitizing the campus.”

“While the university is very caring about the campus cats, the people in charge of taking care of them are volunteers, not someone from the school administration. At the end of the day, the care for the cats comes from an individual level,” she added.

Photo Courtesy of Emily Broad

Often, this results in volunteers having to contribute to very high vet costs in the process of sterilizing, annually vaccinating and generally treating all of the campus cats. “We do struggle sometimes with the high bills when a cat gets into an accident and needs critical care and sometimes surgery.” Oudah noted.

“It has almost always been faculty and staff members who took the financial responsibility. The students recently joined to help out with the most recent injury of Sashimi,” Lee explained. Ultimately, the volunteers put in a lot of time, money and effort to ensure that all the cat needs are taken care of, and appreciate when other campus members help out any way possible.

Despite this core group of dedicated volunteers, student opinion on campus cats varies greatly. “I used to… not like the campus cats that much just because of them coming up to you in D2, but I feel like things have changed for me,” explained Lara Abu Dahab, Class of 2023. “They provide a fun companionship. I also think it’s nice to integrate parts of the natural world on this campus since it’s so small and so far away from everything.”

Megan Binnis Davalos, Class of 2023, shared a similar sentiment. “There’s a lot of students, myself included, who’s mental health is benefited by the cats being on campus.”

The benefits of pets on mental health has been extensively studied in recent years. Some studies, for example, have found evidence that pets — such as cats — can bring comfort and security to individuals struggling with depression and loneliness.

Photo Courtesy of Sharon Lee

Ellie Allan, Class of 2022, also confirmed the mental health benefits of the campus cats. “[When] my paranoia was so bad that I couldn’t sleep out of fear, the only thing that made me happy were the campus cats. I’d go and see them for about two to three hours everyday.... They were really important animal therapy for me.”

Other students, like Sara Alnajjar, Class of 2024, appreciate them in more indirect ways. “I have the biggest fear of cats, but I feel like they add life to campus, and I wouldn’t be able to imagine campus without cats.”

Campus cats have ingrained themselves as part of campus life, but while many students expressed their appreciation for the campus cats, others have vocalized their concerns over keeping the cats’ presence on campus, suggesting that it was time for them to go elsewhere.

One major point of concern for some community members is the prevalence of cats in the outdoor dining areas; some cats jump on the tables when they see food, which can aggravate or scare students.

Photo Courtesy of Vera Petrova

Beyond dining concerns, some students have vocalized concerns over perceived cat aggression. This particularly concerns those who are extremely afraid of cats. One student highlighted in a conversation how they are concerned about potential injuries from scratches, especially since it is often hard to know which cats are more aggressive, and how, subsequently, to act around them. Another student who wished to remain anonymous explained how they often feel jumpy and uncomfortable walking on the highline when the cats run by them.

Given the range of concerns, the simplest, but imperfect, solution to the complaints of cats around the dining hall is to ensure no one feeds or pets them in these areas.

“People need to be aware of what’s around them if they’re going to choose to eat outside… I think just being responsible for our own food is important,” Binnis Davalos shared.

“Another idea would be to spray some kind of citrus scent, or an equivalent, around the areas,” suggested Ella Mgariaf, Class of 2023. “There are a lot of particular scents that most people don’t mind but most cats hate and could effectively work as cat repellent.”

In terms of concerns over aggression, the cat lovers on campus are getting more creative. “We’re thinking of making a cat guide to let students know more about each cat. But honestly all you need to know is first of all read their body language,” explained Binnis Davalos. “There are some that are more playful than others and they can get aggressive when they’re playing, some who are just aggressive, and then there's most of them who are just so kind and so loving and so calm.”

Some students question why the cats can't be put up for adoption or relocated, feeling that it would be the optimal solution for combating student concerns while ensuring the cats stay off the streets.

Yağmur Ünal, Class of 2021, highlighted how unless the cats find new homes, there is no place safe where they would go. “They would suffer and die in the city and I don't think we would want that for our fur-friends.”

“They need homes and people have been trying to find them homes,” İlayda Özdemir, Class of 2023, commented. She added that it is not a matter of lack of effort, but that it is more challenging to find suitable homes for full-grown cats.

Lee agreed that it's hard to adopt out the cats: “A lot of the cats here are not kittens… even if they're not campus cats, in general, cats are harder to be adopted if they're grown… Although I love them, I would love them to all go away if they're finding loving homes. That's the best for them.”

“If people don’t want the cats on campus, and they want a solution, they should be proactive with it,” noted Binnis Davalos. “The ideal solution for everyone would be [to] make a campaign or spread information over social media to try to get these cats adopted to loving homes.”

Photo Courtesy of Salma Haniffa

Ultimately, the campus community has voiced polarized opinions over whether the campus cats belong on campus in the long term, or if they just negatively affect humans and cats alike. That being said, the cats did not intentionally come to campus, nor did community members who volunteered to help them out encourage the arrival of more campus cats. Nonetheless, campus cats are part of our campus culture now. Cats like the notorious Street Cat, who lives in the Engineering Design Studio, have built brands for themselves and are deeply ingrained in the NYUAD community. In my opinion, it’s time to give them the respect they deserve.