A pair of cousins on a once in a lifetime round-the-world bicycle trip stopped to save the life of an abandoned kitten in Azerbaijan.
German traveller Madga May, 29, and Aline May, 23, were halfway through the epic trip when they found the starving kitten in a back street.
The pair made a makeshift cat bed on the front of one of their bikes and took the kitten with them to safety as they continued their journey.
They christened the cat ‘Iki’, the Azerbaijani word for two, which is how many sausages the hungry kitten devoured on their first night together.
Iki sat in Madga and Aline’s tent whenever it was pitched and following the pair wherever they went, even out of the bike bag.
The trio travelled across the Azerbaijani countryside for three days together until they reached the capital of Baku and decided to find Iki a forever home.
They took Iki to a vet, where she received a free checkup, before the practice posted about the kitten in a WhatsApp group.
Days later Iki was adopted by her new family and now resides in Tbilisi, Georgia, happy and healthy.
Madga set off on the daunting two year trip after she quit her job, gave up her flat and sold all her possessions at the beginning of 2018.
Now back in her home country of Germany, Magda said: “At first I was not 100% sure if it was a good idea to take the kitten with us because we knew we couldn’t keep her for long.
“But once I saw her getting stronger and stronger I was convinced of having done the right thing. I was sure that we’d find a good solution, a forever hime. for Iki if we’d just continue to be optimistic about it.
“Iki became a healthy and happy cat. She’s living with a family in Tbilisi, Georgia, now, as the family that adopted her in Baku took her with them hen they moved.
“I was really happy when we found the new home for her thanks to social media and I felt like I did a really good thing.
“I mean you can’t save all the poor starving animals in the streets of Azerbaijan, but if you manage to save one – it’s one less poor starving animal.”
You can find more information about Iki’s rescue as well as highlights from the Madga, Aline and Manu’s worldwide cycle at www.manuandmagda.com
