19/09/2019
BE SMITTEN, NOT BITTEN
I was in search of a natural, great smelling, but very effective mosquito repellent to give as a gift, to guests at my son’s wedding. The wedding took place in summer. Living in Namibia meant that we would be bombarded with mosquitos.
I started to experiment with essential oils and natural products and perfected, what would become - Be Smitten Not Bitten bug repellent. The reaction of the guests was over-whelming. Soon requests for more of this product, stared to pour in.
This bug spray not only keep mosquitos at bay, but if you neglect to spray yourself and you do get bitten, Be Smitten will take care of that itch.
It can also be used in an essential oil diffuser, which will keep the mosquitos at bay and fill your home with its beautiful aroma.
Some guests even reported that it keeps other bugs, like spiders away.
BE SMITTEN AND THE CAT SANCTUARY
Living in a developing country, means that there is a huge problem with stray animals, like dogs, but especially cats, due to neglect, lack of funding and very often, ignorance and the lack of human responsibility & intervention.
These animals often live in dire conditions, which aggravate problems like malnutrition and painful diseases. If left without treatment and care they will die slow and painful deaths.
About 9 years ago, after our dog passed away, our yard/garden became one of the few in our neighbourhood, without any dogs. This created a safer environment for some of the stray cats. Slowly more and more feral cats began using our yard as a nursery and a home. In time it became clear to us that Windhoek had a huge feral cat crisis.
At first, we started with not only providing them with food, but also a catch and release sterilization program for the feral cats living in our yard. As time went by, we became aware of how sad, sometimes painful, but most of all, how short the lifespan of a feral cat is. The lifespan of most feral cats is between 6 to 18 months. Although life has shown me, that they very often, do not make it past 6 months, because they either get killed by dogs or get run over by cars.
We are passionate animal lovers and we therefore felt obligated to change this.
We started to bring the cats and kittens into our home and when our home became too crowded, we built a sanctuary in our garden and slowly we created a place where each cat and kitten could be safe and will hopefully, forever have proper meals, water and shelter. Here they can be loved and cared for.
One of our top priorities is to spay/neuter these animals and in doing so we hope that we can aid in the feral cat problem in Windhoek.
We, as a family, have been funding all this for the past eight or nine years. We do not belong to any association or society. We do not get donations or sponsorships. We do not put these cats up for adoption and neither do we sell them. This is their home. All funding for these cats and the Sanctuary comes out of our pockets -
In this, we have been extremely fortunate and blessed.
But we have now reached a point where we will have to get additional help, as sterilization procedures and medical cost for treatment of sick cats are very costly. And this is where Be Smitten comes in. Due to the great feedback I have received for this product, I have decided to put it on the market and use a percentage of the income to fund the “Gypsy Cat Camp & Sanctuary”
Be Smitten Bug repellent will be the first in a long line of products. I intend to start a new line of Be Smitten All-Natural products which will include cat baskets, hammocks, toys and hopefully even more.
This way we will be able to carry on with the work that we are so passionate about. By buying Be Smitten, you will not only contribute to the welfare and wellbeing of these cats, but you will ensure that we can continue with this endeavour of ours.
