jon jensen of "globalpost" has our story. >> reporter: for cats in cairo, it's a rough life. once a sacred sim boefl ancient egypt, many cats here are now scraping by, struggling to survive. lack of population control means thousands of ferrell felines live on cairo streets, many suffering disease. doctor is trying to change that. >> i love cats. i think it's something inside. hello? egyptian -- organization. >> reporter: here in the suburb of cairo, doctor manages a center that saves cats from the streets, putting them up for adoption here and around the world. they work mainly with this cat, the mau, a breed indigenous to egypt. >> this is the mao cat. the end which is drawn on the front of the head. okay. going to recognize also the growing of the eye which looks like the growing of the eye of the ancient who are women. and you are going to recognize also in this cat the spots that's found on all of the body. >> reporter: the egyptian mao may have been the first domestcated cat in the world. in feronic times, cats were revered as pets. they were mummified and buried in the

jon jensen of global post. >>> that's "worldfocus" for this thursday evening. a reminder that you can also watch us on the web any time. that's at worldfocus.org. i'm martin savidge in new york. as always, we thank you for joining us. we hope to see you back here again tomorrow and any time on the web. until then have a good night.

jon jensen of "globalpost" has our story. >> reporter: for cats in cairo, it's a rough life. once a sacred symbol of ancient egypt, many cats here are now scraping by, struggling to survive. lack of population control means thousands of feral felines live on cairo's streets, many suffering disease. dr. abdel rahman is trying to change that. >> i love katz. i think it's something inside. >> reporter: here in the suburb of cairo, dr. abdel rahman manages a center that saves cats from the treats putting them up for adoption here and around the world. they work mainly with this cat, the mau, a breed indigenous to egypt. >> this is what a mau cat. you are going to recognize the "m" with is drawn on the front of the head. you are going to recognize the eyes. you are also going to recognize the spots which are found all over the body. >> reporter: the egyptian mau may have been the first domesticated cat in the world. in pharaonic times, cats were revered as pets. they were mummified and buried in their own cemeteries. then, it was even a crime to injure a cat. amina abaza, presiden

jon jensen of glal post. >>> that's "worldfocus" for tis thursdayevening. a reminder that you can also watch usn the web any time. that's atworldfocus.org. i'm main savidge in neyork. as always, we tnk you for joining us. we hope to see y backere again tomorw and any time on the web. until th have a good night. mark welter has be a teacher all his life. no one gets ri teaching, but no one lds a richer life. and public tv and ucation are undeniably linke and part of my motivion is to pay back some this. that's why mark incled his puic television station in his will. nsider joining the community of people who want publi television tspan generations.