what five euros actually buys

for a long time i felt strange about taking small amounts from strangers online. five euros felt like too small a thing for somebody to bother giving and too small a thing for me to be honest about needing. so i did the maths, properly, on the back of an envelope.

five euros is two weeks of dry food for one cat. ten euros is the prescription wet food honey eats because she cannot crunch biscuits. twenty euros is a litter of high-quality clay litter, which i have learnt is the only thing that keeps a flat with four cats from smelling like a flat with four cats. fifty euros is a routine vet visit if nothing is wrong; less than half of one if something is.

you don't have to give anything. nobody does. but if you ever wondered whether the small amount counts — yes. it counts. it goes into the bowl. it shows up that evening, in real bowls, in front of real cats, who are warm and dry and figuring out who gets to sit on the radiator first.