Since Rick's guidebooks don't cover this-what are fun places to see cats?

If you're open to travelling outside of Europe, Japan has a few "cat islands" (Aoshima Island, Manabeshima Island, and Tashiro-jima Island) where the cats roam free and outnumber humans.

There is another cat sanctuary in Rome, inside the non-Catholic cemetery behind the Piramide. Some of our group preferred it to Torre Argentina.

Barcelona - 4 Cats Café - Picasso hung out there

We go to Largo Argentina in Rome. Close to 200 cats.

There's a cat sanctuary in Venice, though I've never been there. Also something in Porec, Croatia.

There are enough cat cafes in Europe that I've lost track of where I've seen them, except for the first one I encountered, in Ljubljana. I think it was in Budapest that I saw a cat pub.

There are a lot of cats enjoying life in the sun in Valletta, Malta. They are very fat and pleased with themselves, mostly because the local residents put out food and water here and there for their delectation. They are too superior to pay much attention to passing strangers but will pose for photos, with a measure of disdain, if you are very discreet.

Well, there’s this street in Istanbul, actually any street, every street, in Istanbul. Small, mellow and very cute cats, owned by no one but cared for by everyone. There is even a quite-recent movie —- Keti —- about the cats of Istanbul.

Not in Europe: the jetty cats of San Diego

In addition to the boat in Amsterdam, there is also the Kattenkabinet, a museum devoted to cat-related art. There are also (or at least were when I was there) a few cats dotted around the museum snoozing in chairs.

While staying on the Greek island of Hydra, we were entertained every day by the harbor cats. They seemed to know exactly when the fishing boats would be returning to the dock with the fresh catch for the day. The cats would gather in droves (at least 30+)and wait patiently for the fishermen to unload their catch, fully knowing they would be the recipients of the "leftovers". It was very entertaining and the cats were remarkably well mannered while waiting for their share of the catch. This was obviously an everyday occurrence. In Istanbul, as mentioned in a previous reply, all the strays who live here seem to be well cared for by the populace. We saw many bowls of kibble and water left out for them.

The Hermitage in St. Petersburg has a bunch of cats on staff to battle mice. I've never heard that they are seen by visitors, though. Perhaps they are confined to non-public areas.

Paris: the Cat Cafe is still there. Many cats in Pere Lachaise cemetery too.

There are (unfortunately) a lot of stray cats in Croatia. I saw a good number of them. It seems people do feed them - but some of them look pretty sad. I've been to Dubrovnik twice. The first time, in 2009, I saw an adorable little calico kitten at one of the town gates who had a striking resemblance to my kitty at home. I fed her for three days - it made me feel a little better that a local came by as I was leaving the last day and said she always dropped off food for the kitties in this spot on her way home. People do love cats in Croatia, too.

In 2015, I went back. I walked past the same gate when I arrived and sadly did not see my old calico friend. But that evening, as I was walking out, I saw her!!! I took pictures to verify, because she only briefly showed herself - not as friendly as in 2009. She was all grown up now, but I verified her unique markings from the pictures in 2009: same cats! No two calico kitties are like. I'm so relieved that she survived that long. I hope she's still there today...

hey cala
outside of rome is a place called calcata. a condemned village/commune that bohemians, hippies and artists squatted and so called built their studios and homes in the caves. it's a thriving wacky community to artists, restaurants cafes and art studios and lots of cats making their homes. check the bus schedule and bring cash euros, no ATMs. a day trip from rome, not for everybody but something totally off the grid. read about this place a few years ago and want to go next time i go to rome.
aloha

@Andrew H I'm going to Dubrovnik in Sept 2019 I will look for her-which town gate? Is it easy to buy catfood there or should I pack some? What I loved about the cats in Istanbul is that the stray cats looked pretty healthy because so many people feed them.

Had lunch at le Comptoir des Chats in Bordeaux last week. Some pretty large cats, and extensive catwalks with elevated door passages for them to move around to different rooms. Food was pretty good too.

The KattenKabinet on the Herengracht in Amsterdam, a museum of art work all about cats, with two resident cats for petting while visiting! Cash only, I think it cost us about 7 euros each to enter. It was well worth it to get our cat fix and is a charming two story museum full of posters and paintings.

There are cats just hanging around everywhere in Italy.

Cala, I sent you a PM FYI.

I almost always make new cat friends where ever I go in Europe. Often B&B's or small inns will have a cat. Monasteries or convents are popular places. And of course quiet streets and plazas.

I saw loads of street cats in both Sicily and Morocco.

In contrast, I saw only two cats in all of Ecuador. That doesn't mean there aren't cats there. There surely are. But they're not as visible as in other places.

We are cat lovers and you find lots of cats in Turkey, Greece and Italy. Istanbul has a program for small cat shelters in many of its parks.

Also, more cats in Muslim countries, where dogs are not favored as pets.

There is an organization in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico that feeds the feral cats there. We saw many of them and they looked good, not starved. Animal lovers are everywhere!!❤️

I had a feeling this thread would generate lots of ideas for "meeting the locals"! I just found a site "Old Town and Cats of Plovdiv" that says they even have a t-shirt on the subject!

Thanks for starting this thread. I have added the mentioned cemetery in Rome to my list. Missing pets is certainly a burden of travel that can be somewhat alleviated by visiting the "locals" as cala stated.
My husband has emphasized he doesn't want me to pick up any substitute husbands at the Trevi Fountain. Hahaha.

There is a couple in Plovdiv (or was in 2015) who take care of 30 or so street cats. I found the right area, but the cats were standoffish until I broke out the catfood. I learned that even rather small packaged-food stores in Bulgaria are likely to have small pouches of catfood, but you may need to ask for it. I suspect they first thought I wanted to buy a cat to eat, but eventually I got the concept of food-for-cats across.

I've been to cat cafes in Vienna and Budapest, both charming and a good way to get a fix when I miss my 2.

In Kotor, Montenegro, there is a cat museum. We did not see it.

Our favorite bar in Dubrovnik, the Buzz Bar (not the Buza Bar - they are different) has a number of cats who hang out.

We kept meeting friendly cats in small town car parks in Wales. The well-fed Siamese girl in Tenby had enough of the Siamese cattitude to demand chin scritches, under collar scritches and pats from all who passed by.

Over the years we've encountered many cats in villages in France (some of which entered the houses we were staying in), and I've taken a lot of photos of them. Attached is a link to my travel blog containing the results of having put "cat" into the search box.
https://mainelywinenews.blogspot.com/search?q=cat

Three quick comments - 1) the cat sanctuary in Porec, Croatia is gone; 2) Vienna has a Japanese cat cafe called Cafe Neko; 3) watch the movie Kedi about cats in Istanbul.

Cala,
Just saw an article about a classified ad for a cat person to take care of a cat sanctuary on the Greek island of Syros. Over 200 people replied to be a temporary caretaker for 55 cats for 6 months. Live in a house with a few cats, all expenses included. Really cool.

In Haarlem this April, I found many pretty cats in a state of contentment perched here and there on tables, chairs, in patios and gardens who seemed to believe I must take their pictures, so I did!

@Judy B, I bet that job caring for the cats in Greece is a lot of people's dream job! I wonder what criteria they will use to select the lucky recipients?

Criteria: know something about cats, being a veterinarian puts you high on list or have been a cat owner and know their behaviors and how to approach them. If you’re a cat whisperer, that’s a good characteristic. You will need to know when a cat needs medical attention and obviously be responsible to take them to the appropriate medical facility. Otherwise, have 6 months without job or other obligations to spare. Must also be comfortable with a very quiet pace of life on a lovely island! There are 55 cats in the sanctuary.
I’m a cat person, love them and find them endlessly fascinating! Just adopted a darling kitten as a companion to my current 8 year-old cat, Melanie. Paris Joy is the kitten’s name.

Glad to read the posts from all the cat lovers out there. There are a lot of homeless cats especially in Italy and Croatia. Whenever I go to Europe I take a bag of cat treats for all the strays I come across, and it is easy to pack a few paper plates and plastic spoons and then purchase canned cat food for a euro or less and give the cats a meal. The Italians don't generally feed the strays although I have seen them put out containers of leftover pasta - which the cats don't eat. I don't care what people think when they see me feed the strays - I am glad I can fill their bellies if only temporarily, and am often rewarded when they crawl up on my lap for a snuggle.

Cats throughout Greece. We were told that they are a special breed throughout the islands especially on Delos.

"What are fun places to see cats?" - My place is as good as any, you'd have a wondeful time hanging out with my eccentric lads, Drosselmeyer and Beasley. They are not lawyers, as their names suggest, though I would not put that ignoble occupation beyond them in the future. No point in me cat whispering, Drosselmeyer is hard of hearing and Beasley has absolutely no time for it. They enjoy the usual cat things: tying each other up with string, chasing shoelaces and balls, hiding my wife's underwear amongst tea towels and inside pillow cases, playing Mouse Trap, placing nibbles in my flowing locks when I am taking my own catnap.

Drosselmeyer is a Siberian who has a fondness for beef stroganoff, Beasley a British Longhair with a weakness for steak and kidney pudding (it has to be suet pastry or else). Their greatest joy in life is musicals, including movie versions of Les Misérables and Oliver. Drosselmeyer goes as far as to say that Butch's portrayal of the scamp Bullseye in Oliver was understated genius and Oscar worthy, and Drosselmeyer should know (one of his great ancestors used to purr on Lee Strasberg's lap as he taught De Niro et al.).

Strangely enough, neither of my furry companions like 'Cats', finding it unrealistic and over the top. The same can be said for most of Lloyd Webber's overrated work, according to Beasley, who holds a particular dislike for Rum Tum Tugger. "A show-off and a really annoying prat", Beasley calls him. Their favourite song, "Bless Your Beautiful Hide," is belted out in unison whenever Miss Amanpour struts by our front window - she's the neighbour's minx of a Persian.

Brilliantly funny, gunderson. Best post in months on this forum. Thanks.

There is even a Cats Parade in Ypres, Belgium every three years. The last one was held last May, so you have to wait a while for the next one..….

And last September walking through the streets of those lovely villages in Burgundy, it gave a good feel seeing the cats feel comfortable there, enjoying laying in the sun or crossing the streets “à l’aise” , no hurry at all. Loved it.

Just give them something to eat!

Moscow - Kuklachev's cat theater.
St.Petersburg - Cat Republic cafe.

I enjoyed your post Gundersen.
I am back from my trip to Italy and will report on my visit to Crazy Cat Cafe in Milan. Very nice place with enjoyable apertif. The cats were beautiful but not social. Could have been the time of day or that particular day. So it was good for a view but not for a cuddle.

I ran into many Italian cats on the streets throughout Italy, some friendly and some stand offish.

I also went to the cat sanctuary at Torre Largo Argentina. We walked by the area on a walking tour with our local Rick Steves guide and were able to see a few felines from afar. I went back after the tour and visited the sanctuary. The hostess was very friendly. They have an indoor room where cats are not free to go outside. Here live some elderly cats, any sick cats receiving treatment, any cats too young to be neutered or spayed, and kittens that are good adoption potential. I spent about 40 minutes in that room getting a kitty fix. One particular kitten was quite taken with me and was happy to be scratched and carried about the place.
They have a second room that cats can come and go freely from. There were many cats napping and looking for company. And then there were kitties outside, roaming the ruins. I had planned ahead of time to include a donation in my trip budget, but it was not required to visit the creatures.

As a human with a very large extended animal family, I find visits such as these important for my mental health : ).

Do enjoy the cats, but be careful. Last week a British man contracted rabies and died after being bitten by a stray cat in Morroco. Sorry cant seem to share the link .

There are not too many places where rabies has been eradicated completely - these are primarily island nations with no wildlife migration from the continent and very onerous quarantine restrictions. None of the countries in continental Western Europe are totally risk-free.

I was bitten by a cat in Sicily in 2016. Well-cared-for, but no one knew the owners. It was a very friendly cat, but it was startled by an infant in arms that started crying, and it reflexively bit me. It was a shallow bite, but I knew enough to be concerned. I did some quick Googling and found that Sicily was rabies-free. At least that's what the internet said. The experience has made me a bit more cautious about approaching street cats, though in that case, it was the cat who approached me.

Istanbul for cats that are both tame and are used to tourists. Blue Mosque they will come right up to you when you sit in the courtyard!

Rabies is not the greatest danger from cat bites, as it is rare. A simple bacterial infection from the puncture would can become very dangerous if not treated.

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/wounds-cat-bite-injuries-to-humans

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/when-cats-bite-1-in-3-patients-bitten-in-hand-hospitalized-infections-common/

Some years back, I was bitten by my cat Merlin in the ankle in the morning when I tried to put him outside and he did not want to go. I thought nothing of it and went to work, but by noon my ankle hurt so much I canceled the lunch date I had with a friend. When I told her why, she said " I am hanging up so you can call your doctor right away!" I called my HMO and their response was "where are you and how fast can you get here?" They paid for me to take a cab straight to the ER. When I walked in to the ER and checked in at the desk, they said "here is the cat bite" and took me right past others who had been waiting for who knows how long. By this time I had red streaks going up my leg. Fortunately they got me on antibiotics before any real damage was done. I forgave Merlin and we had many happy years after that with no more incidents, but I learned a lesson about cat bites.

More recently, we were visiting friends in Park City Utah with our Labrador. They mentioned they had a cat who likely would stay out of sight. Our dog went inside to explore on her own; we heard a small yelp and she came right back out. We figured she had met the cat and learned to leave him alone. Next day, on a walk, she began stopping, trembling, and acting strange. We basically carried her home and tried to give her water and cool he down, thinking the heat was getting to her. But recurrent bouts of intense shivering meant serious trouble (my husband the doctor and I both recognized the symptoms of septicemia) and within an hour we found a vet who would see her right away. They thought it was heat stroke and tried cooling her down with no success. Meanwhile a student intern was examining every inch of her, pawing through her fur for a source of trouble. And then she found the puncture marks from the cat bite on our dog's back. They started IV antibiotics but the medicine did not take hold in time to stop the nasty swelling and other effects from the infection. 24 hours and $1000 later we brought her home with a drain tube and lots of oral antibiotics to administer. It took her a week to recover.

I do like cats, but I am a bit more cautious now with strange ones, especially if they are feral cats (although I admit both of these bites were inflicted by usually friendly house cats).

Lola, Thanks for sharing. My takeaway is if cat bite punctures the skin, go to doctor immediately.

Last September we saw many cats in Matera, the Porto area of Ischia, by the castle, Castiglione d'Orcia, Montepulciano and Castellina in Chianti. All fat and sassy and being fed by both tourist and locals.

I have lived on a farm for 30 years and have a feral community, which at one time had 32 beautiful cat friends who were all lap cats. We are now down to our last 6 who follow us around like puppy's. So when in Italy it's nice to see these beautiful animals who remind me of my babies at home.

Edit. All of Italy is designated rabies free.

Cala, that is exactly the take-away I intended. See the doctor right away for a bite that punctures the skin.

In the case of our dog, we did not know she had been bitten until the vet intern found the puncture wound. We did hear her yip, but assumed she had been swatted on the nose for getting too close. She was naive when it came to cats, having never chased one or had it object to her presence. We did check her face carefully for scratches but there were none. The bite was on her back, behind her shoulder.