Hi everyone,
Thos of you that have been with us for a while most likely already know that our love for cats is only equaled by our love for Japan!
So it most likely doesn’t come as a surprise that we are always out and about looking for cat things or in this case real cats while we are in Japan.
During our days in Fukuoka we saw quite a few street cats, as much as the Japanese love their pets they sadly also have areas with many cats living on the streets and in parks.
This doesn’t mean these cats have a horrible life as many of the locals will be looking after them and feeding them.
We weren’t sure if this cat was actually a stray or someone’s cat that was out and about. Reason being… usually you’ll find that the stray cats have a clipped ear.
The black cat in this picture is the one we met initially in the park. We thought she was a little shy but actually both of them came up and started purring when they saw us. 🙂
Remember how we said most street cats would have a clipped ear? Well, both of these did! This is a very common practice to indicate that a cat has already been neutered/spayed to avoid other organisations from accidentally catching a cat that has already undergone a TNR (Trap Neuter Return). In order to stabilise local cat populations, Japan is very strict on TNR and will ensure that street cat colonies don’t cause a problem to other animals.
What always amazes me is that no matter how small or big a cat colony in Japan is the cats always seem to tolerate each other well.
This little boy (or girl?) was especially friendly and kept trying to climb up on my lap in order to receive cuddles! I wonder if Rennie is a little jealous at home when he sees this…
And don’t worry we organised these two some cat food from the local pet shops! 🙂
Thanks,
Marc
awwwww. Happy that people look after these cats. Glad you gave them food. Meows and Purrs.
Us too 🙂
Meow 🙂
🙂
Whoa, for a minute I thought you brought home another cat.
Would have loved to! But it would have been difficult. Six months quarantine for cats outside of the EU prior to entry and another six months quarantine in entry. I also found out this week that sadly two of these cats passed away since we saw them. ?
So sorry.
I know… it’s so sad. 🙁
Lovely. That orange and white kitty is quite the charmer.
Sadly I found out that the orange and white cat has sadly passed over the rainbow bridge ?
Oh no.
I know. ?
It’s great that they are promoting TNR. A wonderful humane program.
There is a whole team of volunteers out there looking after the cats 🙂
They’re so sweet. It’s good to know they have TNR.
My small charity does TNR in Fukuoka – (NPO CATNIP, Fukuoka) – there are some good areas, with TNR’d cats, but still a vast number on the street who still need doing. The picture here is very mixed, unfortunately. Kittens are still left to die on the street. But the situation is greatly improved over what it is was 25 years ago, so there is hope.
I’ve watched, from my hotel room, street cats congregating in the town square of a small town in Corsica in the night. They definitely had a kind of social order which prevented conflict. This is impressive as their wild ancestors are not social animals used to coexisting with numbers of others of their species.
Indeed! And shows cats will adapt