I have found heaven on Earth for cat people. This is incredible.

[WilliamPitt]

A short distance off the coast of Fukuoka, Japan lies what many in the cat community refer to as ‘Cat Island’. Hundreds of the semi-wild cats roam freely around the isle, and are fed by local fisherman. If you think you can keep your couches looking nice here, forget about it. This is Cat Island.



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...and 49 more pictures here: http://thechive.com/2013/01/10/welcome-to-cat-island-51-hq-photos/

[arcane1]

1. Time to schedule some vacation plans!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. Some of these pictures are just begging for captions

[Agschmid]

41. Yes!

All the leaping cat ones. And these cats are IN-SHAPE!

[graywarrior]

3. Who's going with me?

I'm packed and ready.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

6. Let's go!

Ha! Look at their tails. Happy tail language.

FISH!!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

15. I am so there.

If you are waiting on me you are backing up.

[graywarrior]

18. Fine by me

When will you be ready?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

19. I will meet you there.

Have you booked my flight?

[graywarrior]

20. I've leased a private jet

[Tuesday Afternoon]

21. smart. I am on my way. My chauffer is picking me up.

[graywarrior]

22. My cat insists on going

I'm giving the house staff the week off....with pay.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

23. how funny. both of mine are demanding to come as well. I sent my staff to Vegas with some

extra folding money, a little bonus for packing me for this trip so quickly.

[graywarrior]

24. I know what's gonna happen

We'll be sitting on the floor because the cats will have taken the seats.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

25. and we will Like It!

[graywarrior]

26. We will beg for it

Things aren't normal unless they are ignoring us.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

29. pretty much the status quo at my place ... here are mine in all their splendor:

Prince Big Boy of Gizmo, my handsome fella


Princess Pretty Girl of Gidget, the little sister


and together they rule

[graywarrior]

30. Royalty

[Tuesday Afternoon]

31. of course, dah-link

[In_The_Wind]

27. Proving once again . . .

[IMG][/IMG]

[graywarrior]

28. Mine is snapping his claws at me right now so I gotta go feed him and then clean the litter box.

[Taverner]

4. Looks like they have a meowey good time!

I sure hope there aren't any catastrophes there....

I wonder if anyone catalogues the residents?

[siligut]

5. So much fun, beautiful cats free and happy.

Santorini is like that too, always order extra food, because you will want to feed a few kitties.

[In_The_Wind]

7. All of the photos are beautiful.

My favorites are #3, #4, #9 and #45.

Thank you



I_T_W
[img][/img]

[agracie]

8. Uhm... at the risk of being a wet cat blanket...

All of these cats have medical needs. i wonder who takes care of that. And it appears they are not neutered. At the risk of being a wet cat blanket, I have to question the wisdom of this cat island concept. It would be very difficult to have a pet cat of your own since these cats freely roam the island. Just sayin...

[fleur-de-lisa]

9. Why do you assume they are not neutered?

I didn't get that from the website.

I trap feral cats in my neighborhood and take them to my vet to be spayed/neutered. Very few can be adopted into homes. They're just too wild and scared of humans. Some have to be euthanized because they are ill or injured. A few I have taken into my home as permanent residents. I release most of them back into the neighborhood after being spayed/neutered and given a health check-up and vaccines. Besides me, there are several other people in my area who provide medical care and food for the ferals so they aren't going hungry and they can't reproduce.

I bought my house in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. There was a rampant feral cat problem when I moved in. I assume that the wild cats were descendent's of pets who were abandoned by their owners after the storm. Trapping, spaying/neutering and then releasing seems to me to be a more humane way to deal with the problem than just ignoring them or killing them.

I would be willing to bet that there are people who make sure these island cats get the care they need. It would have been nice if the website provided more detail.

[graywarrior]

11. We have a wooded area of feral cats in my town and a feline rescue house sponsors

them so that they get fed daily by a group of volunteers and receive medical care. I think there are quite a few other volunteer groups across the country that do the same thing.

[agracie]

12. Because there are many pics of kittens with adult cats (Mama Cat?). n/ t

[LisaL]

36. If they were neutered, where do you think all the kittens in the photos came from?

[KamaAina]

13. It would indeed be very difficult to have a pet cat of your own

since the island is uninhabited (by humans).

[agracie]

17. There are houses in the background of some of the pics plus...

the Wikipedia article says it is inhabited by a hundred people or so.

[graywarrior]

32. More the reason I should go there

[RILib]

39. why would you need a pet cat of your own?

I mean , there are like hundreds and I'm sure any number of them would like to snooze on your sofa.

[RILib]

40. they all look pretty healthy and happy to me

that says to me someone is doing TNSR.

[nolabear]

10. There's a Cat Island off of the MS Coast too, but only because

the French didn't know what a raccoon was back in the 1700s. "L'Isle du Chat" became Cat Island. What IS it with cats and raccoons in the Lounge all of a sudden?

[fleur-de-lisa]

16. Oh, what memories . . . "Isle Aux Chats"!

I spent a lot of time on the coast of Mississippi during my childhood. During high school, a couple of my drunk friends and I swam across from the mainland to Cat Island. Even though it's pretty shallow most of the way, it was not a good idea! We had to wait for a passing boat to give us a ride back.

Never saw any cats, though, or raccoons for that matter!

[nolabear]

38. Cat and Horn Islands are still places to go. Depending on your age

we might have been there at the same time.

[antiquie]

14. Short wikipedia history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tashiro-jima

[redwitch]

33. Apparently the cats there can fly. nt

[Digit]

34. Cat Island, what a boring name

Cats need a much more elegant name for their kingdom....

Catonia, or maybe Catland, Catlandia, or how about Pussia?

[siligut]

35. Tashiro-jima is more lyrical

At least to my ears.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

37. oooh I like that

Tashiro-jima. I'll have to remember that

[MadrasT]

42. I want to move there.

[Yavin4]

43. Never Saw It Coming

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