I would like to interview one cat owner from each of the world’s countries. A big deal! It is believed that there are about 196 countries. I think the completed body of work would provide a useful insight into the present status of the domestic cat on the planet.
The interview would be conducted in one of two ways:
- a written response to set questions or topics (by email), which are prompts and needn’t be adhered to strictly or..
- a video response to the same set questions (preferred) and sent by email. The video must be low quality otherwise you can’t send it by email. That sounds odd but it makes things manageable. Image quality is not critical anyway. OR the video can uploaded to a hosting company like YouTube, by the maker, and then embedded on PoC.
The reason why a video response would be preferred is because it provides more information even though the answers are responses to the same questions. This is because you can see the place and get a sense of what a person is thinking through body language and tone etc.. The video should be “raw” in quality. In other words, neither fancy nor carefully made – my video below is what I mean. The footage can be emailed to me and I’ll make into a video that can be seen on PoC.
The idea of set topics is useful, I think, as it takes one variable out of the equation making it easier to make comparisons between countries. Although the requirement of set questions need not be adhered to rigorously.
The language is English and I would hope the responses would also be in English but it is not essential. Let’s see you – that is the most important thing!
Below are the questions I would like to ask and my version of a video — the sort of thing I am thinking of ;). If you can add or amend to the topics, please leave a comment.
Update: I have added a higher quality version:
A video response should be no longer than about 2 minutes and your cat should be in as well at some stage if possible 😉
The Guideline topics:
- What is your name?
- Where do you live? Which country and do you live in or out of town?
- Do you live alone or with a family? If so how many people are their in the family?
- How many cats do you live with? What is his name or what are their names?
- What sort of cats are they (moggie or purebred?)?
- What sort of home do you live in?
- Does your cat go out and if so how is the situation managed?
- What are the dangers to your cat?
- Do you have access to a veterinarian? If so, how good is she?
- What food do you feed your cat?
- Does you cat use a cat litter toilet or go outside to the toilet? What sort of litter is it?
With the object of keeping things as simple and as straightforward as possible those are the questions that come to my mind. If the person responds in a video (s)he can read them from their computer while being filmed.
The difficulty is finding people to interview! However, PoC does have worldwide connections to a certain extent. Here is a starting list:
- India – Rudolph Furtado
- Netherlands – Dani Roseboom
- USA – Ruth (Monty’s Mom)
- Brazil – Giane Portal (fofurasfelinas – famous cat photographer)
- England – Kattaddorra perhaps?
- Switzerland – Marc
That is a short list 😉 However, it is a start and it can be built on over time. I would like feedback on this idea if people have time.
I don’t know if this idea will work but:
- at least we can do some interviews and
- it might be fun trying to get the lot (or even ten!)
hi michael id be happy to do this with photos and the Questions listed. As im sure people would appreciate a different view from new zealand. will have to plan what im gonna put.
We would like to know more about the cats of New Zealand. I don’t mind how it is done but an interview with say a cat rescue person or a cat breeder etc. (or any cat lover especially a prominent person) would be great if you can do it. I like to explore the cat world and not be confined to the UK and USA.
Ill see what i can do.
Might be able to see the local spca thats down here. Or might have to wait till im doing some volunteer work there. as still waiting
I’m trying to persuade Kylee to do an interview with herself lol like I did
https://pictures-of-cats.org/Interview-with-Ruth-aka-Kattaddorra.html
I’d love to hear more about how cats live in NZ and see photos of her garden etc ..
I find personal stories more interesting than breeders stories although I do enjoy both.
Michael, I’ll do one, after I get my house cleaned. I can send videos directly for my iPhone, but they have to be shorter than two minutes. I thought I might do four thirty second videos in different areas, like Monty’s back yard, in his room, maybe the front room where he looks out the window or the back room where he naps in the sun and the basement stairs. He always sits on the landing, like he’s keeping watch. It would equal two minutes if you don’t mind putting it all together. I’ll even remember to have Jeff hold the camera horizontally.
I thought maybe I could end the video with Monty chasing me up the steps to my sister’s apartment, a place Monty is not allowed in, but he desperately wants to be! He is curious about Kobe, my sister’s cat. Maybe I could get her to do one on her cat Kobe! She’s very good looking and would be able to do a nice interview, but she can be shy. I will try.
That sounds really good. Don’t forget to video horizontally 😉 It would be great to see a quintessential American cat loving household in operation! That is what I really after I guess; a feel for what it is like for the domestic cat in various countries. Just getting the feel of his environment and how he lives is the objective. Look forward to it. Thanks by the way.
I love your videos Michael.
We have no means to make a video, our camera with that facility has had its day and passed away. However I would be willing to put photos of our home and our cats and us and our gardens etc on a poster and make an article of it answering the questions.
You could eventually have a page for everyone who comes to PoC, who wanted to participate of course, if they sent you pics and their thoughts.
I’d like that Ruth as an example of a classic cat loving home in England. I believe you and Babz are a very good example of English cat ownership in the classic mold.
Michael,
Both of your vids are lovely.
I think this is a great idea. The challenge I see for getting a set of videos (preferred) is that people not as tech savvy as you are might have trouble figuring out how to make a video of themselves, and might not have the means to do so.
Maybe you could post an example of an ideal written interview, using yourself as the subject.
You are too kind… 😉 When are you going to do one? Ohh..ahhhh..
I agree it is a big ask. I have this vision of a woman in Senegal who has two cats and a couple of kids and she makes a rough and ready video of her life with her cats. That would appeal to me. It would shed some light into the dark corners of the world where there are cats and people and I want to know about it. It would be good for them to.
Hello Michael.I don’t have to answer your questions since by now you might be having a dossier of my cat articles contributed to “P.O.C” as i have been the only regular contributor from India..An excellent way to get some idea of cat owners from different country’s although it doesn’t represent the majority of the cat owners of that particular Country.You can check this video of mine made a few years ago in which i introduce my cats:-http://youtu.be/j9BsXtWY7Ek
Thanks Rudolph. What we probably should do it make a composite video using your material. I’ll see if I get time to do that. It is your contributions that gave me the idea. We need to see people in places like India and Africa, Russia and South America talking about their cats. I want to know what it is like for cats in these places. The world should know. There is too much focus on the USA really.