Dream on….the cat village in three pictures. These were inspired by Ruth’s (Kattaddorra) idea of creating a cat village. It is fun thinking about it, even though it will remain a dream. Although, I did have the idea of turning the concept into an internet community-style game. You know what I mean, one of those reality games where you adopt a persona or even become a cat ;).
The Entrance
The first picture is what the entrance to the cat village might look like; very classy and special and even a tourist attraction because it would be unique in the world and the first of its kind.
Inside
Inside, there would be paths, lots of wild nature, meadow-like areas and some roads (for deliveries) but no cars. There would be parking outside the complex. The village would have zoned areas, one of which is called the “Calico Community”. These are the fiery, opinionated ailurophiles.
The Ambiance
The ambiance is one of calm enhanced by the scent of honeysuckle with a whiff of catnip, both of which grow in copious quantities. Honeysuckle acts a bit like catnip and catnip is multipurpose. There is also matatabi, silvervine and valerian in large numbers. All of these make cats feel nice. If the cats feel nice so do the human inhabitants.
Catnip
Catnip is a central feature in the cat village because not only is it fun for the cats, catnip tea can be bought at the café that is a part of the complex. Catnip tea is very good for people as it helps to keep the village harmonious despite the shenanigans of the calico community who like to get their own way on everything. You know what they say about calico cats.
The chemical in catnip called nepetalactone produces a sedative-like affects in humans. It is good for insomnia and headaches and to calm the nerves before telling a visitor/tourist to move her car, please, as cars are out of bounds in the cat village.
One enlightened day, there just maybe something like a cat village. It would be popular. There would be an over-subscription from outsiders who wanted to live in the village. Of course there would because it would be so beautiful and harmonious.
Kattaddorra would be the chief vetting agent. Only the very best could get in. There would be weekly get-togethers in the village café on cat welfare and how to change the world. There would also be an onsite veterinarian serving the community and those outside it. Dream on…
Note: the photoshopped pictures show Beverly Hills, USA. They were the most suitable and available. It looks like a nice place.
Cat Village I want to live in you please.
It is a good place where there is harmony, peace and pleasantness. You are welcome.
Yes there usually turns out to be a serpent in every Garden of Eden thanks to us, the human race 🙁
Can’t avoid it. The poor human. He is sadly defective.
Michael I love your pictures and your thoughts on our Cat Village and yes only the best people would get in. They would have to pass the Kattaddorra test (first question…do you adore cats?)to prove they really do love cats, I think we could easily make up a panel of expert interviewers from PoC lol
Thanks Ruth. It is a bit of fun. Dreaming of something better. The people would probably mess it up unless catnip stopped them 😉
Oh Ruth, I love your ideas, esp. your Cat Village. I think it would be lovely to post a page here titled “The Kattaddorra Test,” with postings from your panel of expert PoC interviewers. Thank you so much for creating this beautiful, heavenly “Village.” And Marc might want to design the cemetary/park? It would be important to have tributes and monuments, wouldn’t it? (even though it is such a difficult task–it doesn’t have to be depressing. it might be uplifting! 🙂 )
Hi Caroline, yes that’s a good idea for another article, I’ll have to think it out and yes of course we would need a cemetery, we could have one where we were buried and our cats could be too, because death is the natural ending of life, sad as it is, it happens to us all.
I think our PoC family will have lots of suggestions as to the questions to ask to ensure only true cat lovers pass ‘The Kattaddorra test’ and came to live in Cat Village.
I think the best cat people are those who learn as much as they can about cats but are not afraid to admit they don’t know it all, but are willing to listen and learn more for the good of cats.
That could be the title of Michael’s first talk in the Community Centre ‘For the Good of Cats’
🙂
Nice idea. Caring for cats is about people and, as you say, people who are open to learn and humble enough to recognise the cat as an equal.
It would be fun discussing cats in the “cat cafe seminar room” (just off the main area). Books, cats, the smell of nature and coffee and scrambled eggs and bacon 😉
Sorry about the bacon. I was raised badly on the wrong foods. I know I should be vegetarian. I am almost. I eat a lot of veggie pots these days.
Don’t worry Michael, we will invite you for breakfast and soon convert you to Quorn bacon, no it doesn’t taste the same as real bacon but it’s fat free and the delicious smell lingers in your kitchen for hours after you’ve fried it, in a drop of veggie oil of course.
We would have the Quorn chef’s special sausages with it, they truly taste like real pork sausages and yes scrambled eggs from our free range rescue battery hens.
Mushrooms we have picked from our own fields, tomatoes grown in our greenhouse, hash browns, toast……..
What a good idea. The Kattaddorra Test. The standard would be high. Many would fail. There would be bribery and attempted corruption to get into the famous Cat Village. I say attempted because Kattaddorra would stop it 😉
Cat Village would not be utopia but it would be better than what we have now as ailurophiles. I’d like a high wall all around it so we knew the cats were safe. It need not be that well organised. It just needs the basics to be right. We’d would see that they were.
Yes bribery and attempted corruption would fail badly and yes we must have a high wall to keep our cats safe. They will have everything they need in our village so they won’t want to stray far anyway.
I expect people who didn’t understand how happy we were would call us ‘The Crazy Cat People of the Crazy Cat Village’ lol
Who would care ? Not moi 😉
Go for it Marc while you are young enough, don’t let the years go by while you dream of doing something like most of us do…DO IT…
I dreamed all my life of a Cat Rescue Shelter but fate and lack of money got in the way.
Now at 65 all I have left is dreams because at my age I know I never will be able to afford it and anyway I wouldn’t have the physical stamina to do the job properly and it’s no good starting what you can’t finish.
There will be someone who will share your dream and you can make it become reality together.
Babz and I share our dream now of when she can retire in 6 years time, finding a nice little bungalow to rent in a peaceful cat friendly village, that’s all we ask for now.
Good luck 🙂
I think the grass should be left to grow longer and have wildflower seeds thrown in each year. People and cats would make paths. I don’t like the thought that it’s an unobtainable dream. I’m only 36, I have time, maybe I can do something. I made a comment on the first article about this suggesting people who like cats – say a few, couples or whatever, could decide to buy an old farm together or somehow buy houses next to eachother with nice big gardens and agree to put a cat proof fence around the combined properties. Not exactly a village but a really nice little paradise where cats could go where they please and from house to house within the compound/ranch/house/cul-de-sac or whatever it is. If I met a person like me I would totally do it. There must be people up for it in most areas. Maybe near me I could find at least another person… I just love the idea. It’s nicer for the cats to have more people. Even cats who can go outdoors when they want tend to want people alot if they can get them. I remember Red was always out and about but nothing made him happier than if I came outside with him and we played in the garden together. He would give up all his duties and perimeter checks if I was outside.
The last day of June will be one year. I am dreading it. It’s amazing how much I still miss him. I guess I put so much of myself into him and he spent so much time playing with me, I guess putting himself into me therefore, that we were connected very strongly. It’s amazing the size of the hole that is left and it’s still very hard to accept that it is for good and he is not coming back.
Something like a cat village or cat safe place, a little paradise for cats, is something I want that comes directly from Red. He showed me what a happy cat needs and wants and I know I need to make it happen in my life so other cats can have the freedom and happiness he had. But it’s also selfish because there’s nothing that would make me happier than to be a part of that happy fun time playing outside together.
IF there are others like me I’d love to join forces and get the land and place set up. It’s a dream for now. But I am saving up for it so it’s slightly real.
Nice. The way you say it, you make it possible. Something modest and organic rather than a development. That is probably the way to make it work.
In the right place with the right basic infrastructure that requires a bit of fine tuning, it could work.
I am up for it….. 😉
Marc, could I be the B&B lady? Every room would be furnished with sterling cat plates and bowls, wide windowsills with pillows, and genuine sunshine. There might be catdoors that lead from the room to an inner sanctuary, an atrium, designed specifically for the feline’s pleasure, “A Secret Garden.” Where the beloved felines could relieve themselves, in a very special sandbox, and treats would be dispensed once he/she scratched over the sand.
They would be served breakfast in bed, of entrees like Poached Eggs with Rare Salmon, Free Range Chicken Thighs with peas and Rice Pilaf for lunch, and a Steak Tartare for Supper.
The B&B would be named, “The Cat House,” and might attract catadorers from round the world, maybe? 🙂
What I wanted to say actually, is that I am very sorry about your pain dealing with the loss of Red. No cat can replace him, obviously. But. I hope that you get yourself another red male tabby–they are so sweet, aren’t they? I’m sorry for your loss, Marc, you poor dear! You were the best thing that happened in his life, remember that he loves you, forever… Bless his heart and soul!
Thanks Caroline – it’s very kind of you to say so – I guess it’s just hard because it’s coming around to a year. I remember this time last year when the weather was getting warmer and all the leaves were out on the trees how excited he was with all the new life springing up around him. We’d had a cold winter and he was finally coming around to being a year old and back in a season he was familiar with for the first time around. He was so very happy and excited and it was such a pleasure to see and share that with him. I guess I am going to take the last day of June off if it’s not a weekend because I can already feel it’s going to be a day where I need some time to go up and plant some flowers on his grave and I’ll reserve the whole day for that so I can stay up there for the day. It’s a pretty little spot where his mama and grandma live – there will be lots of kittens running around too because they were just born in the last few weeks. His little brothers and sisters basically. At least he’s not alone.
Sounds like your bed and breakfast would be wonderful. Of course the cats could go where they pleased through little cat doors and they could help themselves to whatever is cooking as long as it’s healthy for them 🙂 I really hope one day I am going to live out of town a bit and have a perfect place for cats to spend time and have everything Red had but without the dangers of the road. It’s actually in it’s simplest form a very basic and small dream to wish for. It doesn’t require anything out of the ordinary and yet it’s everything I could possibly want really. Spending a little over a year with Red and watching him grow up with freedom to enjoy the nature and outdoors all around him was such a wonderful experience and it made me realize just what simple little things make me happy. It gave me a goal. Ironically I chose the place I live in for him more than me and he loved it but the road proved to be the an impossibility if it is to really be the right place. It was a failure, or a mistake. It was otherwise perfect and he loved his new home when we moved in. It all worked out very nicely because he had his access outside. I spent nearly a year looking for the right place on the ground floor etc etc. It was a lesson learned and it has allowed me to have a better and more full proof plan. It’s not going to be easy to sort out and may take some time. For now I have the goal of building a catio on my balcony to mark the one year since he died. It’s the only positive way to take a step forward in the right direction. I’ve never had indoor cats until that day last year and it’s been a learning experience. It’s hard for them but one day they will get their freedom and it will have been worth keeping them safe.
Don’t…you are getting my imagination going. I like that food and the sunshine and smell of wet earth and cut grass and meadow flowers….
The Cat House would be part of the village for visitors, guests and tourists.