Pictures of bodega cats enjoying warmth from machines

Bodega cats are famous. Particularly the New York bodega cats. And domestic cats are famously attracted to sources of warmth. The shops might get quite chilly during the winter with the front door open. And all devices on standby, as they must be in a shop, will emit heat. This includes freezers and chillers which are based upon a heat exchange system. Heat is removed from the inside of a chiller and emitted to the outside. The cat will find the source of that heat as one of the photographs below illustrates. An added benefit for a cat is a high vantage point.

I thought that it made a nice series of photographs illustrating a particular sort of domestic cat behaviour under a certain and particular circumstance which is shops’ cats surviving as best they can and forming a close relationship with the shops’ owners.

Bodega cat enjoys the heat from a machine on the shop's counter
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

bodega cat enjoys the heat from a machine on the shop’s counter. The photograph was in the public domain in my opinion.

The concept of bodega cats is, I think, excellent. It is a way for community cats to survive. The only downside that I see is that I doubt whether the shops’ owners fork out money to take these cats to a veterinarian when required. I don’t know if that is a fair assessment.

The problem with community cats is that they are cared for in terms of being provided with food and shelter but are they cared for when they become ill? That is the true test. Is a shop owner going to take their bodega cat to a veterinarian and perhaps fork out thousand dollars. We don’t hear about that, but it is a question which comes to my mind.

The number one article on bodega cats on the Internet as selected by Google does not refer to health issues and whether these cats are provided with adequate veterinary care when required. The author does point to the fact that bodega cats are kept as “pets” by shop owners in order to keep down the rat and mice population. So, this is a classic mutually beneficial relationship but how far does it go? Does it extend to veterinary care? I know I am harping on here but that’s the big point that needs to be examined.

I love bodega cats whatever the answer. I love working cats actually as is it good for both cat and human. I feel that the domestic cat’s life can be a little too static and unadventurous when keep indoors full-time as they must be sometimes for the sake of their health. But what about their overall welfare?

Below are some more pages on working cats.

Stationmaster cat Tama

Stationmaster Cat – world’s most celebrated ‘working cat’

This is a revisit of Tama, the much-celebrated stationmaster cat who brought fame and profit to a failing railway line ...
Sweet grey cat on shoulders on woman with dyed ginger hair in a store

Hairy, gray wandering cat on shoulders of woman (?) with brightly dyed ginger hair in a store!

The tweet reads: "This little one came into my store today (not my cat). Meet Rubber! He enjoyed yelling and ...
Mouse plague of Australia

Australia is killing all their feral cats and now they have a mouse plague

It is said that Australia's out-of-control mouse plague could last for up to 2 years unless the government takes urgent ...
Googleplex headquarters in Mountain View, California looking like a holiday camp!

Googleplex should be compartmentalized into cat and dog areas

Officially, Google is a dog company. This is speciesism. And it is very high-profile speciesism but the reason that the ...
Mice invasion in NSW Australia

Wake up Australians! Use the community cat to fight the plague of mice in New South Wales

NEWS AND COMMENT: what is shocking about this story is that it tells us about a plague of mice in ...
Tortie Bodega cat among the Tortillas

Best pictures of Bodega cats

There are some excellent pictures of Bodega cats on Facebook. They really do capture the spirit of the community of ...
Useful tag. Click to see the articles: Cat behavior

Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.
Useful links
Anxiety - reduce it
FULL Maine Coon guide - lots of pages
Children and cats - important

Michael Broad

Hi, I'm a 74-year-old retired solicitor (attorney in the US). Before qualifying I worked in many jobs including professional photography. I love nature, cats and all animals. I am concerned about their welfare. If you want to read more click here.

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1 Response

  1. tamara says:

    I remember the bodega cats when we went to the Mexico side of Nogales, every store, bar and restaurant had one. 🙂 and I never saw mice or rats.

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