Tamara Sheward packs her kit bag and checks out five destinations that are the cat’s pyjamas for feline fetishists. (Did you know Ernest Hemingway called them ‘love sponges’?)
CAT ISLAND, JAPAN
Worship cats? Then you’ll be in good company on Tashirojima Island. Home to a cat shrine, 50-odd cat-shaped stone monuments and numerous buildings with pointy ears and whiskers, the island’s fisherfolk (who number far fewer than the feline population) believe that being kind to kitties brings good fortune. Go it alone or share the smooches on a cat lovers’ tour.
Back on the mainland, drop into any one of Tokyo’s 40-plus kitty cafes. Drink coffee! Play with cats! Be prepared to battle for the cream, though.
FESTIVAL OF THE CATS, BELGIUM
This one presents a bit of quandary for cat-folks. On the one hand, the festival (Kattenstoet) recalls and reenacts the hurling of cats from a belfry tower – the old “witchcraft” chestnut – an ancient ritual that puts the “evil” in “medieval”. But the modern event smacks of pussy payback: the “cats” thrown today are stuffed toys, and an elaborate parade pays homage to the mighty meowser with enormous cat floats, cat-shion shows and jaunty marching bands. Kattenstoet, a tri-annual event, will be held May 7th-8th, 2022.
HEMINGWAY HOME, USA
So, only lonely girls in embarrassing pyjamas and chubby chick-lit writers dig cats, hey? Dare you to travel back in time and say that to Ernest Hemingway’s face. The toughest, roughest, blokiest bastard ever to smash a typewriter was so smitten by kittens that he called them “love sponges”. “Papa” owned scores of cats, but it was the six-toed Snowball whose legacy lives on at Hemmy’s Key West estate: this popular tourist destination is home to at least 50 polydactyl pusses all descended from the white Maine Coon.
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KUCHING, BORNEO
Kuching means “Cat City” in Malaysian, so it’s pretty much guaranteed nobody will twirl their finger at their temple when they hear you shrieking “Pusspusspuss ooooh cutie kitty!” (or highbrow exclamations to that regard) when you stumble across a backstreet moggie. The cleanest city in Malaysia – but of course – Kuching is home to a staggeringly comprehensive Cat Museum (enter through the gaping cat maw), a research centre focussed on cat-based religions and idiotically adorable (righto: “kitsch”) cat statues dotted across town.
EGYPT
The Sphinx. Cat mummies. The cult of Bastet. Egypt is ground zero for femmes with a feline fancy. But you’re a crazy – sorry: “enamoured” – cat lady, so you knew that already. A gazillion tomb paintings – many which depict contented kitties lording it over their ladies (sound familiar?) – are on offer, as are decorative cat statues, all of which will be batted off the mantelpiece by your fave feline when you get home.
