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Purrfect day

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On the prowl in Roppongi

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Night club Kitteh :)

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Anyone read this yet? http://www.japansubculture.com/curfew-for-pussy-cats/

Cat cafés are forced to close sooner due to a law that was designed to target pet shops. Lots of pics taken by an allergic photographer.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I'm not a big fan of cats, but I like this photo.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Meow!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

So many stray cats in Tokyo, lots of them really friendly and attention starved. Yet people here still would rather shell out 200,000+ yen to buy a cat from their yakuza run pet shops.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Not sure how he/she composed this photo, but they did a first-rate job.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Great shot.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Isnt that what Roppongi is for?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

neko looks in good condition and contented ears forward looking very sharp

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Too many stray cats in Japan. I remember most of the strays near my apartment being diseased, sickly, and downright annoying. Kind of wish they would do something about it.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Sadly ferel cats lead horrible miserable SHORT lives, the people who feed them perpetuate their misery, but far too many do feed them, leave garbage out when what they should do is either NOTHING or take one or two in as pets FIX them & take proper care of them.

The life of a ferel cat is one you wudnt want to live!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@GW, in Japan, it's easier said than done... if you take two as pets, be prepared to pay in excess of $400 to have them fixed. Here in the states some charities do it for free. But there's nothing wrong with feeding ferals. I do it.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Why make the assumption this is a stray cat? The only conclusion I make is that it's very good photo of a cat. Nothing more.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Sorry Remzz, if your feeding them you are part of the problem, your helping them proliferate.

I just had my dog & 2cats get their shots, flea stuff etc for just under Y30,000 for all 3, yeah getting them fixed aint cheap but there are some ways to cut costs, one of the biggest problems in Japan is they DONT fix their cats/dogs & here we are.

Again if your feeding them your directly contributing to more cats being born to miserable lives, no sugar coating it. If you want to help take one as a pet, or catch a few & have them fixed & release then BUT DO NOT FEED THEM!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Go to the shag cafe!!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@GW: The stray cats have the right to live their lives. I'm actually thankful that there are people giving them food. At the very least, this army of cats keep the rats in check, can you imagine a world without cats where rats are all over the streets? Cats and dogs are part of my life. Wish them all the warmest love.

By the way, cute pic after a Caturday (thanks Weasel for improvising this word d(^_^)b )

0 ( +4 / -4 )

looks exactly like my cat, tail and everything.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

great shot, great sunday beginning.

if you're worried about expenses for animal "fixing" surgery, we have "zero no kai" (ゼロの会) in Kansai, I think it also exists in other big cities (or groups like it, call the kansai one and ask if they have info for your city). Google it. males fixing is 5000, females 10,000, shots also cheaper than regular places. It is oriented toward strays (hence the name zero) and they will even provide you with a loaner cage/trap to get your favorite stray and bring it in to do surgery. They are safe and clean. What's more, they don't care if you bring in a pet. i.e., same cheap price if it is your pet. (Because people with pets are causing the stray cat problem by either losing their pet, kicking them out, or letting it get pregnant and then leaving the kittens on a corner somewhere). They did my 3 pet cats and all three are healthy and impregnable! THey do dogs too.

re feeding, quite a few of the "cat ladies" ppl seem to be complaining about know about this zero no kai and bring in their adopted park cats to get them shots and fixed. Furthermore, feeding and caring for strays reduces garbage raiding and fighting and other unpleasant activities that increase disease and nuisance. I recommend feeding. (Fact is, one male and one female can become something like 1,000 cats in 2 years. Doesn't matter if you feed them, they will find garbage and rodents enough to last long enough to reproduce. Feeding is better).

To wrap up ON TOPIC, this cat looks healthy, good coat, and may be a pet, or well-cared for by the cat ladies. But I hope s/he gets/ is fixed!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Pestilence 10 meters 5 rounds rapid fire, fire!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I wonder if the cat gets harangued by Nigerian touts to come in to my bar?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I took in a stray bobtail last year, and wikid Japanese bobtails (which this one looks like) to find out about them. Turns out that alert, upright ear thing is part of a bobtail's makeup, and they are a very intelligent breed. Mine is no exception - she can open her own packets of kibble to snack on, and taught me to play Fetch one day. I have taken in 8 homeless cats in Japan - not all of them survived, as people often dump newborns in the street. I wish there were more information about ゼロの会, and I wish it were nationwide - vets' bills are exorbitant. Shop around when you're looking for a vet's, though - I have found the difference in charges to be as much as 20 thous and for a neutering. Some of them really are scam artists. I am in the pro-feeding camp in this debate - regular feeding keeps them from wandering, and keeps them healthy, and I know where to look for them.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Here's the ゼロの会Kansai phone number/ address Probably no English, but you never know...

住所 京都府京都市北区衣笠東御所ノ内町60-14 地図はこちらから TEL 075-462-3505

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Thanks Lowly!

I'll definitely keep them in mind :)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Well that cat doesn't have to worry about getting hit by a bicycle or other two wheeled vehicle.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Sorry folks feeding ferel cats only makes PEOPLE feel good, the cats increase in numbers meaning more competition, more deaths, more disease, point blank its irresponsible.

Fix them, take some in as a pet but feeding only means I see more emaciated flea bitten, pregnant, & in the end dead cats, people who feed ferel cats do so whether you realize it or not for selfish reasons, you only make the problems worse not better, lots of good ideas in this thread but feeding aint one of them

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Grand advice there from GW, telling people not to do what they are doing (ie feeding feral cats), and telling them what to do instead.

Me, I'm quite happy to continue doing something, be it keeping families of cats fed, or taking in cats. At least I'm doing something, even if you disagree with what I'm doing.

What is it that you non-feeders like GW are actually doing about this problem, then? Apart from doling out advice, I mean... Oh, that's right.

NOTHING.

Way to go to change a bad situation.

(Too heavy-handed with the bold ? Nah.)

Anyhoo, this cat is probably a street cat, or part-owned by a neighbourhood business. Domestic cats wouldn't be allowed out would they? Not without a collar?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@Stephen Jez Looks like you have a "police" dog (sunglasses) to take care of the problem.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

gw

couldn't disagree with you more. but I already said why. unfed they are more likely to make a mess of garbage, go into ppls homes/ restaurant kitchens to steal, and worst of all fight over food. that is worst because that is where a lot of the disease you are complaining about comes from, open wounds getting infected, transmition of aids and other diseases from kitty to kitty from saliva and claws etc. fed, fights go down, complaining noises (yowling) go down, stomach diseases from rotten food go down. they are not going to suddenly somehow magically stop reproducing because they didn't get kitty food. they will find garbage, rodents, bugs, birds, carcases of said, and reproduce in spite of your wishes (4-6 times a year). I know this because I live in a dense urban center. The neighborhoods where no one feeds the strays have just as many as where they are fed.

That said, the only stray I feed is the mother of my cats, and only if she comes to my window and asks. I couldn't be bothered to take care of anonymous cats in streets. But I think it would be nice if the chounaikai organizations would take responsibility and get their neighborhood cats fixed and feed them to keep things sanitary, instead of turning up their noses frowning and putting up those stupid ugly pet bottles of water everywhere.

Maria- Jpan like everywhere , cats that are allowed out go out, and those not allowed only go out when the owner slips up. There are certainly not regulations about collars, but if you have an indoor cat and it escapes you, collarless, it is more likely to meet with human violence (ppl who hate them pour boiling water on them to turn them away, collect them to kill them, etc.). My cats won't stand a collar, and so have none. This cat in the pic, who knows???

4 ( +4 / -0 )

I'm an avid cat lover, and actually I agree that more important than feeding cats is neutering cats. Some places you can get it done for 5,000 yen. It's not cheap, but if you can participate in some "trap, neuter, release" program, you're doing an amazing thing. I'm really not against feeding cats, I do it all the time, but of course the repercussions are more stray cats. If you have a little extra money and want to help stop stray cats, capture the cat, get it neutered, keep it for a few days so it can heal and let it go again - that'll actually help loads in the stray cat problem.

And if you have a friend who says they want to breed their cat because it would be cute to see the kittens, do another good deed and punch them in the face.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

A- Yes, getting them fixed is most important. But more cats is not a repercussion of feeding them. Healthier cats is the only repercussion.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

What is it that you non-feeders like GW are actually doing about this problem, then? Apart from doling out advice, I mean... Oh, that's right.

NOTHING.

AH well you wud be HIGHLY incorrect, not surprised, growing up I never had cats, didnt want'em. Fastforward to Japan I had a dachshund who while out walking found a box of kittens(probably ditched by someone who fed ferel cats!), took them home, found homes for two, kept the other two, got them fixed, they get their shots.

BUT I DONT FED FEREL CATS, because to fed them is to KILL THEM(or the kittens they produce), do you folks have any idea how short the life of a ferel cat is, if you dont its short, miserable, disease ridden life, simple facts of a ferel cat, so again to fed them is to kill'em, you aint doing them or future kittens ANY FAVORS!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_cat

It shud be simple, but clearly for some its not, sadly for ferel cats!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

sorry, don't agree. already said what I had to say.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@Lowly: well said. Feeding them only helps them get healthier, and thus less diseases, less troubles. I used to take in abandoned kittens too, while I was in my home country. Now all I can do is to feed feral cats whenever I can.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Always contemplated setting traps for them near my garbage and turning the ones I caught into the local animal shelter.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Sorry folks feeding ferel cats only makes PEOPLE feel good, the cats increase in numbers meaning more competition, more deaths, more disease, point blank its irresponsible. Fix them, take some in as a pet but feeding only means I see more emaciated flea bitten, pregnant, & in the end dead cats, people who feed ferel cats do so whether you realize it or not for selfish reasons, you only make the problems worse not better, lots of good ideas in this thread but feeding aint one of them

Huh?

Half the strays i feed (here in the US) are fixed. My main cat is, a former stray, though she's not allowed in the house, but there's more than one kitty bed on the balcony, so i feel it's fair. I don't see what's wrong with feeding fixed strays, esp the males, who are no longer able to fight for themselves without all that testosterone.....

No, they don't get pregnant, if they are fixed and i feed them. If you have an issue with dead cats (roadkill), take a garbage bag and collect it, before it gets run over twice and sprays guts all over the pavement. Call animal control and leave it out for them to pick up. Simple.

Most of my strays are too skittish to take in as pets, unless you want something that poops under the couch and only comes out to eat. They are fine on the streets, where they at least take care of the rodent problem. They are beautiful and well fed, all 6 of them. If i took them to a shelter, they'd get euthanized the same day for not being friendly enough to adopt.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

In Japan.. there is a real problem with feral cats. It comes from apathy, people not understanding, choosing not to care (just my observation). It is counter intuitive but DO NOT feed them. It creates a bigger problem. (In Japan; most cats -incl house cats are not fixed). Simply, hungry cats do no propagate.

Do you like cats and have time? Play and socialize them. Catch-spay/neuter-release. Get your neighbours involved. Find a sympathetic vet. Some people you'll never win over. That's sad, but with people you do find it can make a big difference to an area.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Now that's a real catwalk. It would put the Naomi Campbell's of the fashion world to shame.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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