In it for the Squee

If a stray cat is extremely friendly to humans, that is the first major sign that it may belong to someone else. 

We would like to think of ourselves as cat whisperers. We love cats, we try to pet each and every one that we see, and every once in a while, we encounter ones who… let us. Those rare extra-friendly stray cats who, for some reason, love human attention. We pet them, and we feel like we are on top of the world. But we know that this is rare. We know that friendly stray cats are few and far between, and even those friendly ones probably feel some trepidation toward humans.

If a stray cat approaches you, from our experience, it is usually for one of a few reasons. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones who gets adopted by a stray cat. That happens. Or maybe the stray is a pregnant momma cat in need of help. Happens too, more often than you'd think. Or maybe, just maybe, that friendly stray belongs to someone else. It's an option that you have to think about. Extreme friendliness in strays points to a lack of fear, and that lack of fear has to come from somewhere. It is your duty to try to find that someone else before you start making claims. 

Look, we're simple feline-loving folks. When we learn about another type of cat in the world, we're happy there's more Cat™ to love.

But it's not just about loving another type of cat we've just discovered. You see, learning about another wild cat isn't just a sub-hobby for cat lovers. And it's also not mere education, since this can be done by simply scrolling through and reading about anything. We feel that as true cat lovers, it's our responsibility to immerse ourselves in these cats' lore, to spread awareness of their meowgnificent lives, and maybe, just maybe, help spread the word about their endangerment around.

Loving your house cat endlessly is never a bad idea. Loving other wild cats, admiring them from afar, is also never a bad idea. Especially because some of them, like the Chinese Mountain Cat that's presented in all its glory below, are so rare that we're not even sure how many of them are there on Earth! Ready to discover one of the most mysterious cats on this planet? Journey with us to the east.

Cat memes will flip your frown when you're feeling down.

Source? Trust us, friends. Seriously. If you're here, you're pawbably a feline lover, which means that one look at a cat can boost your mood from zero to 100 very quickly. If there's one thing we know for sure in this world, it's that the best way to move throughout your day is with funies, feline content, and a bunch of friends to keep you company! If those friends are felines, even better.

We hoomans are getting cabin fever. We haven't had a warm day in ages, and the last time we didn't have the heat on in our homes was in October. Save us, summertime. Our cats need us to open our windows so they can hear the birds chirp and feel the warmth of the spring sun on their fluffy backs. While we're awaiting greener, warmer days, indulge in some furry purry feline comedy. It can only help!

Knowing he had a scaredy cat since day one, this cat lover did everything in his power to make his kitty feel comfortable in his apartment, so when the mom and 8-year-old down the hall started insisting on pet playdates with the cat, he drew a hard line in the sand to keep his feline comfortable. 

Scaredy cats are tough to lure out of hiding. Like wild animals, scared cats are spooked by every new sound, every weird smell, and every unknown touch. It can take a cat lover months, even years, to coax the loving purrsonality out of a cat that they know is hiding behind their fear. It's no wonder cats are scared of so much; they're tiny little beings! Although they may not realize it, cats are powerful critters, but they are tiny morsels that could easily become hurt or spooked by the big-bad outside world. It's for this reason that many rescue kitties are traumatized by anything new. 

But when a cat, especially a scared rescue, decides that they trust you and are willing to love you back, cat lovers have made it to the magnum opus of their pspsps achievements. Nothing can take away the bond between a once-skittish cat and the cat lover who taught them to love again. 

This is why the man in the next story was so adamant against a pushy mother. Although it was sweet at first when the little girl down the hall took interest in his feline, their playdates and 20-minute play sessions were starting to degrade the kitty's feeble confidence. The cat's behavior and comfort started to backslide, and he was hiding and hissing again. So the man did all he could to protect his rescue cat, deciding that the little girl could no longer come over and play with the cat. 

It's not that the little girl was being rough or mean to the kitten; this rescue was just not ready for anymore strangers in its life, and it yearned for the companionship of only one hooman: The cat lover who saved it in the first place.