Hello, Kitty

Life ain't the same without Kitty. I'm not allowed to keep pets in my apartment (ok, maybe goldfish), so I miss having a warm furball next to me while I'm watching TV or hogging the blankets when I'm sleeping. While I was in Tokyo though, I was brought to the Ikebukuro branch of Tokyu Hands, the top floor of which houses 20 cats of different breeds, all living in the same place. I wonder how they manage it, because cats are territorial loners, but they seem to get along without any major fights.

It cost ¥600 to enter Nekobukuro, but I got a discount voucher to the value of ¥100 for my next visit. As with any responsible animal display area, we were asked to swab our hands with disinfectant gel before we handled the cats. Once inside though, we were allowed to play with the cats so long as we didn't do it too roughly.

The entire place was laid out to provide the cats with plenty of high ground to stalk, and even holes in the wall for them to access other rooms without having to come to ground level. This one however preferred to use the hole in the wall as a pillow:

Since cats prefer running water because they think it's fresher (hah), even the drinking bowls were high tech. That's a kitty fountain you see in the pic below:

Ain't that the life?

Now I mentioned there were 20 cats in the same place, but not all of them are allowed to run free in Nekobukuro at any one time. A few of them were taking a break from the crowd behind glass on the day we went, including a pair of huge Maine Coons and a tiny Singapura. However, I did see signs about the place saying that people could ask for photos with specific cats (requests by name, no less), so I think I might be able to get a pic with the ones that were resting on my next visit. ^^

Here are a few of the characters we did meet:




This guy was asleep through the whole time I was there, even though he was constantly being petted by all the other visitors:

All prime LOLcat material XD

You might be wondering why they all seem to be fairly comatose. Cats do sleep for a majority of the day since they don't need to spend time foraging, so I reckon it's pretty normal. Those that were awake were moved too fast to capture clearly on my dinky point-and-shoot camera, so I gave up after a while.

I kinda wish I was allowed to keep a pet, but seeing as my landlord probably wouldn't appreciate shredded curtains or fixtures marked with piss, it' probably for the best I suppose. Maybe I'll look for one when I actually find a more permanent place to settle in. Hmm... I wonder if Kitty would like to come stay with me again? ^^