Cats from Felanitx {Mallorca}

These cats live 509 meters above sea level, in Felanitx, in the southeast of Mallorca. 

Their home is in every tourist guide, and they enjoy fantastic views of the sea and the inland. Yet they have their own little world here. 

Thousands of people go to Felanitx every day - cyclists, hikers, and tourists arriving in cars or buses. They photograph the Santuari de Sant Salvador and its views. They come, they go, and they come back.

It was late in the afternoon when I met the cats of the Santuari de Sant Salvador. 

The buses were gone and it was too windy for cyclists to stay. 

I didn't see the cats at first, because they hid in the meadows and bushes below the observation deck at the Christ King monument. This was their turf. After a while, they came out to soak up the sunshine and to warm their bodies on the stones.

They were probably stray cats. Since they looked healthy and happy, I am assuming they are being fed in the nearby restaurant.

Text and photos: Claudia Mannes

Previous posts from Claudia Mannes: 

Cats from Arure, La Gomera 

Cats from Deià, Mallorca.

Pre-order my new book Avalon: a Heartwarming True Cat Story.

Cat from Cannes {France}

I'm currently in Cannes, France, where I'm staying in the apartment building Les pins d'Alep. This kitty greets me every evening when I come home from the film festival. Be sure to visit him too if you're here.

P.S. Have you seen this mime with cats from Cannes?

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Cat from Fairplay {USA}

If you're ever in Fairplay, Colorado, you should go to High Paws Pet Supplies so you can meet its resident feline: Andre the Giant Cat. 

The slightly cross-eyed feline was found as a stray in downtown Colorado and brought to Cat Casita, a no-kill cat shelter run by Animal Rescue of the Rockies.

Andre only weighed less than 20 lbs at the time, which was far too little for his huge frame (30 inches from his head to the base – not the tip – of this tail).

High Paws Pet Supplies owner Miyuki Takeda and store manager Kerrie Lynn fell in love with Andre and decided that he should become the official store cat.

They nursed him back to health, and Andre now weighs a whopping 28 lbs.

Everyone wants to know why Andre is so big, but without knowing his origins, there's not a clear answer. Takeda thinks Andre may have Savannah in him – those are huge cats.

"Within a month of us having him, people from all over Colorado, and even other states, were coming in to see him and to visit," says Takeda.

Though Andre was shy at first, he has learned to love the amount of attention he gets from customers.

He even uses his handsome looks and humongous size to promote his feline friends looking for forever homes at Cat Casita.

Takeda explains that many of the store's customers fall in love with Andre at the store, and then they end up meeting other adoptable felines at the Cat Casita shelter, which shares the same building as High Paws Pet Supplies. 

Since Andre has free rein inside the building, he often goes downstairs, to Cat Casita, to interact with the shelter cats and to introduce them to "his human customers."

Since the store adopted this larger-than-life cat, adoptions have skyrocketed at Cat Casita.

Source: Denver Post

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Cat from Paris {France}

This Siamese cat is enjoying a magnificent view of the Notre Dame de Paris, at the quay of the river Seine. 

An example of French Gothic architecture, this Catholic cathedral is one of the biggest and most famous in the world. If you climb the 387 steps, you'll see the cathedral's famous gargoyles up close and have a panoramic view over Paris and its cats.

Photo source: Chats autour du monde by Gilles Dusouchet

P.S. Have you seen the 2010 French film A Cat in Paris (Une vie de chat)? 

It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and is about a cat who assists a burglar in his late-night heists, taking it to the Notre-Dame de Paris and other famous places in Paris.