Okay cat lovers, picture this: You’re on a boat, traveling across the Seto Inland Sea of Japan. A salty wind ruffles your hair as you lean over the prow, all a-shiver with anticipation. The boat pulls into the harbor of a small, rocky island and you disembark to be greeted by the inhabitants of the island: dozens and dozens of cats.
Welcome to Cat Island
Aoshima, Japan, AKA Cat Island, has a human population of nine human retirees and over 200 feral cats. Pretty much the perfect cat-to-human ratio, if you ask me.
One of about a dozen Japanese cat islands—islands where cats outnumber humans—this small fishing island is best experienced as a day trip, as there are no hotels or restaurants so you’ll need to pack a lunch alongside treats for luring the cats. But let’s be real: you’re not in it for the cuisine.
Let’s Go, Neko
After arriving at Cat Island you will want to get cozy with the locals. Real cozy.
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Explore, enjoy, and definitely post plenty of pics to social media!
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via ioa8320
Hold Up—Is This Too Many Cats??
Okay, first of all, there’s no such thing as too many cats. Buuuuuuut…
If you’re anything like me, after recovering from your initial excitement over learning of a place where you could see enough cats in one day to finally satisfy your daily kitty-spotting needs, you started to wonder if this was perhaps quite a lot for one small island to handle?
Well…yes. It is. According to MyAnimals, because there isn’t enough prey to support this many cats on the island, they are dependent on humans for food. Tourists feed the cats to gain their attention, leading to more cats being born, leading to more tourists.
The human population is small and dwindling, down to nine, from the 15 that lived there five years ago. Additionally, the human inhabitants of the island are all over 50 years old. Because of this, the island’s residents decided to take action, partnering with Dōbutsu Kikin, an organization founded to decrease animal euthanasia, to spay and neuter nearly all the island’s cats in one day.
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As Nippon.com reported, “three veterinarians began operating, spending one minute to neuter males and 15 minutes to spay females. Once operated on, the cats were monitored to make sure they had completely recovered from anesthesia and for potential post-operative problems.”
After all was said and done, 172 cats were spayed and neutered—”apparently the largest number of sterilizations ever performed in one day by the three veterinarians.” The cats were later released and back moseying up to humans the next day.
Knowing that certainly made it easier for me to relax and just enjoy the kitty pics.
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But Wait…There’s More!
More animal islands, that is! Aoshima is one of about 12 cat islands. Tashirojima is another well-known cat island and has manga-themed lodges for guests.
On top of all that there is a BUNNY ISLAND. Sit down and take a deep breath before you click play on the below video. This is a lot to handle.
More About Cats
- The World’s Best Cat Cafes
- 27 Awesome Cat Tattoos To Inspire Your Next Tattoo
- Adoptable Cat Is So Big He Literally Broke the Internet
- Why Are Cats So Cute?
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