This is a good one...

I made a friend yesterday in a neighborhood called Bon Pasture (I think that's how it is spelled) As I mentioned before there is a serious lack of cats in this city, so I was stoked. I picked her up and she let me hold her a bit, though she was a bit more of a rambuncuous young cat who wanted to play than a docile lap cat who wanted to be held. She bit me a little and pawed at me to get down, although rather gentley, and I think now that I think about it I didn't feel any nails scratching me so either she was very gentle or didn't have claws.

When my group rounded the corner, I picked her up and started walking with her in an attempt to see if I could get her to follow me a bit. I think I forgot to mention before that the area that we were touring is a low income neighborhood where they are doing a lot of rennovation. As I was walking with the cat, a man from one of the houses came out to me, and told me that I couldn't take the cat, because it belonged to someone, and trying to communicate to him that I wasn't intending to take it I said "No me tocar, no me tocar" I said this several times and then said Lo Siento. He didn't seem angry, but he also didn't seem completely with it either, so he didn't really respond to what I said.

When I caught up with the group I told them that I had gotten in trouble for cat-knapping, and they asked me the story and I told them what I said to the man. Two if the girls who speak Spanish said that tocar does not mean take, it means touch and that I had actually been telling the man not to touch me over and over again. If you couldn't already guess, everyone had a really big laugh over this- including myself. I try really hard with the language, but sometimes funny mistakes like this can make my day.

Spanish Cat

Between both Rome and Barcelona for two weeks, I think I have seen a total of less than 5 cats wandering the streets, which for me it a bit sad. However, the other day I did pass a pet shop and I went inside. Now, D doesn't usually condone my wanting to go into the puppy mill pet stores, because we both kind of think that it's gross to be selling purebred dogs like that when you can adopt so many from the pound, but I let the cuteness overtake my ethical beliefs about cats. You know that those places kind of stink, right? Well imagine one that is probably more cramped than you have ever seen before, with lack of, or very little air conditioning, with cats, dogs, and birds... All of this in about 90 degree whether. It was hella gross, and most of the cats literally looked like they were dead because they were so hot and asleep. It was gross. I wanted to buy them all just to release them, but the one in the picture was about 507 Euro, so it was a no go...

Anyway, do you think Ireland and Scottland might have more cats?tr

I don't know how ethical this is, but I kind of want one.

There is an article in the OC Register about this cat known as an Ashera, which is a blend of domestic cat, leopard, and serval. Apparently some people in San Juan Capistrano have one, and many animal rights people are up in arms about it. It seems to me that anything that any cat with leopard blood (even though it looks to cuddly) might have some very aggressive instinctual qualities. On the other hand, I think I might be all about having a 30 lb cat.

The truth is that I could never (nor would I want to) afford a $22,000 (at the cheapest) cat. If I got a kitty it would definitely be a rescued one.

I want one mom.

So David has tried to convince me over and over again that you cannot have a lion cub for a pet, but you just look at these pictures and these faces and tell me they don't look cuddly enough to offer them a space at the foot of your bed.

Seriously though, if there was ever a time to visit the Wild Animal Park it is right now. There are 7, yes I said 7, baby lion cubs. David and I drove down with the main purpose being me intense desire to see these kitties.

I would say I watched them for upwards of a half and hour and that David is the best person to take anywhere because he is never like asks to keep going or to hurry up or anything. He has so much more patience than I do, and he allowed me to have a very leisurely time with the little baby lions.

I cannot wait to take my mom in a few weeks.