Cats, Cats & More Cats

Italy is a country full of cats. If you are near the water, particularly a fishing village, the number of cats multiply exponentially. Seriously! The picture above is a snapshot of a portion of the cats that live in the shed at the local Osteria between the A1 & Fabro Scalo. I think this was back in 2023 one afternoon when I pulled in to grab some lunch. I watched these black cats pour out of the building one by one, seemingly never ending. I think I counted 15 but who knows how many more were in there.

Cats live in the wild all over the country and not everyone feels the need to get them fixed. However, there are also cat sanctuaries in almost every town you visit where someone has created a type of shelter and the locals provide food and water daily. Even in Rome!

Google Image

The most famous cat sanctuary in Rome is in the old Roman ruins of Torre Argentina (above). There are probably 100 cats that live there and the team of people who care for them have gotten them fixed, vaccinated and provide food and water each day.

Another cat sanctuary in Rome is in the Testaccio district, near the Non-Catholic cemetary, under the Pyramid of Caius Cestius. I highly recommend taking a stroll through the cemetary, there is some truly amazing gravestones and cemetary art. One photo I took back in 2017 is provided below.

Google Image

In the cemetary

I am not a cat person, but now that I spend so much time by myself in Italy, I love to feed and talk to the cats. I don’t name them all, mostly just the frequent visitors and the ones I like. My two favorites are Bella and Fifona. They have been hanging out at Casale Giulietta for 2 years now.

Bella, below, is a sweet girl but very skittish. She is very affectionate but won’t let you touch her. She is very vocal and loves hanging out at the house and in the garden. She especially likes when I have the seat cushions out, but who wouldn’t. Every morning she is waiting at the front door for me to come out and feed her. She usually bolts inside the house the minute the door opens and then saunters outside once the food bowl is filled. I will share more pics of her in a bit.

As I mentioned above, Fifona has been hanging around for the last two years, right alongside Bella. I named her Fifona because that means Scaredy Cat in Italian. She typically bolts away when you get near her, but never goes far, and when the food bowl is clear of people, she comes back to snack. There was a short period last Fall (2024) when I could actually pick her up and give her some scritches, but not anymore. She is back to living up to her name.

Time for more cat pics…

Along the walk I do up the hill, there is a house with dozens of cats, most of which are grey and white. I think Bella comes from this house. What do you think…take a look below…