I will strike to maintain this feature while I’m in Poland, as I don’t recall missing one. I do my best. And, coincidentally, our first item is a POLISH CAT: a tubby tuxedo cat name Gacek who has become a huge tourist attraction in Szczecin, near the Baltic Sea. (“Gacek” is not a Polish human name but the word for “bat”.)
Click the screenshot read this piece about Gacek from Notes from Poland:
A large black-and-white cat named Gacek has become the top-rated tourist attraction in the Polish city of Szczecin, with over 1,000 Google reviews giving the animal a near-perfect average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars.
Gacek (whose name means long-eared bat in Polish) is a free-roaming feline who has for years been living in a box on Szczecin’s Kaszubska street.
In 2020, local news outlet wSzczecinie noted that the “King of Kaszubska Street” had begun drawing admirers – including visitors from neighbouring Germany – after it published a video about him that now has 4.5 million views on Facebook and YouTube.
Here’s a lovely video about him with English subtitles; you can see how well loved he is (he’s grown fat on offerings of noms!):
Gacek’s fame has continued to grow since then, with many reviewers on Google noting that they had travelled from around Poland and even abroad to see him.
“It was worth travelling three hours to feel ignored by him. Recommended,” wrote one visitor.
“I flew from Oslo with transit in Gdańsk to see Gacek. As expected, he didn’t pay any attention to me which made the experience fully wholesome,” added another five-star review.
Not all visitors were satisfied, however. “I prefer dogs,” reads a one-star review. “He stole a sausage,” says another.
He’s so famous that he’s even located on a map of the city (“kot” means “cat”), along with the Google reviews (5 stars out of five!)
Some comments also express concern that Gacek appears to be overweight – perhaps as a result of treats provided by those visiting him. The city’s animal shelter has appealed for people not to feed him, notes news website Gazeta.pl.
A sign alongside his home asks that if anyone wishes to give Gacek snacks, they should leave them in a closed packet which will then be opened by his owner.
“I happily pose for pictures, but please don’t stroke me while I’m having a nap,” it adds.
***********************
Cole and Marmalade give us a bit of story and some pictures of the “Golden Girls Kittens”: four ginger kittens born to a ginger mom. Click on the screenshot to read:
The story:
When kittyfoster mom Lori White, who lives in Indianapolis, took in a female ginger cat and her four kittens, who were also all ginger-colored she already knew the perfect names for all of them. Mama kitty earned the name Goldie, while her kittens became known as “The Golden Girls” — after the popular ’80s sitcom that introduced the world to Sophia, Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche.
The Mom Goldie (Images via Instagram/ dreaming_of_foster_kittens), all images courtesy of Lori White:
. . . and her brood. Aren’t they adorable?
Initially, she wanted to use names related to sunshine but when she found out all of them were girls, Lori knew the Golden Girls’ names were just the perfect fit.
The little family was found in the basement of an empty house, and there was no food or water. Fortunately, all are now safe. But the unusual thing about this little troop of gingers is that all of the kittens are female, which is, in fact, kind of a rare thing.
“I’ve heard that only 20 percent of ginger cats are female, so to have an entire litter of females is very unusual!” Lori says.
Research bears this out: About 80 percent of orange tabby kitties are male, notes Cat Town.
But even though each baby is ginger, all of them have different and unique personalities. The more challenging part, however, was telling them apart, so Lori devised a simple system.
“When I first got them, I had to use a dot of nail polish on the tip of Dorothy’s and Sophia’s ears to tell them apart. Sophia had a dot on her right ear, Dorothy on the left. Blanche didn’t have a dot. Rose is darker orange like her mom, so she was easier to identify,” she said. “As they got older, I was able to tell them apart based on their striping and spots on their sides.”
. . . Dorothy is the largest of the kittens, which seems fitting since TV Golden Girl Dorothy (Bea Arthur) was the tallest of the girls. Like her outspoken counterpart, she was also the most adventurous, being the first of the kittens to leave the foster room to check out the other rooms in the house. Sophia was also a tiny explorer.
These adorable babies were definitely lucky — not just because foster mom Lori loves her kittens, but also because Goldie is an awesome mama.
“When the girls were younger, she was obsessed with keeping them clean! No one could escape her after eating! She would pin them down to make sure they all had their baths!” Lori says.
And they’ve all found Forever Homes:
And the good news is, that Dorothy, the biggest kitten, has already been spayed and has a new home, while Sophia and Rose have found a home together. Mama Goldie also has a new home, thanks to a retired veterinarian and her husband. Little Blanche is going to her new family in a few days.
*************
Here’s a heartwarming story from My Modern Met. Click on the screenshot to read:
Some of the tail:
t has been nearly 11 days since the 7.8-magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks struck the Turkey-Syria border, and rescues are still underway. As teams try to excavate through the devastation of fallen buildings, they are uncovering surviving people as well as animals. Turkish firefighter Ali Cakas saved a scared cat from the rubble, and the traumatized kitty has been glued to his side ever since.
A video shows the man, still in uniform and protective gear, posing with the feline perched on his shoulder. The black-spotted cat clearly has an appreciation for his hero, as he does not move from the firefighter’s side even for a moment. “We named it Enkaz (rubble), because we brought it out of hell,” the firefighter says. “It might sound a little off-putting, but we wanted it to be a memory this way.”
Here’s the video from Twitter:
A cat was saved from under the rubble in Turkey. It now refuses to leave its rescuer's side. pic.twitter.com/Nveaxu3QrG
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) February 16, 2023
As heartwarming as this rescue has been, people online have also found a way to sympathize with the cat while simultaneously lusting after Cakas. “Uh…not for nothing but I would also not leave this guy’s side,” said Twitter user Paula Matiz. Another person admitted, “I don’t know who is cuter…the man or the kitty.” Despite the comedic thirsting over the firefighter’s good looks, though, the common consensus is that Cakas has done something truly wonderful, saving the life of a sweet cat.
So far, no one has come forward to claim Enkaz, but the firefighter is keeping him safe in the meantime, providing food and shelter. “I see a sadness in this cat,” the firefighter said after rescuing him. “I keep it by my side in case the owner comes, but if the owner doesn’t come out, I’m thinking of taking him with me. It will be a memory.” Fortunately, Enkaz has found a safe haven after everything he has been through, so we hope this is the start of a beautiful relationship between the cat and his rescuer.
Both Enkaz and his handsome owner have been the subject of online buzz
Tweets from smitten ladies:
If you want to keep up to date on their adventures, you can follow Cakas on Instagram. The firefighter has also created an Instagram account for Enkaz the cat.
And this just in: the happy news from Laughing Squid:
Yes, man and cat are one now, and the women will be after the pair! Here’s a video and two Instagrams:
*************
Lagniappe: “Dude,” a museum cat who inhabits the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science in Wilmington, Delaware. As you can see, he’s well taken care of.
h/t: Tom, Amy
Happy Caturday!
Great stories. Most of those cats are very well fed! 🙂
😺👍+1
Too cute for their own good.
Thanks for another great Caturday trifecta!
I was reading that story about the cat and the firefighter…and I was so happy when I found out he decided to serve the cat!! I was worried I would never hear about them the entire time I was reading the initial article, left to wonder what happened, and then I found out that the cat got his forever home 🙂 Yay!
I suppose Hili would not get on well with Gacek, lol.
Also, the kitteh is ALWAYS cuter than teh hoomin. ALWAYS.