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Some of the best cities in the world are also the most cat-friendly cities. You can find cat-friendly cities across the globe, including Europe to Asia and the United States. The cities mentioned in this guide are welcoming to cats in many different ways, offering an abundance of pet-friendly housing accommodations, pet-friendly hotels, veterinarians, and cat cafes.
Some cities honor cats in special ways—in these places, cats have historically been welcomed and appreciated as an important part of the community. Read on to explore 10 cool cities that love cats as much as we do.
1. Kuching, Malaysia
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Kuching, Malaysia, is an exotic destination for the ultimate cat lover. Known as the City of Cats, Kuching is the capital of Sarawak. The word kuching means cat, but no one knows why it was chosen specifically. Regardless, the residents of Kuching have embraced the cat as the symbol of their city. With cat statues all over the city, galleries exhibiting many works of feline art, and even a cat museum, Kuching will delight the cat lover in us all.
2. Orlando, Florida
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In 2023, lawn care company Lawnstarter ranked the best cities in the United States for cat lovers and Orlando got the top marks. The ranking is based on four key categories: Cat Access, Care Access, Cat-Friendly Housing and Accommodations, and Affordability. Key data included numbers of veterinarians, pet stores, cat-friendly rental properties and hotels, cat sitters, cat boarding facilities, and more.
Orlando has the most cat sitters and cat boarding options per 100,000 residents, plus many more cat-friendly offerings, making it the number one U.S. city for cats. Overall, the Sunshine State appears to be quite very cat-friendly, with three other Florida cities making the top 25, including Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, and Tallahassee.
3. Rome, Italy
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The street cats of Rome are well known to many travelers who marvel at the large numbers of cats in the city. It’s estimated that about 300,000 cats live in Rome, with almost half that number being stray or feral free-roaming cats. Roman citizens who look after the cat colonies are known as gattaras, which literally translates to cat lady. Rome loves its cats and even has laws to protect them.
Not only are cats permitted to live and eat wherever they choose in Rome, harming a cat is a punishable offense and local authorities are required to spay and neuter free-roaming cats for no charge. Several Roman cat sanctuaries are popular with tourists, including Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary, the Colina Felina Piramide, and the Colina Felina Verano.
4. New York, New York
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You might be surprised to find out just how much New York loves cats. According to LawnStarter’s 2023 Best Cities for Cat Lovers, New York City has the most cat cafés of any other city in the United States. Cat cafés are lovely places where cat lovers can hang out, have a drink or bite to eat, play with cats, and even adopt a cat to bring home.
Many cat cafés also host birthday parties and other events. Whether you’re traveling to the Big Apple or live there full time, you can get your cat fix at such establishments as Meow Parlor (New York’s first cat café) or Koneko, a Japanese-inspired cat café.
5. Yakana, Japan
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Japan certainly loves its cats. This country is the birthplace of the iconic maneki-neko, aka “beckoning cat”—figurines that depict a cat with one paw up that are thought to bring good luck. One city in Japan has taken love of cats to the extreme. Yakana, also known as Yakana Cat Town, lies just outside Tokyo. Yakana offers a pleasant, small-town feel of old Toyko, and cats are around every corner.
This town, known for its shopping, has earned the nickname of “cat town” after many stores started selling cat-themed merchandise. Today, at least half the shops in Yakana offer adorable cat items for sale. You can even enjoy “cat tail” donuts shaped like—you guessed it—a cat’s tails, some with stripes or embedded paw prints. Yakana is also home to a popular cat café called Yadorigi Café.
6. Key West, Florida
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Key West is now synonymous with cats thanks to author Ernest Hemmingway’s love of cats and the legacy he left behind when he died. During his life, a colony of cats lived with him on his property in Key West. Many of those cats were polydactyl (they had extra toes). Upon his death, Hemingway’s cats stayed on.
Today, about 60 polydactyl cats live at the Hemingway Home & Museum, where they are cared for by staff and permitted to roam the house and grounds as they please. Cat lovers from all over the world come to visit, photograph, and even pet the descendants of Hemmingway’s beloved cats.
7. Santorini, Greece
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Cats are found roaming all throughout Greece, but visitors to the island of Santorini will see cats around every corner, whether sunbathing on the beach or wandering the cobblestone streets. Though Greeks are generally accepting of stray cats, there is a dark side to Greece’s stray cat population, namely poor health and overpopulation due to uncontrolled breeding.
Luckily for Santorini’s cats, the good people at Sterilia volunteer tirelessly to spay and neuter strays and help them enjoy healthier, happier lives with nutrition, medicine, and parasite control.
8. San Antonio, Texas
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If you’re a cat owner and also a renter, you’ll be interested to know that San Antonio ranks number one out of all U.S. cities for highest share of cat-friendly rental homes according to LawnStarter’s 2023 survey. San Antonio is also home to the outstanding nonprofit, high-volume animal rescue organization San Antonio Pets Alive! SAPA! saves 5,000+ high-risk dogs and cats from euthanasia every year.
9. Paris, France
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Paris is best known for its excellent food, wine, museums, and monuments like the Eifel Towel, but The City of Light is a great travel destination and place to live for another reason. Paris was recently named the best city in Europe to live or travel with your pet. The city has a lot to offer cats, including an abundance of veterinarians and groomers, as well as hundreds of parks and restaurants that are pet friendly.
Paris even has two pet day cares, including one with a luxury cat hotel. Let’s not forget to ultra-chic cat bars and cafes where you can sip a drink and cuddle with cats!
10. Miami, Florida
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When you think of Miami, you might picture white sand beaches, turquoise ocean, and a lively nightlife scene. But one of the best-kept secrets about Miami might be how great it is for cats! Keeping with Florida’s cat-friendly reputation, Veterinarians.org named Miami the most cat-friendly city in the United States.
The Special Reports Team analyzed data in five categories, including number of pet-friendly rentals, number of veterinarians, number of 2020 cat adoptions, number of cat cafes, and number of pet stores. Based on these criteria, Miami beat out all the other cities in the U.S.
Other Cat-Friendly Cities To Explore
These cities above are only a handful of the most cat-friendly cities in the world. Many other cities get high marks for cat friendliness due to their pet-friendly spaces and other offerings that meet pets’ needs as well as those of pet owners.
Some other pet-friendly cities include Albuquerque, New Mexico; Austin, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; Cincinnati, Ohio; Jacksonville, Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Louisville Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; Richmond, Virginia; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
