World Cat Day 8.8.2022
Around 600 cats live on Gut Aiderbichl's animal homes and Animal Visitor Centres. These are abandoned cats that have found a new home with us, cats whose owners have died, those that have caused discord in the neighborhood by roaming the garden, and those that simply - for whatever reason - were no longer wanted and were abandoned.
Probably the cat was the most popular pet in Austrian households. With their velvet paws, snub noses and quirky character, they manage to make people happy.
Since 2016, by law, all cats with access to the outdoors must be neutered. Unneutered outdoor cats contribute to the increase in the number of stray cats. From a cat family whose female offspring are not spayed or neutered, about 80,000 cats are born in eight years.
The great happiness of being a cat...
One of the three Animal Visitor Centres of Gut Aiderbichl is the meeting place for humans and animals in Deggendorf, Germany. Here there is a cat villa where many little personalities live peacefully together and are happy.
The cat villa in Deggendorf is an old farmhouse with eight rooms, two bathrooms and a large fenced garden. In 2008 this farmhouse was furnished according to the needs of cats. Each of the eight rooms is decorated in a different color. Countless cat baskets and beds are available for them. Those who want to lie down in the sun can do it on the cushion provided on the windowsill, in front of the door on the wooden bench or somewhere under a shady bush or tree in the garden. All 40 cats are free to lie down wherever they like. The retreat for cats that don't get along so well with the others is the ten-meter-high cat pen.
The atmosphere in the cat villa and its garden has something mysterious and soft. This is also no wonder, because
The eyes of a cat are windows that let us see into another world (Irish proverb).
Our cats also pay a visit to the other animals on the estate. Like Nikky, who has been living in the cat villa for 14 years. Nikky's friends are the horses. He likes to stay in the horse stable and see who is in the mood for flirting. How is there such a thing?
Nikky roamed the nearby forest until he was discovered by an Aiderbichl employee years ago. She fed the young cat and he just stayed at the manor. The little kitten was shy, but he was never afraid of the big horses. In summer, he was always drawn to the pasture and the stable to his big friends, the horses.
Sina, an eight-year-old, red-haired Angora cat, stood godforsaken at the gates of Gut Aiderbichl Deggendorf at some point. They let her in, of course, brought her to the cat villa and here she has become one of the princesses of the cats of Deggendorf among many.
"Humbly I bend down to stroke the silky fur. I am content to be its slave" (Walter Adolphe Roberts).
I will be happy if you join me on a next guided tour to our cats.
Sincerely, your Gisela.
Impressions from the cat villa
