One Day Outing Foreman - Vol. 18 Ch. 136 - Cat Obsessed

[MangaDex]

 

[TestAddress]

Haruka Reset ... Real Men Version

 

[chinchiro_addict]

There's cat cafes, and then there's also piglet cafes, otter cafes, meerkats, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, owls and other exotic animals. The legality differs from prefecture to prefecture.
I have mixed feelings towards them. Yes, you're keeping a bunch of animals alive and fed, but at what cost? Owls for instance are sometimes drugged so they won't freak out around people. Their sleep schedules are messed up because they have to be awake during the day, wings clipped, legs tethered to a post for hours on end, and they're not really eating the right things or getting the right stimulation to enjoy their owl lives. Maybe it's ok for cats and dogs because they're social animals who've been bred to live alongside humans?
Strays on the other hand are nice. They come up to you for pets and don't expect food.

Numakawa's first part of his name is 沼 and it means muddy swamp/marsh/bog, and it also means being stuck or obsessed. The manga uses this kanji for several of these chapters where someone is going through some sort of problem in their lives.

 

[Tertiaritus]

Every time there's a Numakawa lore drop it just makes him more endearing! And also a bit closer to my dad Love that lil tidbit about his name as well~

I have very mixed feelings on animal cafes too. Never been to one but any place an otherwise very independent animal needs to "work" a schedule and obey doesn't sit right with me (like circuses). Especially cats, they're very selective of people they trust and need more rest in the day/personal space than most dogs. Owl cafes are a stuff of horrors for the birds :<

Our city is crawling with strays as they act as natural mousers for apartment blocks, there's also a flock of grannies that feeds them twice a day, treats them, and occasionally volunteers catch them to sterilize. It's important to check with a stray proper whether they wanna be petted - if you don't get hissed or swatted at right away, let them sniff your palm, then scratch under one cheek, then sniff again and scratch under the other. Bingo, you've made a friend, now bring them snacks and water! And don't touch their belly or try to pet them from above first time around - there's a deeper understanding of personal space and etiquette with strays than house cats.
When you are trusted enough to where they climb on you, hug your neck or bring you mice or show off their kittens - that's the purest bliss in the world... Totally get Numakawa here.

 

[HCO]

The Platonic ideal of the cat cafe is, in practice, the majestic Cat Island.

(After looking at Youtube, it seems like there's several of these places in Japan)

 

[ocsibrm]

Nyaamakawa

 

[deenzfan12]

I'm jealous... I'm jealous... Numakawa... Die...

 

[spectralSpices]

I feel like a voyeur.

 

[keatsta]

I think this chapter really covers well why I never felt like visiting a cat cafe... I also had some ethical hesitation, but I have ethical hesitations around a lot of restaurants and such that I occasionally indulge in, and I do love cats. I think I really didn't see the cats in a cat cafe as like "real cats" lol. I grew up on a farm with barn cats, so to me, cats are very independent animals that you see rarely and get to interact with even more rarely. That's part of what makes them so special. I even feel a bit weird about my friends' pet cats, as much as I love them... it's like dang they're just right here all day, that feels too easy lol.

My mom still maintains a herd of semiferal cats that come around to eat at her house in the middle of nowhere. She scoops em up and takes them to get fixed whenever she can. She's always telling me disgusting/scary/traumatizing stories about various aliments and injuries she finds them with and I'm like mom, c'mon, this is why I moved to the city, I don't have to hear this stuff.

 

[hedvig]

Thank you so much for always translating! I was looking forward to this chapter.

In Sweden we have only two cat cafés, but I am very happy with them. They only have cats that are up for adoption (they work with shelters and take the most social ones) so the cats they have are constantly changing and finding homes. I think it's great that people can get to know the cats in a stressfree enviroment before adopting (if they do). They also have rooms they can go where visitors are not allowed. The idea of cat cafés with only purebred permanent cats feels like a waste. Also most animals are probably not very compatible with cafés at all...

I find it really funny how the cats are drawn really realistically while the people look like... kaiji characters.