Meeting Kittens in Amsterdam and Brussels

As some of you know, I was recently in Europe for a mini-vacation; three days in Amsterdam, two days in Brussels. It was my third time in Amsterdam, although the last time was 11 years ago.

The main objective of my trip was just to get some rest and relaxation. For me, however, relaxation means hanging around with cats. Usually when I’m in a new international city, I manage to make friends with a few street cats here and there (I found a few in Amsterdam, but only one in Brussels), but this trip was different. I met a boatload of cats, in the literal sense. I visited Amsterdam’s famous Poezenboot, the houseboat that serves as a floating cat sanctuary.

In Dutch, poezenboot is pronounced “poozin-boat”. Although this rhymes with cruisin’ boat, this boat doesn’t cruise anywhere; it is permanently docked on the Singel canal.

I introduced myself to the staff as a feline-only veterinarian from the United States, and asked if I could interview them and take photos for my blog, and for an article I wanted to write for an upcoming issue of Catnip, the newsletter from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. They were happy to oblige.

Over the next few days, I will post many photos of the wonderful staff and the exceptional, sweet cats on the Poezenboot. Meanwhile, here are a few pictures of the cats I ran into on the streets of Amsterdam and Brussels.