After the success of July, the late summer proved to be a remarkably quiet period for the grand mission. It is a well-documented fact on this blog that the feline population can be incredibly fickle, and August and September certainly proved the point.
August 2025: The Lone Veteran August brought a grand total of exactly one cat to the tally. Thankfully, it was a wonderful encounter with a lovely old kitty down a back lane. Older cats often have a quiet dignity about them, and this veteran of the back lanes was more than happy to accept a very respectful head scratch to keep the mission inching forward.
September 2025: The Autumn Drought Then came September. Despite the changing leaves and the crisp autumn air usually bringing the neighbourhood cats out for a stroll, the tracker registered a complete and total zero. It was the third official dry spell of the entire endeavour. A harsh reminder that reaching 1,000 requires serious perseverance!
October 2025: Cat Monsoon Season
If September was a drought, October was an absolute monsoon. Realising that sitting around waiting for cats to cross my path was yielding terrible results, I decided to take drastic action. I took the mission on the road for an epic, nation-spanning tour of the UK’s finest feline establishments. The result? A staggering 66 cats added to the ledger in a single month!
Local Warm-Ups Before hitting the road, the neighbourhood finally decided to cooperate. I had two brilliant local encounters: a black-and-white kitty down a back lane and a lovely calico in a neaby street.
The café tour kicked off with a triumphant visit to a classic favourite: Java Whiskers Cat Café in London. We were on a way to a Wind Rose concert, so we stopped at the cafe on the way. This time I visited the White City cafe so I’d definitely meet new cats. I booked the kitten lounge but was in for an asesome surprise! Since it was autumn and not busy, they combined the kittens and the adult cats, so I got to meet them all! This provided a massive haul of 15 cats. Java Whiskers is such a lovely cafe, it’s so quiet and relaxing in there.
The Scottish Expedition
The absolute crown jewel of October was taking the mission all the way up to Scotland. We were on our for a holiday in the Scottish highlands and stopped in Glasgow on the way. Glasgow proved to be a goldmine for the grand endeavour. A visit to the Purrple Cat Rescue yielded an unbelievable 22 cats. They have a lot of cats here, but they all seemed to get on together and it was cat petting central!
Whilst up in Scotland, I also managed to cross paths with a gorgeous black kitty in the coastal town of Buckie. Travelling the length and breadth of the country to pet cats might sound like madness to some, but when you look at these numbers, the logic is undeniable.
On the way back to England we stopped in Glasgow again to go to the Meow Cat Café, which provided another 12. This cafe is a cat mecha with cat-themed everything, even cat-themed toilets! Plus look at these cute slippers they gave us!
From there, the journey took us down to the Midlands to visit the magnificently named Qattery Cat Café in Wolverhampton, netting another fantastic 14 professional loungers for the mission. This is a lovely cat cafe and all the cats are rescued from Qatar. They had just put up some decorations for Halloween and one naughty kitty decided they needed to be taken down again!
The Tally So Far:
- Previous Total: 330
- August 2025: 1 cat
- September 2025: 0 cats
- October 2025: 66 cats
- New Total: 397 / 1,000
We are standing right on the precipice of the 400 milestone, having completely obliterated the September slump!