Last Updated on 9 December 2025 by Vanessa
In the heart of Venice, Italy, cats have found a unique home among the city’s labyrinthine alleys and canals. These feline residents have become an integral part of the urban landscape, coexisting with the bustling human population while adding their own quiet presence to the city’s historic streets.
This photo series by photographer Shin Otani, as featured in the book The Cats of Venice, will make you want to go to Venice right now. >^..^<
Cats of Venice, Italy
Venice, the city of water, is also a city of cats.
In the watery world of gondolas and bridges, cats and people live together comfortably.
No cars disturb the peace or threaten the inhabitants.
Crossing the two-and-a-half mile bridge from Mestre on the mainland, you arrive at Piazzale Roma, west of the train station. From this point, you have only two travel choices: to go by boat or on foot.
The only vehicles seen in Venice are carts silently rolling across an arched bridge or rumbling down a path between busy streets.
Children on bicycles fitted with training wheels unsteadily circle the plazas, as mothers push baby carriages and watch over the bicycling children.
Venetians and their love of cats
The Venetians are tolerant of cats. In fact, the cats of Venice are cherished, fed, and watched over by people who appreciate the serenity and self-sufficiency of cats.
Once, when I was strolling down a passage, the bony remains of a fish suddenly fell from a high window right down next to a cat. This act of serendipity did not surprise me–it was in keeping with the mystery of the city.
One afternoon, I came upon a woman feeding stray cats in a park.
When I approached and took her picture, she became visibly upset.
I tried to get her approval, but she would not say anything. To avoid upsetting her, I joined a child who was watching as the woman fed her cats.
Each cat received a portion of the meal: ground meat mixed with pasta.
When the cats finished, she cleaned up and handed dry food to the cats that still looked unsatisfied.
As I left, I said good-bye, and she finally smiled.
Another morning, I ran into a man feeding stray cats in a plaza next to a canal.
In my poor Italian, I asked permission to snap some photos. He grudgingly said okay, but seemed suspicious.
Why would this strange tourist want to take his picture.
I, of course, could not converse with him in Italian, but I wanted to photograph him feeding the cats.
I did not see him again even though I returned to the same plaza a few days later.
Cats in Venice’s back alleys
Venice regains its natural rhythms in the winter when the sightseers have departed and the residents can move throughout their city unhindered by tourists.
In the spring, I abandoned the well-trodden paths and was able to sense the quiet life of the local people and cats.
As you stroll the back alleys of Venice, you wander through narrow passages, running endlessly like a labyrinth.
The ground floors of the buildings often lack any signs of human habitation.
The walls are decayed, the iron gratings over the windows loose and rusted.
Even so, the brass bells by the doorways are wonderfully polished, and the upper floors are often festooned with clean laundry fluttering in the breeze, while lively music pours from windows.
These quiet neighborhoods are home to many cats.
While conducting their lives behind the protective walls, Venetians still find time to care for the cats.
My first friend in Venice, Luigina, had created a place known as “The Home for Stray Cats.”
In a small rented warehouse, she took in strays.
She told me that she had spent ten years preparing meals and helping cats that had collapsed on the streets.
Normally, a place such as this might be viewed with distaste by its neighbors. But here, in contrast, it receives good-hearted support from many people.
In our tour of her “home,” Luigina happily introduced me to two toddling kittens, carefully watched by their mother, and said to me, “They are the first kittens born in my home.”
She was content with her cats, which were visited by countless neighbors dropping by to see the kittens playing in the mild spring sunshine.
Cats in eastern Venice
Time-pressed sightseers don’t often visit the eastern section of Venice’s main island.
A spacious green park extends throughout the area, filled with seniors chatting and enjoying the warmth of the sun, with neighbors strolling while exercising their dogs, with joggers, and with children at lunchtime.
I grocery shopped with the local folks and, occasionally, I ate lunch in the plaza, sitting on a bench and taking in the sunshine.
It was here that I saw some cats cautiously poking their faces out from the bushes. Curious to investigate the food they smelled, they slowly approached me.
When I shared a little of my food with them, they gobbled it up, all caution abandoned.
But once they were finished, they nonchalantly disappeared once again into the bushes.
Except at mealtimes, the cats didn’t seem at all interested in human beings. They seemed completely independent, living as they pleased.
I remember one cat that was leaping at the bugs darting through the air around him. Innocent and enthusiastic, he inspired me to be more carefree in my own life.
Mesmerized by the cats’ calm, I thought and dozed in the afternoon sunlight while the cat napped near a vine-entangled wall.
Final words on the cats of Venice
Did you enjoy Shin Otani’s photo series and thoughts on the cats of Venice?
If so, share it with other cat lovers and on social media, and help spread the word about his book, The Cats of Venice.
About the photographer
Shin Otani spent over 12 years traveling in Europe, taking photographs of cats and people.
Today he lives in Osaka, Japan.
The Cats of Venice is his second book and a homage to two of his favorite subjects – cats and Venice. The book contains 80 stunning color images offering a unique perspective of Venice’s timeless allure. These cats gracefully navigate the city’s stone plazas, winding canals, and sun-drenched vistas, embodying the mystery and elegance of old Europe.
Pin the book cover!
