It's a cat eat mouse world out there.

August 7, 2011 9:31 AM

Amid the iron jungle of the metropolis lies one of nature's most cunning and noble beats, the Bodega Cat. Sing of their glory!
posted by The Whelk (35 comments total)

Top 10 9 Bodega cats keeping cool. (I'm pretty sure that #2 and #5 are the same cat.)
posted by Johnny Assay at 9:38 AM on August 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

I'm in love with #2 (and/or #5)
posted by infini at 9:39 AM on August 7, 2011

#10 on that list is on top of a warm computer monitor and therefore doing it wrong.
posted by spitefulcrow at 9:40 AM on August 7, 2011 [3 favorites]

who is the most precious health code violation! who! IT IS YOU KITTEH YOU.
posted by elizardbits at 9:41 AM on August 7, 2011 [17 favorites]

Haha. That was pretty well done. Bodega cats are OK to me. Sure it's against health code, but a lot of corner bodegas don't appear to be spotless to begin with. It's not like having a cat hanging around is ruining the illusion or something.

Here's a video of a bodega cat I shot on my iPhone.
posted by defenestration at 9:42 AM on August 7, 2011

#6 is what my cat would look like if he took his white socks off.
posted by sweetkid at 9:45 AM on August 7, 2011

I prefer cats to rats and the one near my place likes to greet people as they come in ( he sits outside the door, looks at you and does a little Mewerp!)
posted by The Whelk at 9:48 AM on August 7, 2011 [4 favorites]

It's okay; I didn't actually want any ice cream anyway.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:49 AM on August 7, 2011 [3 favorites]

I have never been to a bodega but now that I know they have cats, I'll have to seek one out.
posted by desjardins at 9:56 AM on August 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Bodega cat chilling, from the YT user who brought you the creepy walking cat video.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:59 AM on August 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

Every store I've been to that has a cat tells me that many customers specifically to visit the cat and are irked if it isn't around. One florist has a beautiful fluffy white cat that is so omnipresent in the main sunny window that they design all the displays around him; heart-shaped box for him to sleep in for Valentines, open gift box for Xmas, etc. Store cats are awesome and cleaner than most people.
posted by The otter lady at 10:04 AM on August 7, 2011 [16 favorites]

Excellent! A couple of years ago my cats moved to my office. Every place of work needs a shop cat.
posted by Xoebe at 10:04 AM on August 7, 2011

the local bodega cat taunts our dog. I'm quite amused by it.
posted by JPD at 10:11 AM on August 7, 2011

Xoebe: I'm as or more in favor of cats than most people, but alas, some people have allergies, so I'm not sure how feasible that is.

Most convenience stores around here have rolling hotdog machines that I imagine it would be difficult to keep inquisitive hungry felines away from.
posted by JHarris at 10:20 AM on August 7, 2011

The beast goes on.
posted by sneebler at 10:27 AM on August 7, 2011

Seems like having a cat around is a far more acceptable violation than having a bunch of mice around.
posted by hermitosis at 10:28 AM on August 7, 2011

"Store cats are awesome and cleaner than most people."

That's why people shouldn't be allowed in stores. Unless the cats say it's ok.
posted by sneebler at 10:30 AM on August 7, 2011 [6 favorites]

My local greengrocer used to employ a seriously huge, tuxedoed gentleman. He was Lord of the Sidewalk, and courteously greeted customers whilst directing general foot traffic. He had his own wooden produce box in which to rest from his labors included on the stands outside the shop. The other boxes had labels such as 2.95 a kilo or 3.95 a bunch or .69 each. His read: Priceless.
posted by likeso at 10:58 AM on August 7, 2011 [11 favorites]

When I lived in the East Village in the 80s there was a fabulous black cat living in the little fish market on 1st Ave. between 9th and 10th. He was the shiniest, healthiest, most elegant bodega cat I've ever seen and really, no wonder. I always thought that he was probably a major cat celebrity, the NYC fish market cat king. He probably had out of town cats coming to take pictures and lurk around the fish market just to catch a glimpse of him.
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:59 AM on August 7, 2011 [7 favorites]

Library cats or bodega cats? I like library cats best.
posted by FunkyHelix at 11:42 AM on August 7, 2011

Ag supply store cat near us had kittens recently. Kids had to make a special trip just to visit them. Twice.
posted by DU at 11:45 AM on August 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

mygothlaundry, I remember that cat! Thanks; I had forgotten all about him and the fish market he came with!
posted by secretary bird at 12:01 PM on August 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

My first cat was a bodega kitten given to me with my grilled cheese sammich at the deli next door to the Limelight (in retrospect I may have abducted him). That kitteh, which I creatively named Cat, snoozed comfortably in the kangaroo pocket of my hoody all morning at NASA, and then came home with me to utterly terrify my all-animals-ever-fearing mom while we (Cat and I) ate froot loops together under the kitchen table.

In conclusion, kitteeeeeh.
posted by elizardbits at 12:06 PM on August 7, 2011 [6 favorites]

Here's a video of a bodega cat I shot on my iPhone.

What he was doing on my iPhone, I'll never know. No, wait, I ate sushi off it the other day.
posted by zamboni at 12:37 PM on August 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

All the bodega cats on the LES are turning into luxury condo cats. I try to give them treats but they just read the Sunday Styles section and ignore me.
posted by mintcake! at 12:38 PM on August 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I wasn't sure where I should put this, so I'm gonna drop it right here. (sNSFW, language)
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 1:59 PM on August 7, 2011

So before reading this thread, I had no idea what a bodega is.

Also, #2 and #5 are the same cat. I clicked through enough source links to get back to the original flickr.
posted by Deflagro at 4:59 PM on August 7, 2011

I was always to go into a bodega that didn't have a cat. I mean, you need something to make up for the jacked-up prices and stale dry goods covered in dust.
posted by emjaybee at 5:01 PM on August 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Dammit, I was always disappointed to go into a bodega that didn't have a cat. Brain glitch.
posted by emjaybee at 5:02 PM on August 7, 2011

All the bodega cats on the LES are turning into luxury condo cats.

On the UWS we have gourmet store cats, the one at the store closest to me spends his entire day lounging on top of unsold bags of kale chips.

When I lived with a cat I always told him if he didn't get puff his lazy ass I would start making him work shifts at a local store, I didn't have the heart to do it though. I kept buying him rare roast beef and buttermilk like a sucker. Oddly, he didn't like sashimi.
posted by Ad hominem at 5:08 PM on August 7, 2011

Oh my god, I know cat #1 in Johnny Assay's link! A couple of years ago, there was a post on the NY Times Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill local blog about a bodega on Lafayette that had closed for renovations and put their cat, Ruth, out on the street. I helped rescue her, and she's now a housecat in Tribeca. (I sent the link to my co-rescuer, and she agrees that it's Ruth.)

I love bodega cats, but that whole episode made me sad about bodega owners who think of their kitties as just a way to get rid of vermin, and disposable. Ruth was not cut out for life on the street.
posted by Mavri at 5:19 PM on August 7, 2011 [4 favorites]

You're a kitty!

I adore bodega cats. My favorite one is in Greenpoint, Brooklyn: I give you Mimi of the Peaches, who at one point was not pleased at being so ignominiously mislabeled.
posted by flyingsquirrel at 7:50 PM on August 7, 2011

There are two bodega cats and a plant store cat in the few blocks from my apartment. Makes taking the kid along there quite an ordeal.
posted by gaspode at 8:03 PM on August 7, 2011

I'm in love with #2 (and/or #5)

#10 on that list is on top of a warm computer monitor and therefore doing it wrong.

#6 is what my cat would look like if he took his white socks off.

#8 has to win it. Not only has he done a David Blaine to get in there, he's got green onions and beer. Definitely the coolest cat.
posted by mannequito at 12:43 AM on August 8, 2011

My bodega has two cats. The gray one recently had babies and the whole neighborhood is fussing over her.
posted by orrnyereg at 5:11 AM on August 8, 2011