Welcome to the feline kingdom in Bangladeshi villages

The white cat, skeleton but agile, would meow and circle Khadija, a mentally challenged single village woman. The black cat, the ginger cat, the black and the white cat… all the felines in the neighbourhood dominated her life.  

She didn't feed any of them instead they snatched food from her.  None of them were her pets, she merely tolerated them. It was clear that the cats were in charge though. 

One day she was boiling a pot of milk in the earthen pyre. Suddenly the white cat invaded her milk pot. It was foaming hot. But nothing could stop the cat. Khadija instantly let out, "aaei bilai [hush cat]" – as if she was mildly scolding a child, the highest of her aggression.  

The cat just didn't care and ended up putting its mouth in the milk pot. Hard to say if it burned its mouth, but Khadija's sister saw this from afar and immediately shushed the cat away. 
This hush-cat incident is around 30 years old. 

Back in the day, the cats in Bangladeshi villages were independent. They managed their food, which meant resorting to stealing from households. But people tolerated them and they both lived side by side in an unspoken arrangement of co-existence. 

But the scenario has dramatically changed these days. 

While only a few people raised cats as pets in villages before, children and teens are adopting cats and raising them as their own now. The feline kingdom has taken over Bangladeshi village households. 

And social media reels seem to have played a role in turning villages into cat havens. 

A 'reel-inspired' new village trend 

Sabiha, a teenage girl in Rajbari district, loved to watch kitten reels on social media. From Bangladeshi 'cat family' influencers like the Puchi Family to international cat content, she devoured them all and craved for a cat of her own. 

So, she started raising a kitten like some city people do these days. And she made a big deal out of it – taking photos for Facebook and Instagram. This drew attention in the neighbourhood. 

Soon, more kids and teens started raising cats, not necessarily influenced by this particular teen, but an uptick in domesticated cats became evident. 
The influence came from social media, the only entertainment they seem to have these days. 

Back in the day, village teens used to play cricket and football in fields or Mahogany orchards. The open fields are disappearing now. The orchards are getting restricted and the teens are losing interest in outdoor sports. 

As a result, they spend a lot of time on their phones watching social media reels where cat videos are very popular. The reel cats are cute and fluffy attracting millions of views, and they influence viewers to have one of their own. 

"I have noticed that people are adopting and raising cats now. They used to raise cats before but now it has become trendy," said Tapashi Das of Puchi Family. 
Puchi Family, a Facebook page dedicated to cats raised by a Bangladeshi family, has 1.6 million followers garnering millions of views for its videos

"I realise this when I go live or post videos on my Puchi Family channel. The most recurring comment I have is how they got inspired to raise cats after following me," Tapashi added.  
Feline companionships post-Remal 

Rubina's family home and livelihoods in Pirjopur's Chandipur village at the estuary of Kachar and Baleswar Rivers were devastated by Cyclone Remal.

While the family struggles to survive due to a lack of food and water a month after the cyclone, feeding a kitten would seem the last thing they would want to do. 

But Rubina managed not only to ensure the kitten's survival but also designed her white and grey kitten with mehendi (henna) on the occasion of Eidul-Adha, an Eid barely celebrated across the dilapidated houses in the river banks. 

When asked what she named the kitten, Rubina said her kitten had no names. 

"We feed it what we get to eat," the girl added. 

On the other side of the same village, we found another young man with a kitten. This was a ginger one – healthy, agile and strong. 

"This is my kitten," Abdur Razzak, a young man beamingly replied when asked if it was a stray, "The cyclone has damaged us but we didn't let our kitten go hungry," Razzak added. 

For the love of cats

Besides pages and channels like Puchi Family, Bangladesh also has many pet-oriented groups on social media that provide tips and help related to pet problems. 

For example, on Facebook, the group Cats Problem has 241,000 followers, the Cat Society of Bangladesh has 170,000, the Cat Adoption Society has 152,000 while Free Adoption Cat Currier BD has 107,000.

Pet owners are much more common in the capital Dhaka. During the Eid holidays, wholesome photos of cats on trains or buses often surface as the cats too go to their hometowns to celebrate with their owners. 

During the last holiday, we saw one such family.  

On the road, someone was calling out "Bablu" – a common Bangladeshi name – from a nearby rickshaw. When we casually looked at them, we saw a chunky ginger cat. A couple on the rickshaw had Bablu the cat on their lap and they were perhaps calling its name to comfort the feline. 

And likely inspired by social media, the pet cats have spread across the villages.

"We see many cat videos all the time. They are so cute and adorable," cat-mother Sabiha said. 

And to be honest, cats are not a funny business. A flurry of research in favour and against cats proves that. 

For example, a decade ago Vox reported that researchers found "cats, as a whole, do not love their owners back." The researchers went as far as saying that cats are selfish, unfeeling and environmentally harmful creatures. 

Interestingly, Daniel Mills, a veterinary researcher at the UK's University of Lincoln and the lead researcher in the study reported by Vox is a cat parent himself. Hard to say what was his deal with his cat. 

But the latest research published in The New York Times found that cat might actually like their owners and that the felines are "more social than they are often given credit for." 

"In my village in two years, every teen seems to have adopted cats as pets. I checked with others and found somewhat similar pictures," said Khairul, a cat enthusiast.

"And in the process, the stray cats, especially the ginger ones, are not happy. Last time I checked, our pet cat was terrified of the ginger hooligan in the neighbourhood," he chuckled. 
Because one family adopting one cat in the village may narrow the food source for many other strays in the neighbourhood. 

The 'psychology' of increasing pet cats in villages

Why such a trend is holding up in villages? We asked a psychologist. 

"There has yet not been any social research or survey on the issue, to state that there is a connection between the love for pet keeping and social media reels. Because I believe one who is affectionate to animals, s/he will love to have them anyway. 

What social media trends can do is trigger that desire," said Amir Hossain Saju, a Clinical Psychologist at Nasirullah Psychotherapy Unit, University of Dhaka. 

"What can happen to others due to social media is that young people can feel peer pressure of trends, of having a cute pet like one of his/her friends. For them, it probably adds value to their profile or their personality," he added. 

Social media can influence people, especially kids and young people. The Social Learning Theory of Bandura demonstrates that people learn and imitate behaviours observed in other people. This too can translate to getting pets because more and more people are becoming pet owners. 

"So, we cannot be sure of whether the increase in pet keeping is because of this influence or they are really becoming affectionate towards pets. But social media definitely has the power to influence and it might be a reason. We have to conduct research to be sure about it," Amir Hossain explained.

Puchi Family's Tapashi, however, is convinced people are inspired by social media for cats. 

"People used to have various fears surrounding cats. Such as cats spread rabies-like dogs. Many told me that they got rid of such fear after watching my videos. And they found a soft corner for this animal," Tapashi said.