Iceland Facebook Groups: Kettir á Facebook

Officially called, “Kettir á Facebook, aðdáendur katta og allir dýravinir (KAFAKAD)”or “Cats on Facebook, cat admirers and all animal friends”this group proves that Icelanders are mostly “Cat People”

It has to be noted however that the group is adamantly inclusive of other animals too. All are welcome. A trait I feel is inherent in Cat People, who in my anecdotal and not scientifically backed experience always follow up any admission of love for cats with, “I like dogs too, I just prefer cats.”

Arsenic ocelots

Dog People meanwhile, always seem really intense about disliking cats and always bring up some story about how a cat once scratched them when they were a child, then poisoned their entire extended family with arsenic.

Since being founded by Steinar Óliversson in 2010 the group has garnered over 15000 members. The corresponding Icelandic dog appreciation Facebook page more succinctly named “Hundar og Hvolpar” or “Dogs and Puppies” has just over 14,000.

As the name might suggest, it’s a lot of cat pictures and videos and that’s what’s fun about it, let’s be real. Cat vids forever, lolz.

But KAFAKAD has evolved beyond mere internet memeing. People post pictures of lost cats and ask members to keep an eye out for pets that haven’t been home for a few days.

Tender tom-lovers

Then there’s the practical stuff; what cat food is the best, what the new contact details for the emergency veterinarian’s office are, what the rules for traveling abroad with your cats are etc. etc.

What’s especially touching about the KAFAKAD group though, is when bereaved members who have recently lost their pets post pictures and short obituaries. Within hours the community rises up around them to help them grieve and to celebrate their cat’s life.

These kinds of posts have made me cry more than once, for I too know the pain of loss (RIP Jabba the Catt, 2010-2015), indeed the loss of our cats unites us all.

Recently, there has been an influx posts crowdsourcing names for newly adopted cats or kittens and some of the suggestions are pretty incredible. Noted favourites: Snowglobe, Tempest DuJour, and Þórgrímur.