Ailurophilia has started to completely dominate the grid no and it seems everyone is afflicted, designers included.  Sometimes Second Life can get a wee bit too real you know, and all the drama and back-biting can become too much to bear, so what better way to deal with it than shopping for some frou-frou and virtual frippery for your favourite furry beasts?  When the Wildwoods emerged there was huge fuss and furore, but the arrival of the Kittycats seems to have added an extra dimension to the moggie madness. In fact, it seems that at the moment you can’t walk across the grid without stumbling across a cat bed, cat tree or some other essential must-have cat accessory.  If you’ve been bewildered by the choice, here are a few suggestions to get you going…click on the pictures to enlarge:)
Now this one is purrfect (see what I did there?) for you if you are a total ‘cat-mommy’. The Kittycats mainstore is offering a rather sweet Kitty Rocker Basinette.  At L$175 for 10 prims it reeks of cuteness and should you own one, I demand that you fill it to bursting with kittens and take photos! It is, as you would expect, beautifully coloured and textured but then again I haven’t seen anything in the Kittycats store yet that has suffered from bad texture choices or faulty design.  It’s all good and let’s be be honest very feminine, but who cares? This is Second Life and you can overdose on the girly if you want:) The Kitty Rocker Basinette comes in 6 muted shades to coordinate with pretty much any home, although nekos who live in dustbins may find it doesn’t quite work. Incidentally the store has TONS of wonderful beds and scratching posts if the basinette ain’t your thing, and every single one is a corker. Barnesworth Anubis has contributed a few beds and items to the collection himself and they are definitely worth a looksy. You know, I wish you could get this stuff in real life. Instead my lot prefer their beds dank and dingy. I have such chavvy cats!)

La’Licious, which without a doubt is one of the best home and furnishing stores upon the grid, is offering a fantastic freebie to update group members. If you’ve never been to the store before, smack yourself silly around your chops for being so utterly foolish and get yourself over sharpish. If you do visit, be warned you will return home empty of pocket but carrying some of the most beautiful shabby chic and cottage style wares that you can find anywhere in world. I seriously cannot praise Amaliscious Destiny’s products enough; you can furnish your entire home just from this one store and I guarantee that when you invite friends round they will be totally bowled over..but I digress, we’re talking cat accessories here and what you need to do is go to the update group sign that is conveniently located right next to the landing point, join the group and search through past notices to the 10th of February group gift, which is this wee gem:
Yup, it’s a Shabby Chic Canopy Bed, and better still a FREEBIE. Again, TOTALLY girly-whirly but perfect for your Kittycats to slumber in a corner. I have no clue how long it will be available for so you’d better zoom on over (Click here) If this is just too pink and frilly for you, or you prefer a simple bedding arrangement for your furry chum how about a simple laundry basket? If you have mosey around the store to the farthest corner from where you came in, next to the garden entrance, you’ll find a simple but lovely 4 prim rustic basket that is just the ticket and I think looks especially good piled with Wildwoods:) It’s only L$25 so it’s all good!

See it in the corner next to the wheel? Here’s how it looks in situ..pretty neat huh? The cats certainly like it:)

Of course there are a myriad of beds and items available on the marketplace too, but something that’s got me really excited is the news that Sookie Slafford, of the amazing ‘Jolly Farms’ bunny business, and SL artist Alia Whitfield are launching a new store in-world devoted to all things cat.  It’s going to be called Kitty Cattery and promises to feature an amazing array of feline items.  If you’re familiar with Sookie and Alia’s work then you’ll know it’s all about quality, originality and of course artistry too; so I’m expecting big things from them come launch! I’ve no idea when that will be, but you can visit the store’s future location upon Lionheart Scar and join a subscribo there. Here’s a sneaky peeky of the kind of stuffs we can look forward to…

But when it comes down to it, sometimes the best place for a moggy is on your bed. After all, as Jane Pauly said, ‘You can’t look at a sleeping cat and be tense’. I think Second Life could certainly do with a wee bit less tension of late!

(Isn’t this grand? Bedroom from Mudhoney)