CAT MAN MONDAY: Chris Poole, He Loves Cats of All Sizes

You may not know Chris Poole by name (yet), but if you’re a cat lover you know one of his latest videos, “A Cat’s Guide to Loving a Human” (If you haven’t seen it it’s a must-see and you can watch it below). Now while you may think he’s single after watching the video, Chris does have a wife who loves Cole and Marmalade, his kitties, just as much as he does. So you go girl for bagging a cat-loving man. And Chris REALLY loves cats, you’ll see what I mean as you read on! Enjoy!

My life revolves around cats of the small and large variety! I’ve worked at a sanctuary called Big Cat Rescue in Tampa Florida for the past 6 years. I was an intern there and they offered me the videographer job in May of 2008. We’re the world’s largest accredited sanctuary dedicated to exotic cats (we’re home to over 100 lions, tigers, leopards and more!), we’ve rescued them from fur farms, circuses, roadside zoos and many are former “pets” that have been abandoned or abused.

Looks like big cats like TP too!

I’ve always had domestic cats at home in England. My mum’s cat was named Sarah and she was a very tolerant black cat. I’m sure I must have annoyed the heck out of her as a little kid, but we always curled up on the couch with each other too. It’s probably why I love black cats so much!

My first cat Sarah, I think she’s why I like black cat so much.

Fast forward 20+ years when a friend of my wife and mine found a tiny black kitten – now called Cole – at a busy Florida intersection in the evening all by himself and texted us a picture. We knew we had to bring him into our lives!

He was covered in fleas and anemic, so we had to bathe him and get him checked-out at the vet. He was only around 5-6 weeks old so he had to be bottle-fed and taught how to go to the bathroom and all that fun stuff! It was great to see him grow-up and because we raised him from such a young age he bonded with us so very closely and loves to snuggle with us!

Baby Cole

“Tiny Kitten – BIG Meow!” Click here if you can’t see the video below of baby Cole below.

Then, when I learned black cats are least likely to be adopted and most likely to be euthanized in animal shelters, I decided to use my video skills to do some good for domestic cats as I do for the big cats at the sanctuary. That’s when I started my “Cole The Black Cat” YouTube channel and began making videos including ones that promote spay, neuter and adoption.

Marmalade, our ginger kitty, was rescued from a friend of a friend. They didn’t want Marmalade and I feared he’d end up in a shelter or living outside and adding to the feral cat problem. We’d also been thinking about adopting another cat for months, and when she sent us a pic of him we decided it was fate and we had to adopt him!

Baby Marm

Introducing Cole and Marmalade was surprisingly easy! After around 5 days of separation we introduced them and it was evident from the get go that they were very similar and we got very lucky because it went so smoothly. Cole is the world’s sweetest black cat (probably) and he was a purrfect gentleman with little Marm. They were both pouncing on each other and even though Marmalade was a third of Cole’s size he was launching his own “attacks” too! 🙂 You can see the video here:

The first snuggle!

“When Cole Met Marmalade…” Click here if you cannot see the video below.

Yep, Cole is definitely the snuggler! He will lay on my chest and knead and then flop over exposing his belly and sleep for hours on his back, very trusting! His favorite “toy” as got to be hair scrunchies, we have a couple dozen scattered around our floors at al times and he will chase after them all day if he could 🙂

Cole the snuggle monster

Marmalade doesn’t really snuggle, he will flop on the couch a few feet away from you and make you move to pet him or sleep on your feet, but not a snuggler unfortunately. He loves to jump up on the kitchen counters though and no matter what we try he’s still up there so we’ve kinda gave up!

“Yeah I’m on the counter, what you gonna do about it human!?”

Plus he loves hanging out in the bathroom with you and chasing laser pointers and light reflections like most cats, he also sleeps in some really weird places, like purses, our recycling tote, sinks and wardrobe nooks (I guess most cats do this too?).

Marm chillaxing in the recycling bin.

My favorite thing about cats has to be their personalities. I can never understand why some people love dogs and dislike cats?! Cats are so unique and have just as much character. I love spending my time playing with Cole and Marmalade and thinking of new ways to entertain them – and myself!

My friends of course are all crazy cat people too, so they understand my crazy cat ways and my wife loves Cole and Marmalade just as much as I do!

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Chris has so many cute photos I had to throw in a few extra for good measure. You can see them all on Cole and Marmalade’s Facebook page so be sure to check it out!

And reminder that today (4/7/14), is the last day to qualify to win a trip to NYC for Grumpy Cat’s 2nd Birthday so don’t miss out on the opportunity!