"Cats and Abs." It's For Real.

I believe “Cats and Flats” has officially been one-upped by “Cats and Abs,” a video shot by Cosmopolitan.com to benefit the Humane Society of New York. The staff at COSMO knows their target audience well – abs definitely trump flats when paired with kittens.

The combo of eye candy and furry cuteness wins hands-down. Sorry Vogue, Cosmo wins this round.

The moment at which you will melt or self-combust (Video screen grab)

The concept for the video started as water cooler conversation and took on a life of its own. CJ Richards, the shirtless wonder with the American flag bandana-like-object in the video (I’m so not cool!) is “Cosmopolitan.com’s resident shirtless hunk.”

Yup, you heard me right, that’s a job title. But he’s not just a pretty face…or a pretty chest. He’s also a musician who wrote the track for the video. And he’s a cat lover.

Take a look at the video and tell us what you think. It’s reached over 230k views in under three weeks.

According to Becca Mitrisin from the Humane Society of New York who heads-up Social Media, the project has been deemed a success:

“It’s been amazing all of the kittens have been adopted, 2 even went together which is great because they were all siblings and that rarely happens. We take our time with adoptions but we got so many great applications that other cats got adopted too.”

Behind the scenes. That’s CJ on the left (photo: Humane Society of NY)

While Becca did get to attend the shoot, she spent most of her time wrangling kittens and was sadly not part of the ab casting call. Guess you can’t have it all. She did mention that:

“The Cosmo staff were very friendly and many stopped by to say
‘hello’… they all seemed to really love animals (or abs!). You see these people’s bylines and admire their work and here they are, stepping away from their desks and important interviews, to say hello to these little baby kittens. It was really nice!”

Um….where’s our trailer? We need a nap. (photo: Humane Society of New York)

Perhaps because I’m a bit older and jaded (who, me?) my bets are on the shirtless guys as the main attraction in that office!

I had the opportunity to speak with CJ today to find out if there was any behind the scenes drama. Did anyone get peed on? Scratched? Turns out the kittens were rather drama-free although one of them decided a hunk’s shoulder makes for a lovely perch and didn’t leave for quite some time (see photo below). That stud must have strong arms in addition to hard as rock abs!

Come down? No way, I can see everything from up here! (photo: Humane Society of NY)

CJ jokingly told me that he was worried the kitten pouncing on his abs chasing the “Bird on a Stick,” might cause damage to his prized possessions. I did recommend he consider insuring his abs, particularly when working around claws!

Though he doesn’t have cats now because of his travel schedule, he grew up with them and told 973KissFm.com in a recent interview that it’s “Totally cool for a guy to have a cat. It shows you have a big heart and that you’re a loving and responsible person.”

Watch the abs! They’re not insured! (screen grab from video)

You go CJ! Scoring some major points with I HAVE CAT!

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The Humane Society of New York was founded in 1904. We are an independent, no-kill animal shelter as well as an affordable clinic, caring for animals in need when illness, injury or homelessness strikes. Each year, the Society is responsible for helping 36,000 animals and numbers continue to grow. For more information, please visit www.humanesocietyny.org.

Video credits:

Directed/Produced: Liz Lanteri
Written: CJ Richards & Eduardo Ramos
Assistant Producer: Lee Havlicek
Shooter: Kristina Carucci & Luke Versalko
Also Starring: Jason Cameron