The distinction between cat cities and human cities seems to have developed with the advent of cars and other motorized traffic.  Now the cats are more hemmed in than they were, though it doesn’t seem to have harmed them, judging by their burgeoning numbers. 

The city of cats and the city of men exist one inside the other, but they are not the same city.  Few cats recall the time when there was no distinction: the streets and squares of men were also streets and squares of cats, and the lawns, courtyards, balconies, and fountains: you lived in a broad and various space. 

See other wonderful comments on cats, including Patrick Leigh Fermor on the cats of Athens including a cinema-going cat.  You may also enjoy our page of quotes dedicated to cats.

Source: Italo Calvino, Marcovaldo, trans. by William Weaver (London: Picador, 1985), p. 101

Photo credit: Transly Translation Agency at unsplash