Feline Frenzy

To all my feline-lover friends out there, Happy International Cat Day!!! This holiday is meant to spread awareness to the over 500 million feral cats worldwide. As a proud cat mom of two orange boys, I have to say, I approve of this unofficial holiday, and it gave me a great excuse to look into new cat puzzles. I have done so many cat puzzles over the years and probably get gifted one every holiday. With over 500 cat and kitten puzzles available on Puzzle Warehouse alone, you are in luck if you like cat puzzles!

When I got this idea for a blog post, I wasn’t too keen on having to do a bunch of cat puzzles. Fur is probably my least favorite texture to tackle. Give me a beautiful sky puzzle, and I’m golden. Give me a bunch of fur, and it stops me. This tricky one from Tomax Puzzles called British Short Hair Cat looks incredibly hard. However, I think the gradient and the different textures give you something to work from. Would you try this puzzle?? 

My favorite cat puzzles are illustrated images of cats doing human things. The great thing about doing illustrated puzzles is that the fur is much more manageable, sometimes covered by clothing or disguised with a pattern. Mudpuppy does this really well. I have done several of their collage puzzles where they have punny cats. For example, Mudpuppy’s Music Cats Puzzle or Artsy Cats. I also noticed the artsy cats puzzles are available individually, which is very tempting.

The variety of personalities you see in cat puzzles is also super fun. My two kitties, Loki & Oliver, absolutely have different dispositions. While Loki is proper, poised, and incredibly affectionate, Oliver is the opposite. Recently, I did Cats on the Beach by Anatolian. This was an incredibly fun puzzle. For one, it was so bright and colorful. You can see the different personalities between kittens and adult cats. I loved this one as a 260 piece, and I was happy to see this same image in a larger piece count called Beachcombers from Buffalo Games.

Let’s not forget big cats!! Wild Cats by Clementoni was a fun 500-piece puzzle I did in preparation for this post. I honestly was a bit nervous, seeing all that fur. BUT it wasn’t hard at all. Since each cat has a different pattern and they didn’t have a lot of pieces, it was much more doable. While spreading awareness about feral cats is important, it’s equally important to spread awareness of the dangerously low wild cat numbers. They face various threats from the illegal wildlife trade, including deforestation and poaching. Many of the world’s most iconic species are endangered and face extinction, especially the tiger, which is critically endangered.

In general, you really can’t go wrong with a cuddly kitten puzzle. Whether it’s a picture of a kitten on Instagram or a picture on a puzzle, you can’t not like them. What’s not to like about cute and cuddly kitten face. My husband and I are having a bit of kitten fever right now since we had to say goodbye to our 23-year-old Maine Coon cat this year. So pictures like Kitten Pride by Eurographics are pulling at my heartstrings. Especially that cute orange kitty up in front. He looks like a fun little guy!!

I loved researching this topic and was happy to dive into my cat puzzle collection. Recently, one of my subscribers gifted me Cattuccino by New York Puzzle Company, and I am 100% excited to do this. Cats inside other things are super cute, and I love New York Puzzle Company Puzzles!! Also, I suggest you check out this new one called Feline Elegance by Buffalo Games. It is gorgeous, and I just put it on my Puzzle Warehouse Wishlist while doing blog research. Let’s just say I don’t NEED more cat puzzles, but I now really want more of them, Thanks Jigsaw Junkie!! 

Emilee – The Casual Puzzler