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Clever feline "reality" vid goes viral >^..^<

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Cat Tongue

 

'Keeping Up With The Kattarshians' Is Iceland's New Reality Show About Cats

 
FEB 21 2017 
'Keeping Up With The Kattarshians' Is Iceland's New Reality TV Show About Cats

 

Producer Inga Lind Karlsdóttir says that many mocked the idea of a TV program starring kittens, but "all the people who were laughing then aren't laughing now."

 

If you spoke to Inga Lind Karlsdóttir on the phone without knowing what she did for a living, you'd probably still be able to guess that she's the feminist producer of the world's first online reality TV show about cats. She's just got one of those voices. It's warm and soft, a contrast to the famously stark volcanic landscape of Iceland, where hit show Keeping Up With The Kattarshians is based.

 

The show's premise is simple: four kittens, all from a local animal rescue shelter, are made to live together in an oversized dollhouse rigged with hidden cameras. The kittens: Guðni, Ronja, Briet, and Stubbur have captivated an Icelandic—and global—audience. Though viewing figures aren't available yet, Inga says that the show (which is available for free to stream online) has already attracted the highest-ever traffic to Icelandic broadcaster Nutiminn's website.

 

 

Alongside endlessly cute viewing content, the show has been credited with raising the profile of animal adoption in Iceland. Created in partnership with the Icelandic Cat Protection Society, all four animals have been adopted just over a week in, and new feline stars are preparing to enter the house. We caught up with Inga to find out about the pressures of bringing new, meaningful cat content to the internet in these turbulent times.

 

BROADLY:  Hi Inga! Thanks for speaking to us. Where did the idea for Keeping Up With The Kattarshians Come From?
Inga Lind Karlsdóttir: It was a cute idea from a colleague of mine, Þórhallur Gunnarsson. One day he said to me he really wanted to do a show involving cats living in a little house. Everyone else started laughing, but I said, "Let's do this." I have my own TV production company, so we decided to work on it together.

 

How difficult was it to create the world's first reality TV cat show in an ethical way?
It took about a year to put together, because we wanted all the animal welfare authorities to approve it. And here we are, a year later, with the first reality TV show starring kittens. All the people who were laughing then aren't laughing now.

 

 

What's the public response been like?
It's been amazing. I thought it was a cute idea but I never thought it would go so big. It's more than I could hope for.

 

Which is your favorite cat?
That would be Briet. In Iceland, the name Briet is associated with strong women, after the first woman to run for parliament, Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir. And the cat, Briet, is a strong one too, and a fighter.

 

Would you say Briet is a feminist cat?
For sure! She's a feminist, just like I am.

 

What makes for good cat reality TV?
We like everything they do. It's fun when they go crazy and ruin the house, but it's also calming to watch them sleep. It's good for the soul. There's so much bad news we read about in the media, and terrible things are happening in the world, so it's nice to sit there and relax and watch the kittens. At the beginning we got so many complaints about how much the kittens were sleeping—they're always sleeping! I thought there was something wrong with the camera, but actually kittens just sleep a lot.

 

 

What will happen to the cats after the show ends?
All four cats now have been adopted, so we're going to be putting a new litter in here in the coming days—probably next week. We'll fix up the house, put another camera or so in there, and then have more orphan kittens ready to move in.

 

Are you a feline fan yourself?
I love all animals and I used to have a cat, but then my daughter got allergic. But Keeping Up With The Kattarshians is great for people with allergies! You can just sit there and watch the cats on your computer screen.

 

LIVE CAMS:

 

http://nutiminn.is/kattarshians/

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9tA4v8mUqZ1ca23VfA7fQ

Trusted Contributor
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Re: Clever feline "reality" vid goes viral >^..^<

Good stuff @feline groovy!   Nothing much going on with the live cam but I'm going to check-in again tomorrow. Thanks for posting this - I hadn't heard about it at all.

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Re: Clever feline "reality" vid goes viral >^..^<

Thanks, @sandraskates - enjoy!

Iceland is 5 hours ahead of U.S. EST, so I think it's nighty-night for the kittens and humans.  

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Re: Clever feline "reality" vid goes viral >^..^<

Image result for thank you cat pics

Honored Contributor
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Re: Clever feline "reality" vid goes viral >^..^<

[ Edited ]

If you go to their website (first link), you can conveniently view their 3 different camera angles/scenes just by clicking on each one.

It's playtime now.  Cat Very Happy

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Re: Clever feline "reality" vid goes viral >^..^<

[ Edited ]
 
The programme was created in partnership with the Icelandic Cat Protection Society
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Posts: 3,710
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Re: Clever feline "reality" vid goes viral >^..^<

Oh, my!

I love this site. I have been back three times so far.

They are just napping, but love to watch them sleep. 

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Re: Clever feline "reality" vid goes viral >^..^<

Oh my - 3 of them are napping together in one top bunk, and one is curled up in the other top bunk. Cute!

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Posts: 10,197
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Re: Clever feline "reality" vid goes viral >^..^<

Honored Contributor
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Re: Clever feline "reality" vid goes viral >^..^<

[ Edited ]

Introducing: The new Kattarshians!

 
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27 2017  NUTIMINN.IS
 
Shortly before Christmas last year, a lovely one-year-old feline was found wandering the streets of Reykjavík. The cat, a female, was brought to Kattholt, a shelter for lost, abandoned or homeless cats, where she received tender, loving care and a roof over her head. At her arrival, Kattholt’s staff discovered that she was pregnant and would soon be giving birth to five kittens. Kattholt sought to find the cat a temporary home where she could give birth to her kittens and raise them in quiet and safe surroundings during the first weeks of their lives. The response Kattholt got was immense. A woman who had never taken on such a role before, offered to take in the cat and her kittens. All went well and the little family enjoyed their time at their temporary foster home for eight blissful weeks.
 
When the kittens were old enough, their mother began to push them away and towards independence. This is not an uncommon thing for cats to do and by that time the kittens had received plenty of love, both from their mother and their human foster mum, as well as the Kattholt staff after having moved back there with their mother last week.
 
The five kittens are the next stars of the  Their mother, however, will stay with Kattholt until she finds her new forever home. Please note that the project is done in full cooperation with Kattholt and with the knowledge and supervision of the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority and district veterinary officials.
We’d like to start off by introducing the duo Hekla and Katla. The two females are as black as ash and have been dubbed “the twins” since their birth. Nútíminn has trouble telling the “twins” apart and expects that viewers of Keeping Up With the Kattrashians will face the same problem. We can give you one clue; their faces are not identical.
 
Hekla
 
The sisters are great friends and enjoy spending time together. They cuddle, chase each other around and love to climb up scratch poles. They also enjoy playing with their siblings.
 
Katla
 
When we chose the names Katla and Hekla we were reminded of the two notorious volcanoes of the same name, that regularly, throughout the centuries have erupted and spewed black ash over Iceland. Katla volcano is located in South Iceland and covered by Mýrdalsjökull ice cap. The volcano last erupted in 1918. Hekla is located in Rangárvallasýsla district, also in South Iceland, and last erupted in 2000.
 
The twin’s sister Vigdís is a tortoiseshell cat and the smallest of the five siblings. She was also the last one to be weaned and litter trained but has now caught up with her siblings in those matters. Vigdís is courageous and determined and is developing nicely. There is no project too big for Vigdís to tackle. If she needs to jump down from a high spot in order to join her siblings in a game of catch, she might hesitate for a moment, but eventually she’ll take the plunge.
 
Vigdís
 
We found it ideal to name the kitten after former president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, who was also the first woman in the world to be elected head of state.
 
Bubbi
 
Bubbi is a black and white tomcat. He has white patches on all four paws and therefore it looks like he’s wearing white socks. Þór, the other tomcat, is a red tabby. The two brothers were the first of the five to be weaned and litter trained.
Bubbi is a lively, little thing. He’ll dart around like a bolt of lightning and prefers to be constantly on the move. He’ll be quick to try new things and then his siblings will follow his lead, if they dare.
 
Þór
 
Þór is extremely gentle and enjoys being held and cuddled. Although he’s a quick learner, he can be a bit of a ninny. When he spots delicious canned food in a bowl, he tends to eat too much, then feel queasy and get sick.
Bubbi is named after the Icelandic musician Ábjörn Kristinsson Motherns, also known as Bubbi Morthens. Þór is named after the Norse god of thunder. Þór was the strongest of all gods and said to be the defender of men and aesir. Þór is most often depict as a large and red-bearded man with a piercing stare. Although the kitten Þór is certainly red in colour, he has very kind eyes.
 
Please share this note and help us introduce these cuties to the world
 
Cat Very Happy