An Adventure Cat Living Life to the Fullest
While some cats may like to lounge around and nap all day every day, other cats, like Bowie the Siberian, have a taste for the great outdoors and its immeasurable beauty. Bowie has gathered thousands of fans on social media for his cat-friendly travel adventures throughout California.
Named after the bold musical icon David Bowie, Bowie is equally bold in his naturally adventurous lifestyle. You can find him doing just about anything and everything—from doing zoomies in his tunnel, taking his humans out for a walk, and exploring in nature to meeting his fans, hanging out with his feline friends, and finding the best pet-friendly spots to visit.
Bowie’s cat mom, Nika Fard, says she’s often stopped while out with Bowie because of his striking beauty and bright, well behaved personality.
For Fard, Bowie was the best surprise she could ever ask for. After growing up with rescue cats her whole life, she says she never thought it’d be possible for her and her boyfriend to have a cat together since his family is severely allergic.
After doing some research, the couple decided on a Siberian cat since their personalities are similar to dogs and they’re considered to be hypoallergenic.
Fard says, “After looking far and wide, when we saw a photo of Bowie as a kitten, it was all over.” It was love at first sight.
Fard and her boyfriend had to wait a few months to get Bowie but finally picked him up in February 2020, right before the pandemic. Little Bowie had their full attention, she says, and the couple was able to spend a lot of time training him due to the lockdown.
Fard describes Bowie’s personality as being very similar to a dog’s personality—playful, curious, and adventurous.
“He is an extremely fast learner when it comes to learning new tricks,” she says. “He can sit, lay down, roll over, high five, wave, shake, twirl, stand up, jump, push his talking buttons, and so much more!”
And as if Bowie couldn’t be any more dog-like, his favorite games to play are tug-o-war and hide-and-seek. He’s also harness and leash trained and bag and backpack trained.
An eager-to-learn kitty, Fard says Bowie loves to challenge himself by constantly learning tricks and solving puzzles. (He even purrs while she and her boyfriend are training him!) His favorite toys are the Cat Dancer—and has been since he was a kitten—and his treat puzzles. Bright-eyed Bowie can often be found spending time at pet stores, breweries, vineyards, beaches, and pet conventions.
Without a doubt, Bowie is an inspiration to many for his courage and curiosity. However, this took some time, Fard says, as he was initially nervous to go outside.
“Consistency is definitely key when training an adventure cat,” she says. “Cats are naturally nervous in new environments, but consistently exposing them to these new sights, sounds, animals, and people help overcome that fear.”
For example, Bowie used to be incredibly nervous during car rides. But now, it’s his favorite means of transportation. Bowie and his family recently made an eight-hour road trip from Northern California to Southern California. He (impressively) slept the entire way since he feels relaxed spending time in the car.
Fard says they started with spending 10–15 minutes a day on their back patio and slowly increased the amount of time. After his patio training, she and her boyfriend began taking him out on a leash, then gradually increased the amount of time walking on-leash and exploring new environments.
Because Bowie was raised during the pandemic, Fard believes it did take him longer to get acclimated with his socialization.
“He still has obstacles he overcomes to this day with new sights and sounds, but his turnaround time is a lot quicker than it used to be,” Fard says.
Some of Fard’s favorite memories with Bowie so far include their travels and conventions, specifically a week-long trip from Sonoma to Carmel then Malibu to Pasadena, as well as attending CatCon and SuperZoo for meet-and-greets.
“It is amazing to see the joy on people’s faces when they get to meet and pet Bowie,” Fard says. “We love to teach people that it doesn’t matter what age, you can train your cat to be an adventure and travel cat too!”
With all the exploring Bowie and his family have done together, there’s still plenty they want to do that’s on their bucket list. Fard says they want to take a train with their own private cabin, go on a road trip across the country in an RV, and get out on the water, whether it be by boat, paddle board, canoe, or all of the above.
Surely, Bowie and his family are living their best life together.
“The best part about being Bowie’s pet parent is the emotional bond we share with one another,” Fard says. “Just looking at him can cheer me up on a bad day; his purring calms me down so much. It is incredible how much pets can enrich our lives for the better.”
She continues, “I love being with him, and I am so glad he enjoys being an adventure cat to go out with us. Watching him enjoy his time outdoors checking out new sights and sounds is an amazing thing.”
