No kitten around: Cat yoga at Moggy’s Mission in Tecumseh

Moggy’s Mission has become the cat’s meow of the downward dog.

The local cat rescue organization is offering cat yoga classes. It started last summer and grew so popular, Moggy’s is now holding weekly events. It will be adding children’s events in February.

“We get a lot of laughing, we get a lot of ahhhh…oh my god,” said Amanda Scully, cat yoga organizer for Moggy’s Mission.

“People love it. There are a lot of big animal lovers out there and yoga people. And when you put them together, man there is some magic.”

Shoulders over the wrist, knees right under your hips and belly down, shoulders back. These are all familiar yoga instructions — now add that you need to allow the cats to walk freely on your complicated pose.

Actually, participants on Thursday night were too busy petting the kittens, trying to attract cats to their mat and laughing at their antics to worry about posture and balance.

“I absolutely loved it. It was so much fun and relaxing,” said Stephanie Cragg, a first-time participant. “I already have myself booked in for a yoga session in two weeks.”

Moggy’s has recruited at least two yoga teachers so far.

“I think one of the important parts about bringing the cats into the yoga is to show that yoga can also be fun and silly, it doesn’t have to be really serious,” said Candy Donaldson of Donaldson Om Yoga. It was her first time at cat yoga on Thursday.

“And it can bring a lot of awareness to important things. So when we say ‘namaste,’ we are saying we see the light in all beings, not just other humans, so we are here to connect with all these little beings who might need our help,” said Donaldson.

Over the past few years, Moggy’s Mission has helped rescue and adopt out more than 500 felines and have partnered with various organizations and three Pet Valu locations to hold adopt-a-thons and help promote their events.

“Windsor is known to have an overpopulation of stray cats. There is a very large demand for cats who need shelter,“ said Scully. “We are really asking people to open up their homes to take in a pet cat.”

She also said Moggy’s uses cat yoga as a way to raise money — through registration fees and raising awareness about their work. So far, none of the yoga participants have adopted a cat, but some who have adopted have returned for cat yoga.

“We couldn’t function without doing events and fundraising because we are a volunteer run program. So anytime that we do something that will raise money for us, the money goes right towards vet bills, food, supplies and litter. All those things add up, especially our vet bills because we are constantly spaying, neutering and vaccinating,” said Scully.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the organization or its many upcoming cat-themed events — a Cat Café, adopt-a-thons and a Kiddies versus Kitties Dance Off — can visit Moggy’s on Facebook, Instagram or visit www.moggyrescue.org.