Cat cafes?

[thelastredwinegum]

Apologies if something similar has been posted before.

Why go to a cat cafe instead of volunteering an hour of their time to a cat rescue or similar?

Because you get to sit and eat cake whilst fending off kitties who want to join in. Our cat cafe has cats from a local rescue and they are all up for adoption. Some of the profits go to the rescue as well.

I don't understand comparing the two things. you could do both.

But we haven't got a cat cafe here.

Ah that's good you I don't think there are any round where I live so I don't really know how they work.

I probably should have said that in my OP.

Sparkling, we have two. I prefer the one with the rescue kitties though. Last time I went one of them tried to steal a whole loaf of bread I had in my bag (including the plastic wrapping).

I need to go to one.

Are the cats available to adopt or are they the cafe's cats?

They're two completely different things.

And it is incredibly hard round here to volunteer at any animal rescue places. Our cat and dog home has a huge waiting list for volunteers. You can't just rock up and spend an hour there when you feel like it.

Duh - you said they were available to adopt. I need a cuppa

Do cat rescue want one hour of my time as a one off? I think it would take that long to do the paperwork and show me round. I suspect a lot of cat poo and poorly cats would be involved. I strongly suspect it wouldn't be in the centre of town and handy to meet a friend, have a cup of tea and get on with the jobs of the day. I work full time and I struggle to fit in the existing voluntary commitments, not to mention being a parent. Apologies if I sit down for a cup of tea and stroke a cat, when every waking minute should be devoted to meeting the needs of others.

As it goes a friend suggested and I didn't really see the point, I can be ignored by a cat at home for an hour, but it was a place to meet.

I've been to a cat cafe in Paris. It was amazing! There was a cheeky black kitten who kept trying to steal food from our meat platter

Normally the cats are up for adoption or are rescues who have the cafe as their home.

In my hometown there is one where the cats are up for rehoming/ adoption and the checks are rigorous. Meanwhile cat lovers can pet away whilst drinking tea and eating cake!

Cat cafes are amazing. Our local one has some rescue cats who are so friendly they jump on your lap as soon as you sit down and refuse to move. It's great socialisation for them and you get to eat cake.

I'm genuinely interested king reasons you mentioned aren't something I'd thought of - I suppose which is why I asked the question.

How does a cat cafe work?

I love cats. I have two myself. But I cant imagine sitting at a civilised table for 3 with them! Mine would be jumping on other peoples tables and swiping other kitties meals!

And I assume kitty toilet facilities are provided... lots of litter trays dotted around? Surely thats unhygienic and the stench would be very off-putting to human customers?

Or am I completely misunderstanding the cat cafe?

Yuk. Cat hair sandwiches, shitty feet on the tables and toxoplasmosis tea.

Ooooooo I have very strong opinions on this.

So.

I volunteer for a local cat rescue, and one of my jobs is maintaining the website. A cat cafe opened in our city about a year ago, and the charity I work for was approached by the owner asking to work together. When asked for basics about the animal welfare, the person wouldn't provide any information and then went silent.

The shop then said in the press and on social media they were working with another local cat charity. This charity then released a statement saying they definitely were not involved, citing reasons that were identical to our experience.

The local RSPCA branch also released a statement talking about how bad they are for welfare.

The cafe then alluded online that they would be working with our charity. Cue me spending 2 days replying to comments and questions about cat cafes instead of actually working on rehoming cats.

So I wrote an impartial blog post about the business reasons why it wouldn't make sense for a charity to pair with the cafe, and ended up being abused by the cafe owner - nice. I only wrote the dang thing so I could send a link instead of having 20 conversations about the damn cafe!

Anyway. They're shit. The one in my city is particularly shit, but they're all shit. Cat's have a large territory, and yet cat cafe pets are destined to spend 20 years in a single room, with a constant flow of strangers.

Shit shit shit.

I guess volunteering and going to a café are two very different things. The presence of cats doesn't make them much more alike.

Theres one in Newcastle down by the Quayside. I wouldnt go in just look through the window, its always pretty full. I couldnt think of anything worse and i actually like cats. Its the hair!

I liked the idea of cat cafes when I first read about them but now I wonder how much the cats in a cat cafe like being stroked and picked up by a constant stream of strangers.
Our cat liked being in quiet, restful places and he enjoyed the fact that he was the only pet in the household.

Also, I don't know a single charity who would turn down all volunteers. Sure, it's unlikely that you'd be able to spend an hour just petting kittens, but there's loads anyone can do to help.

Here's a list of non-obvious jobs that are always needed:
Collecting donations for charity shops, as well as pet supplies
Driving cats for vet trips
Running and maintaining websites (most are super simple and can be done from anywhere)
Putting together email newsletters (super easy and the quickest way to get a cat adopted IME)
Helping out on social media
Photography
Staffing events like rehoming shows
Joining in with collections
Volunteering in a shop
Leafleting
Assisting with communal areas - loads of reception areas in rescues could do with some cleaning and TLC

We have 6 cats. Our entire life is one long Cat Cafe.

The DCs wanted to visit the famous one in London so we booked in last summer. They loved it and the cats are beautifully looked after. Their welfare absolutely wasn't in any sort of danger at all.

I volunteered for a cat charity and didn't see much of the cats at all. Lots of behind the scenes stuff.

Having volunteered for a cat charity in Lewisham I can say that the rescue owner/charity founder is very anti these cat cafe places.
And yes, it's actually quite difficult to get a volunteer position.

Cat cafes? Ugh, can't think of anything worse. Just why? Cat hairs everywhere, and no doubt in your food.

See I'm not sure. I love cats and in theory I love the idea of going to a cat café, but I always worried about welfare. One has opened in our town so I am just basing this on that one, but I'm sort of on the fence really.

The one near us has a large space for the cats to get away from people too and they are allowed totally free rein between the two parts. I don't know if they have access to the outside, but that doesn't bother me massively considering many people live in flats in this country and it's common to have "apartment cats" who aren't used to going outside. The entire area of the combined café plus private area is probably about the size of a medium apartment, and I think they only have six cats, so not that different in reality to keeping cats in a private home.

But then 20 years in a single room, when you put it like that it does sound sad? It's difficult to tell really. The ones at our local one are not available for adoption but were in the building for several months before it opened.