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?

I've been to two and had very different experiences.

One I didn't like at all. Too many cats, not enough staff keeping an eye on people mixing with the cats and the cats didn't have anywhere to escape too.

Second was fab. One room with tables and chairs where you have tea/coffee and cake. They don't make food on site, they bring in cakes and biscuits made by another local company.

There was a list of rules about interacting with the cats - including no lifting because the girl in charge pointed out lots of people lift cats who don't want lifted, or don't lift/put them down properly.

Then a huge living room type room with sofas, cat climbers and toys that you went into. There was two doors off it with cat flaps - no visitors were allowed through that, or to block them, one goes to a room next door and one goes upstairs where there are 2 or 3 rooms. If the cats wanted to fuck off somewhere quiet then they could. Some did, some came in and out and quite a few others jumped up on laps and got petted.

The owners make it very, very clear that you are paying for tea/coffee and cake and the chance to spend time with cats. If all the cats don't want to play then that's tough.

They have a wall of cats from the local rescue place advertising cats who need homes.

This is our local cat cafe in Houston. There are 12 cats at any one time from a local shelter and over 60 have been adopted since the cafe opened in March. We have dogs but my dd loves cats so we have been for the cat cartoons on Saturday mornings, there are catwalks hanging from the ceiling, lots of shelves and hidey holes and litter trays are in a separate room that cats can access through a cat flap. Some cats don't like being picked up so they wear a certain colored collar but generally cats are very people-friendly. It's a great community and helps get cats adopted.

@maddiemookins16mum

Is the cat rescue you volunteer at Celia Hammond? Our last cat was a rescue from there and he was the best cat I've ever had. They do wonderful work.

Yes, CHAT is a very special place. They do incredible work in that part of the country.

I've never been to one and don't know anything about them but I've always thought they seem a bit cruel. I have a cat who doesn't like strangers and likes her own space - can't see her coping in a cafe where she is being petted by loads of different people and confined to a room.

Cats are territorial. I think a lot of pet owners don't really understand what their animals need. I can't see how a large number of cats can be happy together in a small territory.

The one I went to (not in the UK) wasn't good. At least some of the cats seemed drugged - I've had enough cats to know when something isn't right.

I think they sound horrible. I think most cats would hate being kept in a small space with loads of other cats and strange humans coming in and picking them up. I can Imagine them being a bit like a German mega brothel. There's one opened in Glasgow (a cat café) but I don't think I'll go there.
Nice family pubs and cafe's with a cat living in them are a totally different kettle of fish IMO. Its the cats own space and they can come and go as they please. That gives the place a homey atmosphere.

I have just read reviews on trip advisor about our local one and there are complaints of kids harassing the cats and the staff doing nothing.

Although there are also complaints from parents whose kids were told off. I feel sorry for the cats.

Well that is one thing I like about Germany. Staff in general are totally unembarrassed about telling off misbehaving kids and the parents, generally, accept this unquestioningly.

It used to be like that in Britain. Not now sadly. Reading the low rated reviews just makes me feel really sad for the acts. Although I do think allowing young kids into a cat cafe was always going to be a bad idea.

Cafe's and pubs with a cat that lives there are lovely places. I remember being in a brown pub in Amsterdam and talking to and stroking a lovely ginger cat. The cat seemed happy and probably belonged to the owner or a neighbour rather than being a prop.

"Cats Protection is keen to put forward its opposition to cat cafes on the grounds of feline welfare.
As the UK’s largest cat charity, we are concerned about the welfare implications of having a number of cats in a limited space with groups of people unknown to them coming and going throughout the day. We believe this kind of environment is not suitable for domestic cats because they have evolved as solitary animals and generally do not choose to live in social groups - unlike dogs which are a social species. It is very likely that some or all of the cats involved will become stressed as a result of being in a confined space with a continually changing group of people. This is because domestic cats have shared ancestry with the Africa wildcat so we still see a lot of these behaviours in our pet cats today. This is not an ‘outdated’ view – in fact, recent research* into cat behaviour counters the opinion that cats living in groups do not suffer social stress. Furthermore, if the intention is to home cats from the café, this would create a 'rolling' population of rescue cats – in a café, this would create even more stress and further compromise feline welfare because rescue cats need as stable an environment as possible to reduce the possibility of stress-related and infectious diseases such as over-grooming, urine spraying and cat ’flu.
Although Cats Protection does not have powers to prevent cafés like this from being set up, we believe that people who care about the wellbeing of cats would not want them to be exploited as a gimmick to sell coffee and would therefore not wish to encourage the launch of these establishments. Given our views, we are unable to accept proceeds or donations from cat cafes in any way.
*Research looking at the prevalence of behaviour problems in the general cat population showed that aggressive behaviour between cats and fear of other cats, accounted for high percentage of cats surveyed. (Bradshaw et. al., 2000)"

www.cats.org.uk/derbydistrict/news/cat-cafe

Yes I have visited cafes and pubs with a cat there that is owned by the owner. That is a nice experience. The cat can get away, but also sometimes goes to customers for attention.

The cat cafe near me has rules printed on the front of the menu.

You arent allowed to go and touch the cats unless they come up to you
You arent allowed to disturb a sleeping cat
Children monitorer at all times
Etc

There's a double door system so you have to close one behind you before going out the main entrance to stop them escaping. They have lots of cubby holes and stuff and a wall mounted run around the entire room.

All the cats are up for adoption and i guess the idea is you go back again and again to see if you bond with the cat.

The charity they work with is where i got my two, and they choose the chilled and friendly cats to go to the cafe, not the more MHy ones (who stay in foster homes).

Personally i would prefer it if they also had a second room visitors cant access (maybe they do? I will check).

I was also pissed off by a yummy mummy who was letting her two darlings "play" with (wake up) a cat the other day. Yeah the rules apply to you too you twat!

Revolting and icky. Who wants to eat in a cat toilet?

I doubt they have cat litter trays in the cafe part.

What is it with 'icky'? Seems like the popular word of the week at the moment.

The cat cafe near me has rules, but the trip advisor reviews say they are not uniformly enforced.
Cats generally like quiet peaceful places. A cat cafe with lots of cats, adults and some children, is never going to be that.

I quite like Felix the Huddersfield Station cat. A cat with a job and everything. The station look after her very well.

We have six cats at home, I basically live in a cat café already.

They aren't related and are all rescues. They definitely like their own space and each has their preferred room/sleeping spot which they sort of rotate through occasionally.

At the moment there is one upstairs, three in the room with me (all asleep on different sofas/chairs) and two asleep in the conservatory.

Only two of my cats will go up to people who come to our house. The rest leg it and prefer to hide away from strangers. Except Tim. Our friend Tim is basically a cat magnet. Even our most timid cat jumps onto his lap when he's over.

Being honest keeping six cats in a house is too many. They basically agree the territory each has in the house. The only way so many cats can live together.
We had a cat who has sadly died. He was in a house with lots of cats. He kept running away to our house - we kept discouraging him and contacted the owner after we found out where he lived the first time. Eventually she offered the cat to us and we reluctantly agreed to keep him. He loved peace and quiet and cuddles when he decided.
I have read a few articles about this now and online there is an interview of the woman who owns kitty cafes with a photo of her cuddling a cat quite firmly. The cat looks very unhappy.

I haven't been to Mog on the Tyne, but have been to Catpawcino on Quayside.
They also state you shouldn't go & pick up cats etc and only play if they come to you. They have a separate room through beaded curtain where public aren't allowed, with beds / litter trays / food & water.

They do have some beautiful cats, but as I have 3 I don't really need to pay for the privilege of tea with cat hair!

They are really popular.

Interested to read about the charity aspect... I know they have rehomed a couple from their café.

The one in my city is very popular! Most of the cats are up for adoption (there's a few owned by the owner). The cats are strictly not allowed in the food prep areas, and they have a room that they can go into if they don't want to be in the main areas of the cafe. There's a whole host of rules for their welfare including that you aren't allowed to disturb them, you have to let them come to you etc. Children have to be closely monitored.

My local cat cafe is partnered with the local humane society, which provides cats who would do well in this setting. Shelters are overflowing here and we have huge numbers of strays. Our cafe has private rooms (via cat flaps) for cats who prefer not to be disturbed and all cats are up for adoption, they will adopt out nearly 100 cats a year. Rules are enforced, time limits are in place, small children are not permitted. Cats are taken directly from shelters, which are not ideal environments, to a place where they have more freedom, peace and a much greater chance of finding a home.