They started in Japan and Taiwan, but now they are everywhere – and it’s making us purr with pleasure!
The first cat café opened in 1998 in Taipei, Taiwan, which saw lots of pussy patrons from Japan make the short trip over to get their fix of kitty kisses. From then on, Japan became the cat café capital of the world, with Tokyo now being home to more than sixty of them. But you don’t need to travel all the way to Asia to get in on the furry fun because chances are there’s one near you!
In fact, it seems that many cities around the world have recognised the wonder of this business idea. There's La Gatoteca in Madrid, Pee Pee's Katzencafe in Berlin, and for those in Paris who like a fuzzy snuggle with their wine and camembert, there's Les Café des Chats which has already been in business for almost 3 years.
Cat and coffee lovers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have been lucky enough to have whiskers right at their doorstep too.
Since 2014, Australia has seen five cat cafes open, and with another two set to join them later on this year, it’s safe to say that Aussies are loving this caffeine hit with a twist. A few of the cafes even do adoptions, so if you fall in love with a puss and can’t bear to walk away empty-handed, you don’t have to.
Katina Balson, the owner of Brisbane's , humorously refers to the adoption process as a "Spanish Inquisition", asserting that adopting a cat is no simple task. And, even though in some cases people do walk away with their adopted kitties on the same day, sometimes it can take several weeks.
Balson, who has been involved in cat rescues for 25 years, says the most important thing through the whole process is the welfare of the cats, and making sure they don't end up in another rescue situation.
"We haven't taken them off the streets to just put them back on the streets," she said.
Her first step is making sure that if the adopter does not own their residence, they have permission from their landlord and body corporate to have a pet. Second, it’s important the adopter understands the 20-year commitment that owning a cat can sometimes be. From then on, the safety of the residence is evaluated, along with the financial stability of the family in question. Lastly, and perhaps the most important according to Ms Balson, is deciding whether she feels that the family is a good fit.
Radar is one cat looking for a home through Brisbane's Cat Cuddle cafe. Source: Cat Cuddle Cafe
Since she opened the Cat Cuddle Café nine months ago, Ms Balson and her staff have helped to re-home more than 250 cats.
The animal welfare worker had been trying to open a cat café for 10 years, but says her local council deemed the concept “undoable”. However, after Australia’s first cat café opened in Melbourne in 2014, she was given the green light to start her own.
The site houses up to 20 cats at one time, although says this number is constantly changing due to adoptions and intake.
As for the coffee, Balson asserts it’s good, referring to herself as “a bit of a coffee fascist.” Her baristas use organic Fair Trade coffee from Prestige Organic Roastery.
Melbournites can get their kitty kicks from , which was the first of its kind in Australia. Owners Anita and Myles Loughran opened it in 2014 after spending a year negotiating with the city council.
Leading the way: Melbourne's Cat Cafe. Source: Getty Images
"Being the first, we really had to get through all the barriers that were in place," Anita said.
But, the couple's hard work clearly paid off, as they now have 13 rescued resident cats, and what Anita describes as "the best job".
In Sydney cat-loving couple Thomas Derricott and Wenee Yap opened their sci-fi-themed kitty joint franchise, , late last year, after visiting the one in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
“We ended up going to the one [Catmosphere] in Thailand three times while we were there. Bernard, the owner, and I bonded because we are both sci-fi fans and cat lovers… amalgamating the two just made perfect sense… And it turns out Sydney is laden with people who are as crazy about cats as we are,” said Derricott.
Walking in, you're met with a collection of kitty-enhanced sci-fi movie posters on the wall. One of them, titled "Conquest of the Planet of the Cats", stars feline greats such as Harrison Paw-d, Cattrick Stewart and Daisy Kit-ley. And, with resident cats such as Neil Pawstrong, Darth Beauty and Obi-Wan Catobi, it’s obvious that the Catmosphere staff have an absolute ball with the hybridised cat-space theme.
Obi Wan Catobi relaxing at Catmosphere. Source: Catmosphere
Upon arrival the staff offer a range of drinks, which are always accompanied with a cat-shaped ginger cookie. With your drink and snack in-hand you are escorted upstairs to the cat domain. The space is big enough for 15 fully grown cats to have their own territory. Some seem to love a bit of human flirtation, affectionately grazing customers' legs or sitting on someone's lap for optimal petting positioning. Others prefer to bask in the sun or find sleepy solace in one of the many beds and cardboard crannies supplied by the staff. There's a twinkling disco ball in the corner and a Star Wars Stormtrooper's helmet on the wall – just a few of the very theme touches that accompany the scratching pole playground and the whimsical cat-toys strewn across the floor.
Like The Cat Cuddle Café, Catmosphere also adopt cats out, except of course the aforementioned resident cats.
The cafe receives a new litter of kittens every two weeks, and between those miniature balls of merriment and their older counterparts the Catmosphere team help to rehome two to three cats per week.
“We had these had these two cats who came together, Caprica (after the fictional TV series planet) and Major Tom (from David Bowie’s Space Oddity). Major Tom was this big male ginger and Caprica was a small eight-month old.
"They really bonded together, and eventually they were inseparable. We were concerned that if one was adopted it would break the other’s heart. Amazingly, a couple adopted them both and took them to their forever home together,” said the proud business owner.
He says the rising number of cat cafes in Australia is making them “a bit less fringe”.
“Cat cafes will be less of a novelty and become a more common way that people can interact with animals organically.”
With Perth soon to introduce their own cat cafe, and Sydney welcoming its second, it's pretty clear this is an idea that’s here to stay.
High view: a cat watches the action at Envi-Cafe in Brno in the Czech Republic. Source: Getty Images
