Do you think cat cafes are a good idea?

[tab]

I love the idea of having pets in cafes but if a rescue organisation and a boarding organisation need someone on site 24 hrs why should they?

Its a difficukt choice I think. If you had a cafe that had a cat or 2 would you get a health and safety cert?

Very difficult but appealing

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Afraid I am with Jiji on this and presumably the non brit who is running this is also expecting to make money!

The video says all authorities have agreed this but find that hard to believe. The article says volunteers will visit the cats over night.

I wonder what type of secure doors they are going to have to stop escapes 

[LouiseJ]

What is intriguing me is in these overly health and safety focused days this surely wouldn't get past the environmental health people? Or do you have up sign a waiver with your order to say you won't sue if you find a cat hair on your plate? 
I think it is a great idea if done to benefit the cats with their welfare at heart.
If people are investing rather than donating to get this off the ground then they will expect a return on their investment.

Emmy-Lou. I had no choice in the matter, I was ambushed by the most gorgeous cat. What could I do?

[Mymblesdaughter]

I wonder if the rescue have said yes in principle but when they actually do a home visit it will be different. The cats will have to be very friendly get on with lots of other cats and also be indoor only. I would imagine indoor only cats are in demand in London plus friendly cats who get on with lots of other cats must be the easiest to home.

I agree that it would be good if the cats were actually available for homing.

From an earlier article I read there wont be anyone living there so the cats will be on their own over night.
   

[Helen M]

I agree with others, sounds great but not in central London and only it attaches  to a rescue and not a purely commercial venture. The cats need to have plenty of placed ot escape to so not to get too stressed. But thinking about animal welfare they only say 'At night, volunteers will periodically check in on the felines, the Independent reported.' what does this mean? is there anyone on the premise 24/7 when cats are there? if not why not as they are no differnt from a boarding establishment.

[Jiji]

A cafe attached to a rescue where people could interact would be more acceptable, but I can't help wondering in a commercial venture what will happen when the cats are older and may be seen as less appealing to their customers or if one contracts an illness that requires long term daily medication/injections will they then find themselves back at the rescue looking again for a forever home? I am also sure the cafe will be selling lots of foods that the cats will like and it will be difficult to ensure they are getting a balanced diet when being fed tidbits of food all day long by well meaning customers.

[Tiggy's Mum]

I just looked up crowdfunding and it's not donations as such, it's small chunks of money invested (rather than donated) by large numbers of individuals to fund a new business. I do see your point about it being a totally commercial venture but so are things like zoos and farms where people go to experience animals at close hand. If this had been set up to make profits for a rescue then it would be much more palatable (and I wonder if it takes off whether the larger rescues could consider it) but if the cats would be otherwise homeless & are happy and enjoying the human contact then I'm not 'anti' cat cafes as a concept. The link in the first post has a video now, which I don't think was there when I first looked.

[Jiji]

This is a business set up to make money pure and simple, if they don't make money they will close and the cats will presumably go back to the rescue. Getting us cat lovers to donate to help finance your business is pure genius and of course people could get the same benefits by volunteering at their local rescue where their donations could be put to far better use - jaundiced view, maybe, but when I think of the days standing in the cold for few donations many of the rescues on here get it makes me see red  I would urge anyone thinking of going to it to look through the window, see how much you would have spent and then donate the money to a local rescue.

[Tan]

I'm not sure about it. As far as i have read the cats will be all adopted from the rescue London's Mayhew rescue and they are meant to be adopting cats that are socialised ones only and would be ok in a cafe environment.  The cats are also meant to have a place where no people can go so can have time out if they want and unreachable high up places to go.
as far as i know the cats will all be indoor and not allowed out but not sure if they have an outdoor area at back to go?

I wonder if someone wanted to adopt a cat if they fell in love with one that they could? that would be good.

[Mymblesdaughter]

Yes Tiggy's Mum they adopted him. Mum said no more animals now they are retired. They ended up with Luc from Fuerteventura and around the same time my sister had a stray that some how found it's way to her barn. So my parents end up with her as well.   

Maybe I'm being a bit unfair on cats saying they would be sick in someone's bag on purpose. It's just I was carrying some washing to the bedroom this week and about 10 minutes later I noticed I'd dropped a sock. I went over to pick it up and noticed one of the cats had been sick on it. I'm not quite sure of the cat's thought process in this situation. Was it - look Mum's dropped a sock quick lets be sick on it. Or - I hate being sick on the hard laminate floor oh look there's a nice sock. 

[emmmy_lou]

I would say though they I had a lovely cuddle with a cat in Spain recently.

Sorry Louise, but that just cracked me up! 

I thought the idea WAS to rehome the cats, but like it has been said, not many cats are really sociable with strangers. It would be nice for those who aren't in a position to have cats themselves to get a 'fix' of petting a cat tho...

They have had them in Japan for a while now, so must work? As long as the cats are happy and well looked after, that's the main issue.

Will be interesting to see peoples opinions when its up and running? I would definitely go for a look if it was near enough

[Tiggy's Mum]

The Fuerteventura cat cafes are great. My parents have a time share there. Since they've been going the amount of cats has drastically reduced, which is really good news. They always look out for cats that haven't been spayed and let the Twinkle Trust know where they are. They tried to get a cafe on their site but the committee wouldn't go for it.

The only problem is my Mum fell in love with a young white cat that hadn't been spayed while they were staying there. The Twinkle trust took him in but said he couldn't be released as he was a high risk for cancer. He's now living the life of Riley in Cornwall and my parent's are quite a few hundred pounds worse off.   

They do a great job, no doubt about it  Did they adopt him themselves then or did he find a home with somebody else?

[LouiseJ]

When I initially read about it I thought fab, great idea as it would be a showcase for rescue cats and should help with homing but I've got a lot of misgivings. For me for it to work properly it should be in a better location than central London and ideally attached to land where the cats can roam around.
Are they going to be transported back and forth all the time? Not great for the cats.

I would say though they I had a lovely cuddle with a cat in Spain recently. I sat down for a coffee and this gorgeous cat appeared and jumped on my lap. But it was in the middle of a safe resort with few cars and plenty of places to hide from humans.

[CarolM (Wendolene)]

........ Sometimes people think cats are teddy bears that you can just cuddle when you feel like it. How about when they scratch someone or are sick in their bag.

It's all about the people enjoying the cats and not what the cats want or need as far as I can see.

I know this is a serious discussion about cat welfare and I apologise for lowering the tone, but I just love the idea of the cats being sick in somebody's bag.  I can just see them talking among themselves about the customers and saying 'first offence and its a warning hiss, next offence be sick in her bag and after that ....anything goes.' 

I think you're right about it all being done in the interests of the people and not the cats.  I knew these cafes existed in other countries but didn't realise there was a move to have one here.  How does it work I wonder?  If the money has been donated and the cafe is run privately for profit then somebody is on to a good thing.  I hope they have to be regulated and get frequent inspections to make the sure the cats are not unduly stressed.  I suppose it could work with the right cats but its a big ask to expect them to be sociable with anybody and everybody.  As Susanne says, they need to be able to get away when the mood takes them.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I think it's a great idea (I would certainly vist a cafe where I could have a cat cuddle along with my cappuccino!) but only if the cats are well cared for and not forced to interact with customers if they don't want to.  So long as they have places they can go to if they aren't feeling sociable, I think it's a lovely idea.

[Mymblesdaughter]

The Fuerteventura cat cafes are great. My parents have a time share there. Since they've been going the amount of cats has drastically reduced, which is really good news. They always look out for cats that haven't been spayed and let the Twinkle Trust know where they are. They tried to get a cafe on their site but the committee wouldn't go for it.

The only problem is my Mum fell in love with a young white cat that hadn't been spayed while they were staying there. The Twinkle trust took him in but said he couldn't be released as he was a high risk for cancer. He's now living the life of Riley in Cornwall and my parent's are quite a few hundred pounds worse off.   

No doubt where I get my daftness for cats from.

Regarding the London cat cafe, it doesn't sound like the cats are adoptable. I think the cafe will adopt them. It might not be too bad if the cafe not too busy but all the cafes seem so busy and noisy in London.   

[Tiggy's Mum]

While a rescue venture makes the idea more palatable than a commercial one I wonder if this could still be a win-win for the rescue cats involved, my cats are like yours in that they would hide for the entire time if they were taken somewhere strange like that with strangers trying to stroke them (although they are complete cuddle-bums with me) but there are very sociable cats who would enjoy the company. If the cats were all adoptable cats it could also boost rehoming. If it's just a gimmick and the cats are frightened or harassed then I wouldn't approve 

When I first read the title of this thread I thought it was about a cat cafe for cats which reminded me of my holiday to Fuerteventura where the hotels had cat cafes in the grounds for holiday makers to feed the homeless (neutered/spayed) cats 

http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,32099.msg575512.html#msg575512

[Mymblesdaughter]

In another article it said a local rescue had agreed to let them have some cats but it's a private venture.
 
Yes a rescue with a cafe attached would be a great idea. The CHAT place in Brede is in beautiful grounds where lots of their feral and unhomeable cats live. A cafe there where the cats could come and go as they liked would be a really good idea.

I don't like the sound of cats being trapped in the cafe in the centre of London and not being able to easily get away from people. My cats aren't very friendly and they haven't been cruelly treated or anything, they just aren't that keen on people they don't know. It will have to be a very placid type of cat and they will need to get on with other cats. Sometimes people think cats are teddy bears that you can just cuddle when you feel like it. How about when they scratch someone or are sick in their bag.

It's all about the people enjoying the cats and not what the cats want or need as far as I can see.   

[Tiggy's Mum]

If it was a fundraising venture for a cat rescue and the cats who 'worked' there were residents of the rescue who enjoyed people's company and getting loads of attention/strokes then I think it's a fab idea... I'm not sure if this is though, no rescue cause is mentioned but it says'the public' have raised 108k for it to open?

[Mymblesdaughter]

I notice that the cat cafe in London has raised the money it need, so looks like it's going ahead. I'm not sure if this has already been discussed. What do people think of it? Personally I don't like the idea.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/01/london-cat-cafe_n_2792302.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003