Cat cafes are popping up all over the UK and, while they may seem like a novelty for cat lovers, I had to wonder how ethical these feline havens really are.
As vets, we believe cats are inherently solitary animals, and often become stressed when multiple cats are in the same household or when new pets are introduced.
With this in mind, how could tens of cats all living together, being constantly hassled by strangers, possibly be anything but a stressful environment?
However, I didn’t want to assume the worst until I’d experienced a cat cafe for myself.
Table for two
With this in mind, I booked a table for two at the newly opened Purrple Cat Cafe in Glasgow.
The website strongly recommended booking in advance because the cafe limits the number of people in each “session” and, in particular, the number of children at any one time – a positive start, as one of my initial concerns was overcrowding.
The cafe runs a number of hour-long sessions, with 30-minute breaks in between each, allowing the cats some frequent down time.
Booking was definitely the right move as, on the Saturday we attended, the cafe was fully booked (which equated to about 25 diners) for each session and we witnessed many walk-ins being turned away.
We entered via a double door system (to prevent any escapee cats) and browsed the (quite limited) menu while waiting for the “briefing”.
Just before our allotted time, one of the staff went through a small number of rules, which are to protect everyone’s safety. The most important of these were that guests must not pick up cats, nor feed them human food.
A small amount of kibble could be purchased to entice the cats over for a fuss, which were not treats, but simply a small pot of their normal dry biscuits.
First impressions
From the outset, I was pleasantly surprised as the cafe was much bigger than I expected and did not look at all how I anticipated. It was more like an oversized living room than a restaurant, with an expansive space dotted with armchairs, sofas and coffee tables.
The walls were covered in shelves, tunnels and built in hidey-holes for the cats to perch on/in, and one entire side of the cafe had huge windows, with the wide windowsills providing a glorious suntrap, which many of the cats were basking in.
The floor was littered with toys, scratch posts and cat trees. It was very tastefully decorated, with food bowls tucked under tables; cat water fountains out of the way, but freely accessible to the cats; and litter trays concealed by curtains.
We took our allotted seats on a large squashy sofa and was almost immediately joined by Soozy – an inquisitive tortoiseshell who quickly decided we had nothing tasty and averted her attention to someone who’d already received lunch.
Eyes on us
Our tea soon arrived and our milk jug was instantly assaulted by a sleek black tomcat. The staff were hot on it, though, replacing the milk jug straight away and this time carefully shutting it away inside a lidded glass pot.
When our food arrived, it came with plastic covers to keep any sneaky paws out, but this didn’t stop the audience we soon had, trying on the starvation eyes.
Charity retreat
According to one of the staff, around 30 cats were residing in the cafe – all of whom had free roam of the space we were occupying, as well as an additional, much bigger room downstairs, with all of the cats having the option of retreating downstairs at any point if they didn’t want to socialise.
These were all adoptees from a local feline charity, CatFlap, and were present in all shapes, sizes and ages – ranging from kittens a few months old to older cats, with the oldest girl aged 14.
Being rescues, all of the cats were neutered, and the cafe website promotes neutering to reduce the numbers of unwanted cats.
An admission charge of £5 per person is applicable, which goes towards covering vet bills, food and litter, with any food or drink consumed on the day charged on top.
All the cats are kept up to date with vaccinations and preventive flea and worm treatment, and a weekly vet visit takes place to check the cats are in good health.
Happy and healthy
I had suspected a few kitties may have been overweight from all the food scrounging and extra kibble, but, to my delight, they all appeared in good condition.
It was great to see how relaxed and chilled out all of the cats were – even those who didn’t want to interact with their guests were quite happy just sleeping on the windowsill or curling up on a chair undisturbed.
Even so, many of the cats were interested in their guests, coming up for a quick stroke before retiring elsewhere.
The staff were great at keeping an eye on the cats, ensuring nobody was breaking the rules or hassling any of them. They also looked out for us and would gently nudge the cats from the tables if they were harassing the diners too much – not that the customers were complaining.
The staff seemed very knowledgeable about each of the cats, which gave a nice personal touch.
I personally had a great time hanging out with the cafe’s permanent residents, and was pleasantly surprised by the way in which the cafe runs and how content the cats were.
The food was pretty average, but who goes to a cat cafe for the food?
I can’t speak for any of the other cat cafes around, but I certainly think the one in Glasgow provides a good, stable home for these otherwise unwanted cats, and sends a good message about the need for adopting/rehoming.
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