no ..not cathouses....coffee house where u can play with cats...first has opened in NYC...would u go?

these cafes have been really popular in japan for quite some time. dogs, cats, birds you name it. personally, i'm more of a bird person, but i'd think it might be stressful for the animals to be fondled and held by strangers. imo, not all animals have personalities which would enable them to enjoy this. hopefully, the behavior of the clients is monitored too. wonder what kind of insurance the cafe carries? interesting concept

I don't know if most cats would really dig it, though. They are usually most comfortable around people they know (and actually like).

I like the idea though I do worry about the cats finding it stressful. Then again, when my cat finds something stressful he runs under the bed and I can't bother him anymore.

If I had to live in an apt where I couldn't have cats, I would possibly visit one regularly. It's easy to imagine something going wrong but, there have been bookstore cats for decades now and they seem to do OK.

I suppose if there is a market, why not? Hopefully these places are adopting their cats from high kill shelters and making sure they all receive proper care and handling. It would be better if these were shelter cats and customers could apply to adopt after spending some time with them.

If this was a non-profit type of organization, I could maybe see myself going to support....otherwise I am not interested.

Yes, I would go because I love cats. I have 6 of my own and am feeding 3 strays, one of which just had kittens, but she's hiding them. She's still rather feral.

People who visit me never see my cats. They're not used to a lot of folks in and out of my house; consequently, they are very shy around strangers and will not come out of their hinding places.

The only way the kitty cafe would work is making sure all the cats are socialized and like being handled. Some cats are friendler than others. Those that are skittish or don't like being around a lot of people should not be candidates for the cafe.

JustErin said:

I suppose if there is a market, why not? Hopefully these places are adopting their cats from high kill shelters and making sure they all receive proper care and handling. It would be better if these were shelter cats and customers could apply to adopt after spending some time with them.

If this was a non-profit type of organization, I could maybe see myself going to support....otherwise I am not interested.

Great idea!!!

Kitty cafes and doggy cafes have been quite popular in Seoul as well (pretty sure we got that from Japan) I've been to a couple and the only downside for me was that it was impossible to leave T~T!!!! Those doggies loved ME most of all ppl at the cafe, I could just tell.......

JustErin said:

I suppose if there is a market, why not? Hopefully these places are adopting their cats from high kill shelters and making sure they all receive proper care and handling. It would be better if these were shelter cats and customers could apply to adopt after spending some time with them.

If this was a non-profit type of organization, I could maybe see myself going to support....otherwise I am not interested.

I was actually considering looking into opening one of my own here and that was my exact plan - working w/a no kill shelter and having them all be adoptable.

I don't think there's probably the market here in Minneapolis. I understand why it's so popular in Japan and could be in London and New York (what with people not having much room to care for pets) but that's not really the case here. It would be more cause I want to hang out with cats all day and I'm not sure people will pay me for that. Yet.

CarrieMpls said:

JustErin said:

I suppose if there is a market, why not? Hopefully these places are adopting their cats from high kill shelters and making sure they all receive proper care and handling. It would be better if these were shelter cats and customers could apply to adopt after spending some time with them.

If this was a non-profit type of organization, I could maybe see myself going to support....otherwise I am not interested.

I was actually considering looking into opening one of my own here and that was my exact plan - working w/a no kill shelter and having them all be adoptable.

I don't think there's probably the market here in Minneapolis. I understand why it's so popular in Japan and could be in London and New York (what with people not having much room to care for pets) but that's not really the case here. It would be more cause I want to hang out with cats all day and I'm not sure people will pay me for that. Yet.

exc idea ...use the sheltered animals

But if a DOG cafe opened up I'd try it

Although, with all that fur & dander flying around, I wouldn't consume anything more than a cup of coffee. Preferably in a sealed mug.

i watched an excellent show about soldiers with PTSD being paired to shelter animals that had been trained by people who've been incarcerated. an excellent outcome all the way round.

These places are catching on all over. Here in Canada, there's at least one opening in Montreal this summer, and another two currently racing to be the first in Toronto by autumn.

All three seem to be partnered with local animal shelters and do, to my knowledge, plan to have their cats available for adoption. They also seem to be planning to host Q&A sessions with vets, senior pet therapy days, field trips for young children to learn about animal care, etc.

I think it's an awesome idea. I know that several Toronto-area cat shelters have really struggled to stay open of late. Perhaps these sorts of ventures will be an effective way to raise both their visibility and revenue.

I just hope they have very well thought out plans for animal care and cleanliness (since they are also serving food).

[Edited 5/1/14 20:13pm]

Lammastide said:

These places are catching on all over. Here in Canada, there's at least one opening in Montreal this summer, and another two currently racing to be the first in Toronto by autumn.

All three seem to be partnered with local animal shelters and do, to my knowledge, plan to have their cats available for adoption. They also seem to be planning to host Q&A sessions with vets, senior pet therapy days, field trips for young children to learn about animal care, etc.

I think it's an awesome idea. I know that several Toronto-area cat shelters have really struggled to stay open of late. Perhaps these sorts of ventures will be an effective way to raise both their visibility and revenue.

I just hope they have very well thought out plans for animal care and cleanliness (since they are also serving food).

[Edited 5/1/14 20:13pm]

In the cases I have seen online there seems to be a separate "cat" room away from where you order and are served food and drink. Patrons can choose to enter it or not. That makes a sort of sense but I'm not sure how you keep a precocious kitty from running in when anyone opens the door. Of course you're only going to allow a certain type of cat in the space to begin with. Some cats are extremely social, some are extremely not.

Kitty cafe....so,...am I the only one who thought this was going to be a thread about something else?