Cat café

[1] Patrons pay a cover fee, generally hourly, and thus cat cafés can be seen as a form of supervised indoor pet rental.

[2] Due to Japan's land size and population, many residents live in small apartments or condominiums which do not allow pets, making cat cafés a very popular destination for young workers looking for the companionship and comfort offered.

[5][better source needed] "Cat café" has been added to the online edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English since August 2015.

Although, International Cat Care, a nonprofit organization, takes a more positive view, saying, "It is a difficult environment to get right but it's not impossible by any means."

Cat cafés in Japan are required to obtain a license and comply with the nation's Animal Treatment and Protection Law.

Many cafes often 'employ' cats from local animal shelters to help them become accustomed to humans, as well as advertise them for possible adoption.

[13][14][15] The Singaporean Cat cafés are regulated and licensed by Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and they are all bound to a 'code of conduct'.

[23] Each serves baked goods with a small menu of main dishes and coffee and tea.

Zcyphher – An Independent Creative Agency is the parent company, whose founders, Mriidu Khosla, Charu Khosla and Jason Moss in 2010 on a small scale started rescuing stray cats, taking care of them, tending to their medical needs, and offering them up for adoption.

[25] According to local legend, the world's first cat café opened in Vienna in the summer of 1912 and ceased operation approximately two years later.

It is said that Vladimir Lenin was a regular for a period in 1913, finding the feline companionship a comfort during his time of exile.

The cat café is known to have ceased operation shortly after the beginning of the First World War, although the much repeated story that the closure was due to its patriotic owner's donating all the cats to a factory making fur-lined boots for the war effort may be apocryphal.

[44] The café works in partnership with the Ilioupolis Animal Welfare Union and all cats are up for adoption.

[59] The café offers coffee, cakes and vegan items for guests while acting as a shelter for homeless cats.

[63] The second cat café in Romania, La Pisici Cafe opened in September 2015 in Timișoara.

[70] A cat café named Mňaukafé also opened in Prešov in June 2017 as actually fourth in Slovakia.

[citation needed] In 2014 Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium in Bethnal Green, London, opened, with a two-month waiting list.

[86][87] You&Meow, Bristol's first dedicated cat café, opened in February 2017 after a crowdfunding campaign.

[94] Maison de Moggy in Edinburgh is the first cat café in Scotland and was opened in January 2015.

[99] With cat cafés becoming increasingly popular worldwide, offering social experiences while promoting pet adoption and animal welfare.

Café Chat L'Heureux (also in Montreal) was opened in September 2014 with 8 cats adopted from local shelters.

[105][106][107][108] Starting the process in November 2013,[109] KitTea's design was finally approved in August 2014[110] after extensive negotiation with San Francisco's Health Department.

[111] These timelines highlight not only the regulatory hurdles for cat cafes that prepare food on premises, but also differences between local governments that are mere miles from one another.

[114] In June 2015, Crumbs and Whiskers opened its first cat café in Washington, D.C., where it partnered with the local chapter of the Humane Society; this café provides a boarding space for around 15–25 cats at a time, all of which are provided by the Humane Society and made available for adoption.

[115][116][117][118][119][120] Crumbs and Whiskers subsequently opened its second café in Los Angeles, California in September 2016.

[129][130] After years of controversy surrounding the café's role in the gentrification of East Austin and a 2017 interview the owner gave to InfoWars, a website known for propagating far-right conspiracy theories, the Blue Cat Cafe closed in February 2019.

[131][132][133] Three years later, the Purrfecto Cat Lounge opened in Austin in partnership with the Sunshine Fund and the Fuzzy Texan Animal Rescue.

[136][137][138] In March 2016, Cat Cafe Mad opened in Madison, Wisconsin,[139] but was set to close the next year.

[140] In December 2016, Ashley Brooks opened "Pounce Cat Cafe + Wine Bar" in Charleston, South Carolina.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Happy Cat Café was shut down for most of 2020, during which they performed renovations, and re-opened on January 2, 2021, but only for one-hour events for small groups.