Caturday: Kitty Café

This week I took a trip to Nottingham to check out the relatively new Kitty Café, after receiving a voucher for my birthday. Accompanying me was my friend/downline Alison, as she’s a big cat lover but can’t have any of her own.

I’d read very mixed reviews (note to self: never look on TripAdvisor before setting off!) but our experience was very positive. Friendly staff, friendly cats and nice food. If you’re not familiar with the concept; it’s an ordinary café with the perfect addition of a load of cats, which roam around you as you eat. You pay a “welfare fee” to enter and only get a one-hour slot, which isn’t ideal as we enjoyed our paninis but didn’t dare order a cake afterwards, even though they looked delicious, as we knew there wouldn’t be time to eat it. 

The cats are free to leave the café area should they wish to retreat to a quieter cats-only zone (or need food or a litter tray!) but there were a good dozen playing around the tables or gazing out of the windows, watching the world go by. All of them are rescue cats available for adoption and this is where my only reservation comes in; the café doesn’t ask for an adoption donation, presumably because the welfare of the cats is paid for by your entry fee. My concern about this is that it could potentially harm other cat shelters in the area; why pay a sizeable adoption fee when you can get a cat for nothing? But most shelters rely on these adoption fees as a contribution towards the care they’ve lavished on the cat before it’s rehomed; neuteuring, vaccinations, flea and worm treatment are standard, even before any other medical costs are considered.  And I’ve always maintained that if you can’t afford the adoption fee, you should seriously reconsider getting a pet as they can end up being extremely expensive.  That was a bit of a rant so I’ll shut up now. Just enjoy the pix of the cats…

This week I took a trip to Nottingham to check out the relatively new Kitty Café, after receiving a voucher for my birthday. Accompanying me was my friend/downline Alison, as she’s a big cat lover but can’t have any of her own.

I’d read very mixed reviews (note to self: never look on TripAdvisor before setting off!) but our experience was very positive. Friendly staff, friendly cats and nice food. If you’re not familiar with the concept; it’s an ordinary café with the perfect addition of a load of cats, which roam around you as you eat. You pay a “welfare fee” to enter and only get a one-hour slot, which isn’t ideal as we enjoyed our paninis but didn’t dare order a cake afterwards, even though they looked delicious, as we knew there wouldn’t be time to eat it. 

The cats are free to leave the café area should they wish to retreat to a quieter cats-only zone (or need food or a litter tray!) but there were a good dozen playing around the tables or gazing out of the windows, watching the world go by. All of them are rescue cats available for adoption and this is where my only reservation comes in; the café doesn’t ask for an adoption donation, presumably because the welfare of the cats is paid for by your entry fee. My concern about this is that it could potentially harm other cat shelters in the area; why pay a sizeable adoption fee when you can get a cat for nothing? But most shelters rely on these adoption fees as a contribution towards the care they’ve lavished on the cat before it’s rehomed; neuteuring, vaccinations, flea and worm treatment are standard, even before any other medical costs are considered.  And I’ve always maintained that if you can’t afford the adoption fee, you should seriously reconsider getting a pet as they can end up being extremely expensive.  That was a bit of a rant so I’ll shut up now. Just enjoy the pix of the cats…