A few weekends back, I went to the Cat Cafe in Melbourne with my dad, Sylvia and her friend. It was interesting but I don't feel the need to go back. I am content to just spend time with my own cat rather than strangers and prefer to go places where food is more important than cats. Which is not to say it does not cater to those who want to pat every cat they see and are happy to have hot drinks in cardboard cups. But the cats were cute so here are some pictures.
The building is down an old laneway in the heart of Melbourne, near the corner of Queen and Latrobe Streets. Blink and you would miss it. We've booked and paid $12 each so we make the effort to find it. (That does not include drinks and snacks.)
Look up and you will see the sign. (Can you spot this sign on the left of the middle window in the photo higher up?)
Inside you sign a disclaimer (including that your children are 8 years or older which I assume means you are in trouble if you have a child under 8 and there is any trouble.) There are two rooms. We first enter the lower room.
The cats are pretty sleepy in this room. I expected them to be more entertaining. I expected more people and more cats. But there is lots of unexpected space.
So we go upstairs. A cat sits and watches up come up the stairs.
I like the upstairs better. Lots of tables and chairs where we can have a drink and a snack. We also watch the kitties have their feed.
Lots of cosy corners.
The cats still don't seem to spend a lot of time on the play equipment.
But at least we can see who they are. Each cat has a photo, a name and a bio.
We each choose a snack (from
Love Eat Cake by Lisa). Actually I choose two. I have the cheese and vegemite biscuit that is so so so cute. The sweet food looks good and is yummy too but nothing is as good as my bikkie. And I take home the brownie. I am less impressed with the hot drinks in cardboard cups. I understand there is no kitchen but I never drink tea from cardboard cups.
Obviously the cats disagree. A couple of moggies are curious about what is on the tables. However they only are there after we have finished.
I didn't really have a favourite cat but I was quite taken by the white one called Jasper. It reminded me a bit of our white cat who died last year. The box behind Jasper is really cute.
Here are more cats. (And Jasper again.) They are all rescue cats that live at the cafe.
We are only allotted 1 hour. It goes by quickly. Soon we are back at the entrance surrounded by gifts which are very tempting for the kids. I pass on the laser light toy and the catnip and am glad to head how to our own Shadow cat.
Cat Cafe
30 Guildford Lane, Melbourne 3000
Between La Trobe Street and Little Lonsdale Street
Accessible from Queen Street or Sutherland Street
(03) 9642 8540
10am-6pm, 7 days a week
catcafemelbourne.com
I love all the cat pictures. Apparently Perth has one of these now too - my brother took my sister for her birthday last year. She is a huge cat lover but it isn't very practical for her to have her own at the moment, so it's the perfect place for her. I do find the concept funny but I guess they have enough of a following to thrive.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kari - we were planning to go there before we got shadow - maybe I would have enjoyed it more if we had not had our own cat again. glad to hear it worked for your sister.
DeleteI've been to a cat cafe in Asia. It was pretty cute and they had some beautiful cats but the food was pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lorraine - the food was nice but there wasn't much to choose from - it is a few snacks rather than a meal
DeleteA friend of mine keeps talking about us going here - not sure I want to after reading this.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cakelaw - it is worth going once but it is not for everyone (many in my family would run screaming in the opposite directly)
DeleteThis is very interesting and I was interested in reading your experience of this place. I must confess i would probably go out of curiousity than anything else, as I hope to adopt a dog oneday, i let the cats adopt me. I wonder if the Cat Protection charity in the UK would ever consider an initiative of opening a cat cafe in the UK, where people would consider adopting. But with the regulations around hygiene so stringent, perhaps not. A charity called real junk food project that redirects food that go to landfills for the public on a pay as you want basis has recently been penalised by a local council.
ReplyDeleteThanks Shaheen - I think if the cats were really friendly I would be happy to spend time with them but it is understandable that when they have people there all day that they are happy for their own space. There is a note on the website that you can't adopt the cats as it sounds like a red tape nightmare but also could be difficult for the cats to be moving about from home to home and I think they have to be very particular about the cats chosen for the cafe - far more than choosing cats for a home. The real junk food project sounds interesting but full of challenges. Hope you get your dog some day (though you would need one that would be kind to your garden)
DeleteI saw one of these cafes when I was visiting Germany but couldn't go in because my husband is allergic to cats. I always wondered what they were like inside. I love that the cats are all rescued. :)
ReplyDelete