THE CAT CAFE - TORONTO

A Cat Cafeé has opened up in Toronto last month, welcoming dozens of cat lovers (like myself) to come along and play with cute furry kitties. The idea behind the Cat Café came from two friends and business partners from Saskatoon, Kenneth Chai and Scott Tan, who quit their jobs and decided to open up a place that offers hot drinks and cats.

I’ve been reading some negative comments about this cat cafe and some thought it was a bad idea. People assumed that you’d end up getting hairballs in your drinks and the whole cafe would be gross and dirty. I decided to go anyway and check it out for myself. My cousin is not a fan of cats, so she ordered a chai latte and watched from afar.

Once you enter the cafe, you’re told to puuuurrrrchase a drink or a snack before going into the small glassed room with all the furry cuteness. The cafe was divided into two parts: there’s a section where you can drink and eat like a normal coffee shop and another section where the cats are held. When you make a purchase, your name is written down and then you’re called with the next group of people. It is a cafe after all, so you have a choice to either take your hot drink into the room, or just watch people play with cats as you sip your drink. I decided to finish my cheesecake and chai latte before entering the room. We had to take off our shoes and wear slippers that were available for us.

The cat room has up to 10 feline friends from the Toronto Humane Society that are available for adoption and some TLC. I noticed a board hanging on the wall with pictures of the cats available along with their names and ages. Another small sign said: “Don’t just shop. Adopt.”

Once my name was called, one of the workers gave us some ground rules:

You can only feed them with cat snacks and biscuits that are available in the cafe. Not outside.

If a cat is asleep, don’t force them to wake up.

You can take pictures, but without the flash. Quite simple really.

The whole point is for these cats to find a home. They were either abandoned or put up for adoption. Now that the weather is getting cold, what’s better than keeping them in a warm environment? Instead of locking them in cages and leaving them in pet stores, they have the freedom to play, get fed and run around with other fellow cats. I only thought the cat room needed to be a bit more spacious, but overall, it wasn’t exactly a “cat-astophe” as people made it out to be. I thought it was nice and I hope these cats find their furever homes.

Address: 298 College St, Toronto

Open from -10am - 8pm