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Cat café offering feline cuddles and coffee.

"Rub ma belly"
  Autumn. The leaves are falling. Its grey and raining. We're a long time past March's lockdown and yet coronavirus is still here and we still need to keep our distance. But we have a silver lining!
A pick me up proven uplift opens on the 31st October, in the shape of nine cats roaming, ready for petting and belly rubs at the new Java Whiskers cat café at 105, Great Portland Street, in London!

You book your time slot, 1-2 hours per person over 10 years of age, arrive 15 minutes early and kick off your shoes!
Order some sandwiches, salads and pastries, with vegan options and gluten-free option and then enjoy the kitties as they come a paw-ing.
There are rules though to protect the cats, while there are toys to lure in a feline friend, you aren't allowed to force them, pick them up or 'force hold' them, and the cats are free to retreat to downstairs if they decide they're done with human company for a while, so these cat kings and queens call the shots.

This cat café is a collaboration with  The Scratching Post a cat shelter based in Waltham Abbey by Susan Delaney for the past 15 years who have not only re-homed cats into forever homes but cares for sick and injured cats including helping the feral ones get homes in less traditional settings like a farm. They work with Java Whiskers to end cat homelessness.

Creaammm

Most will stick around for two months at Java Whiskers greeting all the strangers and regulars before being adopted to its forever home, quite possibly by one of the patrons. Java Whiskers and the Scratching Post have thought of everything for potential people to apply from application to interview to adopt the cats.

It an entrepreneurial venture with three Swedes at the helm Jon Bäcklund, Tobias Larsson and Joakim Wessman.

Tobias Larsson said: “We wanted to find a business that is doing something good. We want to create a great environment for both the cats and humans that is calm and comfortable but also very healing. The café has two primary objectives: to improve the mental health and well-being of its visitors and to reduce the rate of cat homelessness" He says "the holistic mental well-being benefits of spending time with cats has been widely documented".

Well I know I love me some kitties, and these guys look adorable, a cuddle gem in the middle of a pandemic... what's not to love.

I've heard of them being ubiquitous in Japan, and my friend in the Netherlands has boasted about taking his family to one, and now we've one in London! I can't wait to get my cat fix!

They are COVID19 prepared and you can check out times and prices here.

*This post is dedicated to Tom-cat, who left for cat heaven in Oct 2020 and Doris-cat who found her home in August 2020*

How many cats can you see in this picture?




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