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Buckeye Beat: Cat Cafe

cat cafe
cat cafe

READ THE SCRIPT:

♪ What's new pussycat ♪ ♪ Whoa whoa whoa whoa ♪ ♪ What's new pussycat ♪ ♪ Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa ♪

- Do what you know, right? I know coffee, and I know cats.

- My childhood cat passed away right before I moved to Washington D.C.

- I had one when I was an infant, and then he passed, and then we found a stray and rescued her when I was probably about six.

- So I used to visit Crumbs and Whiskers in Washington D.C., and I just loved it, so when I moved back, I wanted to start one here.

- I love how goofy they can be. I love it when they try to jump, and then they goof up, or they doing something silly and they try to recover. I feel like I relate to that a lot.

[David] Cat cafes are popular around the world. The first one opened in 1998 in Taiwan. They quickly spread to Japan and other countries.

- From there it spread to the U.S. In 2015, I think Cat Town opened in California, and it quickly spread to the other states. There's pretty much one in every other major city. Cleveland was actually one of the last ones to get one.

[David] In Asia, the kitties mingle in the same room with the customers, but in the U.S., food service regulations require that the animals be kept in a separate space away from food.

- We actually have two separate spaces due to Health Department requirements in the U.S. So, we have the cafe space and the lounge space, because it keeps hair out of our machines and all the snacks, and that kind of stuff.

[David] AffoGATO doesn't allow pet owners to bring their feline friends in for a coffee break. It's a place for catless patrons and animal lovers to interact with the company cats.

- They basically are just mood boosters. They can help with grief and depression. Obviously you can relieve some stress by playing with them and just seeing them do their thing. A lot of them just want to sit down with you, if you want to sit and read a book and relax. Yeah, it really depends on what you are coming here for. We can definitely find a cat to match that personality.

[David] AffoGATO gets their cats from the Cleveland Animal Protective League.

- So, currently we have seven. Our capacity is 16. Our cats come from the Cleveland APL. We work with them to find cats that we think would do better in a home-like environment to help them find a match. So they tend to either send us cats who obviously love people, they really want to be around people constantly, or they send us ones that are super scared in their cages that they think might open up if they're in a more home-like environment. And so far we've been able to make matches that way.

[David] The cafe's top cat, Prince, a permanent resident is there to show the new arrivals the ropes.

[Mandy] Prince, A, he just wants endless attention. He just wants everybody to come and say hi to him. He also wants to play all the time, so that's why we feel he's a good fit for the cafe. He also helps the other new cats adjust. So when we have newbies move in, he is really gentle with them, and he doesn't, like, he doesn't mind if they hiss at him. He's just a really friendly cat. So he helps them adjust with the other cats.

[David] For the cats, being at AffoGATO is a welcome break from the animal shelter, and a chance at finding a home.

- So, the biggest benefit for the cats here is that they can come and they can enjoy the entirety of the space. They don't have to be confined to a certain portion of it. They can explore, they can be curious, they can meet new people on their own terms, and if it's a little overwhelming, they can walk away to the privacy room

So, you really get to see the cats how they will be in a home setting. People can adopt them because they know exactly what they're getting, as opposed to just a quick interaction in a shelter, in a cage, which, we have cats that aren't comfortable in cages, and they're comfortable here, and so people see that, and the likelihood of them getting adopted is far higher. ♪ Pussycat pussycat you're delicious ♪