Cassandra L.
Yelp
A visited this cafe a few weeks ago and in theory, the idea is really good. There is a cafe in the lobby that you can order from before going into the room and bring your treats with you. My party and I walked in and immediately were excited to make our way around the room and meet the cats.
As a paw-rent of two cats of my own, I know when I see a sick cat. There was one cat in particular who was extremely lethargic and had snot coming out of his nose, his eyes looked weepy, and he was sneezing - not like a regular cute kitten sneeze but like a MASSIVE sneeze that scared our group when we were near him. He was obviously really sick and - as someone who owns cats - I know how easily these sicknesses can spread to others. Our entire group took to him and was standing around him talking about how sad he looked. When an attendant was nearby I asked them if he was sick and she said "yes he's been sick for a few weeks but it'll probably just resolve itself." I commented that he looked "really ill" and should get checked out and she said that "he'll be fine, we're giving him lots of love!" This is incredibly concerning to hear. One of our group members was so concerned that he put in a request to adopt this cat but never heard back.
Beyond this - they had a feeding session with the cats while we visited. A lot of the cats were trying to break into the room with the food in it and it just seemed like they didn't get fed often.
The last alarming piece of this visit was that some cats were put into a cage during the feeding time and looked SO stressed out. One was pacing anxiously back and forth and meowing loudly, seemingly stressed.
Our group walked away from this experience a little horrified and concerned about how the animals were being treated and everyone said it put a damper on their day. I hope that they have been making some positive changes and hire staff who specialize in cat body language and behavior so they can understand when their cats are sick, stressed, or hungry, and provide support to them when they are.