Hannah Silvey looks into Cardiff’s first cat café, a phenomenon that’s understandably taking the city by storm.
Coffee with a slice of cat cuddles? Yes please. At last, since the first cat café opened in Taiwan in 1998, one’s opened up here in Cardiff. After setting up a crowdfunding campaign, Hollie Bowler-Brown encouraged the pubic to get behind the project to open South Wales’ first cat café complete with coffee, cake and a handful of moggies. They managed to raise more than £7000 (way over the £5000 target) over 18 months, and on in July, Feline Good Café opened its doors to the public. Feline Good aims to bring together hot drink lovers, cake fanatics and cat enthusiasts under one roof to support rescue cats.
Their priority is to house cats that need a second chance, so the café has taken in a group of rescue kitties that, sadly, no one else has. How amazing to give a new life to cats that need it most. They’ve partnered up with Mittens, a small independent cat charity based in South Wales, which is where they adopt the cats from, and it’s also the charity they support.
It’s the perfect place for those who can’t house their own pet, allowing them to experience animal companionship, or simply for any animal lover. Enter the vintage style tearoom in the heart of the city to be welcomed by the adorable cats- you can go to socialise, do some work or have a read. Feline Good also caters for a wide range of diets: meat-eaters, vegetarians and vegans.
The café homes up to 10 cats at a time and after three years of planning, they ensure that the cats are healthy and happy at all times. The team did extensive research on other cat cafés to find out what works and what doesn’t, and have ascertained that all cats they home are happy. It’s advised to book in advance, online or by giving them a call, as the café is pretty much fully booked five days in advance.
Meridian Court, North Road, Cardiff. Info: 029 2132 1043 / www.felinegoodcafe.com