© Marco Verch
As I work on creating Ministry of Cat, the first rescue cat cafe & adoption centre in Cambodia, I often come into contact with people who don’t know much, if anything at all, about cat cafes. For them, this is a brief history of the concept. We’ll take a look at the rise of the cat cafe concept and its cultural impact.
The first cat cafe reportedly opened in Taiwan in the 90s … and it was an instant hit! Locals and tourists quickly became infatuated with the idea of sipping on a hot cup of coffee in the company of a feline friend.
But it wasn’t in Taiwan where the cat cafe concept actually took off. Like many other weird and wonderful things of our era, we must really credit Japan for making cat cafes ‘a thing’. The first Japanese cat cafe opened its doors in Osaka in 2004. The idea quickly gained momentum, becoming a proper craze in just a few years: from 2005 to 2010, for example, 79 cat cafes opened throughout the country.
A kitten in a cat cafe in Osaka, Japan. © Adolfo Perez-Gascon
However, legend has it that the primordial cat cafe actually opened much, much earlier: In 1912 to be exact. And it wasn’t even in Asia: It was in the Austrian capital of Vienna. Not only that, but this cafe was apparently a favourite of Vladimir Lenin. The guy who ruled the Soviet Union with an iron fist apparently had a soft spot for cats (don’t we all?). Of course, this might just be nothing more than local folklore — I for one very much like to believe so, since this particular tale ends with the patriotic owner of the cafe closing the establishment to ‘donate’ the cats to a factory making fur-lined boots for the war effort.
It is worth noting that, particularly in Japan, the concept of ‘having coffee in the company of animals’ has now spiralled out of control, to say the least. In Tokyo, Osaka and other Japanese megalopolis, you can now find owl cafes, goat cafes and llamas cafes, to name a few. (This, naturally, has raised a whole list of ethical issues regarding the treatment of animals, which I hope to address in future posts).
The phenomenon is not limited to Japan in anyway. Take Britain for example, where a pop-up cafe in London’s Paddington gives guests the opportunity to enjoy their coffee in the company of micropigs and rabbits (note: I cannot confirm whether this business is still in operation).
But, back on topic, from Asia, the concept of the cat cafe spread like wildfire to North America and Europe in the 2010s, from the Big Apple to the streets of Madrid.
A cat naps in Bangkok's Caturdays. © Adolfo Perez-Gascon
In the West, however, cat cafes usually follow a different business model. While most cat cafes in Asia feature expensive, often imported, breeds, in North America and Europe most choose to partner up with shelters and animal protection organizations to have rescue, up-for-adoption cats as residents, thus becoming social enterprises that prioritise improving the lives of animals over making a profit.
It’s hard to tell how many cat cafes have sprung up in the last few years in the West, but strong indication of their popularity is the fact that the term ‘cat cafe’ was actually included in the Oxford Dictionary in 2015.
“We knew that cat cafes were a thing, but we didn’t know they were this much of a thing,” wrote last year InStyle UK, which has created a map of the best cat cafes around the world.
It’s pretty obvious why cat cafes have flourished, particularly in Asia. In countries like Japan's or Taiwan particularly, limited space and ever-expanding populations mean apartments and houses are getting smaller and smaller. Tenants often cannot have their own pet because of space constraints, or the landlord might outright forbid animals in the building.
The popular purebred cat cafe Caturdays, located in Bangkok. © Adolfo Perez-Gascon
At the same time, urban environments and modern lifestyles tend to provoke feelings of loneliness, anxiety and isolation in people. It is no surprise then that pet-deprived, lonely denizens would have fully embraced cat cafes, because, after all, what can better lift your mood than sipping on a hot cuppa while stroking a cat? Not many things, sir. Not many at all.
Their popularity is also based on the killing formula that is the very foundation of their existence:
cats + coffee = glory.
Cats and coffee are definitely two prominent features of pop culture. Cats alone are reportedly the “second biggest thing in the Internet”, according to an article in Britain’s The Oldie (I leave it to you to figure out what the first one is…) Cat videos are very much a defining characteristic of the Internet, and let’s not forget that you also have so-called ‘catfluencers’ — with millions of followers — and even full-blown cat celebrities.
A siamese kitten in Bangkok's Kitty Cat Cafe. © Adolfo Perez-Gascon
Another reason cat cafes have proven such a hit relates to the benefits of interacting with cats. I will write more about this in future posts, but, for the moment, consider this passage on magazine Bonjour Paris published in April 2016:
For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, “purr therapy” refers to the therapeutic effects resulting from the purring of a cat. When a person strokes or pets it, a cat most often elicits a purr, the vibrations of which fall within a range of about 40-120 Hertz. These low-frequency vibrations have been linked to some pretty impressive health benefits including lowering blood pressure; promoting bone strength; healing muscles, tendons and ligament injuries; and providing stress relief.
A recent study even indicated that cat owners have a 40 percent less risk of a heart attack. These apparent health benefits coupled with the overwhelming fondness humans have for our furry friends has seen purr therapy — and indeed cat cafes — quickly gain momentum.” That’s all for today, friends. Stay tuned for more posts and updates, and sign up for our newsletter here if you want to support us and help make Ministry of Cat, Cambodia’s first rescue cat cafe & adoption centre, a reality.
