Cat or dog café for animal lovers

Have you ever wanted to have a cat or a dog but you can’t because you don’t have the necessary conditions at your home? Cat or dog café is a solution for you!

The concept of cat café originated in Taiwan in the 1990s and has since gained popularity in various countries around the world. Then it was developed a lot in Japan, where they called it Neko Café (coffee cats). These spaces were created to be a shelter for cats but also a space of comfort for humans. In cat café, most of the cats were abandoned, and taking them in these spaces allows them to find a safe place, where they can be taken care of. These cafés typically provide a space for customers to relax and spend time with resident cats that are sometimes available for adoption. Most cat cafés established certain rules to respect the well-being of animals, such as:

• Don’t run after cats

• Don’t force cats to stay with you if they don’t want too

• Don’t give them non-proper food

• Don’t wake up or scare the cats

• Don’t talk too loud

• Don’t use camera flash while taking pictures

These kinds of rules are necessary and important in these coffee places to preserve animal’s health, and not just to use them as a commercial attraction. For humans, cat cafés are relaxing places and allow them to revitalize themselves. Indeed, several studies proved that domestic animals can have real benefits on human health. Petting a cat and experiencing their calming presence can have a positive impact on cardiovascular health by lowering blood pressure. Moreover, the cat’s purring is also helpful for human stress. Purring are sounds that cats make when they feel comfortable, and they are between 20 and 50 Hertz. This power of relaxation can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke in the long term. According to Jean-Yves Gauchet, vet and author, these purrings send well-being and positive feelings signals to the human brain. To be more precise, when a human is in the company of a cat, it can make hormonal secretions called endorphin and serotonin which are hormones which provide relaxation and good mood. Cat cafés can have real benefits on mental health, if you are alone or with friends, they are the places to be, for having a chill and relaxing moment in your day.

After the brand of cat cafés, a lot of other coffee places with animals opened in the USA and in Europe.

For example, in 2016, in Lille, in the North of France, a dog café “Waf coffee” was born. The concept is simple: “Gather humans in need of canine affection and dogs in need of human affection”. This coffee place is welcoming around 9 dogs, all coming from a shelter. Some of them can be adopted by visitors but with conditions; the staff members are very attentive to the conditions of living of people who will adopt dogs to guarantee a good life and good conditions for the adopted dog. This coffee place is a very nice alternative for people who are missing time or place to have a dog at home and want to spend time with lovely animals. Other animal places like this are opening, like snake, hedgehog or even owl cafés. Even if these animal cafés are developing around the world, a lot of animal protection organizations are worried about animal conditions in coffee places and they pay attention if people are not using animals as a commercial argument.

In Macedonia, there is no official cat or dog café but you can regularly have cat or dog visitors when you are having a coffee on the terrace. People usually take care of street animals in Macedonia and creating a cat or dog café could be a really good way to help them more as well as to bring joy to animal fans!

Camélia Sghayare

Sources:

Le Figaro, “ Un premier bar à chiens va ouvrir ses portes à New York”

Kanpai.fr “NEKO CAFÉ, Prendre le café avec des chats au Japon”

Femmeactuelle.fr, “Les incroyables pouvoirs du chat”