SPCA adoptable Yukon loved spending time with Medicine Hat College students Haley Kothig and Sarah Chisholm at the Kats and Kisses pop-up cat cafe held Feb. 7 at the college.--NEWS PHOTO KENDALL KING
kking@medicinehatnews.com@kkingmhn
Students and local animals are benefiting from a new cat cafe initiative popping-up at Medicine Hat College.
Hosted by MHC’s Business Ambassador Student group, in partnership with Medicine Hat’s SPCA, the initiative brings cats awaiting adoption to campus for a few hours on a set date. The cats are placed in a secure room where they can roam, while students are invited to visit and interact with or observe them.
“We did the first cat cafe in November 2022,” Linda Tooth, BAS group faculty adviser and SPCA board member, told the News. “It was an amazing success so we decided to do it again.”
Admission to the cat cafe is via donation to the SPCA, with monetary and pet food donations accepted. The most recent Valentine’s Day-themed cat cafe, held Feb. 7, had more than 80 attendees and raised more than $400 for the SPCA, alongside food donations.
As well as generating donations for the SPCA, the cafe also offers adoptable cats a chance to socialize prior to adoption, says Tooth.
“It’s a great opportunity for the cats to get out of their kennels and into a much bigger space, and it gets them meeting people and socializing,” Tooth said.
But Tooth feels students also benefit, having heard positive feedback from the majority of attendees.
“A lot of the students indicated that it was a great mental health break for them,” she said. “They’re worried about exams, they are leading busy lives and a lot of them might be living in (student) residences and couldn’t bring their pets with them, so this just gives them an opportunity to come in and play with and connect with some cats.”
Third-year nursing students Kate McGill, Breagh Mason and Payton Foster were some of the first in attendance at the most recent cafe and were vocal in their support of the pop-up event.
“We just came from a really tough exam so this is perfect,” McGill said.
“We all felt like we needed a break from the schoolwork and studying, and just being around animals is stress relief.
“Especially because none of us have pets here but we all grew up with pets, so it’s kind of a nice pick-me-up to see them.”
Deena West, registered provisional psychologist and co-owner of Medicine Hat’s Keys to Hope Counselling, says she’s not surprised to hear such feedback, as positive interactions between animals and humans have several benefits for both parties.
“There’s lots of benefits for humans in regards to having contact with animals,” said West. “(Animals can help) decrease depression or anxiety symptoms, assist with emotional expression and regulation, teach healthy relationships and boundaries, as well as to increase motivation for people. And there’s also benefits for the animals as well.”
With support from many students, as well as staff, Tooth is hoping the cat cafe could become a more permanent fixture at MHC.
“It’s really a benefit for everybody,” said Tooth. “So my goal is to have this more permanently here on campus so students have a place to come and unwind; sit down with the cats for an hour, do some homework. I mean, just look at the students, they’re happy here.”
