Let’s Chat: What is your dream?

By LINDA TOOTH on July 19, 2023.

Are you familiar with the term ‘cat cafe’?

The first cat cafe called the Cat Flower Garden opened in Taipei, Taiwan in 1998. The Japanese loved this concept so much that they began operating cat cafes and now reportedly have over 150.

What is a cat cafe? It is a coffee shop that offers patrons refreshments and snacks and allows them to interact with cats from local shelters. The genius behind this idea is that cats can roam in the cafe or adjacent in an enclosed space and patrons can enjoy their company. This is something that is hard to accomplish in a shelter due to space.

I started the idea of ‘pop-up cat cafes’ last year at Medicine Hat College. Partnering with a student group this mobile cat cafe occurred twice on campus. I brought cats from the Medicine Hat SPCA and the feedback was positive with students and staff asking for it to occur more often, if not permanently.

I have also partnered with the Medicine Hat Public Library and soon the Redcliff Public Library to have ‘pop-up cat cafes’ available for patrons.

We have now had three at MHPL. The latest one, held on July 14, saw more people attending than the previous two. We are on to something.

We also decided we would offer this opportunity for patrons to connect with cats once a month until April 2024. One of the cats that came to MHPL has since found a new forever home thanks to the cat cafe, and that is a win for everyone.

Wherever I travel, one of the first things I do is check to see if there are any cat cafes at that destination. I have been to the Regal Cat Cafe in Calgary, Cat Cafe on Whyte in Edmonton, NEKO Cat Cafe in Seattle, and the Hearts Alive Village in Las Vegas. I am even contemplating putting a tour group together to visit cat cafes and around the world.

My dream is to open a cat cafe. I can visualize how it would look and what I would offer at my cafe. I even have a name picked out. Now I just need a location and money behind it.

My goal is to get cats into an environment they can thrive in and eventually get them adopted while meeting people and chatting with them over a cup of coffee or tea.

Linda Tooth is a communications instructor at Medicine Hat College

12
-11