Cat café
A cat café is a theme café whose attraction is cats who can be watched and played with. Patrons pay a cover fee, generally hourly, and thus cat cafés can be seen as a form of supervised indoor pet rental.
History
The world's first cat café, "Cat Flower Garden", opened in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1998 and eventually became a global tourist destination. The concept spread to Japan, where the first one named "Neko no Jikan" was opened in Osaka in 2004. Due to Japan's land size and population, many residents live in small apartments or condominiums which do not allow pets, making cat cafés a very popular destination for young workers looking for the companionship and comfort offered. Tokyo's first cat café, named "Neko no Mise", opened in 2005. After this, the popularity of cat cafés boomed in Japan. From 2005 to 2010, 79 cat cafés opened across the country.In some jurisdictions, cat cafés allow humans to pet, feed, and play with cats and other domesticated animals. Originally popular in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and mainland China, as of 2025, cat cafes exist in Dubai, Florida, Michigan, United Kingdom, Pennsylvania, and California. In Europe, cat cafés took off in places like Paris, Berlin, and London.
"Cat café" was added to the online edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English in August 2015.
Controversy
In the United Kingdom, animal charities disagree on whether cat cafés are a suitable environment for cats, with the RSPCA, Cats Protection and the Celia Hammond Animal Trust criticizing them for keeping large numbers of cats in a confined space with a revolving population of people. However, International Cat Care, a nonprofit organization, takes a more positive view, saying, "It is a difficult environment to get right but it's not impossible by any means." All the charities agreed that cat cafés need to be properly regulated.Asia
Japan
Cat cafés are quite popular in Japan, with Tokyo being home to 58 cat cafés as of 2015. The first was Cat's Store, by Norimasa Hanada, which opened in 2005. The popularity of cat cafés in Japan is attributed to many apartments forbidding pets, and to cats providing relaxing companionship in what may otherwise be a stressful and lonesome urban life. Other forms of pet rental, such as rabbit cafés, are also common in Japan.There are various types of cat cafés in Japan. Some feature specific categories of cat such as black cats, fat cats, rare or popular breeds of cats or ex-stray cats. Cat cafés in Japan are required to obtain a license and comply with the nation's Animal Treatment and Protection Law.
Japanese cat cafés feature strict rules to ensure cleanliness and animal welfare, in particular seeking to ensure that the cats are not disturbed by excessive and unwanted attention, such as by young children or when sleeping. Many cat cafés also seek to raise awareness of cat welfare issues, such as abandoned and stray cats. Many cafes often 'employ' cats from local animal shelters to help them become accustomed to humans, as well as advertise them for possible adoption. From 2012 the cats could be displayed until 8 pm, but in 2016 the guidelines of the environment ministry state that they may visit and play with customers until 10 pm.
One café in Tokyo added goats as a way of having a unique element.
Palestine
The Meow Cat Cafe opened in August 2023 in Gaza's Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood. Owned and run by Naeema Mabed, it was the first cat cafe in Gaza. With most people in the strip living in poverty, the cafe was considered a luxury. The Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip led to the cafe's closure.Singapore
The first cat café in Singapore is Cat Café Neko no Niwa. There are at least five cat cafés in the city.The Singaporean Cat cafés are regulated and licensed by Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore and they are all bound to a 'code of conduct'. Individuals having questions with their cat needs can join the Cat Welfare Society, which helps with medical fees and sterilization costs or adopting of the cats. Cat cafés usually have their own specific house rules.
Cuddles Cat Cafe was investigated by AVA in December 2014.
Malaysia
Malaysia has also seen a rise in the cat and pet cafe trend since 2015 any many have popped in cities across the country. Generally, different states have different laws, standards, permits and restrictions for cafes with animals. The Animal Welfare Act requires licence for those having animals for a living to prevent animal cruelty but enforcement has been weak.In 2017, Penang, where animal cafes are extremely popular, a new ruling required animal cafes to have separate rooms for guests to dine and handle the pets.
Meanwhile in 2024, the unanimous passing of the Protection of Public Health Bill 2024 by the Sarawak Legislative Assembly meant that animals are not allowed in food premises in Sarawak, including cat cafes which affected cat cafe owners there.
South Korea
South Korea has several cat cafés mostly in Seoul. Cat cafés in South Korea have been very successful among both residents and tourists in South Korea. Customers can adopt a cat at the cat cafés.Taiwan
Cats are popular pets in Taiwan, with the cat population increasing rapidly in recent years. The world's first cat café, named "Cat Flower Garden" was opened in Taipei in 1998, where there is also a luxurious "Cathy Hotel" especially for cats. The Taiwanese cat café concept then spread to Japan, and later to most other countries around the world.Thailand
Thailand has several cat cafés, mostly in Bangkok, such as Cat Cafe by Dome, Cat Up Cafe, and Purr Cat Cafe Club, which were all located in Bangkok. Each serves baked goods with a small menu of main dishes and coffee and tea. Many have special pricing for petting time with a specific cat. Prices are usually a little higher than at most cafés. They all have rules regarding the behavior of guests towards the cats and often have purebred cats.United Arab Emirates
There is a cat cafe in Umm Suqeim, Dubai. It was opened in 2018 by a local businesswoman.Europe
Austria
According to local legend, the world's first cat café opened in Vienna in the summer of 1912 and ceased operation approximately two years later. It is said that Vladimir Lenin was a regular for a period in 1913, finding the feline companionship a comfort during his time of exile. The cat café is known to have ceased operation shortly after the beginning of the First World War, although the much repeated story that the closure was due to its patriotic owner's donating all the cats to a factory making fur-lined boots for the war effort may be apocryphal. In 2012 cat café Neko was opened in Vienna, and reopened as Nekopoint in 2023, as did a second cat cafe called BaristaCats.Belgium
Le Chat Touille was opened up in Brussels in 2014, followed by DreamCATchers which opened in Ghent in 2017. The cats were rescued from shelters and rehabilitated, if necessary, with the aid of volunteers and a cat behavioral therapist. Customers can adopt these cats. It runs on donations and money customers spend in the café or on other products.Germany
The first cat cafe in Germany, Katzentempel, opened in Munich in 2013 and as of 2025 it has locations in 16 German cities. Berlin's first cat cafe Pee Pee Katzencafe opened in 2013. Zur Mieze, which also includes music performances, opened in Berlin in 2015. The cafe Baristacats in Berlin was open from 2016 to the end of 2018. In Bielefeld the cat cafe Miezhaus opened in 2017.Greece
The first cat café in Greece, Cat Cafe Athens, opened in Athens in October 2023. The café works in partnership with the Ilioupolis Animal Welfare Union and all cats are up for adoption.Italy
The first Italian cat café was opened in Turin in March 2014; at first it hosted six cats. Its name was MiaGola Café, which in Italian can be interpreted as a language game: literally mia gola can be translated my gluttony, while miagola means meows.The café was shut down in February 2021 in response to the financial crisis that followed the COVID-19 pandemic. The cats were given up for adoption.
The Neko Cat Cafe was opened in Turin on 5 April 2014. The resident cats were all adopted from animal welfare organizations. The café has since shut down.
Lithuania
The cat café in Lithuania kačių kavinė opened in Vilnius in October 2014. It is one of the biggest cafes with cats in the world; 15 cats lived there in 2014.Netherlands
The cat café Kopjes was opened in Amsterdam in April 2015. In Groningen Kattencafé Op z'n Kop opened in February 2016 and cat café Poeslief opened in October 2016. The cat café Miespoes opened in Den Bosch in 2016, as did cat café Katdeau in Hengelo. In August 2016 kattencafé Ditjes & Katjes opened in The Hague. Shortly afterwards Pebbles opened its doors as the first cat café in Rotterdam. In 2017, the cat cafe Jippies opened in Haarlem. In 2018, the cat cafe De Familie Snorhaar opened in Breda.Poland
Kociarnia, the first cat café in Poland opened in Cracow in June 2015. The name is a combination of Polish words kocia and kawiarnia.A second cat café, Miau Café, opened in Warsaw in January 2016. The café offers coffee, cakes and vegan items for guests while acting as a shelter for homeless cats. The Miau Café came to life because of the crowdfunding campaign on the Polish platform, wspieram.to, where some 1,700 residents of Warsaw contributed the financial resources to make the idea of the first cat café in Warsaw come true.
In 2016, a cat café was opened in Lublin. After one day of activity it was closed by sanitary inspectors. It was the subject of many controversies in the local media. Eventually the conflict was settled and the café remains open.
Cat cafés in Poland also include Kocie Cafe in Białystok, which opened in 2022 in cooperation with the Podlachian non-profit cat care foundation Kotkowo, and Kotka Cafe in Oliwa, Gdańsk, opened in 2017 and relocated to Wreszcz in 2025, both of which restricted to ages 14 and up.