Cats and coffee
Patty Cavill Admits to being a crazy cat lady
The cat cafe craze is being pounced on in New Zealand . Inger Vos checks out BaristaCats Café in Auckland to see what all the fuss is about .
Patty Cavill has three cats at home and 14 at work . It ’ s pretty fair to call her a “ crazy cat lady ”, laughs the store manager of BaristaCats Café in Auckland , one of New Zealand ’ s three cat cafes . Cat cafes have become a global phenomenon since the first opened up in Taipei , Taiwan , in 1998 . The cat-themed cafe concept was then pounced on in Japan in 2005 – more than 150 opened up in a decade – and spread throughout Southeast Asia , Europe , the United Kingdom , and then into North America in 2014 . New Zealand ’ s first cat cafe was opened in 2015 , in Auckland ’ s North Shore . The Cat Lounge was quickly followed by BaristaCats in Queen St in December 2015 , then the owner of Fancy Meow Cat Café in Rotorua , on visiting both Auckland cat cafes , decided her eight felines could bring joy to others and so opened her establishment at the end of last year . Another cat cafe , called Neku Ngeru , is due to open in Lower Hutt by mid-winter . The foundation of a cat cafe is pretty basic : people pay by the hour to drink coffee , relax and play with cats . The menus are quite simple and minimalistic since food is not allowed to be prepared on site , but , really , the cafes aren ’ t about food they ’ re all about cats . Think of a cat cafe as something like a pet rental service – customers are paying for the benefits that interacting with cats bring . Playing with animals increases the levels of feel-good chemicals serotonin and dopamine in your brain . It ’ s a wet , miserable day outside the windows of BaristaCats Café , and about eight visitors are wandering around its two
rooms enticing the 14 resident cats to play , with various degrees of success . Most of the cats are napping but a few are happy to oblige , chasing wands that are being waved in their faces . One giant , fluffy , ginger kitty , Banksy , is getting an incredible belly rub by a French tourist on a sofa , on which he has left an incredible amount of fur . Patty , who has a background in the hospitality industry , has worked at BaristaCats since it first opened . “ When I saw a cat cafe was opening I thought that was the best thing in the world : coffee and cats .” Lots of other people think so , too , although entry is limited to those 10 years of age and older . To avoid over-stimulus , the number of visitors at one time is limited , but the cats can still host more than 100 people on a really good day . Between 60 and 80 visitors is usual . It does pay to book . Most of the visitors are tourists , says Patty . “ People who are away from their own cats and miss their cats .” The cat crew also caters to those who live in apartments or houses that don ’ t allow pets . There are “ regulars ” who come in every weekend “ to have their cat therapy session ”. “ It ’ s a nice space to get away from the city and chill .” At BaristaCats , your hosts are all rescue cats , and many have health issues . “ A lot of them were sitting in shelters for a while ,” says Patty , who has a soft spot for 16-year-old Wednesday , a black moggy who is deaf and has kidney failure and dementia . “ They all have their special things about them .” Brian , a ginger Manx , has no eyes ; Woody was hit by a car as a
Golden Homie is as sweet as sweet can be . Photo : Inger Vos
Yes , Miss Molly Snugglington is slightly cross-eyed !
Woody hangs out in his cat tunnel . Photo : Edenbrosnan . artist
Miss Molly Snugglington pulls a face for the camera . Photo : Craigydlyd