Cats and Cake? Yes Please!

I am not a cat person. I never have been and I am fairly sure that I never will be. I used to have a cat when I was younger. She was great and I loved her to bits (even though at times I was a bit too young to understand that she was a living being and not a toy!) but I always felt that I connected better with dogs. 

I found (and still find) cats can be quite scary and will not put up with much probing before they give up and bite/scratch/run off and I'm not gonna lie, I don't have time to be covered in wounds from when I wanted feline attention and a cat was just not interested. I like dogs because they are always happy to see you and are much less likely to attack you without much warning.

Having said all this, the other week I was on my way back from looking at Sheffield University (a total waste of time in my opinion but hey, maybe I will do another post on that?) and was searching things to do in local places before we made the schlap back down to London. This is when I stumbled upon a mention of a cat cafe in Nottingham on my Google search. Now, I have heard about these places before and they sound like a jolly good time and after a huge yes from mum, I booked it and off we went to be covered in cat hair and crumbs. 

We pulled up to the cat cafe, parked the car on a slightly dodgy road right outside a pub (believe me, there was nowhere else) and went in. I thought it was funny that the road was called 'Spaniel Row', what with that being a breed of dog and all (you had to be there). There was also cat graffiti outside and the cafe itself was huge. 

It was seconds before we saw our first cat, (pictured below) lounging in the middle of a two seater couch, surrounded by children trying to pet it and people manically grabbing their smartphones to take a photo (yes I was one of those people, and no I don't care what you think of me). This cat was gorgeous. So chilled out, lapping up the attention like the king of the jungle he thought he was. So fluffy too!

Fluffy and comfy- a girl can only dream!

Then we were shown to our seats, two cute little armchairs by the wall, with shelves above that we soon realised had cats on them! Now when I say this cafe had the best decor, I'm being deadly serious. It was like a cat's paradise! There were holes in the wall for the cats to go from room to room without human interaction, a real treehouse for the cats to hide in, and cat toys everywhere! 

A cat, sitting on a shelf, above where we ate. Eek!

Now, what I will say is that with the amount of cats, also came a rather large amount of young children- it was a weekend- and every time a cat came anywhere near to either me or Mum, it would be chased away by an excitable child. I understand that kids get excited when they see animals as I was (and still am!) like that, but the poor cats couldn't stop for a second without the fear of being poked or having its tail pulled.

Cat playing with string, sat in a tree- you couldn't make this up!

The cats were also almost all kittens so were a bit jumpy anyway- without the help of an overexcited child- so we weren't really able to stroke/play/hold any until they were nearing closing time.

This visit was successful in our eyes, if a little disappointing, and we went home full of dessert and love (newfound for me at least) for little furry creatures that go meow.

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Then the next week, my Mum, sister and I went to Bournemouth to look at the university there (another waste of time haha) and we just happened to stumble into another cat cafe, this time it seemed more peaceful and the staff were even more friendly. This cafe was run solely by volunteers, most of which had a learning difficulty, that we were warned made them a little slower in taking orders, so to be patient with them.

Now this cafe was smaller and when we were there had less people, which made it all the more peaceful. The cats themselves were super docile (no kittens here) and were more than happy to be petted and played with.

When we were seated at our table we were introduced to Liquorice, who was sleeping on a heated mat next to us, where he remained until a small scrap played out between some of the other cats and he just had to go have a look.

Gorgeous little Liquorice who loved belly rubs and sleeping on his little heated mat next to our table.

There were cats on the tables, the chairs, sitting in beds and sitting in laps and it was great. I was going to make a cat pun but I would hate myself too much haha.

I will say that the food here was not as good as at the cafe the week before, but the amount of cats we got to stroke and cuddle more than made up for it.

A ginger tomcat, all curled up. So jealous

There was one white cat named Michelle (pictured below) who was apparently a bit aggy, she has been known to bite and scratch people with no prior warning and she sat on the table opposite and watched me eat... now I am not the biggest fan of cats, and I am definitely not a fan of cats who are known to bite and scratch people, so this was ever so slightly terrifying for me. She was staring into my soul, this cat seemed to know everything about me from staring for around 15 minutes and it was awful.

Michelle stating her territory and watching me eat from the comfort of another table.

Thankfully Michelle moved soon after, to sit on a chair and hiss at every cat that walked past. Even though I wasn't her biggest fan, my sister joked that I was in fact Michelle.. amazing.

There was also a cat that was raised by dogs- we lovingly named it CatDog though its name was Petrus- who wagged its tail and licked you when you stroked it. Now when I tell you I wanted to take this cat, he was gorgeous! The fluffy and cuteness of a cat, that acts like a dog (a species I unashamedly prefer) is absolutely ideal for me.

One of the volunteers managed to get CatDog to stand on her shoulders and this cat was the utter showman, looking around to see who was watching him, it was quite amazing. (Britain's Got Talent Winner 2020?).

Not the most flattering photo of the adorable CatDog (Petrus) though look at his little heart shaped nose! It almost makes me want to get a cat...

We left Bournemouth with the knowledge that I would not be returning for uni, and that there were peaceful cat cafes in the world, without any screaming children.

Thanks for reading! xx