There’ll be couches, cats and climbing trees in this downtown feline paradise.
Catfood maker Purina One is set to open the nation’s first cat cafe – for four days at least – on the Lower East Side beginning on Thursday.
The pop-up cat cafe, at 168 Bowery, is actually two rooms, a 600-square-foot space where customers can buy coffee and pastries and an adjoining 1,600-square-foot room where 16 adorable cats will be ruling the roost.
Customers can bring their food and beverages into the main room, where the are couches, tables and chairs, and climbing structures for the cats’ pleasure.
All the cafe cats are rescues who have been and spayed or neutered. They range in age from 3 months to 4 years.
Those felines, and many more to be showcased in a mobile adoption unit outside on Saturday, are up for adoption. They can go home with new cat parents as soon as Sunday.
“I think it’s gonna take off, I really do,” said Jayne Vitale of the North Shore Animal League, co-sponsoring the weekend with Purina. “I can’t believe no one in New York has done this yet.”
The main showroom has near floor-to-ceiling windows, aimed at showcasing cat cuteness to passers by.
Organizers previewed the operation to reporters on Wednesday, bringing eight cats to the cafe.
One kitten – Suahi, a white and grey female with a black nose – pranced in front of the windows, licked her paws, and struck model-like poses for photographers.
Guests line up for some coffee and to learn about cat health.[/caption]Several other felines quickly grew tired of the dog and pony show, before commandeering two chairs and a tabletop to curl up for afternoon cat naps.
Cat cafes are big in Japan where feline fanatics often have barriers to pet ownership because of building rules or just the small space where they live.
So instead of owning a feline of their own, animal lovers often go to cat cafes to sip their favorite beverage while rubbing paws with cats wandering freely around the store.
An adoptable cat from North Shore Animal League America observes the action from up high at a Cat Café.[/caption]These cat cafe organizers just want to spread the word about feline health, and there are no plans to make this a permanent store. Not yet at least.
“Certainly it’s something we’d never say no to. If there’s an appetite for that, it’s certainly something we’d be open to,” said Purina One spokeswoman Niky Roberts.
“Dancing with the Stars” judge Carrie Ann Inaba is scheduled to appear at the cat cafe on Thursday to talk about the health-care choices she made for her two feline friends.
Additional reporting by David K. Li