The Cat’s Protection League has come out against cat cafés.
Maggie Roberts, from Cats Protection, said being in a confined space with a changing group of people could be stressful for the animals.
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Ms Roberts, director of veterinary services at the charity, said: “Cats have evolved from a solitary hunter and they don’t really have any need to have friends or companionship.
I have to say it would seem that Ms Roberts hasn’t spent much time observing feline behaviour, then. Like humans, cats come in all shapes and sizes and some of them can be very gregarious. We have a couple of cats that joined our household by choice – this knowing full well that there were other cats already in residence. Of our group, there is a sub group that actively seek each other out and groom each other and sleep together. The manner in which they greet each other suggests genuine attraction. After all, there is nothing stopping them walking away and not coming back. Once, one did just that and is living happily with a neighbour.
I also had the opportunity to observe a feral colony when I lived in France. This colony had about fifteen to twenty cats at any one time. The so-called solitary hunters did, indeed, hunt alone, however, they tended to do what cats have done for thousands of years – remain close to human populations in order to scavenge. And, again, I noticed several of these animals seeking each other out, greeting each other and snuggling up together.
There are rescue shelters on the Isle of Man and Cyprus where large groups of cats reside and people pop in and out on a regular basis. The tarts among the feline residents do what tarts always do – go up and suss out the visitors to get whatever they can – whether it be fuss and attention or maybe something edible. So, a cat café is hardly likely to cause stress among the animals and it is hardly exploiting them – cats have exploited us since ancient Egyptian times.
Ms Craddock added that the pair would ensure the rescue cats had the right personality for the cafe.
So, no problem, then. It really is time that charities concentrated on actual problems instead of faux ones.
It’s not uncommon to find pub cats that take delight in saying hello to all the various people who come in. If a cat doesn’t like it, it won’t do it.
And surely most domestic mogs form a bond of companionship with their “owners”.
They do indeed. When I come back from a trip working away, there are two that pop out of hiding and head straight for my lap.
Saying that, we’re a bit overdue for some more pics of your mogs to balance the outrage 😉
Our cats don’t have owners:- they have staff!
Sounds like Ms Roberts is exactly the sort of pencil-pushing PR hound that most charities would be better served without…
I volunteer at a cat rescue and, as with humans, they run the full gamut from very introverted to very extroverted! Each of the cats (unless they come in as a pair) starts off in an individual pen but if they aren’t homed after a certain length of time, they’re generally moved to a larger, shared run to give them more space, and then there is another run for cats that will need to be ‘homed’ as ferals on a farm or somewhere with a very big garden or other stretch of land. One or two can’t stand other cats (these are often cats that have come from single cat households due to death of an owner or other uncontrollable circumstances) but most cope well and some get very friendly with the others. (And yes, there is a turnover of both people and cats as volunteers come and go cleaning, feeding and socialising the cats and the cats themselves get homed). Some are outgoing to other cats but not humans, some are the other way round. Even our own pair at home have different personalities.. our older girl will sit on a lap but that’s about it, whereas our younger boy actively demands attention, clambering over us and headbutting us, and meowing loudly if he wants us to pet him and we’re not taking a hint. He will seek her company out, but while she tolerates him sitting near her, she doesn’t seek him out.
I’ve no time for the Cats Protection League since many years ago they blocked myself and brother from adopting two
cats. At first it was because we lived in a flat , but we showed them the cat flap installed by previous owners giving access to the rear stairs that led into gardens..
Then they said we couldn’t have them as we both worked long hours and they would be ‘lonely’ during the day .
In the end we got a couple of kittens , that would have finished up with them anyway direct from the owner , much like the RSPCA the CPL have not had a penny off me since