Cat Lay, Reviews

Meow review: Catmosphere Cat Cafe

I joined the cream of Sydney’s cat society on Friday night to attend the opening of Sydney’s first space cat themed cat cafe. (Lets face it, one was missing.)

Before you ask questions, let me answer a few;

No you do not take your own cats to the cafe
No, you do not take the cats home from the cafe
Yes food is served (in a separate section)
No, the food served is not fried cat.

Originating in Japan, cat cafe’s offer a nice chilled out environment where you can, as the name suggests, chill out in a cafe with some cats.

In a refurbished terrace in Surry Hills the space cats have arrived and Catmosphere Sydney is finally open to the public. Catmosphere Sydney is the cousin of Catmosphere Chiang Mai Thailand, and is the baby of Thomas Derricot and his partner Wenee Yap. Thomas was inspired to open a cafe in Sydney after visiting Catmosphere in Chiang Mai. After an Indiegogo Campaign, and some private investment, Catmosphere was born.

The terrace, divided into an upstairs and downstairs section (serving food), is home to around 20 cats. There is a room where some more quiet felines are currently ‘adjusting’, so to speak, and upstairs is the main room. The courtyard is a glorious place to chill out in, with a fantastic cat themed mural.

Catmosphere has a high ginger cat to human ratio.

I was both devastated (that I didn’t open it myself) and excited like a virgin on prom night when Friday rolled around. Welcomed by Thomas and Wenee like old friends (us cat people stick together), we all had a bubbly and awaited the ribbon cutting for much-anticipated cat room. I will tell you at first I was skeptical, imagining a room of 20 cats hissing at humans to escape. (I do not have the most sociable cat of the bunch, so my view is somewhat skewed.) But these cats were oh so friendly, and even though from out of space, used to human interaction.

Fact: real men love cats.

It had been a long day for some, and I caught some kitties hiding in a tree. (Who can take two hours of heavy petting anyway?) The cats will be on ‘rotation’ for cuddles so they can have some needed quiet time. There is also a limit to the human/cat ratio, so the cats do not get stressed and the humans are guaranteed lots of cuddles.

A furriend hiding.

They all behaved so well seeing it was opening night after all. They had to deal with an excited bunch of cat people, cameras and the like! (A few of the cats were lucky enough to get intermewed for the next edition of Pussweek Magazine coming out in August!)

Bexy getting the scoop for Pussweek.

I have no doubt that these former rescue kitties will be in the best of care. The room is set up beautifully with cat trees, lots of hiding holes, shelving, bedding and couches where you will be joined by a mate or two. (More highlights here because there were too many photos for the blog!)