Cat Café

One of the things I miss most about living in Korea is spending hours at cat cafés. All of the above photos were taken at Tom's Cat Café in Hongdae. The first time I visited a cat café, I was at first overwhelmed with how many adorable kitties there were to play with. This thought was quickly followed by my delight at how immaculately clean the establishment is. The cats' health is one of the top priorities, and patrons must sanitize their hands and arms, abandon their shoes and wear provided slippers, and place all purses, backpacks, and coats in the large garbage bags that are provided. From there, you have a choice of buying a ticket or buying a coffee. The coffee is a bit expensive, but it all goes to cover the cost of caring for the animals. We always opted for coffee, as coffee in Korea is ridiculously delicious. At Tom's, I highly recommend the red velvet latte! All the coffee is prepared in a bar area isolated from the kitties. Once you have either purchased a coffee or a ticket, you are free to play with the cats! Cats who do not feel like being bothered can escape through cat doors into a separate food where they eat. All the cats are so lovely, and they rarely seem to fight.  It was always nice to spend time with some animals after being away from pets for so long.
I would love to open a cat cafe in Halifax, or wherever we end up. Montreal just opened the first cat café in North America. Paris has also hopped on the trend. Hopefully, it's only a matter of time before cat cafés are the norm in North America.