Cat Cafés: Partner-in-Crime or Innocent Fun?

BY Neo Rui Qin (Rachael)

200 yuan – that’s the most you will need for two hours of un-interrupted interaction with cats. At this wonderful place, you will get to get to enjoy feline companionship without the trouble of owning a cat. No more shit-picking, fur-cleaning or veterinarian-visiting. It seems that money can temporarily satisfy the millennial’s inner ailurophile.

The burgeoning popularity of cat cafés in Beijing is apparent. There is an increasing number of such enterprises opening at Liudaokou, Drum Tower and Sanlitun, which are coincidentally popular locations for hipster bars.

Cat Cafes: Where they are and who visits them

On weekdays, dating couples are there taking incessant selfies with cats. On weekends, girlfriends with the same kitty fascination enjoy a classy high-tea session accompanied by cat-petting and a cup of hot tea of their choice.

But regardless of what they do at these establishments, two reasons – the unwillingness and inability to own cats - unite the purpose of their visits.

The former group of customers find cats cute but fear the commitment of becoming a cat owner. High living costs and long working hours in Beijing make fresh graduates think twice before getting a cat of their own.

Amount of money spent by millenials between the age of 20 -29

“My high school friend bought a cat after watching many cute cat videos on Weibo and BiliBili,” said Yamazaki Fumie, a customer at Maohegong cat café at Liudaokou.

“I feel that it’s a very rash decision because her cat spends most of its time alone while she travels around China. That’s not being very responsible at all,” said the cat-lover who believes that cats crave attention no matter how independent they are.

Fumie feels that her monthly visits are enough to satisfy her kitty affection. She gets to interact with the cats to know their names and personality at heart while the animals are taken care of by the business owners. She even gets a 50 percent discount because of her membership. Cat: Satisfied. Human: Satisfied.

Other customers seek an alternative for feline accompaniment because they are restricted to own a cat.

“My mother is a clean freak, so getting a cat at home is a big no-no. And to make things worse, my dormitory prohibits any form of pets, so what else can I do? Cat cafes are the best place for me now,” said Xueyan Cao, who is currently a college senior at Tsinghua University.

Cao looks forward to getting her own cat in her own apartment after graduating in June 2020. But until then, she visits inexpensive cat cafés every weekend with her boyfriend.

During her every visit, she never fails to bring along her laptop, a mini humidifier and an electric blanket.

“The electric blanket attracts the cats to gather around me during winter. That way, I can study and do my assignments in an environment surrounded by cats,” said the student from the School of Environment.

“When the cats rub against me, or when they are just an arm’s length away, that’s bliss,” said Cao.

But while her cat needs are temporarily fulfilled, she admits that the monetization of cat interactions troubles her. For animals that require one-on-one relationship building, interaction with so many customers can be disturbing for cats.

As animal lovers equipped with some basic knowledge of cats, both Cao and Yamazaki know that the cat café is ultimately damaging for cats. Other than rough customers or rowdy children, animal protection agencies argue that these businesses have worsened cats’ welfare – caused by the laissez-faire supervision methods of Chinese animal epidemic prevention stations.

The station is responsible for the complete process of physical examination for pets from its vaccine inoculation to pest treatment. Annual physical reports are also necessary for each cat.

“In China, the supervision of this industry is not up to standard. Cats don’t have annual physical reports. To make matters worse, there is insufficient manpower for spot checks. This means we can’t ensure sanitary living conditions for the cats,” said Manfu Chen.

Battle of the countries: An infographic on the current legislation in China and Japan - the country of origin for cat cafes

Chen, who is a registered veterinarian, has treated many cats from these cafés, many of them diagnosed with common illnesses.

“Cats experience ‘occupational hazards’ too. They are more prone to diseases when living in a crowded environment,” said the man who is also an animal health column writer with more than 67,000 fans on Weibo.

(Read more here to find out how to check if your nearest cat café is truly cat-friendly.)

Thi awareness is growing. Out of 83 customers interviewed at various cafés, 69 expressed concerns about the possible harm they could be afflicting on the cats. Customers like Cao and Yamazaki are two people from a large group.

An increasing number of social media posts on Zhihu – the Chinese version of Quora – and on Weibo discussing the humanity of cat cafés and how businesses can do better to protect cats’ welfare. The newer cafés tend to meet these standards and provide pleasant experiences.

An infographic charting the growth of cat cafes in Beijing. Different from Japanese cat cafes, awareness for animal welfare is relatively undeveloped.

“These new entrants are what we consumers consider as second-wave cafés. They are bigger, brighter, more humane and Instagram-friendly. But regardless of how different they look from first-wave cafés, I just hope these cafés provide a haven for cats to live and for humans to relax,” said Cao.