Josée Cyr hangs out with two of her three cats, Pharaoh and Tut, in her home on Nov. 23. Cyr plans to open Ottawa’s first cat cafe this spring, where customers can meet new feline friends. Kelsey Curtis, Centretown NewsFeline Café, Ottawa’s first cat café, is set to open this spring.
Cat cafés are coffee shops where customers can enjoy quality time with cats along with their food and beverages.
The phenomenon started in Asia in 1998, soon spread to Europe, and recently sprung up in North America.
You can find cat cafés in Canadian cities such as Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg and Quebec City. There is also one in Chelsea, just north of Ottawa-Gatineau near the main entrance to Gatineau Park.
But Feline Café will be the very first of its kind in Ottawa, said Josée Cyr, the entrepreneur behind Feline Café.
“It’s going to be structured like a coffee shop, and there will be a separate area where you can go in and visit with cats,” said Cyr.
On Nov. 14, Cyr launched a crowdfunding page for her planned business through Kickstarter, and within seven days had received the majority of her minimum fundraising goal of $5,000 through donations from more than 120 people.
“After seven days, we just passed $4,600,” she said. It’s been so heartwarming to see the amount of people who are excited and who are pledging online.”
The idea of opening a cat café came to Cyr last year when she was searching for a way to combine her interests in animals, food and business.
“I was unhappy at my job and I was trying to figure out, ‘OK, what are the things that are important to me, what are the things that I am good at, and what are the things that I am passionate about?’” she said. “And business, food and animals are those three things… it just kind of clicked one day. I started to do some research… and it’s been nothing but good news ever since.”
With cat cafés comes the obvious health concerns surrounding having food and animals in close proximity.
Kathy Downey, program manager with Ottawa Public Health’s environment and health protection branch, said that in Ottawa all food premises are required to comply with the Ontario Food Premises regulations, which includes provisions that prohibit animals from entering commercial establishments selling food to the public.
However, there are precautions that Feline Café can take in order to operate without violating these regulations, Downey said.
“While a rigid application of (this regulation) may preclude animals from entering commercial food areas… some jurisdictions have implemented solutions to mitigate risks, including the installation of double doors to ensure the cats are restricted to a separate area and (prevent them)from entering the location where food is manufactured, prepared, processed, handled, served, displayed, stored, sold or offered for sale.”
Ottawa Public Health is currently investigating how other jurisdictions have handled similar businesses, and is seeking consultation from its city partners to ensure that any decision makes appropriate use of the applicable regulatory frameworks, Downey said.
Cyr said she hopes that Feline Café will become not just a business, but also a way to help shelter cats find permanent homes and thus contribute to the betterment of the Ottawa community.
She plans to get the cats, all of whom will have been deemed ready for adoption, from local cat rescue groups, and provide them with a happy environment where they can be socialized and loved until they find a permanent home.
“When I adopted my cats from theOttawa Stray Cat Rescue, I was exposed to the extreme need to help homeless cats in this community,” Cyr explained on the Kickstarter page. “My love for cats, combined with my formal business education, has fueled this project to where it is today.”
Chelsea’s Siberian Cat Café has been serving its community’s cat and coffee needs since 2014.
Alicia Parkin, a student at Carleton University, has visited the café several times. “Animals bring me such joy, and if I’m having a down day or a stressful day all I want to do is see a cat,” she says. “I think when people who love animals struggle with depressive tendencies… having a place like a cat café can be almost a safe haven.”
Many animal shelters in Ottawa are experiencing problems with overpopulation, forcing them to sometimes turn away cats in need, said Cyr.
“The café would be like a foster home for some of the cats that are up for adoption. They would still be under the care of the rescue organization, and people can apply for the adoption directly from us, but they still do have to go through the rescue for the adoption process.”
This model would not only be beneficial for cats, but possibly also for people, as well, said Cyr. Research has shown that being around animals has some therapeutic benefits that can help people struggling with anxiety, depression and even PTSD, she noted.
“It’s also really great for people who just really love animals,” she says. “But for some reason they can’t have animals at home. So people who have partners with allergies, or are living in student residence and can’t have pets…It’s a great way for everyone to enjoy that experience of having a cat without actually committing to the adoption.”