Cat Therapy
Cat lovers craving a kitty cuddle can now combine their fondness for felines with a croissant and cappuccino.
Purr-therapy for cat lovers
A new café in Paris has launched a novel concept for Parisians who love animals, but are not allowed them, or don’t have space for them, in their cramped apartments.
Le Café des Chats, in the Marais district of Paris offers patrons some purr-therapy by cuddling one of the 12 rescue cats that call the café home.
Djenko is one of the dozen cats that has been adopted from pet rescue centres in the French capital. He is a tabby who has feline dwarfism; this genetic condition causes small paws and a stunted tail.
Djenko, Habby, Oreo and the rest of the kitty crew at the café have been carefully chosen for their social characters.
Cat lovers: health benefits
It is well-known that there are many mental health benefits to owning pets. Some of these include:
- Reduction in stress levels
- Lowered blood pressure
- Easing of chronic pain
- Reduced risk of heart attack and stroke
- Lowered cholesterol levels
- Mood elevation – preventing depression
- Helps with loneliness.
Patting a tabby as you sip your coffee enjoying the purring ball of fluff on your lap has appealed to young and old alike with visitors spanning all points on the age spectrum.
On opening weekend, the café had queues lining up around the block and more than 300 cat lovers had to be turned away. Bookings are now taken for interested potential visitors.
Cat lovers who visit the café are asked to observe a few rules for the cats’ health and wellbeing: no handling the cats when they are sleeping and no feeding them.
