London’s Cat Café !
Even a Melbourne Cat Photographer needs a break! A couple of weeks ago, I visited London’s cat café at Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium in Shoreditch in East London. What a totally amazing place! If you are in London and love cats, then this is a must to visit!!! You will enjoy a relaxing café environment with the company of some very lovely Felines!
From outside on the street I could see lots of very relaxed cats snoozing in the window and couldn’t wait to get in!
Our session was booked for lunchtime. However, before we could go in, we washed our hands and heard the cat rules read out to ensure their welfare and happiness. By the way I noticed on the door that the café has the very highest food hygiene rating!
Upon entering we met the mumma cat Mue who was snoozing in a bed by the entry door. One of the rules was not to disturb the cats when sleeping, so we quickly moved on and settled at a table that had fake grass on its top! Well this is no ordinary café! We soon saw one of the cats sprawl and stretch out on one of the table tops covered in this artificial grass – right next to a ‘reserved’ table sign!!!
We ordered our lunch and then got down to business of mixing with these ridiculously happy felines. There was a cheeky ginger cat, who moved around us before settling down on one of the high snoozing spots. All his paws were dangling over the edge – above our table!
The cats snoozing in the window then began to stir. We mere humans may not be allowed to disturb them, but there is no such rule about cats disturbing other cats! We watched on very amused while all this happened. There were lots of toys for the youngest and most lively cats. The helpful cafe staff showed us exactly what they like – or at least what they last showed interest in. As we all know, with cats; nothing is set in stone! A cardboard box and feathers pushed through holes amused a couple of nearby felines and we played happily with them for some time.
After our tasty lunch – yes the human food is good too – there was quite a bit of interest from the cats in the passing hail and rain shower. This made a continuous ‘tippy tap’ sound that was very intriguing for the residents, and it was fun watching the humans outside the café scuttling around under umbrellas. One of the honoured cats thought it would be good to lick the condensation off the window … very helpful!!!
The pigeons outside were also more active after the rain shower passed, and this of course went down well with the cats. All of them love to watch fat London pigeons through the window. People passing-by outside stopped occasionally to interact with them through the glass. There is never a dull moment in this venue.
Back to the café – we enjoyed a reviving coffee in between interacting with the cats. The cakes looked especially good but we had no time for that!
The staff move around the café very carefully as the cats suddenly dart out from some hidey-hole, or they suddenly stop to wash that one little bit of themselves that is not totally clean … apparently!
Reluctantly after a couple of hours had passed, it was time to head on our way. We bid them all a farewell for now and told them we would see them again someday!
After a little souvenir shopping we stepped out into the London sunshine. Looking back at the cats still chilling out, they were still amusing themselves without any concern for the comings and goings into their place!
What a fabulous chilled out afternoon – Thank you for a wonderful experience – we will be back!
In the meantime, you can ready more about the cats wonderful personalities here.
Cheers, Vanessa
Cafe – cat photography Melbourne