News / Animals
Bristol’s first cat cafe is now open
Odie leaps at a few feathers attached to a stick while Petal saunters casually from one room to another.
Bristol’s first cat cafe is now open for business, and on Saturday afternoon it is these two moggies who are the happiest to interact with the human customers as their five cat colleagues nap in various corners.
is needed now More than ever
You & Meow on Denmark Street has been more than two years in the planning for owner Ewa Rukat but hit a serious snag when a local animal rescue sanctuary refused to give it their cats.
Ewa instead now acquires the cats through online marketplaces like Gumtree. Seven currently reside at You & Meow, close to the stage door of the Hippodrome, with a maximum of nine felines. Two of these able to be adopted.
The listed building now home to the cats (and sometimes Ewa too) was most recently a strip club, and there is a strange symmetry with punters still paying to oggle the main attractions who now have four legs rather than two.
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It costs £5 per person for a 60-minute visit to the cafe, whose unusual soundtrack of chirping birds to encourage a zen-like atmosphere is occasionally rudely interrupted by the loud whirring of the coffee machine.
Near the window, one customer bothers Odie with a stick, while other guests prefer the cats to come to them. Which they do, eventually. Don’t expect an hour of strokes and cuddles, or the cats to pose artfully for your Instagram snaps.
Odie, Petal and pals may be Bristol’s newest and most novel attractions, but this is their home and you have to abide by their rules, with coloured collars signifying which cats can be picked up for a hug and which can only be stroked.
At the Bag of Nails pub in Hotwells, there is usually a cat or two to be found on the bar and no charge to get in.
At You & Meow, customers pay to sit down, do nothing and share a room with cats who may or may not play ball and even move from their favourite hiding places.
Odie seems to be having fun. But it’s happy customers and not happy cats that will ensure the success of You & Meow.
Is this place cool for cats? Only time will tell.
You & Meow, 22 Denmark Street, Bristol, BS1 5DQ
Read more: Meet the woman behind Bristol’s cat cafe