Our Visit to Caturday Cat Cafe

After our successful trip to Purr Cat Cafe Club we knew we needed to get another cat cafe experience under our belts so we did a bit of research, found one close to public transportation, and chose a day. We could tell from looking at photos online that we were in for a different experience than Purr. Purr was very posh and quiet and overall was really relaxing. Caturday was a different story from the very beginning.

When we arrived to Caturday there was a crowd of people sitting outside. We walked to the front door and a woman with a clipboard added our names to a list. We could see through the windows of the cafe and it looked really crowded. Since we had no other option we sat down outside the cafe and waited for our names to be called. Slowly people came out and people that had been waiting before us were let in. While we waited we saw several street cats wander by. This is incredibly common in Thailand but seeing these poor skinny street cats juxtaposed with this cafe full of plush exotic cats was really sad.

Finally after about an hour of waiting our names were called and we were allowed to enter. Just like Purr we were asked to remove our shoes and wash our hands, though no slippers were supplied at Caturday. We were given assigned seating on the floor with a small table between us. The room was very small and very crowded but it was actually fairly orderly. Huge painted portraits of the resident cats were hanging on the wall in opulent frames. Merchandise was for sale in a glass case. One of the walls was painted with a very cute mural that of course featured all of their cats.

The mood here was so much different than what we had experienced at our first cat cafe. It was full of laughter and movement, lots of employees running around, & kids running around chasing cats. Even with all of these factors it was still incredibly pleasant. The cats here seemed more interested in being with people. We had cats around us all the time. There were a few sleeping cats perched on shelves or inside hollowed out TVs but the majority of the cats were interacting with people.

Again there was a menu and rules on the table. The rules were the same as Purr (don’t disturb sleeping cats, don’t give them human food, if you are seen mistreating a cat you will be asked to leave). We ordered some drinks and decided to get some dessert as the dessert menu was too incredible to pass up. The cake we decided on might possibly be the best cake in the world. Any time you are in Thailand and you have the opportunity to get anything that is Thai tea flavored you have to do it. The cake was a Thai tea flavored crepe cake that had to be nearly 20 layers of crepes. To say it was amazing is an understatement.

While we were eating we witnessed a couple near us watch a cat jump onto their table and eat their cake. They did nothing to stop it. They just watched and took pictures. An employee quickly came by and took the cake away and then they were asked to leave.

After we left we realized how important it would be for our cafe to have adoptable cats rather than specialty cats that are ‘ordered’. A cat cafe in itself is a great idea but it’s so much more powerful if it is actually helping cats. Experiencing our second cat cafe helped to shape our ideas even more.