Can't imagine anything better than curling up with a cup of tea and a feline companion? You may want to pony up some cash to make New York City's first permanent cat café a reality.
Little Lions is attempting to raise $65,000 to open the city's first "cat sanctuary and tea house." The café aims not only to provide a place for humans to play with cats, but also give shelter cats the opportunity to find new adoptive owners.
"In this serene oasis, humans and cats will be able to bond and realize the mutual benefits of each other's' company, while friends and fellow cat lovers share a pot of tea and a truly special experience," the company wrote on its Tilt.com crowdfunding page.
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Little Lions hopes to open in spring 2015, if it can raise the necessary funds.
Cat cafés have been a hit in Japan and parts of Europe, and are just starting to catch on in the U.S. The Cat Town Café and KitTea are slated to open in the Bay Area this year. Purina sponsored a cat café pop up in New York City in April that resulted in lines of eager customers that stretched out the café's door.
However, while the customer base is present, there are still no permanent cat cafes currently open in the U.S. A recent Kickstarter to open a cat café in Los Angeles only raised $9,553 – well short of the $350,000 goal. Aside from funding, cat cafés are forced to deal with issues of sanitation standards and animal safety. Opening a cat café is no piece of cake. But, for the 52 backers who have already donated to Little Lions, it is worth the effort.
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