Cat City, Cat, Cat, Cat City Bish: A Review of Cat Cafes

The Back Story

Many moons ago in the upper east side of Edinburgh I made a magnificent discovery... Cat Cafes!  I was in the kitchen minding my own business when something popped up on Facebook adversiting that a cat cafe would be opening for business in Edinburgh and instantly I needed all the deets.  Back then I had 2 wonderful cats in my life: Nacho and the late Harvey (the love of my life, I'm totally over his death and not at all emotionally scared for life! Life is great ha ha ha I'm totally not laughing to mask the fact that I'm dying inside #EasyBreezy).  Anyhoo, when it comes to cats I have always been a big fan!  After I lost Harvey I wanted to fill the place in my chest where my heart used to be with cats on cats on cats but similarly to when they tried to make Amy Winehouse go to rehab I my mum said no no no.  The only logical solution appeared to be for me to move into a cat cafe but after checking their website I found that they did not provide short or long term accommodation so that plan was foiled before it had even started.  I was going to have to settle for a simple visit but this place was booked out for like 84 years.  

Catpawcino

Last summer my little sister and I were going down to London and guess what London has?  A cat cafe!  I had planned to invited Taylor Swift to come with my sister and I to the cat cafe after her performance at Hyde Park but that didn't happen because the London cat cafe was even more booked out that the Edinburgh one (that is 100% the only reason that plan didn't work out!).  Then I went to New York with B and L and I was desperate to go to the Cat Cafe but L and B said no no no (I never expected my life to turn into an Amy Winehouse song but I guess we can't predict our future...).  L and B said we would go to the cat cafe in Edinburgh after New York but we didn't untilllll they booked it for my birthday during a day I was only placement and we didnt get to go once again.  I smiled and smile and laughed because my dreams were dead, similarly to when Blair didn't get into Yale and her father stopped loving her briefly (at least she still had dorota and a trust fund) what did I have?  (Other than my health, the knowledge that Sea World would stop breading whales and the knowledge that I still had Nacho #LastCatStanding).

Then B and I went to Newcastle to see Ellie Goudling (a fellow self confessed cat lover) and as if by magic B and I walked right into a scene from one of my wildest dreams (ahhh ah ohhh) we found a cat cafe!  

The Review   

Chilling like a villian

The cat cafe that we had found was Catpawcino In Newcastle which faces out onto the river Tyne.  Entrance was £5 and that covered the cost of your first drink - it seems that paying an entrance fee is pretty standard at this kind of establishment.  Upon entering B and I were asked to use hand sanitizer and read a list of rules, then because we had literally turned up at opening time we had the full run of the place.  I would recommend turning up early because we got all the cats to ourselves and there was so much space to play with them.

Cat whisperer B

B ordered a diet coke and I got a hot chocolate which arrived with the outline of a cat on the top of it (made out of chocolate power I believe).  There were lots of cat themed sweet snacks, however; because it was so early B and I passed on these.  

There were 6 cats in the cafe:

• Ebby a Scottish Fold 
• Alfie a Ragdoll
• Davin a Point Birman
• Chocolate a Point Birman
• Betty a British Blue
• Flora (The youngest and newest kitten who's breed I cannot confirm)

There was a little photo album which provided you with pictures of each cat and a profile telling you about their back ground and things that they liked.  The staff were very helpful and told B and I which cats liked being brushed the most and which ones where the most playful.  There was a basket full of cat brushes and toys for us to use and we were given a handful of treats to give to the cats too.  One of the kittens was particularly playful running around the cafe after the toys that B and I had selected

Flora

A separate room had been sectioned off for the cats to go to if they wanted some piece and quiet where customers were not allowed to go but at the time that B and I went the cats were all very friendly and more than happy with our company.  I believe that most cat cafes give you a time limit to for your stay (about an hour and a half I think) but were were not told anything about this probably because we were the only people there first thing on a Wednesday morning.  

 What I would say is don't let the entrance fee put you off, it is definitely worth it and once you subtract the price of your first drink from the entrance fee you have really only ended up paying like £2.50 to get in.  Spending time with the cats if a really good was for destressing and how often do you get to spend time with a bunch of adorable cats alongside your morning coffee?  

The moral of the story is cats are incredible and their tails and their feet and their noses and you'd have to be a fool to pass up the opportunity to visit a cat cafe!

 

Ebby

Flora

XOXO Queen G

Goodnight, Sweet Prince.

Okay I'm just going to get straight into it today...  So the story I'm going to tell you is a love story.  There was a boy.  There was a girl.  When they first met it was an unrequited love in that she liked him but he didn't seem to feel the same way and then over time her feelings fizzled.  This story however was building up to one significant event like the ship hitting the iceberg in Titanic.  The iceberg of this story was diabetes.  Our leading man got a bad case of the diabetes and this must have put everything into perspective for him because he was able to show his true feelings for our leading lady after the diagnosis.  Things really escalated after the medical diagnosis had planted the seeds of love for them, the love began to blossom and bloom and grow.  Before long there love had reached the maximum level that love could reach and then in a sudden twist of fate our leading man was involved in a hit and run and killed.

Our last Christmas together

This is the story of myself and Harvey, the love of my life (and I'm afraid I may never love again).  So I've already told you all about Harvey before and if you haven't read these posts you should check them out so you know Harvey's full story.  Harvey was more Blair Waldorf at her Yale interview than Serena Van Der Woodsen at hers, he definitley looked more Darth Vadar than Sunshine Barbie.  Our relationship started out with me telling him that when the shipped docked in New York I was going to get off with him and he replied "nah man don't" he didn't wan't to teach me how to spit like a man or ride like a man or chew tobacco like a man... In fact I don't think he even really wanted me to get off of the plane - even if there really was a problem with he left phalange.  One day

Harvey looked a little off, and then a lot of off and then it was time to take him to the vet who

When the love hits you
so hard

diagnosed him with diabetes.  After this Harvey just changed so much.  I think that it may have been because I had saved his life and he was eternally grateful but he also stopped packing his angry eyes and just lived a much happier life after that day.  I began to love Harvey so much and I knew the feeling was most definitely mutual, the mere thought of Harvey made me want to burst into tears because I was overwhelmed with how much I loved this cat, I would pick him up and cradle him like a baby and we would dance around the kitchen in the refrigerator light all the time.  The thought of having to provide a fun fact about myself during 'ice breaker' situations no longer terrified me because I could always just say "I have a diabetic cat who we have to inject with insulin twice a day!".  It's so strange that all of this is now gone.  I had always thought that we would go out together Romeo and Juliet style #MurderSuicide.  It will be strange not having anyone march into the living room meowing loudly to announce their presence every morning when I'm at home; it will be weird not having anyone to carry around the house pretending to be my baby and who will be my dance partner when a slow Taylor Swift song comes on!?  

Some fun facts about Harvey:

1. Once he snuck into the car when my mum was going on holiday up north and she had driven for about 10 minutes before Harvey announced his presence with a loud meow and she had to turn around and drop him back at the house #ClassicHarvey

2. He once bit one of my friends mothers when she was petting him, she acted cool but you could tell she wasn't happy #ClassicHarvey

3. He once tried to jump up onto the windowsill while he was outside, he didn't quite make it though and he hit into the window then recreated the scene from The Lion King when Mufasa was hanging off of the ledge #ClassicHarvey

4. Harvey used to be called Harley with his old owners because he purred so loudly it reminded them of a Harley Davidson motorbike #ClassicHarvey

5. Harvey would drool all over me when he was sleeping/purring on my lap and I found out that the drool was caused by an overload of happiness #ClassicHarvey

Handsome young man

So Harvey we had a great time together; a real sad, beautiful, tragic love affair.  You were a legend, the king of cats, our fearless leader!  I will continue to spread the word of Harvey to the masses and make sure your memory lives on in the minds of others as much as you will live on in my heart.  I love you, I miss you, I'll see you again soon - unless they send diabetics to a different place to the medically fit in which case I'll get Charlotte the lifeguard or one of the other famous diabetics to love and mother you like I used to!

xoxo

Queen G.

Rest in peace to the love of my life.

The story of Harvey: http://youcancallmequeeng.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/pretty-kitty-walkin-down-street.html

The story of when Harvey visited the flat: http://youcancallmequeeng.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/guess-whos-back-heres-hint-its.html 

10 Reasons Being A Cat Would Be Better Than Being A Person

Hey guys, so the time finally arrived when my two favourite boys, Harvey the type 2 diabetic kitty and Nacho the inconsistent litter tray user, returned to our apartment!  This was also the week I started on a work placement that required me to wake up at 5am Monday-Friday.  Over this week I thought a lot in the brief period of time between dinner and bed about how many of my problems would be eradicated if I was a cat like Nach and Harv!  Here are the top 10 reason's I'd rather be a cat right now than a real live human girl.

1. No early morning wake up calls from your alarm.  When you're a cat you can sleep any time you want, anywhere you want.
2. Low expectations - the only things people expect from you is for you to go to the bathroom in appropriate places (i.e the litter tray and now the kitchen floor Nacho!) and the occasional hug.
3. You don't have to worry about being late because you don't have anywhere to be... another perk in itself, you don'y even have to leave the house if you don't feel like it.

   

   What I wouldn't give to stay home all day

4. You don't have to make an effort with people when you're tired
5. You don't have to make an effort with people you dont like
6. You don't have to make an effort with people period.

   

   Cat's dont have to do that

7. There is no countdown to the weekend or your next holiday because every day is a holiday
8. You don't have to remember to take food out of the freezer because you get all of your food handed to you on a silver platter.  Or in a nice clean bowl at least.

   

   This is what Harvey looked like pre-diabetes

9. You don't have to plan which meals you're going to have because you eat the same food every day. And you never seem to get bored of it.
10. You have no money worries because you don't need to pay for your food, accommodation or anything else...

    

    Living it up for free

So you see, there really are a lot of perk of being a cute little fluffy feline!  I can't say I don't envy them and how easy their life seems to be.

The moral of the story is that everybody truly does want to be a cat because a cat's the only cat know knows where it's at!

xoxo

Queen G

An Introduction To All Of My Pets Past And Present

Over the years I have owned a variety of different fun pets!  There have been dogs, cats, fish, ponies... However, despite what I may have said as a child to my friends, in hopes of sounding fun and unique, I most definitely did not own a snail that we had to get rid of because it bit me!
Here is a list of every pet I have ever owned and some fun facts about each!

Firstly I'll start with my 2 goldfish: Gold and Goldie.  I got them for Christmas one year, it felt like they lasted for a lifetime when in reality it was probably like a month.  I was convinced I could tell the two fish apart but let's be real... 

I literally have no pics of them

Now let's get to the serious real pets that I could actually bond with and build an emotional attachment to!
My parents owned 2 dogs called Benji and Sandy before I was born and they were still around when I came along.  Sandy would eat absolutely anything in sight, I think I take after him.  The day he died my mum sat over his body crying and I poked him in the eye just to be sure he was really dead.  Then I phoned my dad at his work and shouted down the phone "SANDY IS DEAD AND MUM IS CRYING AND I POKED HIM IN THE EYE BUT HE IS DEAD! REALLY DEAD!" Not exactly the best way to break bad news to someone.  The next day they buried him in the garden and when I ran outside to play I tripped over the slab he was buried under and burst my knee open...  Benji hung on longer, once in his old age, after he had become kind of incontinent, I picked something up off of the sofa telling my mum "I've never tried a truffle before!" She quickly advised not to eat it because it was in fact not a truffle I'll let you put 2 and 2 together... Close call.  

Me and Benji, around the time of
the truffle incident 

Benji and Sandy

Me and sissy on Kipper

Next, before Benji departed this world, I got a Welsh pony called Kipper.  He was the light of my life!  We would go on adventures around our field - no hat, no saddle, no bridle because nah that aint me (much to my mothers dismay).  Literally every day was spent out in the field with Kipper, going on secret missions, learning how to jump, learning how to horse ride in general.  Eventually we moved Kipper to a riding stables and then when I turned 11 Kipper was passed down to my litter sister.  This was the most traumatic moment of my life - my parents gave my sister a card that read "Merry Christmas from your new pony Kipper" and I freaked the eff out, he was mine all mine!! We kept Kipper in our family until the day he passed away - way into his late 30s at least - from colic.

This is what most of my childhood looked like

My last day with Surprise

Continuing on from the Christmas story above... My parent's then gave me a card that Christmas which had a picture of a random Dun/Cream coloured pony which read "Merry Christmas from your new surprise pony" and I was so grateful but still heartbroken about Kipper until I reread it and realised that it actually read "Merry Christmas from Surprise, your new pony". Surprise was my favourite pony from the stables.  Her owner had outgrown her and noticed how much time I spent with Surprise - yes I was a lame preteen - and so offered her to my parents because they knew I'd look after her.  I've already written a whole blog about Surprise but here are a couple of fun facts - she was often mistaken for a boy which made me mad, once while out trekking we got chased by an out of control dog and her old owners used to only feed her organic carrots #fancy.  

Having some summer fun

Baby Nacho -not black and white!

Harvey

Next I'll tell you a little something about Nacho and Harvey, but just a little something because I've blogged about my cats a few times now.  Harvey is an ex obese, current diabetic.  Harvey used to be very fat, antisocial and he sacred me and so I payed him little attention.  We got Nacho - who was advertised as a black and white kitten - and he was so cute and I loved him.  Before moving out of my house for university I noticed Harvey had become skinny and sleepy, turns he had a bad case of the diabetes and since then hes been such a lovely cat!  Nacho was not too happy with us when we brought a puppy home with us to stay.  Nacho can be cute and cuddly when he feels like it, Harvey will cuddle in most of the time.  Harvey is too lazy to object.

Nacho now

he loves a hug

in da woods

Any finally, when I was in my final year of high school my mother decided to let us get a dog!  She decided we were getting a black lab which at first I was totally against but then I realised they were actually really cute! We travelled to the Scottish Borders to got visit a new little family of black lab puppies and fell in love and so as soon as he was of age to leave his mother we went to pic that little puppy up and bring him home.  None of us could agree on a name and so ultimately we let my grandad name him - he chose Riley after one of his classic cars.  Fun facts:  I often call him Boo Riley because I was ready To Kill A Mockingbird when we bought him, he loves shower time, he loves the cats even more and he thinks he's still small enough to sit on my knee - he is not!

Rocking his Christmas jacket

So there you have it, that's my pets.  Currently we still have Riley and the cats.  The moral of the story is that if my pets were Finding Nemo character's they would not have one tentacle shorter than their other tentacles, they wouldn't be H2O intolerant... they'd be obnoxious!  Every last one of them.  In the best of ways
xoxo
Queen G

Guess Who's Back? (Here's A Hint, It's Everyone's Favourite Insulin User)

Harvey

So as you may recall I not so long ago blogged about Harvey my diabetic cat... (If not check it out here http://youcancallmequeeng.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/pretty-kitty-walkin-down-street.html ) Well let me tell you this he can now add professional mouse hunter to his resume after he so kindly lent his services to 1 very desperate queen and her 4 very desperate cohorts.  It started like this... Many moons ago myself and my friends grabbed our red paint and headed out on the town, paint brush in hand!  The world was our oyster and we were feeling happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time - and wow is that a lot of emotions to feel at once! At the end of the night we hailed a cab and traveled smoothly at a moderate/economic speed until I was overwhelmed by the most beautiful sight I ever did see - The golden arches!!  We cruised through the drive-thru much to the annoyance of the most impatient taxi driver I've ever met and 4 medium meals, 2 black currant fruit shoots, a milkshake and 1 tea later we were on our way back home - being extra careful not to spill our unopened fruit shoots in the back of the taxi of course. 

My favourite view

This is when the relevant part of the story starts!  So we were sitting minding out own business in the hall happily devouring out Mcdonalds when suddenly a mouse came running under our front door, over L's leg and into my bedroom!  "keep your filthy paws of her silky drawers!" I exclaimed at the mouse confidently - everyone else screamed and cried a thousand tears but of course I, the dark knight, was unshaken by the whole thing.  The mouse ran out of my room and disappeared into the night however over the next few weeks the little rodent refused to leave, and so what would any rational 33% emotionally stable (according to Buzzfeed) girl do?  Call in the big guns of course! And so it was decreed, that each year the 12 destricts of Panem shall offer up in tribute one young man and woman, between the ages of 12 and 18, to be trained in the art of survival, and to be prepared to fight to the death that Nacho and Harvey would be coming to live in the Penthouse for a week!

#RelaxationGoals

The 2 small domesticated carnivorous mammals with soft fun, short snouts and retractile claws arrived, Harvey taking the move in stride, Nacho looking vaguely on the brink of a heart attack.  The girls offered their salutations to their 4 pawed heroes and they let the mouse hunting begin.  
Over the course of the week there was a lot of snuggling with the cats, cleaning up behind Nacho (because he's a a full time inconsistent litter tray user) and precisely 0 mice were caught.  

The week was not wasted of course!  The cat's proved that there's no therapy quite like pet therapy during exam time and the time that Nacho and I spent together greatly improved our relationship (So much so that I no longer felt like I had to tie my heart strings off from him). Also not one mouse has been seen nor herd since our feline friends came to stay! The cats are coming back to visit next week and we are all relaxed and excited and ready to party with the best of them!

Never known a love like this

Snuggle time

 And before you ask if there's a moral to this story, of course there is!
The moral of the story is sometimes in a sea of mice you're going to need bigger boat

*Update at 18.30 precisely1 mouse was caught in the flat as we just discovered!*
  xoxo
Queen G

Pretty Kitty, Walkin Down The Street.

Once upon a time all that Queen G wanted was a cat, this of course was a long time before she knew about the poor sea world whales otherwise she would have wanted to save them more... maybe.  Anyway, G longed for a cat with all of her heart and then one day her wish was granted when Harvey the cat came into her life.  Overwhelmed with love she bounded towards the little ball of fluff ready to show him how much she loved him already.  It quickly became clear however that Harvey did not have some cats easy grace with strangers, he didn't make G feel like she'd known him forever even though they'd only just met.  When he purred she didn't smile just at the coquettish sound of it.  As G reached out to pet him for the first time he pounced and attacked her in every way a person can be attacked.  G was hospitalized for 3 days and she was left feeling heartbroken.   

He is too perfect I cant even

A cheeky chappy

This is Harvey

Skip forward a few years.

Nacho the kitten came into G's life and this time she was sure she'd found her kitty soul mate.  Fun fact: Nacho also attacked G when they first met which makes us wonder if maybe G was a little too hands on with the new cats in her life.  Nacho was new and cute and G soon forgot about Harvey.  Harvey slowly got fatter and fatter, probably as a way of crying out for attention.

Nacho when he was a kitten.  

Skip forward a few more years.

Nacho started going through his moody stage, he was at that age when cats think they are just too cool to be seen with their mothers.  Harvey began showing an interest in being part of G's family and he regularly sought out her lap to sleep on.  G slowly developed a new appreciation for Harvey just in time to discover that he was diabetic.  Harvey now needed 2 insulin injections a day and he lost a lot of his fat which actually made him look astoundingly handsome, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the most handsome cat G had ever seen!  In no time at all G and Harvey fell in love and the mere though of Harvey brought a tear to G's eyes - he was just so cute and fluffy and cuddly. G couldn't even put into words how much she loves this cat, it's a love like no other and some would even call it the love story of the century. Fun Fact:  Harvey also liked to stick his tongue out and who doesn't love a goofy looking animal!?  

Chillin like a villain 

Hanging with Harvey

All I want for Christmas is you

The moral of the story is that sometimes diabetes really does bring out the best in people, and cats.  

Famous diabetics:

• Elizabeth Taylor
• Charlotte the lifeguard 
• Nick Jonas
• Harvey the cat
• Tom Hanks