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Cat Cafes – Conversation Lesson

Joe: Hey guys, I was just looking online on this website about San Francisco and I just read that there’s going to be a new cat cafe that’s opening here in San Francisco. Actually, I think there’s two of them that are going to open but I think that…I think that they’re going to be the first ones that have opened here in the United States and I don’t know. I also read an article on CNN about it recently that were saying that these cat cafes are opening all over the world and I don’t think I’d even heard of one until six months ago.

Kristin: Well, yeah, actually, I’ve…I heard about this one opening in San Francisco a few months ago. And I read an article recently, too, about it’s going to be the first one here in America. But then I just recently read an article about one opening in Oakland as well. So they’re kind of battling for time to see which one gets opened first so they can be dubbed the first one in America. But it’s a really interesting concept, one that I’d never heard of before, with people going into a cafe and the one in Oakland is going to serve more coffee drinks and pastries. The one in San Francisco is going to be more tea drinks. And so people go in and there will be cats roaming around that they can…they can play with and pet. And, if they want, they can adopt them because I think both places, the one in Oakland and the one here in San Francisco, plan to work with cat rescue organizations. So they’re bringing these cats in that have been rescued, trying to find homes for them.

AJ: Well, actually, y’know, I’ve seen one of these in Japan. I don’t know if they started in Japan but I first heard about them existing in Japan. So in Kyoto I was walking down this little side street and I saw one. I can’t remember the name of it but it’s got a bunch of little kitties running around and then you have to…you have to pay by the hour at one, I think. It’s kind of expensive actually. It’s like 20 bucks an hour and you can go in and you hang out with the cats and then you get a…you get a drink. I can’t remember if it was coffee or tea because I haven’t actually gone inside. But I just…everybody walking by, everyone, all the Japanese people, they’re always looking in the windows like watching the cats. And so it’s kind of a way for people, I guess, who maybe they have apartments and they can’t have pets or they’re just living in this sort of city environment and they want that sort of connection. I think the Japanese see it as kind of a stress relief. It’s really, y’know, relaxing and…

Kristin: Yeah, I had read that, too. I think the ones here, I haven’t read anything about them charging by the hour, I think you just go in and get a drink or get some dessert. But it’s such an interesting concept. And I was reading how both places are going to be really conscientious of creating an area that the cats can go to if they don’t feel like socializing with people. So they can go off to an area that the people can’t get to.

AJ: Also, if they don’t…if they get stressed out, if too many people are in there they can go hide somewhere if they don’t want to be around people.

Kristin: Yeah, exactly.

AJ: I see.

Joe: I think it’s a great idea, basically for all the reasons you just cited, AJ, especially living in a metropolitan area. Y’know, a lot of people aren’t able to have pets and pets are such a wonderful source of support and stress release. Y’know, I mentioned that CNN article that I had read that was talking about these cat cafes, they were saying that some of the places you actually have to book ahead, like you need a reservation.

AJ: I’ll make an appointment, yeah, yeah.

Joe: Yeah, and the reason is because, y’know, they want to make sure that, y’know, if too many people are coming and going, the cats might run out, y’know?

AJ: Mm.

Joe: So they need some sort of control. And the other thing is, y’know, you don’t want to have 400 people in the cafe and 4 cats, I mean that’s not going to work.

AJ: Mm-hm.

Joe: You need a good ratio. But, yeah, it’s just real weird to me. I’ve never heard of such a thing and I can imagine that it would be popular though in a metropolitan area.

AJ: Mm-hm.

Kristin: You may have mentioned this, Joe, but, yeah, what I was reading is that they’re very popular in Asian countries and some European countries. So it’s such a new concept here for us. And, y’know, it’s so interesting because so many things start here on the West Coast, become a trend, and move across the country, especially in this area, the San Francisco Bay Area. So it’ll be interesting to see if it really takes off. My mom, who’s a cat lover, I was telling her about it. She didn’t think it was a good idea actually.

AJ: Well, I think it’s probably something that would be more popular in urban environments, y’know, because San Francisco is a dense city, New York, those kind of places where people…they’re living in this very, fairly stressful, high-paced environment and there’s just…there’s not a lot of nature. The

regulations from landlords can be kind of tough in terms of pets. So if someone’s…like your mom lives out in the countryside so she can have all the pets she wants. So I think it’s different. I kind of have wanted to go in a few times. I haven’t done it yet. I think I might, still, because, y’know, I love pets, too. I love dogs and cats but because we travel so much we can’t really have one. So maybe when I go back to Kyoto I’ll give it a…give it a shot and actually go and try it out. It’s just expensive. That’s why I haven’t done it. It’s like 20 bucks to pet a cat.

Joe: Yeah, you’re right. But you just raised a really good point. Some people who are animal lovers and would really want to have a pet, maybe it’s not a restriction necessarily on where they’re living. Y’know, maybe they can have a pet. But the problem for some people is the commitment. I mean, you get a cat, you’re not talking about a 2-year commitment. You’re talking, y’know, 12- to 15-year commitment…

AJ: Yeah.

Joe: …for the most part and for some people that’s too long of a commitment to make. And, y’know, another great thing about this is sometimes people are a little wishy-washy about having a pet. Y’know, they want one right away and then once they get it, after a year or two, the newness wears off.

AJ: Hmmm.

Joe: Y’know, the cat doesn’t look as cute or suddenly they don’t want the cat and then you end up with all these cats in shelters. So this is something that’s, y’know, really good at preventing that from happening, too.

AJ: Yeah, I think it’s…it’s kind of cool. Yeah, they can also maybe try out, like if they’ve never had a pet before, they could go and try out being around cats, for example, and make sure they like it.

Kristin: Oh, I never even thought about that, yeah.

AJ: Some people, y’know, we grew up with pets, but some people, y’know, have never had a pet before.

Kristin: Right. Yeah, y’know, for me not having any pets right now, specifically cats, I get my kitty fix going to the animal shelter to volunteer. But this will be a new way to get that kitty fix in. It kind of…it kind of reminds me, too, of the movie that you had recommended…

AJ: Ah, yeah.

Kristin: …the Japanese movie of…

AJ: Rentaneko.

Kristin: Yeah, Rent a Cat.

AJ: Yeah.

Kristin: And, I mean she was walking around actually renting out cats to people. But it was so funny how she was pushing a little cart like she was vending them.

AJ: Yeah, exactly. She’s got the little song, “Rentaneko, neko, neko.”

Kristin: Yeah.

AJ: Neko means cat in Japanese, yeah.

Kristin: With a megaphone.

AJ: Yeah. That’s a cute little movie.

Joe: Well, I’ve got to imagine these cafes aren’t going to just serve drinks. I mean they might have food also.

AJ: Hm.

Joe: So doesn’t that kind of prevent…or excuse me, doesn’t that kind of present a little bit of a dilemma here? I mean, you know, some of these cats are going to shed, right? You might have like fur all over the place getting in food and stuff. But I mean, I don’t know, I guess that if you go into a cat cafe, something like that really wouldn’t bother you because you probably are a cat lover.

Kristin: Yeah, I…I had already said that, that at least the one in Oakland is going to have food. But, y’know, in San Francisco, unlike a lot of other parts of the country, there’s very lax laws about pets coming into restaurants. I mean you can see little dogs in restaurants.

AJ: Or at least lax enforcement. I think the laws are there but the owners of the shops…

Kristin: Ohhhh.

AJ: …depending on the, because I’ve seen signs that say, y’know, you cannot bring pets into our cafe but then others where people do. I think it’s just some owners of the shops kind of are lazy about it.

Kristin: Oh, I never realized that.

AJ: I also think that some of these cafes, like I think the one in Japan maybe, they have like a separate room. So there’s a cat room and then there’s the other room where you get the drinks. So the cats aren’t like running around…

Kristin: Ohhhh.

AJ: …spilling the coffee and the tea and stuff.

Kristin: Yeah.

AJ: So you go and you can drink and then you go into the cat room when you want to pet them and stuff.

Kristin: Okay.

Joe: Well, y’know, I guess it’s, y’know, having a cat cafe is a much better idea than having a dog cafe in that sense then. Because, y’know, I could just imagine if you had a dog cafe. The dogs would be running around spilling the drinks and everything.

AJ: And getting rough with each other.

Joe: Yeah, and they might try and roughhouse, y’know, in the cafe and they could really end up in a fight.

AJ: Yep.