Cats in a Cat Café: Individual Cat Behavior and Interactions with Humans

TL;DR

This study examines how cats in a Swedish cat café use space and interact with humans and other cats, finding that they prefer elevated and quiet areas to avoid stress.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into cat behavior in cafés and suggests design improvements to enhance feline welfare.

Findings

Cats prefer elevated structures and hiding spots, especially when many customers are present.

Cat–cat interactions are rare and mostly affiliative, suggesting avoidance as a conflict-reduction strategy.

Cats show varied responses to human visitors, ranging from seeking contact to avoiding interaction.

Abstract

Cat cafés, where visitors can spend time with cats and even adopt them, are becoming more common. While these cafés are enjoyable for people, it is less clear how they affect the cats that live there. In this study, we observed 27 cats living in a Swedish cat café to understand how they utilized the space, interacted with one another, and responded to human visitors. We found that cats often preferred elevated places, such as shelves or cat trees, and quiet hiding spots, especially when there were many customers in the café. Interactions between cats were rare and usually friendly, while cats’ responses to people varied from seeking contact to choosing to rest out of reach. These findings indicate that cats in cafés require sufficient space to allow them to choose whether to interact or withdraw. Designing cat cafés with vertical structures, separate rooms unavailable for customers, and safe hiding places will help reduce stress, support natural behaviors, and improve cat welfare. This knowledge is important for café owners, animal welfare organizations, and future adopters, as it ensures that cats have positive experiences before finding permanent homes.

Cat cafés are gaining popularity worldwide, yet little is known about their impact on feline welfare. This study examined a Swedish cat café from an animal perspective by assessing space use, cat–cat interactions, and cat–human interactions. A total of 27 neutered domestic cats (12 males, 15 females), with a median stay of 8 weeks, were directly observed in groups of 8–9 individuals for a total of 227 h over 70 days. Scan sampling and focal observations were conducted without prior knowledge of cat background to minimize bias. Results showed that elevated structures (χ2-goodness-of-fit test, χ2 (2) = 1234.2, p < 0.001, post hoc Bonferroni correction padj = 0.013) were important, particularly during periods of high customer occupancy, when cats preferred vertical levels or cat-only rooms. Cat–cat interactions were infrequent (0.58 interactions/cat/h) and mostly affiliative (51.9%), consistent with avoidance as a conflict-reduction strategy. Cat–human interactions were absent in 44.4% of the observation time. Cats varied in their responses to human presence, from engaging to avoiding. Findings suggest that cat cafés should provide complex vertical environments, hiding places, and private areas to support natural behaviors, reduce stress, and promote group stability. As cats come into contact with large numbers of visitors prior to adoption, further research should assess its long-term effects on cat–human relationships and optimize café design to balance cat welfare and visitor experience.

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