CatPawCino | Visiting a Cat Café in Newcastle with Kids

*This is a guest post

Today we have a guest post from Amanda (check out Amanda's website here: www.amandaquinn.co.uk) who visited CatPawCino Cat Cafe in Newcastle with her 8-year-old son. I've often walked past and wondered what it's like and could definitely fancy a visit myself. Has anyone else tried it? Over to Amanda:

Ever since my 8-year-old spotted the CatPawCino Cat Café on Newcastle’s Quayside he’s been desperate to visit. So – even though we have two lovely cats of our own – it was the first thing he suggested when we had a free morning in the holidays. As a fellow cat lover, I was happy to agree, but I had some reservations. Wasn’t it a bit ridiculous to pay for something we could do at home? And wasn’t it, well… disloyal to our cats?

I booked a timed slot online the day before – it’s £5 a person for an hour and this goes towards vet bills, food and welfare. You can also turn up on the day and wait, although booking in advance is recommended because it fills up quickly. 

When we arrived we were greeted in the lobby by a member of staff who ran through the rules: no waking sleeping cats; no picking cats up; no feeding cats; and no flash photography. We took off our shoes as instructed (you can use plastic shoe covers if you prefer) and were let in, being careful not to let any cats escape.

The café isn’t big but it’s airy and bright – it’s described on the website as ‘garden themed’ – and decorated with quirky cat pictures and ornaments. These include pictures of the resident cats which is helpful when trying to work out who’s who. And, of course, there are the cats themselves. Hidden in baskets, perching on high shelves, lying on rugs, climbing cat trees and batting toys – there are currently seven residents and two foster cats who are available to adopt. Within minutes of sitting down a grey tabby kitten leapt onto my knee and settled down for a snooze. What a fantastic welcome. 

The other cats were more cautious, but still friendly and happy to be stroked or brushed. The staff were brilliant at helping cats and visitors interact by providing brushes, cat treats and toys (there’s a big basket of these to choose from - the cats apparently prefer the broken ones as they make a better sound to chase). The staff clearly care about the cats and are happy to spend time chatting about them which helped us get to know their different characters. Alfie – a giant Ragdoll with bright blue eyes – has been there the longest and is the boss of the group. The two black foster kittens – Marmite and Liquorice – are lively and playful. Chocolate and Davin are affectionate and love having their long fur brushed. Soon we were choosing favourites. Mine was Kyla, the friendly tabby kitten who’d greeted me earlier, and my son liked the cheeky foster kittens. All of the cats looked healthy and well looked after. It was also great to chat to the other visitors about the cats and our cats at home (interestingly, we weren’t the only ones cheating on our own moggies!). 

As we were mainly there to meet the cats I wasn’t expecting much from the food. But I was impressed with what we had. My son chose a fruit scone with jam and cream which disappeared so fast I only just managed get a photo of it. I had a pot of tea served in cute CatPawCino themed china. Our order came to £4.00 which I thought was good value. They also serve sandwiches and speciality Chinese teas. Or you can book afternoon tea for £24 for two people (including entry).  

We enjoyed our visit. We loved meeting the cats and it was a relaxing way to spend an hour. And, being 8, my son was a good age to visit as he was able to follow the rules and be gentle with the cats. It’s worth noting that it isn’t suitable for children under 6 and that children between 6-12 must be accompanied by an adult.

I thought before we went that it would be a one-off experience but I expect we’ll be tempted to return before too long. Just don’t tell our cats at home!

Thanks Amanda - sounds great! You can find out more about visiting CatPawCino Cat Cafe here.