Vancouver’s cat cafe, Catfe, has been forced to temporarily close because they have now run out of adoptable cats.
Michelle Furbacher only opened Catfe on Dec. 14 with 10 cats up for adoption.
The goal is to have between eight and 12 cats at the cafe, but due to the steady adoptions paired with holiday hours and bad road conditions for the cat transfers coming from the north, the BC SPCA has been low on cats to send the cafe.
“We are excited that so many cats have already found homes, but we also look forward to providing a fun, cat-filled space in the near future with lots of new feline furriends to meet,” said Furbacher in a Facebook post.
Furbacher raised more than $32,000 to help fund the project, which is now housed in the International Village Mall, at 88 West Pender Street, #2035. Only 16 people are allowed into the space with the cats at any one time so as to not overwhelm the cats.
Popular in Japan, cat cafes are places people can go to have a drink or snack while spending time with cats.
But this is the first cafe of its kind in Vancouver.
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All the cats come from the BC SPCA and they also oversee the adoption process.
“They weren’t able to get us enough cats in this week, ” said Furbacher. “I’m hoping this is just growing pains. It is proving to be a great way to showcase adoptable cats.”
Anyone who had reservations for the next few days are being re-booked for the next few weeks.
Catfe still technically has three cats: Nimbus, who is at the vet today, and then two other very shy cats who are not used to their surroundings. “We thought it best to get them more comfortable in the space,” said Furbacher, adding that she didn’t want the three to feel overwhelmed.
Catfe plans to reopen Friday.
She said while they have temporarily run out of cats, there is not a shortage of adoptable cats in the Lower Mainland as the BC SPCA only sends their most social cats. Other cat rescues, such as VOKRA, Richmond Animal Protection Society, Langley Animal Protection Society, Katie’s Place and TinyKittens still have many cats that can be adopted out.
You can follow the cat cafe in Vancouver on Facebook and Twitter.
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