York’s first Cat Cafe opens this month!

York is a city full of wonderful independent businesses, however it has always been missing a Cat Café and thanks to ex-Police Control Operator, Lily Cole, that is about to change!

Located on Goodramgate, "The Cat’s Whiskers" is set over three floors which will seat approximately 24 customers at a time, to ensure the cats’ welfare and make the customers’ experience as enjoyable as possible.

The ground floor will host the customer waiting area and sell merchandise, whilst the first floor is assigned as the café with two rooms that include a cat themed library and an exercise wheel for the cats, and gorgeous views of York Minster in the rear room.

The third floor is the kitchen, which for hygiene reasons is obviously off limits to cats!

To maintain the relaxed and calming ambience of the café, Lily has introduced a pre-booked time slot system via the website to reduce overcrowding and distress to the cats.

For an hour with the cats it costs £7 per person which helps cover the maintenance and on-going care the cats require. The café will offer a selection of locally sourced cakes (including vegan and gluten free!) and refreshments but there is no obligation to buy refreshments.

Initially the café will host ten cats, but will fluctuate as other cats come into the café and others leave. The cats all come from a variety of backgrounds, some feral, others surrendered by their previous owners, whilst others have conditions that make it difficult for them to be re-homed like deafness.

Owner Lily praises the support of Cat Rescue and Welfare Trust with Andy’s Feral Friends and Animal Care Lancaster who she says she could not have done this without their help.

The Beautiful Bibi is one of the ten cats The Cat's Whiskers will home

The café is set to open on Friday and is already taking online bookings for designated time slots.

So get booked up as paw-ssibly the purr-fect way to de-stress from exams is cuddling a cat with a slice of cake!