As one creature comes to your feet willingly and nudges you ever so lightly, another sees you from a distance and dashes. You are spoiled for choice as to which darling to settle down with while you sip coffee.
The best part? You can take one home with you.
This is how idyllic a time one hopes to have at India’s first ever ‘cat café’ in Versova, Mumbai. Founded in 2010, the Cat Café Studio has been doing a commendable job in rescuing Indian (or desi) cats and rehabilitating them. Founded by Mriidu Khosla, Charu Khosla and Jason Moss, who also run a creative agency together, the café has become a favourite with animal lovers and people who want to adopt a pet cat.
The Different Kinds of People Who Flock to the Cafe
It was compassion towards the plight of Indian strays that inspired this noble venture.
When Mriidu Khosla moved to the city, she began rescuing cats from the street and cared for them. But it didn’t stop with a few rescues because, when she started Zcyphher – an independent creative agency in 2010 – she also used the space to expand her mission of rescuing, fostering and finding homes for cats. As the firm expanded, so did the café, styled into an art studio.
Typically, a day at the cat café begins early. When a cat is brought in, he or she is placed in the clinic room and is checked by the team. Later, they are sent to the vet – some need medication while others get a clean chit. The cats are then kept in the foster room or clinic, depending on their condition. Medicines are administered, as required, by the vet throughout the day.
As they get healthier, we wait for them to reach a certain size and then place them in the general population of the cafe. The cats are all de-flead and bathed before being put outside. We typically will not put a cat outside that is still too young or sick.Charu Khosla, co-founder of the café
A dentist turned photographer, Charu is now wholly committed to the café’s daily operations.
People, of course, have a whale of a time at the café. Kids and adults of all ages enjoy the company of these rescued cats while having cakes and tea. Some become regulars while others come repeatedly to make up their minds on adoption.
We do not discourage anyone from coming – except those with allergy issues. Everyone who walks through our doors gets the same experience but it is what they take out of it that counts. Sometimes we have people who are afraid of cats and want to spend time with them to overcome their fears. Sometimes there are people who have had cats their whole life and still come, simply to enjoy the company and personality of our cats – and finally, people who come with a mind to adopt. We do not discriminate against those who don’t want to adopt; if we can educate them about how to care for a cat or dog they come across on the road, then that is a win for us. We have had some wonderful cases where a regular at our cafe has rescued and adopted a cat. Such stories, we absolutely cherish.Jason Moss, co-founder of the café and head of cinematography, Zcyphher
The Process of Helping a Cat Heal
Till date, about 300 cats have been adopted from the café and managing such an operation takes up substantial energy and resources. Some cats have severe injuries that cause medical expenses to shoot up. Other cats are quite healthy from the start and don’t require much care. On an average, the amount spent on a cat for medicines and food per month is between Rs 6,000 and 7,000.
In developed countries like Japan, cat or dog cafes are a healthy fad but India has a long way to go in making animals feel at home.
Let alone pet or feed them, people don’t even look at cats or acknowledge their presence. Cats are not even considered as living and feeling creatures and that is the crux of the problem. How do you change an entire country’s perception towards them? That is and will always be the biggest challenge.Rehman Charania, Operations and PR head of the cafe
So, the most important message that the café hopes to drive home is that Indian strays are also a breed and should not be discriminated against just because they are on the streets.
Cats in our country are not strays; they are domestic short-haired cats – which is the most adopted variety of felines in the entire world. We tell people they are ‘exotic Indian breeds’. But people still buy ‘western’ breeds which don’t adapt well to Indian climatic conditions.Rehman Charania
While the charm for the café goer is evident, for the founders, staff and volunteers, the best feeling is when they see a cat recover.
Even though the cat may think its his first and last meal ever, we know that this is the beginning of his healing and finding a forever home. Currently we work in conjunction with some local NGOs and are most willing to help anyone who wants to rescue, adopt or even set up a shelter – as long as we work collectively to find ways to get these creatures off the streets and into homes and hearts of people.Mriidu Khosla
Rockstar Cats
The place boasts of quite a few rockstar cats! There is Oliver, a ginger cat who was the first mascot of CCS when it properly started. People would come specifically asking for him.
For us, he was just another lazy cat driving ‘hoomans’ like his own personal assistants. Typically, our alpha male adults take the spotlight with matching looks and attitudes. Our current champion is Clint, a very large, lazy yet loveable male adult cat. He can be seen in several photos and posters we design. For us, all the cats are rockstars, but some of them gain a cult following!Rehman Charania
(Runa Mukherjee Parikh has written on women, culture, social issues, education and animals, with The Times of India, India Today and IBN Live. When not hounding for stories, she can be found petting dogs, watching sitcoms or travelling. A big believer in ‘animals come before humans’, she is currently struggling to make sense of her Bengali-Gujarati lifestyle in Ahmedabad.)
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