{"id":37831,"date":"2017-10-29T12:24:41","date_gmt":"2017-10-29T18:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=37831"},"modified":"2017-10-29T12:24:41","modified_gmt":"2017-10-29T18:24:41","slug":"rescued-felines-are-the-kids-and-the-bosses-at-sunnyside-cat-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2017\/10\/29\/rescued-felines-are-the-kids-and-the-bosses-at-sunnyside-cat-cafe\/","title":{"rendered":"Rescued felines are the kids, and the bosses, at Sunnyside cat cafe"},"content":{"rendered":"

M<\/span>ore than 58 rescued kittens have found a home through the adoption nights, organized by the first cat cafe in Calgary, Regal Cat Cafe.<\/p>\n

R<\/span>egal serves drinks and desserts, and a chance to interact with a group of resident cats, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.<\/p>\n

The cafe, which has been open since June at 303 10 Street N.W. in Sunnyside, has approximately 3,000 square feet of space, divided into two zones, one for sipping coffee, and one for playing with the cats.<\/p>\n

Guests can visit and play with cats in the Kitty Kingdom, and reserve their spot for $10.<\/p>\n

Money goes toward caring for the cats.<\/p>\n

The idea of cat cafe came up when Tia Weiler, and her husband, Kevin, saw an episode of the TV program The Amazing Race, in which contestants were sent to a cat caf\u00e9 in Thailand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fell in love with the idea of bringing cats to the community in a unique and fun way,\u201d said Tia Weiler.<\/p>\n

According to Weiler, all the cats in the coffee shop come from MEOW Foundation<\/a>, and can be adopted.<\/p>\n

The adoption night happens once every two weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe event was 100 per cent successful, which has allowed MEOW Foundation to help take in even more cats,\u201d said Weiler.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to help make a significant contribution to the cat population in Calgary through adoptions, and awareness of MEOW Foundation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Jade McCord, a staff member at Regal Cat Cafe, said that people pay around $200 for a cat, and some are willing to pay $1,000 for a Bengal.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Attention Seeker: <\/strong>A cat jumps on Jade McCord, a member at the coffee shop, to cuddle and get her attention, at Regal Cat Cafe, in Calgary on Monday, Sept. 11, 2017. The coffee shop has been opened since June 24, and guest could visit and play with cats in the Kitty Kingdom, and reserved their spot for $10. (Photo by Minh Do\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All the cats have been microchipped, vaccinated and spayed, or neutered.<\/p>\n

Regal Cat Cafe has a \u201cgood partnership\u201d with Royal Canin, a pet food company, so the kittens are given free food, according to Weiler.<\/p>\n

This coffee shop also has volunteers come from MEOW Foundation, to help with cleaning and feeding the cats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe share the responsibility with MEOW Foundation,\u201d said Weiler.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want them to have a close connection to the kittens,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Weiler said that if cats were unhappy at the cafe, they would go back to the cat foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are the kids and they are the bosses at the same time\u201d said Weiler.<\/p>\n

According to the Weiler, it was challenging when the shop first opened because of the nature of a cat cafe.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing the first cat cafe, we had to work closely with the City of Calgary Legal Department to help define how they view the space for zoning purposes,\u201d said Weiler.<\/p>\n

However, Weiler said that they were lucky because some people were on board with their idea and allowed them to have the \u201camazing space\u201d in a popular residential area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an amazing space for families, friends, tourists, first dates, and senior citizens,\u201d said Weiler.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe offer an opportunity for those who may not be able to have a cat in their life to enjoy spending time with our resident kitties,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

At this time, Weiler said that she wants to focus on the current location to make it as great as it can be.<\/p>\n

But she added that it would be \u201ca-meow-zing\u201d to expand the cafe in the future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 58 rescued kittens found theirs home through the adoption nights, organized by the very first cat cafe store in Calgary, Regal Cat Cafe. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":432,"featured_media":37833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S1 Coffee, and a Cat","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37831","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-image","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hillhurst_sunnyside","8":"category-life","9":"post_format-post-format-image"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/432"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37831"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39429,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37831\/revisions\/39429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}