San Francisco's only cat cafe struggles to stay open | Hacker News Reader

San Francisco's only cat cafe struggles to stay open

sfgate.com

19 pointsbgorman10 comments

Having seen the cafe pre-pandemic, I am amazed to say they have survived as long as they have. IIRC they charge between 25$ and 30$ for less than an hour inside the cafe. It's a cool concept, and I get that rent in San Francisco is expensive, but I find it difficult to believe that that price point is sustainable even here.

Edit: Apparently that price is now for 40 minutes inside the cafe: https://www.kitteasf.com/faqs/

How does it cost $1,000 a week to feed the cats?

The article says they have 9 kittens plus 14 cats. I think there are "cat ladies" that feed more cats than that. Costco is selling cat food for a little over $1/lb.

Maybe they use better cat food than the cheapest dry food costco has to offer?

Also, kittens eat way more than you think.

We seriously love our cats in our house and have visited cat cafes in several countries. They don't make any sense to us and we're pretty good with them all going away.

The primary problem is that in each of them, the cats have all been overly stressed out - far worse than what the cats at our local humane society experience even! Each one we've visited has had weird rules of engagement made by humans rather than cats, that clearly weren't working for the cats.

On the human side - it's a total con. I get that the funding is necessary to make these places work, but frankly I'd rather continue to donate to my local humane society as it feels as though the funding is more clearly put to the benefit of the cats. $50 for a cup of coffee and a 30 minute visit where you might not even be allowed to pet the cats (!!!) makes no sense to me.

I'm not meaning to condemn all of these places - and I haven't been to any in SFO - but having gone to a handful, I've been disappointed.

I've been to a couple cat cafes where I've noticed the cats are a little anti-social. Instead of forcing interaction, most of my time is spent observing the cats.

I imagine part of it could be a stressful environment, but my hypothesis is that in the cat-cafe-shelters that allow for adoption, the most personable and social cats end up getting adopted. This is probably the case with regular animal shelters as well.

I think a lot of it is the cat to people ratio --- too many people for the number of cats.

I've never been to KitTea, despite living in the Bay Area, but I strongly endorse pre-COVID Paws & Whiskers in the Georgetown part of DC. Cozy, pleasant, and peaceful.

By comparison, Catnip in Norfolk, VA, was in a desolate little strip mall and full of very skittish black cats. I get that black cats are statistically the least desirable ones by pet owners, and I wouldn't object to having a black cat as a pet myself, but the ambiance there was kind of sad when I visited last year.

Slightly tangential, but my anecdata suggests that black cats are nicest tempered of all breeds. I wonder if this related to selection pressure. That is, people tended to select other cats that were not black due to superstition until a pleasant demeanour overrode superstitious beliefs.

I believe many breeds can have a black coat.

Here's some anecdata: Our black cat pulled a bait and switch. At the humane society she was a total love. Moment we got her home and since she's turned into a princess who has no interest in affection and will gladly scratch you right after you deliver the treats she requested.

On the other hand, we've got an old grey guy and a young calico who won't leave you alone they want so much affection.

Point being - it's all about the personality, not the fur. I'll also say fwiw that we notice a significant difference in our females vs males in the attitude department, but again that may be anecdotal.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com