Cat Republic in St. Petersburg is Russia’s first cat café where guests can play with local cats while enjoying a cup of tea or coffee.
The café has won well-deserved popularity with children and adults in the two months since it was opened not far from St. Isaac’s Square in downtown St. Petersburg.
Cat Republic, which is part of the Vsevolozhsk Cat Museum near St. Petersburg, currently has eight feline residents. Four of them moved there from the State Hermitage Museum where they used to hunt mice: the museum staff is always happy to find homes for the ever growing numbers of their “tailed employees.” The other four are purebreds acquired from breeders.
“We have eight permanent cat residents: four from the Hermitage and four purebreds,” Yulia Pekhina, a Cat Republic employee, told RIA Novosti. “The Hermitage cats are named Vallin de la Mothe (after a famous French architect); Danae; Dora Maar (a French painter); and Saskia. And here is Mary, a Persian cat; the Siberian Ulma; young Kuril Bobtail Makota; and eight-month-old Canadian Sphynx, Psyche.”
Before crossing the border of the Cat Republic, each guest needs to apply for a visa, although no one gets turned down. The important thing is to observe several simple rules for the local residents’ safety. Before entering the cat house room, guests are asked to wash their hands and put on shoe covers. But the main rule is never to insist on any interaction the cat is not willing to engage in, because the citizens of the republic are free cats.
Even if one of the cats is asleep or simply not in the mood to play, the others will be happy to chase a toy mouse tied to a rope or to let people pet them.
There are as many adult customers as children. They enjoy “applying” for their visas filling out their personal details as well as those of their pet cats if they have any. On their first visit, every guest’s height is measured “in cats” with a “cat-meter” and their age is recalculated in cat years. The information is entered into the “applicant’s” file.
Adults visit the café in the evenings, while during the day it is the local children’s favorite haunt. Parents bring their children, while physicians of the local rehabilitation center and the hospice suggest that visiting the café has a therapeutic effect on their patients. They say the “zootherapy” experience invigorates their special-needs children and gives them a long-lasting load of good impressions.
One of the groups visiting today is from a local social rehabilitation center for children with disabilities.
The republic’s residents are required to live peacefully and be friendly to people. Some cats who failed to assimilate had to be returned to the breeders, an employee said. This happened to two purebred Sphynxes.
This cat café in St. Petersburg is not only unique in Russia but possibly in all of Europe. There are similar cafes in Japan, and they are very popular.
Cat Republic has already won popularity as a major city attraction and contributed to new urban mythology. One of the café’s walls hosts a giant mural depicting Hermites – minuscule magical people who live in the Hermitage and can only be seen by children or animals and only occasionally. The Hermites are friends with the Hermitage cats: they come out at night to listen to music together, play chess and knit magic scarves from the cats’ fur.
Cat Republic guests enjoy listening to St. Petersburg folklore and other cat stories. They are also invited to join in on games and cat care master classes.
