Koneko Cat Café (and 7 things I learned about cats)

Koneko Cat Cafe is America’s first Japanese Cat Café. Oh and Koneko means “kitten” in Japanese.

Koneko Cat Cafe
26 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002
(646) 370-5699

SO MANY adoptable cats roaming freely around three cat-centric spaces: The sunlit Upper Cattery, the warm and cozy Lower Cattery, and a first-of-its-kind outdoor Catio. The mission of Koneko is to find loving homes for the cats. I just visited their website here and learned that all the cats were pulled from the Animal Care & Control’s “at-risk” list by their partner, Anjellicle Cats Rescue.

Anyway, when you first arrive by the entrance of the sunlit upper cattery where the cats are, you take a pair of slippers off the shelf. Once you get in the sunlit upper cattery, you are required to sanitize your hands before petting or playing with the cats. They will be everywhere. Most were asleep when we first arrived.

Now, to be blatantly honest,  I’m not much of a cat person. Most cats freak meowt. Some cats are cute. However, I have always preferred dogs. Dog lover at heart. I guess it’s also because I had a dog before. You can say I’m partial to dogs. Most cat stories I hear and cat observations I have made weren’t all that paw-sitive which may have paw-sibly contributed to it all. (NOTE: Cat puns will dominate this post.)

However, yesterday, I was ready to purr-suade the world I could be a cat person too.

Nope. Didn’t (really) happen.

Now, if you’re like me and haven’t pet a cat in the longest and don’t know a thing about cats (besides the fact that they’re territorial by nature), do know that they call most of the shots. They determine when petting them happens. They determine when they want to play.

Well, sadly I got bit. Twice. By two different cats.

This prompted me to do some research and learn some quick facts about cats. I learned the following:

1.  Cats don’t like to be pet for too long. They get stressed.
2. They prefer petting to come in the form of strokes along cheeks, the chin or between the eyes and ears.
3. If they have flattened ears or a flattened body, it can be a sign of stress or they are frightened.
4. When cats are stressed, it’s important to give them a place to hide and the opportunity to get up high.
5. A cat coming towards you with the tail up with a pointed tip may well be a greeting or to get attention — acknowledge it + maybe give a head rub.
6. My favorites at Koneko had to be Scoop, Kendrick and Aurora. Kendrick and Aurora were the most playful ones. Scoop was very cute to look at and was harmless. Kendrick kept showing his tummy. Most people may mistaken that as a sign to rub the belly, but in actuality, it means Kendrick trusted me and felt relaxed in my presence.
7. Rum Punch kept rubbing the side of his face around me. Cats have scent glands around their lips and chins. Their facial pheromones that they mark are signals of a happy/calm cat. It is a sign of marking territory.

Nonetheless, it was a fun experience (though it would’ve been better had I known some more facts about cats before going in, but hey at least I know now ).

I support Koneko and their central mission. Adopt, don’t shop.

Here are some photos (and made up captions) to end this post off on a high note:

“Paw-don me, but I’m going to take nap #28735892 right meow.”“The name’s Scoop. I’m paw-ssibly the most purrtiest and most purr-ecious cat you will ever meet.”“You’ve gato see this. Litter-ally, that is paw-some artwork.” (Photo below.)

^Sandwiched between Aurora (left) and Kendrick (right).

I mean, at the mew-nimum, I made fur-ends with a select few. Shout-out to my top three loves Aurora, Kendrick and Scoop! You three win my heart.

How about you? What do you think about cats? Any other cool facts about cats? Let me know in the comments below! 

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Cat to go now- hope you all had a paw-some day!

Update soon,