Just over three weeks ago a work friend and me drove into the big smoke for something special. Something that might be a bit a strange to other people. People that know me, also know how much I love cats. I have had a cat in my life since I was a toddler. The last few months is actually the first time we haven’t had a cat. The two adult cats we had, unfortunately ran away when we moved and the kitten we got after that, was a bit wild for the kids to handle.
I still have hope that one day we get another cat that both kids will love and not scare. With no more furry friends in the house, I still need to get my cat fix every now and again. So we decided to go to the Cat Lounge which recently opened in Smithfield, Dublin. You may have come across these cat cafes in America where you can spend some time with a bunch of cats while having a tea/coffee or hot chocolate. This is pretty much it in a nutshell. It has become more popular on this side of the continent now. In all honesty we were really happy to go and see this experience.
Originally we wanted to book a slot two days after the launch but it was so busy with the opening that the slot after work was in fact booked out. The next available slot in our busy schedule was November. And so we trotted along three weeks ago to check this out. Due to popularity, they have added another slot in the evening time. It makes it much easier for people who have to work during the day. And we decided we will be back very soon.
On a Friday we took the Luas from work to Smithfield. This was an experience in itself for me as I have never taken the Luas before. Well, apart from the green line but the red line is supposed to be the worst one. Thankfully they are joining these together very soon. With fifteen minutes delay we finally arrived in Smithfield square. Our slot was booked from 6 to 7.30pm. You might think ninety minutes with a few kittens sounds a bit much but it’s actually not.
We were greeted by a member of staff and were told to wash our hands before entering and also when exiting the lounge. The cat lounge is very cosy and has a lot of sitting opportunities including sofas and beanbags. There are several tables to place your cup. As well as that they have a machine that offers free coffee, tea and hot chocolate. We went for the hot chocolate which was very nice by the way. .
Half an hour it was time for the kittens to have their dinner. They were all meowing like crazy at the kitchen door. Then a member of staff came out to present them with a bowl each on a tray. There were some of them who just couldn’t get enough and finished it up to the last crumb.
Once they were all fed, it was time to go for a nap. Kittens sleep 16 hours a day after all. Some of them were really tough though and needed to have a bit of wrestling with the guests.
Others decided to go to sleep on the guests. The house rules are that you are not supposed to move or pick up a kitten so once you had one on you, that’s it. I couldn’t complain about that. I didn’t have one laying on me unfortunately though.
Cat Lounge provide a lot of cat toys to keep the kittens active. One of the black ones was more interesting in the string from my camera than anything else. I have to say I did like the fluffy ones. If I was to get another cat, it would be definitely one of them. The kittens can be adopted after six months. I’d say there is going to be a high demand for that and probably first come, first serve. It was time to leave and make room for the next people to arrive. We agreed that we are going to pick the later slot next time as it didn’t look that busy. I think it was only like three people for the next session.
