Cat café opens near First Tent monument
Visitors receive plenty of feline attention throughout visits, with cats seeking affection and company.
By the First Tent monument in Magnitogorsk, a cat café called “Zamurchatel’noe mesto” (“Purrfect Place”) has opened, where you can cuddle the fluffballs and drink coffee in their company. In a rented semi-basement on Stroiteley Street, fitted with loungers and scratchers, cats that were once abandoned or lost their owners rule the roost, the venue’s manager Anna Degtyareva told MGORSK.RU.
Admission to the cat café costs 300 rubles ($3 at current rates) for adults and 200 rubles ($2 at current rates) for children. For that price you can enjoy unlimited tea or instant coffee with cookies and use Wi‑Fi. All of this — amid a cohort of plump cats. Visitors can settle on sofas, armchairs, chairs, or on the floor.
The space is designed primarily for the cats, with comfort and enrichment prioritized.
The cats seem to know it, confidently occupying the best spots around the lounge.
They also love good food and it shows in their relaxed, well-fed demeanor.
The cat café houses 11 male cats and 4 females. All of them previously lived at the “Polyana” flower studio, owned by Anna Degtyareva.
«They were found on the street, or their owners gave them up. There are two cats from one family. It so happened that the children’s parents died. The children were sent to an orphanage and asked us to take the cats into foster care. We took them, — explained the entrepreneur. — Once the cats had accumulated to a certain number at work, they started getting in our way and weren’t receiving proper attention. The idea arose to move them somewhere else».
All the cat café’s pets are under veterinary care, are people-friendly, and get along easily with visitors, Anna noted. But guests will have to adapt to them.
«They’re happy to sit on someone’s lap and be petted, but they get tired when there are many children. It’s undesirable to grab them, especially when they’re sleeping, or to shout loudly, because the animals get stressed, — continued the cat café’s owner. — You can pet them and play; we have lots of teaser balls. You can give treats — they love that too».
Some residents abandon animals outside, mistakenly assuming the venue operates as a shelter.
The project was created for specific adult cats, but some residents have already started leaving kittens at the semi-basement rented by Anna Degtyareva. She asked people to stop doing this. Her goal is to keep the cat café operating. Still, the manager is ready for the idea not to take off in the city.
«In any case, the cats will remain under our care. Even if it’s in a different format», — Anna concluded.
Elizaveta Kazmina, head of the Chelyabinsk cat café “Kotofey”, believes the Magnitogorsk project needs a clear strategy to succeed. It is also important to deter those who abandon animals at a cat café.
«We’ve had such cases, but very, very rarely. We always tell everyone that we cannot accept a dumped cat under any circumstances: we don’t know its state of health; first, it needs tests, vaccinations, and a quarantine period. So in fact, trying to do a “good deed”, such people only make things worse», — explained Elizaveta Kazmina.
Restrictions can also be introduced for visitors. After all, in a cat café the hosts are the animals and people are merely their guests, Elizaveta Kazmina believes.
«The article says all the cats are people-friendly, but in reality it often happens that not all cats always want to interact with guests, — noted the head of “Kotofey”. — Each cat has its own character: some are very affectionate, others choose only certain guests they trust and are ready to engage with. And, specifically at our place, cats always have access to a space hidden from guests, where they can go if they don’t want to interact. And of course there are many simply secluded spots in the rooms — high shelves, scratchers, houses. In summary: you need to respect whether cats want to interact with guests or not, pick them up carefully, never wake them, and treat them with maximum care».
Still, the cats may not get too tired. At least, the head of the Chelyabinsk cat café does not foresee heavy footfall in Magnitogorsk.
«We’ve been operating for 9 years, and even we often have days when there are only 3–7 guests in a day; the cats, on the contrary, get bored and ask the administrator for attention and cuddles», — continued Elizaveta Kazmina.
With such potential numbers, it’s unwise to expect the Magnitogorsk cat café to break even solely through visitors, Elizaveta Kazmina believes:
«You can’t survive on admission alone, unless the owner works in the cat café themself and doesn’t pay staff. You need additional sources of income».
Earlier we told the story of a florist who is building a coffee shop from scratch in Magnitogorsk. To gain popularity, Ulyana Shagova had to learn to brew coffee herself and treat visitors to it for free.
