GEOGRAPHIES OF CUTENESS
If Cat Cafés Are So Adorable, Why Aren’t Strays?
ASHLEY HALL
For nearly 11,000 years, domestic cats have been companions to humans. Due to the vast capabilities of these nimble four-legged felines, cats are one of the few animals that people connect to, and esteem as being on the same level as, or higher than, a human in some contexts. As societies shift and grow, however, ideas around cats have become increasingly multi-faceted based on the locations in which cats are found. From bubbling-ly cute to pitiful, where people find themselves in relationship to cats greatly changes their outlook on the cat in question.
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE FELINE FRIEND
During the Neolithic period (7000-1700 BCE), one of the most successful breeds of domesticated cats arose, Felis silvestris lybica. Present at the birth of human agriculture, this African wild cat breed was able to cohabit and travel with humans by eliminating the rodents that ate crops during the first wave of domestication. During the second wave of domestication more than 6000 years ago, cats spread by boat from Ancient Egypt to Europe after working as deck help to control the mice population onboard.1 This symbiotic relationship evolved from one bred out of a strong desire for cat-based labor to include warmth and affection. Evidence of this can be found in Ancient Egypt where some people held such strong relationships with their feline companions that they would walk long distances to bury their cats with offerings in cat cemeteries. During this time (over 4,500 years ago), it was also illegal to harm cats as the act was treated as a capital offense. This is potentially due to the fact that cats were seen as sacred to ancient Egyptians because they like to lie in the sun, marking them as associates with Ra, the sun god.2 Additionally, in the Mediterranean, more than 9,500 years ago, researchers found evidence at a gravesite in Cyprus of a person buried with their cat.3 In today’s modern age, many people still love cats. On social media platforms such as TikTok, there are thousands of videos of cats deemed as cute or funny. The similarity between these cats is that, no matter the appearance they are almost always house cats, which comes with a level of prestige and comfort. Not all cats are granted this same level of prestige, however; street cats and cats in traditional shelters are often treated with pity. These cats are also often seen as entertainment rather than autonomous beings with agency.
FIGURE ONE
Uncle Tobey and the Widow
(Frederick Dielman, 1878)
CAT TREATMENT IN TRADITIONAL SHELTERS
On September 16th, 2023, an animal rescue in Atlanta posted a video on TikTok describing the reasons why people had brought their cats back to the shelter.4 The reasons varied from “the cat is too clingy” to “my new boyfriend doesn’t like cats.” In the background, sad music plays, and the viewer sees clips of each cat playing or looking into the camera. This video, alongside the statements of the previous owners who re-surrendered their cats, likely evokes several feelings for anyone who watched. It is not abnormal for people to feel frustration with the carelessness of those who adopted their cats from the shelter and then returned them after not feeling satisfied, as if cats were products to be returned when no longer satisfactory or needed. It is also not uncommon for people to feel pity for the cats who have been jostled around the shelter system. The feeling of pity for shelter animals in general is normalized and often what people feel due to videos like the Atlanta TikTok previously mentioned. An example of a more renowned video comes from the ASPCA, set to the song “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan. The video features snippets of animals who mostly have facial or body disfigurements from abuse and have been rescued. Thereafter, slideshow images detailing how often animals are abused and mistreated are presented, and a call to action is made to encourage people to adopt. Attempting to make people feel pity for animals is one of the many methods shelters have used to try to stir the public and increase the chances of an adoption. Though this seems to be done in good faith, a large stigma has been created as a result of this marketing style in which shelter animals are “pitiful.”
FIGURE TWO
Cat in shelter
(Leah Hogsten, 2022)
LIVING ON THE STREETS
Similar to shelter cats, stray cats are regarded with pity as they are often the ones found in shelters alongside surrendered and rescued animals. Around 27% of cats brought to shelters such as the ASPCA are strays.5 This often situates stray cats and shelter cats in the same space in the public’s minds, subconsciously pushing the idea that stray cats and shelter cats are both pitiful. Despite the connection between the two, there are some benefits for strays and shelter cats being seen as sorrowful. In some ways they are protected by the image of “pitiful animals” that shelters provide their inhabitants as it encourages an adoption or at least their relocation to a shelter even if they are found on the street.
Unfortunately, street cats are still vulnerable because of the negative ideas that are attached to ownerless cats. Stray cats are perceived by some as dirtier, as being bug- and disease-carrying in comparison to cats with owners.6 This is despite the fact that cats, regardless of location, can carry bugs or disease even when inside the home. Holding these kinds of beliefs about stray cats can make it harder for the cats that are without shelter to find a shelter or a loving home. It goes without saying that the wellbeing of people is as important as the wellbeing of strays, and while it is true that street cats are more susceptible to bugs and disease due to living outside, the language centered around strays is important for the way they are perceived and treated. When popular media calls strays “undocumented” even while trying to preserve public health, this sends a negative message that isolates and alienates stray cats from other cats as well as anyone who was well-intentioned in helping them by feeding them or housing them. The large-scale results of this perspective are clear in policies that asserts that if a stray cat were to bite or harm a person, they would be euthanized. Other examples of negative sentiment towards street cats come from the American Bird Association.7This organization is dedicated towards discussing and preserving the life of birds. Their particular disdain can be seen in the ways they describe cats who live on the streets. They call strays “colonizers” and “invasive species,” further cementing negative ideas about cats which can make them more susceptible to danger. This danger is perpetrated because, when animals are not viewed favorably by humans, they are more likely to be harmed. The language we use around animals is extremely important for their well-being and safety. It is not simply a matter of semantics; the ways in which people characterize animals makes the difference between the animals’ safety and harm, as can be seen throughout the historical record.8
FIGURE THREE
Stray cats
(Pickpik, n.d.)
COFFEE AND COZY CAFÉ CATS
Cat Flower Garden, the oldest active cat cafe in existence, started in Taiwan in 1998. Its owner, Tracy Zhang, comes from a family that has been running the shop for generations.9 Though not the first to have cats, this cafe’s unique perspective on their animals differentiates them from similar locations around the globe. In cat cafes found in the United States for example, the model of these establishments tends to favor allowing for the adoption of the cats inside. The cats are also often given descriptions online that are cute to increase the chances of an adoption. This is different from Cat Flower Garden’s approach as they do not aspire to having their cats adopted. They aim to sell goods and allow people to feed the cats if they would like. The cats are allowed to jump on customers and tables as well. These acts are more aligned with respecting their cats’ autonomy rather than centering on the cats as a source of entertainment or finance.
Compassionate sentiments of care for cats similar to Zhang’s are fortunately common despite the financial aspects that come with running a cat cafe. Suzanne and Johnny, owners of the Pawsitive Cat Cafe in Rochester, New York, are clear examples of this. Johnny uses his work within the veterinary industry to stay on top of the health of the cats. Both he and Suzanne say that coming to a cat cafe is like learning to “play how to train your dragon.”
Cats are animals of consent, and when cafes emphasize respecting their animal residents’ autonomy, not only does that mold people’s perspective of cafe cats as animals that deserve respect but potentially with the growing rate in which cat cafes are expanding globally, it could encourage others to reconsider how they treat cats overall. This could have positive effects for cats as it helps avoid situations that the Pawsitive Cafe cats have experienced. One instance occurred at the cafe between a group of adults who climbed the furniture to disturb a cat that was hiding. The party also had a child, who they propped up to get to a hiding cat. The toddler then chased some of the cats around. John stated that he yelled for the group to stop. They said that they did not want the child nor any of the adults responsible to be scratched or harmed and they wanted the cats to be safe, so they reacted urgently. This could have been avoided if the group had come in with a different mentality. The cat cafe could have been a teaching experience for the young child on how to treat animals with respect if the adults in charge also had held that same perspective.
When I visited the café in the spring of 2025, I was able to see what people in the cafe were like. Most were respectful of the cats, following the rules and expectations, the biggest being to respect the wishes of the cats. The room itself was long with several couches and toys as well as lots of places for the cats to hide. I noticed one couple who was trying to get a cat to come out of their hiding spots by pushing a feather-on-a-stick into the hole they were hiding in. The cat did not seem keen to move, as it did not come out to my knowledge. This was the only instance during my time there that made me question anyone. Minute behaviors in cats are what we need to pay attention to; they potentially make the difference between respecting cats wishes when we otherwise would not have thought we did wrong.
Overall, learning how to treat cats with respect is important. I can only hope that the proliferation of cat cafes helps encourage people treat cats with respect regardless of the space they exist in.
FIGURE FOUR
Grey cat at Pawsitive Cat Café
(Ashley Hall, 2025)
NOTES
1. Ottoni, C., Van Neer, W., De Cupere, B., Daligault, J., Guimaraes, S., Peters, J., Spassov, N., Prendergast, M. E., Boivin, N., Morales-Muñiz, A., Bălăşescu, A., Becker, C., Benecke, N., Boroneant, A., Buitenhuis, H., Chahoud, J., Crowther, A., Llorente, L., Manaseryan, N., . . . Geigl, E. (2017). The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1(7). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0139.
2. MacDonald, J. (2019). Why ancient Egyptians loved cats so much. JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/why-ancient-egyptians-loved-cats-so-much/.
3. Nuwer, R. (2014, January 7). Domestic cats enjoyed village life in China 5,300 years ago. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/domestic-cats-enjoyed-village-life-in-china-5300-years-ago-180948065/.
4. Deanna [atlmotherofkittens] (2023, September 16). Please dont adopt a pet unless you’re ready to make a lifelong commitment #cats #catsoftiktok #sheltercat #adoptdontshop #atlanta #pets #kittens #cruel #saveanimals #adoptme [Video] https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjPPFqfp/.
5. Pet statistics. (n.d.). ASPCA. https://www.aspca.org/helping-people-pets/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics.
6. Christopher Killough (2023). Good Intentions, Bad Outcomes: A Reminder to Never Feed Or House Stray Cats, https://www.westpoint.edu/news/community-news/good-intentions-bad-outcomes-reminder-never-feed-or-house-stray-cats#:~:text=Harm%20To%20People%2C%20Pets%20and%20Property&text=They%20may%20end%20up%20attacking,to%20people%2C%20pets%20and%20property.
7. American Bird Conservancy. (2022, March 11). Cats | Invasives – American Bird Conservancy. https://abcbirds.org/threat/cats-and-other-invasives/.
8. Just as stray cats are cast aside, people have long abandoned other species when they no longer find them useful or cute. This comes in the form of violence and destruction. In early 19th century New York, people used animals such as pigs as livestock and garbage control for their bustling cities. As the elite class moved away from farming for themselves, they began to find the pigs to be nuisances who “scatter[ed] the seeds of disease and death.” Shortly after, the “Piggery War” began, and police and health inspectors threatened piggery owners to sell or get rid of their hogs or face having their facilities destroyed. They would show up with clubs and guns and other weapons that were used to assault the pigs and drive them away. See Catherine McNeur (2011), “The ‘Swinish Multitude’: Controversies over Hogs in Antebellum New York City,” Journal of Urban History 37.5: 639-660.
9. Wei, C., & Wei, C. (2024, August 9). I Visited the World’s ‘First’ Cat Cafe. VICE. https://www.vice.com/en/article/i-visited-the-worlds-first-cat-cafe/.