American media: cat cafes are popular all over the world. The United States only opened its first one last year.

Customers interact with cats at Cat City Cafe in Oakland, California. (VOA Marr)

Reference News Network reported on April 14

Most people go to coffee shops to supplement their daily caffeine, but one in California is more addictive than cats.

At Cat Cafe, customers can relax, sip tea, drink coffee and mingle with cats.

The first cat café opened in Asia in the 1990s, and today it can be seen all over Asia and Europe. But it wasn't until last year that America had its first cat cafe, Cat Town Café, in Oakland, Calif.

Cat Park

The cafe has cat-themed pastries and cat-themed drinks. There are 20 cats in the next room. Cat Park has colorful, eye-catching murals, comfortable seats and cushions, and painted wooden game racks. Most cats sleep in the sun or nap in front of windows overlooking a busy street, each with a giant picture painted on it. For a small fee, customers can spend an hour with the cats, playing with them, petting them, or just watching.

Customers have many reasons to visit Auckland's Cat City Cafe. Alan brings his son Caleb to the cafe, where he explains,"Caleb loves cats."

"I think this place is fun and we can come in and say hello." We don't have cats where we live. We couldn't get him any pets, so it was a great opportunity for him to come and meet the animals."

Mike Druka is looking forward to adopting a cat for his girlfriend's son Michael. On their second visit to Cat City Cafe, they took a fancy to a grey tabby kitten named Jupiter.

"We fell in love with their cats right away," he said."They had all kinds of cats, kittens and adult cats. It's just amazing. We decided to adopt one for her son. We've been happy ever since."

Adoption, not just viewing.

This is what sets this cat city cafe in the united states apart from most cat cafes in asia and europe. In those cafes, cats are permanent residents. Adam Myatt and Ann Dunn opened Cat City Cafe in October 2014. They saw the cafe as an opportunity to draw attention to stray cats, Miatt said. Dunn opened a rescue center four years before he opened the cafe, where hundreds of homeless cats were fostered and adopted.

"Can we do it the way we do adoption centers?" Myatt recalls their thinking,"Can we just add coffee to it and get more people to meet these cats?"

So finding the right cat for pet owners became part of Cat City Cafe's mission. Millions of dogs and cats are euthanized every year in animal shelters in the United States. In Auckland, the euthanasia rate for cats was 40 percent four years ago. Thanks to the efforts of Cat City Cafes and other rescue centers, as well as proactive pet sterilization campaigns, the number of cats euthanized at Auckland Animal Shelter is now down to 20 percent.

Dunn said hundreds of volunteers helped out at the cafe and provided foster homes, which made a huge difference.

"The measure of our success is how many cats we have adopted, and since we opened, our adoption rate as an organization has doubled. So we are succeeding. We're excited about Oakland having America's first cat cafe. We attract a lot of people who don't just drive to Auckland, they fly here."

Americans who want to satisfy their cat addiction no longer need to fly to Oakland. Cat cafes are springing up in other cities across the country. Since Cat City Cafe opened, cat cafes have sprung up in New York, Denver, San Diego and Portland, Oregon.

Some people think that the arrow in the picture indicates that the cat is going downstairs, because the step flange is not visible from directly above. (Screenshot)

Others insist that cats are going upstairs. Viewed from this angle, the mosaic steps are lined with wooden flanges. (Screenshot)

(2015-04-10 18:12:00)

Moss teased the mouse. (Screenshot)

The cat was named Mouse, which is the same as the English word for mouse. (Screenshot)

Unlike the cats in Cat and Mouse, who are often bullied by mice, Moss has the upper hand. (Screenshot)

Moss threw the mouse into the air. (Screenshot)

Moss was throwing mice around on rooftops with gusto. (Screenshot)

The poor little mouse was thrown high. (Screenshot)

Moss was in high spirits. (Screenshot)

Source: Reference News Network