MY KITTY CAFÉ
By Bill Birdsell, PP/OAA, FRAIC
January 2025
I’ve had many cats in my life. It started when I was a young farm boy going out to the barn, shoving my hand into the hay mow and pulling it out with three hungry kittens attached. My most recent was a huge tabby from Detroit named Chevy. He lived well into his late twenties and would ignore me all day. He had a self-directed daily rhythm. Even when Jan or I fed him, he would ignore both of us with an idle gaze. That was until I sat down in the evening for casual reading. Then, he would be immediately on my lap demanding attention and purring much louder than whatever I was listening to on the stereo. I learned from those moments that cats are selective and stingy with their attention. They look for servants and do not suffer the needy. I tell you this to explain that I was not a novice when I decided to go on the prowl.
The Kitty Café is located in a two-storey, early 20th century historic limestone building on the broad main street of Guelph. Designed by Scottish poet and novelist John Galt to resemble a European city centre, downtown Guelph is vibrant, with plenty of shops and too many bars that service the University drinking crowd. (It is generally known that we have a higher density of bar seats than any other community in southwestern Ontario.) All this is to say that the main street of this otherwise sleepy college town can be busy.
It’s an almost surreal experience to leave the bustling street and step immediately into the calm of a room that is best suited to and outfitted for the comfort and security of its pussy cat inhabitants. Think: small cat baskets, larger “homes,” cat-trees of all sizes, bridges below the ceiling, shelves and tubes going up the wall—basically everything a four-legged ninja might need to run, jump, climb, get away, and when unsuspecting prey presents itself, POUNCE!
The cats are all available for adoption, so the room is filled with comfortable seating where a potential adopter can chill and play with all the adoptees. Imagine a pub that is ideal for catching up with friends or a cozy date-night, but with cats. If you come in comfortable clothes, which you don’t mind sacrificing to little claws, you will fit right in. Except for the mewing and purring, it’s a quiet place, so you can concentrate on enticing, teasing and really getting down to engaging with the cats. There are some regulars who come in just to get a latte and a cuddly feline fix.
The café is also quickly becoming a must-see stop for visitors. You can relax or have a night out with friends—human or feline. You can grab a souvenir from the gift shop. Maybe you’re downtown and want a break from shopping—you just need a snuggle before partaking of a show at the River Run Centre or a hockey game at the Sleeman Centre, or any one of the many community events, arts and culture festivals, markets, and conferences in downtown Guelph.
The café is easily accessible by car, regional and local transit, walking, and biking, so it’s good for all ages (except unaccompanied kids under 14). For myself I did not take my grandkids, so I was able to have a purrrfectly selfish feline moment to myself but maybe next time they can come with me, as I plan to go back soon.
My Kitty Café is at 117 Wyndham St N, Guelph, ON N1H 4E9.