My trip to the Ailuromania Cafe!
- bfqazi
- Sep 22, 2018
- 3 min read
As those of you who watch my vlogs know, I have a cat who I love very much, and I love to sit down with him on my lap (as well as any other cat). Naturally when I heard of a "cat cafe" I had to check it out, so this post I decided to visit the Ailuromaina cafe.
The Ailuromania Cafe (cat cafe) is located on 844 Jumeirah St in Dubai and it is basically a cafe full of cats. The word ailuromania is Latin and it means an extreme or abnormal love of cats. It stems from ailuroidea meaning cats, and mania meaning crazy or extreme. The cafe was opened in 2015 by two Saudi sisters Iman and Allaa. There were just eleven cats when it was first opened; now there are 25, one of which is up for adoption.
When you first enter the cafe you are in a small square reception area where a nice lady takes your money and gives you one hour to spend inside. You then walk though another door and now you have entered the visiting area. On the right is a clear doorway that goes into the cat bedroom, which is a no-entry zone. Everywhere else around you is a seating area. Once you sit down you are given a menu with quite a few items on it as well as a soft drink, water, or tea complimentary.
Although the menu has quite a few items on it, the real focus of the whole cafe is the cats. The cats are given free roam over the whole area; all of them are friendly and have names and qualities displayed on a TV screen for all to see.
There isn't really much to it, once you've gotten whatever you ordered and are settled you have about an hour to play with the cats and just enjoy. They are after all the main attraction -- get to know them, cuddle with them, pet them, play with them, sit down on the floor with them, even talk to them if that's what you're into. As long as they aren't eating, sleeping, or pooping you are free to converse with them however you like, unless they get fed up then there are strict rules in the cafe about not chasing after them or bothering them.
When we were visiting most of the cats were asleep, and the ones that weren't didn't care much to be petted, they would either be looking out the door or coming to check out what the waiters had brought us. Also the waiters will occasionally give you a few treats that you can give to the cats which can sometimes help them get more interested in you.
The only cat that actually came and sat down on our laps and seemed genuinely interested in us was also my favorite cat. Her name was Shakira, which sounds like Shekiera when you read the English, but it is actually an Arabic word that would be pronounced a little differently and means 'thankful'. I suppose she was my favorite because she was the most attentive to us and as a result she came off as having a bit more personality than the others, which I like.
All in all I really enjoyed the cat cafe, and although it is centered mainly around just the cats they do have a very nice menu. I can easily see myself enjoying a weekly visit with my friends to sit down, have some coffee, maybe play a card game, and relax with some cats. This is not the only cat cafe in the world, there are many others, but it is the only one currently in the middle east. So if you are visiting the UAE I would definitely suggest stopping by, maybe towards the end of your trip, and having some fun relaxation with some cats before you continue your eventful journey. Hope you enjoyed and make sure to come by for my next post.
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