Riley and I recently took a trip to Glasgow’s first, and so far only, cat cafe. Located in Trongate, The Purrple Cat Cafe opened its doors in 2017, and is now home to nearly 30 felines of all shapes and sizes, including some rather cute kittens.
This is Riley and I’s second visit to a cat cafe, our first experience being at a cat cafe in Prague (post on this coming soon!), so we were keen to visit the one located in our home city. I booked the session online (they come in one hour slots but you can double book slots if you’d like to spend longer with the cats. There is a £5 per person welfare charge when booking online, and £7 for a walk in on the day. The welfare charge goes towards the upkeep of the cats, for things like food, vet bills, toys, etc, and if you’d like food or drink in the cafe, this is paid for separately.
There is a good selection of cakes/drinks to enjoy while you’re there (these cost extra remember), and you’re provided with covers/containers for food to prevent it being stolen by the residents if you end up distracted from eating! This was very handy when a couple of the kittens decided to start a play fight at the door and I just had to go and spectate.
Most of the cats there are rescues, and now have a forever home at the Purrple Cat Cafe where all their needs are catered for. The best time to visit the cats is for their 9:30am session, so that’s the slot we went for. This is because it’s the first session of the day so once the cats finish their breakfast it’s play time! If you’d rather enjoy the cats at a quieter time, then they usually nap in the evenings or around lunchtime. We were very fortunate to have the whole place to ourselves for the duration of our time there.
Some of the cats are a bit friendlier than others, it’s important to remember that most of them are rescues, and they are cats after all so you’ll have to be patient if you’d like to interact with one. You’re not allowed to pick up a cat unless an employee asks you to, and strictly no waking sleeping cats.
The place is wheelchair accessible and also has both vegan and vegetarian options on the menu. Children are allowed to visit (a small number per session) and there are rules regarding this, so you must state how many are coming when booking. You can check out the Purrple Cat Cafe’s FAQ’s by following this link here.
Overall we had a lovely morning out visiting the resident cats, and enjoying the delicious cake on offer there. We would definitely recommend a trip here if you fancy something a little bit different to do in Glasgow!
If you’d like to book a session or find out more about the Purrple Cat Cafe, you can visit their website here, or check out their Facebook page at facebook.com/PurrpleCatCafe/.
A Highland Fling 
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