Rahat and his wife would have walked past the poly bag on the side of the road, had they not been startled by the faint whimpers coming from it. Curious, they opened the bag and found a newborn kitten inside, discarded and abandoned to the streets.
This would not have been the first stray the couple had rescued. They had saved three others already. Naming their latest survivor Charlie, they took the kitten to their cat-themed café in Mirpur, Dhaka.
The Capawcino Cat Café, situated off Road 16 in Pallabi’s Eastern Housing, is home not only to Charlie, but Panda, Loki, Merida, Diamond, Ninja, Ash and 17 other rescued cats. The café is an enterprise of Rahat and five of his friends.
Rahat had been floating the concept since 2014, but the idea of cats and food in the same space never got the necessary support. But as they graduated and found their space in various professions, they were determined to make it happen.
And finally, Rahat Rahman, Minhaz Uddin Shibly, Mooed Rasel, Tanimul Haque Khan, Monirul Hoque Rifat, and Fahad Bin Saad opened Bangladesh’s first cat-themed café on July 1 this year. Themed cafés, commonplace in many countries around the world, are a rarity in Bangladesh, especially those which require more than just cosmetic changes.
“Every day after work, we visit the café. We provide facilities for refreshment and spending time with cats in separate zones for guests’ comfort,” said Shibly, managing director of Capawcino Cat Café.
The café has a zone where guests can play with the cats and kittens, and a separate area to serve food. But only reserved a fixed time they can approach to spending times with cats.
However, people cannot just walk into the feline zone. They have to register online via the café’s Facebook page and pay a fee via bKash to get access to the cats for 30 minutes to an hour.
A maximum of eight people can enter at a time by paying Tk100-TK200. Reservations can also be made over the phone.
Raihan learned about the café from his girlfriend. Since then, they have visited four times. They both love cats, but their families do not allow pets, hence the café appeals to them.
Ninja the cat was saved as a kitten when a car nearly ran it over. Diamond, when just one month old, was attacked by dogs. Two other kittens who were separated from their mother were also rescued. Ash and Loki, the two breeding cats, are also rescues.
Shibly said: “Every weekend, we get around 100 people come in for the cats. Some people only come for the cats, not the food. And on average, we get 10-15 people every day for just the cats.
“Every month we pay Tk30,000 for maintenance and cat food. We want to ensure that the rescued cats can find some love while they live in this café.”
The café started with Tk6lakh out of the pockets of the six friends. And they continue to bear the day-to-day expenses.
Rahat said: “I had the courage to open this café because this place is my father’s buildings ground floor. And we just pay a token sum in rent.”
They renovated the apartment over six months, and designed and decorated every part of it themselves. The whole environment was structured to be as cat-friendly as possible.
“When we opened, the café had to be closed for 40 days to develop appropriate rules and regulations to prevent any untoward incidents among our cats and visitors. All the cats are vaccinated and neutered. We also get them frequently checked up at animal clinics.
“Some people are afraid of cats, and come only for the food. We ensure they are insulated from the cats. We are always monitoring. Visitors are required to sign agreements detailing terms and conditions before entering the premises, and must be aged 12 and above.”
Their plan for the future involves providing an adoption system for the cats.
