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Frequently Asked Questions
We hope to answer any questions you may have below, however if not please get in touch with us and we will gladly help.
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Q: What are your opening times?A: The Cat House is open Wednesdays to Sundays, 10am - 9pm (and on Mondays and Tuesdays for private hire). Within those times our Cat Lounge will be open for three different 90 minute lounging sessions from: 12.30pm - 2pm, 2.15pm - 3.45pm and 4pm - 5.30pm. Pre-bookable workshops & classes are held daily 10am - 12 midday and in the evenings . Please book in advance to guarantee your places.
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Q: How do I book?A: You can easily book and pay for your lounging sessions and workshops in advance here via our website - simply click on the Book Here button links found on many pages and you will be taken to our booking pages. You can scroll through the listings or select a specific date from the calendar to see what is on.
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Q: Can I bring my children?A: Children aged 10 and up are welcome to the lounging sessions. We are unable to admit younger children due to licensing and insurance restrictions, unless they have completed one of our Cat Awareness sessions for ages 8 & 9, which we run in the school holidays. 12-year-olds and above are welcome to book onto some of the arts & wellness workshops, whilst a few are for adults only. Each one specifies the age in the specific session information. Please note, in the lounging sessions, the maximum number of under 16’s to one adult is 2.
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Q: Can I bring my own cat with me?A: No, this is a place you can visit to meet our cats. It would be unsettling for them, and for your cat, if you were to bring them.
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Q: Do you do children’s parties?A: No, sorry, due to the needs of the cats our venue is not a suitable place for any parties.
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Q: Can I hire the Cat House out for a private group session?A: Yes, it is possible. Please get in touch to discuss your needs.
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Q: Are your lounge sessions and workshops accessible for people with disabilities and other health conditions?A: Yes, it is possible for wheelchairs to get in as we have a ramp to get over the low thresholds should it be required, and we have an accessible, large toilet room. However, we don’t have any physical aids or bars. The venue is spacious and airy with room to manoeuvre easily. We are currently looking into gaining funding to help renovate the toilet in order to make it fully accessible to all.
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Q: Do you cater for visits by special needs groups?A: Yes, we do. The Cat House is closed to the public on Mondays and Tuesdays; however, we are happy to open up for visits by groups that feel they would benefit from being the sole occupants of the café, enabling them to gain the assistance they may need and have the full venue and the cats to themselves. Please note that the minimum age is still 10 years. Please get in touch.
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Q: Why do I have to pay £12 to get in for a lounging session?A: Cat Cafés are an experience, offering cat comfort and exquisite entertainment, cosy cuddles and curious conversations. Your entrance fee gets you 90 minutes of fantastic feline fun - far more interesting and relaxing than a visit to the cinema! - and goes a long way towards the enrichment, care and facilities these and other rescue cats need on their journeys towards their furrever homes. Your first drink is included in this fee too😊. We thank you for helping.
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Q: How long is each Cat Lounge session?A: Each Cat Lounge session is 1 hour 30 minutes long. Please arrive 5 minutes early so that you don't miss any of your allotted time! However, should you be running late don’t panic – your space is reserved for you.
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Q: What should I expect when I arrive for my lounging session?A: When you arrive, we will meet you at the door and invite you into the foyer. We will then offer a quick introduction and recap of the house rules before welcoming you into the lounge and introducing you to the cats.
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Q: What can I do during a cat lounge session?A: Have a coffee and a slice of cake, play with our cats, take lots of photos, chat about cats and art, play one of our board games, read a cat book, bring your laptop, browse our gift shop, peruse our art gallery, find out about adoption, relax and have fun with the cats!
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Q: What sort of drinks will I be able to choose from for my free first drink?A: You can choose from any of our teas from The Tea Junction in Norwich, including a large herbal and fruity selection, as well as our Strangers coffees, hot chocolate or our selection of soft drinks and fruit juices.
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Q: What ages are the workshops aimed at?A: Currently most of the workshops are for ages 16 upwards. A few of the creative workshops, the board games evenings and chess club are for ages 12 plus. Check the details for each workshop on the booking website, or phone us for more information.
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Q: How much will the workshops cost?A: They will range in price from £15 to £30 depending on the complexity and materials needed.
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Q: What can I expect during a workshop?A: When you arrive, we will meet you at the door and invite you into the Cat House where the tutor will welcome you, then give a brief recap of the House Rules. There will be some time before the workshop begins to meet and play with our cats, and some time afterwards to have a coffee and a chat with the other participants.
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Q: Do I need to bring anything with me to the workshops?A: Mostly the tutors will provide any materials or items needed. Any that you need to bring will be mentioned on the booking form, such as a yoga mat, plus you can always bring your own materials even if it doesn’t tell you to.
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Q: Do I need to have prior experience for any of the workshops?A: The workshops are aimed at everyone and will accommodate all levels of experience, so just come along and have a go!
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Q: If I come alone to the board games club will I be able to play any games?A: Yes of course! We aim for these sessions to be very sociable and so we encourage people to join up and play with each other if the game can handle more people. The cat themed games on offer will range from single player problem solving games to 2 player card games and up to 6 player epic modern board games, with many in between. They will take anywhere between 15 minutes and 2 hours to play each. We love to encourage people to interact and make new friends :-)
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Q: What is the Children’s Cat Care Club, and when can I book my child onto it?A: UNFORTUNATELY WE AREN'T RUNNING THESE IN 2023 DUE TO LOW NUMBERS. WE WILL LOOK TO TRY AGAIN IN 2024. PLEASE CONTACT US TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST AND WE WILL PUT YOU ON THE LIST. These classes will be running from October onwards on a monthly basis on Saturday mornings, and are aimed at 8 to 15-year-olds. They will be run as a 4-week course, 2 hours each session, focusing on cat care, handling, health, grooming and play. These will be fun, hands-on sessions with plenty of cat cuddles. The aim is to gently educate the children in everything cat related, enabling them to behave appropriately, respectfully and kindly to the cats, to be knowledgeable about cat care and to be confident in handling and playing with them safely. Upon completion of all 4 weeks the children will receive a certificate and a badge. This will then entitle the under 10’s to book onto our Cat Lounge sessions with an adult, even though the general minimum age is 10. These sessions are ideal if you are thinking about getting a cat and want your child to gain some experience and knowledge first. Also good for building up confidence around cats, as well as to enable the under 10’s to visit The Cat House when you come.
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Q: I have a great idea for a cat themed workshop that I could run at The Cat House – is this a possibility?A: Yes! We welcome new ideas all the time. Please get in touch via our contact form in the first instance, introducing yourself and outlining your ideas.
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Q: What sort of events will The Cat House run?A: Once we are fully set up and running smoothly we plan to introduce some fun and inspiring events, such as: 'Must Love Cats' - a singles evening for cat lovers; 'Classical Cats' Sunday afternoon chill sessions; our annual 'Cat Symposium' to raise funds for our rescue charities and various Cat Info talks by cat behavioural experts, breeders, vets and more! Ideas abound... Watch this space :-)
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Q: Are all the cats rescue cats?A: The majority of them are, plus a few of them were purchased in order to have an interesting selection of cat breeds as we are very much about providing education and information.
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Q: Where do your rescue cats come from?A: We take cats from any rescue that wishes to get involved, we then support that rescue with donations throughout the year and promote their rescue cats that still need homes. Currently we are working with Hallswood Animal Sanctuary in Norwich.
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Q: Can I adopt any of your cats?A: We have decided that at the present time, being a new venture, it would be too unsettling for the cats to keep having new cats arrive and disappear, so we aren’t able to rehome any of our cats. It is something we may reconsider in the future, but for now we are just settling into our new venture and wish for the cats to be free to do the same.
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Q: Do the cats get to go outside?A: Yes they have access to the outside - we are currently raising money to build a roof on our super enriching large catio where the cats lounge about in the sun, get fresh air and have a bit of playground fun, whilst watching the birds, traffic and people walk past.
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Q: Do the cats have a quiet place they can go to if they want some alone time?A: Yes, they do and it is very important for them to have this. You will see a cat tunnel in the wall, in the corner by the Cat TV area – it leads through to their very own cat room where we feed them and they use the litter trays. There are also lots of beds and cosy spots for them if they wish to hide away for a while.
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Q: Where do the cats sleep at night?A: Anywhere they choose within the café and their private room out the back. We can keep an eye on them whenever we want as we have a CCTV system that we can access throughout the night from wherever we are.
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Q: Where do the cats go to the toilet?A: They have their own private room out the back of the café area where the litter boxes are kept. They also get fed out there and have private sleeping areas too. They access it whenever they want through the cat tunnel over by the Cat TV area.
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Q: Can I bring some cat toys or a laser pen with me for the cats to play with?A: You are welcome to donate new toys if you wish, that would be v kind! Please hand them over to a member of staff when you arrive as we need to know the toys are suitable and safe for the cats, as well as being clean and hygienic.
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Q: Can I bring some treats or catnip to give to the cats?A: Our cats’ diets are monitored and some are on special diets – so we monitor the treats they get as we don’t want fat cats! If you bring anything please check with a staff member first. We do have suitable cat treats we can give you to share out with the cats occasionally, just ask. We do give the cats catnip, however it isn’t a daily occurrence as each cat reacts differently to it so we need to be there to monitor them.
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Q: How do you monitor each cat’s health?A: We carry out general daily health checks on each cat as we interact with and feed them. Our staff are well trained regarding cat health and have much experience around cats and are therefore able to pick up on any of them being unwell very easily. Once a week, on one of our closed days, we undertake a more in-depth health check which involves keeping written records so as to spot any longer-term changes in weight, behaviour and health that may not show up on a day-to-day basis. The cats are all groomed regularly too. We have a dedicated Cat Nanny whose job it is to oversee each cat’s health and ensure any issues are investigated and dealt with.
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Q: How do you keep the place clean and hygienic? Especially as you serve food!A: Well, we serve food but we don’t prepare it on the premises. Having said that, we treat the kitchen area as if we do, so it is kept spotless, organised and super hygienic, as well as being a cat free area. The café, the lounging areas and our private cat room are cleaned and vacuumed daily, as well as having a deep clean once a week on our closed days. Our staff are very observant and will tidy up and deal with any unforeseen mess as it happens. Cats do moult fur and shed claws and whiskers occasionally. This is normal and will occur throughout the day. Plus the occasional toilet accident does happen, which of course we follow protocol to ensure it is cleaned thoroughly and immediately.
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Q: Do the cats climb all over the kitchen area?A: No. It is something we consistently work on from when the cats arrive here at The Cat House, and we never encourage them to jump up. We don’t prepare food on the premises, and we never leave food out to tempt them. We make the rest of the café so much fun that they aren’t really interested in the kitchen area any more.
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Q: Is it ok for me to handle food after stroking the cats?A: We advise you to clean your hands, however it is your choice. We provide hand sanitiser in the toilet, so if you wish please use some of that, or wash your hands thoroughly in the sink using the hand wash provided.
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Q: What happens if one of the cats scratches or bites me and I bleed?A: Ahh yes, these things do happen, particularly if the cat is over stimulated. We have a comprehensive first aid kit and trained staff who will happily clean the wound and patch you up.
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Q: How can I support you?A: We appreciate and welcome any offers of support! Maybe you can offer some time for volunteering? Maybe you can donate cat food or cat litter? Maybe you can offer either a one-off donation, or sponsor a cat on a monthly basis? Please get in touch to discuss details.
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Q: I have another question...A: Please contact us via our website and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
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