A: The Cat House is open Wednesdays to Sundays, 9am - 9pm (and on Mondays and Tuesdays for private hire). Within those times our Cat Lounge will be open for two morning one hour lounging sessions: 10am - 11am and 11.15am - 12.15pm, and three 1.5 hour afternoon lounging sessions: 12.30pm - 2pm, 2.15pm - 3.45pm and 4pm - 5.30pm. Most Saturdays we run Cosy Evening lounge sessions from 6.30pm - 8pm. Workshops & events are held most days in the evenings from 6.30pm onwards and in the mornings during school holidays. Please book in advance on our website to guarantee your places. Our gift shop is open 7 days a week from 9.30am to close.

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, including our home page, and you will be taken to our booking page. You can scroll through the listings or select a specific date from the calendar to see what is on.

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 15’s to one adult is 2.

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.

A: No, sorry, due to the needs of the cats our venue is not a suitable place for lively parties. We are open to having gentle, creative birthday celebrations here for ages 12 plus, but they must be calm and respectful of the cats and there is amaximum limit of 8 under 15's with 4 adults minimum. Please get in touch for further details.

A: Yes, it is possible and very popular! We host family gatherings, reunions, Christmas do's, hen parties, leaving parties, birthdays, anniversaries and more. You can view our private bookings price list on the home page of our website. Please get in touch to discuss your needs.

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. We are currently looking into gaining funding to help renovate the toilet in order to make it fully accessible to all. The venue is spacious and airy with room to manoeuvre easily.

A: Yes, 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. This can be done as a private hire which you can read about on our home page or contact us about for more information. Please note that the minimum age is still 10 years. Alternatively smaller special needs groups are welcome to book onto any of our regular lounge sessions - we have a carers discounted ticket for any weekday 1.5 hour visits.

A: Cat Lounges/Cafés are an experience, offering cat comfort and exquisite entertainment, cosy cuddles and curious conversations. Your entrance fee of £10 - £14 depending on length of visit gets you 60-90 minutes of fantastic feline fun (far more interesting and unique than a visit to the cinema!) and goes a long way towards the enrichment, care and facilities these cats need. Your first drink is included in this fee too😊. We thank you for helping.

A: Our Cat Lounge sessions range from 1 hour to 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.

A: When you arrive, please ring the doorbell and we will meet you at the door to invite you into the foyer gift shop. We will ask for the name you booked with so that we can sign you in. You will also receive a drinks token that can be exchanged at the cafe for a free regular hot or cold drink of your choice. We wait until the session is due to start, and hopefully everyone will have arrived by then, at which point we will offer a quick introduction and recap of the house rules before welcoming you all into the lounge and introducing you to the cats.

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 cat-themed card or board games, read a cat book, bring your laptop, browse our gift shop, peruse our art gallery, snooze on a sofa, relax and have fun with the cats! We now also have cat colouring in sheets for a bit of mindful colouring, also a monthly wordsearch with cat terms to find!

A: You can exchange your token for 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. You can upgrade to a large hot drink for an extra £1 with your drink token. For a little more you can also upgrade to a milkshake made with locally sourced Ronaldos Ice cream, or Oichi Kombucha made locally in Hethersett or any of our alcoholic drinks.

A: Currently most of the workshops are for ages 12 upwards. Some of the creative workshops can be accessible for children aged 10+ if you feel they are creatively able. Our main concern is that they don't get frustrated by any of the processes, so if you as the adult feel they will cope then it's absolutely fine to bring them. Any under 15's must be accompanied by an adult. Linocut is strictly ages 16 plus due to sharp tools. Check the details for each workshop on the booking website, or phone us for more information.

A: They range in price from £18 to £35 depending on the complexity, length and materials needed.

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.

A: Mostly the tutors will provide any materials or items needed. Any that you need to bring will be mentioned on the booking form, plus you can always bring your own materials even if it doesn’t tell you to.

A: The workshops are aimed at everyone and will accommodate all levels of experience, so just come along and have a go! They are all standalone workshops, so there's no need to commit to lots, just try one and if you like it you can come again and perfect your skills!

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. Do bear in mind the workshop or event must be around 2 hours long maximum (we can sometimes stretch this to 2.5 hours) and has to be cat friendly. It also needs to be fairly straightforward to set up as we only have around 45 minutes maximum of actual set up time, and 30 minutes of clear up time.

A: We run many events throughout the year, ranging from Black Cat Bingo to a Cat Quiz, Wine Tasting, Cats & Cocktails nights, Gin tasting nights, themed Valentines nights and festive events too.

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.

A: Our rescue cats come from a variety of places including local rescue centres, families who can no longer cope with pets, or have been re-homed to us from a previous home for many different reasons ranging from death in the family, health issues, family breakup and moving to a new home that does not accept animals. Also some came as kittens from litters that had struggled to find forever homes.

A: The Cat House is our cats forever home so they are not available for adoption. Occasionally if one doesn't settle we will rehome them with staff or volunteers, and occasionally will post on our social media for a home.

A: Yes they have access to the outside - we have a large roofed catio where the cats can lounge about in the sun, get fresh air and have a bit of playground fun, whilst watching the birds, traffic and people walking past. Visitors can sit out there too, enjoying a relaxing drink whilst playing wioth the cats, or just watching them sunbathe!

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.

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.

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.

A: We have our own cat toys available within the cafe space for you to play with the cats. You are welcome to donate new toys if you wish, that would be very 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. Staff occasionally bring the laser pen out for the cats to chase around the room, but we cannot let visitors use it as it would be very chaotic, and we have to remain responsible for not shining it in visitors eyes. Even when staff use it we only do so for a few minutes at a time, as it can lead to frustration for cats as they aren't actually able to catch anything.

A: Our cats’ diets are monitored and some are on special diets – so we monitor the treats they get as we don’t want our cats to develop health problems. You are most welcome to bring some along with you, that would be so kind, but please pass them to a staff member who will check them and will put them in the treat tower so all cats can share them, and all visitors can watch. We do give the cats catnip - they do love it! However it isn’t a daily occurrence as each cat reacts differently to it so we need to be there to monitor them. We would more likely do this on a quiet day not when we are full.

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 be so apparent on a day-to-day basis. The cats are all groomed daily too.

A: Well, we serve cakes and sweet treats, 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 strictly 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.

A: No. We have plastic barriers to prevent them from entering the kitchen area 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 anyway.

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.

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.

Yes indeed we do, with Norwich City Council. We have strict guidelines and regulations which we happily adhere to - they are all in the best interests of the cats first and foremost.

A: We appreciate and welcome any offers of support! Maybe you can offer some time for volunteering? Maybe you can donate cat food or a cat tree? Maybe you can offer either a one-off donation, or sponsor a cat on a monthly basis? Please get in touch to discuss details.

A: Please contact us via our website and we will get back to you as soon as possible! Thanks so much.