Catspressos & meowcchiatos: Ghent welcomes new cat cafe

First popping  up in Japan in the late 1990s, the cat cafe concept has spread through the US and Europe, resulting in spaces where customers enjoy food and drink in the company of cats. What sets DreamCATchers apart is the possibility of adopting one of them.

“We are definitely not an ordinary cat café,” confirms Evelyne Vandenberghe, who opened DreamCATchers with her partner, Lana Bauwens. The eight cats currently up for adoption at the cafe come from animal shelters and associations like Dierenasil Gent, Kat de Goede Hoop and Kitten in Nood.

Vandenberghe and Bauwens wanted to draw attention to Flanders’ growing number of stray cats and the lack of shelters. Enter DreamCATchers, where simple cafe customers are faced with the issue.

The cafe offers a safe space, where the older, less-adoptable cats can roam freely, away from the uncertain fate at the shelter. It also allows for people to get better acquainted with their potential pets, while sipping a cup of tea and nibbling vegan pastry.

The menu is all about healthy choices, local products and good puns. Who could resist a double catspresso or a latte meowcchiato? Poezewoefke, brewed by the local animal shelter, and De Poes, from the brewery of the same name in Tielt, are the two local beers on offer, while all the vegan pastries come from Chez Mariette in Oostkamp.

The cafe’s interior is equally well thought-out. Vandenberghe explains that their main concern was to stay true to their values on every level. The cats lounge in the eco-friendly Cat Cubes, the wall elements by Hannemans are made from salvaged wood, and all of the furniture was bought second-hand.

DreamCATchers also offer a variety of cat-themed items in a shop and plan on setting up workshops and training programmes for volunteers. “We try to inspire people to be more environmentally friendly,” says Vandenberghe, “and to show them there are always ways in which we can help one another.”

Photo: Illias Teirlinck