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International Cat Day: Cuddle with Cats and Drink Coffee at a Cat Lounge!

If you were unaware, kitten lounge's are a thing and there's one right here in Los Angeles that's causing a storm. Crumbs and Whiskers has become one of the city's perfect hang spots for those looking for a new, yet familiar experience. The lounge, located on Melrose and central to all the hot spots including The Grove shopping center, CBS studios, and the Instagrammable pink wall, is very accessible and well worth the trip. Visitors who make a reservation are able to come in for a chosen time slot of a 30 or 70 minute experience where they are given freedom to chill out on comfy sofas and rugs and cuddle up next to a number of kittens roaming around. Order a coffee or have a photoshoot, the cafe is welcome to it all. Only thing they ask - is that you come with an open heart ready to fall in love with a kitty.

Today (July 8th) for International Cat Day, Crumbs and Whiskers is offering a lucky cat lover (and a plus one) a free visit to each of their locations.

Pretty sweet deal, so we stopped by the lounge for a conversation with Crumbs and Whiskers founder Kanchan Singh to talk about what a cat lounge experience is like.

Crumbs and Whiskers founder Kanchan Singh

What made you decide to open a kitten lounge?

“So I’ve been a huge animal lover and a cat lover my own life and I was traveling in Thailand and I bumped into a cat cafe. It was about 5 years ago and I was like ‘why does this not exist back home? It’s so amazing.’ And I just fell in love while I was in that cat cafe in Thailand I just fell in love with everything and so when I came back to the U.S. I quit my job and started my own cat cafe.”

How long have you been open?

"Our first location in Washington D.C. has been open for 4 years and our second location in Los Angeles has been open for 3 years and our third location in D.C. has just been open for a few months."

So people can actually enjoy cafe drinks here?

"You can drink your coffee's and your chai lattes or just a lemonade. The only thing that's different about this place is that you're doing it in the company of cats."

Do you see more dates or family visits here?

"We see a lot of dates and a lot of family visits, but we definitely see more dates. I think guys know that girls like cats and so that's just what they try to do to impress them on their first date."

What are the benefits of cat therapy?

"There are so many benefits of cat therapy. First of all, I think just the presence of cats is healing and people who come here will tell you the same thing. They could be having the worst week or the worst month and they'll come in here. Being surrounded by cats helps them overcome that and completely change their mood. I think it's something about looking at sleeping chill cats. Cats are so zen that you almost can't not be zen around them. Also I think animal love is therapy. So when you're cuddling a little kitten there's so much love involved that you heal from whatever you need healing from."

Do you offer same day adoptions?

"We do not offer same-day adoptions because we don't want anyone to impulse buy a cat. We don't want you to come here, drink a coffee and be like 'I love that cat,' and take them home to be like 'oh, no!' So we do have a bit of a process which will give you some time to think about if you're really ready for it because it is a pretty big commitment."

Do you work with other adoption groups?

"Yes, so in each city we partner with a rescue and what they do is they go to high-kill shelters and they rescue cats who are at risk of being euthanized simply because the shelter is out of space. So they are perfectly healthy cats. We bring them here to the cat cafe and they stay with us until they are adopted."

How are you celebrating international cat day?

"I feel like it's international cat day everyday for us at Crumbs and Whiskers. So International Cat Day was created to just appreciate and celebrate cats and that's what we're doing every single day. On International Cat Day specifically, we're doing a giveaway where we're giving away free experiences for people to come and visit us at the cat cafe and they can celebrate International Cat Day in the company of felines."

So if you're looking about for a new spot with a chill zen experience, you may want to try a cat lounge.

Check out Crumbs and Whiskers here.


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