Canadian Cat Cafe Temporarily Closes For Best Possible Reason

Cat cafes are as great for the featured animals as they are for the people visiting them. And for one such outpost in Vancouver, Canada, the business was so good for the cats that it temporarily closed. The cat cafe phenomenon seems to be popping up everywhere lately, and they're popular for good reason — many cat cafes feature rescue animals looking for permanent homes. That's the case for Vancouver's Catfé, which serves as both a coffee shop for people and a foster home for the cats. On Tuesday, Catfé announced that it's temporarily closed this week and will reopen on Friday, January 8. The reason, it explained on its website, is "catlessness." And that's a good thing — all of the cats found permanent homes thanks to the cafe's visitors.

"Due to the overwhelming success of adoptions in our first few weeks, we have run out of cats," Catfé declared on its website. When Catfé reopens, it will have a new group of kitties looking for adoption and playtime. And while some cat enthusiasts have proposed that the cafe take animals from other shelters — it currently features cats from the British Columbia SPCA — Catfé has explained that's not an option. "Our aim is to have anywhere between eight and 12 cats at the cafe, which will fluctuate as cats get adopted out and more cats arrive," Catfé wrote in a Facebook post. The cafe explained that shelters don't usually mix their cats with animals from other shelters, and the British Columbia SPCA sent over fewer cats than normal during the holiday season.

Still, Catfé noted, there are plenty of cats looking for homes in Canada (and elsewhere). If you're looking for a feline friend to adopt, you can always contact your local animal shelter, which probably isn't experiencing a bout of catlessness.