I need to pet a cat. I live in London. Help.

February 20, 2009 9:03 AM

I need to pet a cat. I live in London. Help.

I live in London and I am not allowed pets in my apartment. I don't know any cat owners. I am a cat person and I miss petting cats desperately! Ok, maybe not desperately but I do miss them immensely even if they're unpettable and will scratch me. Do you know of places in London where there are cats roaming free?

Some examples of places in other countries that fit the bill:

- In Japan there are stores you can pay an admission fee which have cats sit on your lap while you read a book (I'm almost sure this great civilizational breakthrough hasn't travelled outside Japan).

- In Portugal I used to go to this park where there was a programme to control rats by natural means aka cats.

- I've been to bookshops where they have a resident cat. Ripley at Borderlands in San Francisco comes to mind.

- In Amsterdam there's a barge on a canal which is a cat sanctuary where you're welcome to come and pet them while a grumpy lady compels you into buying postcards to help feed them.

- Rome. All of it. Strays in corners and empty lots.

Any B&B's around England, preferably in cute towns, where the owner are cat lovers would be great too.

posted by lucia__is__dada to pets & animals (12 comments total)

Can you volunteer at an animal shelter? (I just picked that one out of google.) Then you would get your cat-petting needs met regularly, and help cats get their petting needs met, too. Win!
posted by rtha at 9:06 AM on February 20 [5 favorites]

If you have the time to make a proper extended commitment out of it, Battersea Dogs' Home recruits cat socialisers.
posted by holgate at 9:20 AM on February 20 [1 favorite]

There's a hotel in/very near Reading where the grounds are absolutely covered in cats...but I can't for the life of me remember the name of it. We had a conference there a few years ago and I failed to save the memorabilia.

It was a sprawling compound of buildings with a quaint cottage effect despite all buildings being somewhat connected. There were plentiful, treed green spaces on the long driveway in, if that helps any at all.

Really, though, that whole socialising kitties for adoption is probably the best way to get some pets and do some good at the same time.
posted by batmonkey at 9:31 AM on February 20

definitely volunteer some time at an animal shelter!!
posted by violetk at 9:39 AM on February 20

You could also advertise yourself as a cat sitter. When people go on vacations and want to hire someone to care for their pet so that it can stay comfortably at home, you will have the opportunity to be around cats AND be paid for it.
posted by Piscean at 9:43 AM on February 20

I like the animal shelter idea, but here's another. It seems some pubs have resident cats. Here's one - at least as of March 2008. Here's another. And a third.
posted by jeri at 9:56 AM on February 20 [1 favorite]

My wife was a cat socialiser at Battersea Dogs Home, however you do have to commit to a certain amount of time (about 3 hours a week). She loved it but then we adopted our own cat and the pettig urge vanished.

Beware there are some crazy kittens there though!
posted by laukf at 11:23 AM on February 20

Do the Animal Shelter thing. I was in the exact same situation as you a couple of years ago, and it helped both me and the cats out immensely.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:41 AM on February 20

I have been to The Blind Beggar mentioned by jeri. They do indeed have a cat that lies in front of their fireplace most of the time, and it's super cute and pet-able. Last time I was there I petted and snuggled the shit out of it.
posted by vodkaboots at 11:42 AM on February 20 [2 favorites]

In Amsterdam there's a barge on a canal which is a cat sanctuary where you're welcome to come and pet them while a grumpy lady compels you into buying postcards to help feed them.

The Poezenboot! I love this place.

There are plenty of shelters and kennels etc. There's one 5 minutes walk from me that says that visitors are welcome off season. I guess you get to play with the kitties!
posted by Magnakai at 11:44 AM on February 20

thirding Battersea. excellent organisation and they can always use the help.
posted by wayward vagabond at 2:09 PM on February 20

At The Grocery (yes, a grocery store) on Kingsland Road in Shoreditch there are 2 cats roaming around. They're not super friendly but willing to be petted.
posted by goalie at 12:15 PM on February 21