The Pitfalls Of Cat-Friendly Cafés...

I suppose it was the next logical step from the stunt pulled by Ikea when it let 100 furry felines loose in one of the stores overnight. Presumably people just aren't satisfied with the knowledge that the cats had been on the furniture...

A Turin café-owner has decided that her customers need the opportunity to be surrounded by cats whilst they enjoy an espresso. Despite being a catoholic, I forsee one or two problems with this.

I suspect that the café will suffer an increased problem with shoplifters - wouldn't you be tempted to opt for an extra "take-away," especially if it actually crawled into your shopping bag of its own volition. Bags and boxes are well-documented kitty-magnets.

There will also be the high probability of an increased problem with stray hairs in the gelato. Even with just two kitties, I find that cat hairs regularly adorn my tea towels.

And finally, I suspect that the sales of coffee will go down. Very few cats like coffee. On the other hand, sales of saucers of milk will increase, but I think that these are less lucrative for café owners...