Purrfect!
Hividar Saeed has opened My Purrfect Cate cat cafe on Market Lane, Hanley(Image: Pete Stonier)
Stoke-on-Trent has its first-ever cat café. My Purrfect Caté, on Market Lane, Hanley, officially opened this week.
It means cat-lovers can now relax with a hot drink and a sweet treat while surrounded by moggies. The venue houses 14 different cats – including five kittens.
The family-run business is the brainchild of Hividar Saeed, an Arabic teacher at The City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College. She has dreamed of launching her own cat café for the past eight years.
Hividar, of Sneyd Green, told StokeonTrentLive: “I’m a huge cat lover. I’ve owned them ever since I was about three years old. When I came to the UK in 2007, the first thing I asked my husband to do was buy me a kitten. I’ve always had at least two or three cats in my house since then.
“Eventually I ended up with around eight. Then I got an idea. Why not open a cat café? Every other city in the UK has one. I’ve always had to travel to Manchester, Liverpool or Stone just to attend one.
“After that, I spent a long time thinking and planning. But health issues and different circumstances always seemed to get in the way. But this year we finally got the chance to bring it all together. I’ve been wanting to do this for so long. And now that dream has finally come true!”
Hividar says the café features a variety of felines for customers to interact with.
The 48-year-old explained: “We have 14 cats at the café right now. They’re all my cats. I still have another six at home! I consider them all like family. I treat them like my own children. Whenever I go shopping, I always head to the pet section before I start buying our food!
“All of the cats in the café are lovely. We have a mix of different breeds and ages. We’ve got a Persian-ragdoll mix, a tabby-ragdoll mix, two blue British short hairs, and five kittens! The kittens are weeks old. We have a few other different cats in there too. But my favourite is our five-year-old tuxedo cat Tommy. He’s the queen of the café.”
Hividar hopes her tasty menu will also help win over customers.
She said: “The menu has lots of stuff for people to enjoy. We have baked tarts, including pistachio and chocolate flavours. Then we have biscuits and pancakes with a variety of toppings. Our drink menu includes mojitos, different flavours of iced lattes, milkshakes, alongside all your regular teas, coffees and hot chocolates.”
Now Hividar is looking forward to the future.
She added: “I’m very happy. It’s hard to explain how overjoyed I am right now. Having my dream business with my family working alongside me is everything I could ask for. Now we get to bond together at work and at home. It’s been going really well so far. We’ve had a great response from the community and lots of positive feedback. We’re all really excited to head into the summer and welcome everyone. We’re proud to bring something different for people to enjoy.”
My Purrfect Caté is open from 9am until 6pm Tuesday to Sunday. Entry costs £7 while children under two go free. Each session lasts 90 minutes. Walk-ins are available but bookings are recommended.
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