What do you think about cat cafes?

Should there be stricter rules for cat cafes in the UK?

Two animal charities - the RSPCA and Cats Protection - have said they think that cat cafe's should be "phased out" - which means stopped or closed down over time.

They said this is because they think it would be "almost impossible" to meet the welfare needs of the cats in a cafe environment.

However some cat cafe owners disagree.

Lauren Pears, the owner of Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium said: "Cat cafes can be run with care and responsibility at the forefront," but she agrees that there should be more rules in place to help protect the cats welfare.

There are around 30 licensed cat cafes in England.

Cat cafes are cafes which also have a small group of cats living in them, that customers can watch and play with according to the cafe's rules, for a short period of time.

Currently there is no specific licence for cat cafes in England.

At the moment they are inspected by local councils and authorities, and licensed under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations, which has a list of advice and guidance for people who keep or train animals for exhibition, or kennels that take care of animals while their owners are away.

These include things like making sure that staff are trained in animal handling and welfare, and that the animals are comfortable in their environment, and kept in appropriate social groups.

If they don't follow these rules or break them, the local authorities could take away their license.

The RSPCA and Cats Protection want local authorities to not approve new licences or renew current ones, to stop new cat cafes from opening, and eventually phase out existing ones.

Lauren Pears, the owner of Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium in London, which opened in 2014, said: "I believe it is appropriate that the RSPCA and Cats Protection raise concerns, but I don't agree that cat cafes should be phased out entirely.

"They should be monitored and nationwide welfare standards should be set and upheld.

"Some things I would look for in a reputable cat cafe include age limits, restrictions on capacity and dedicated cat care staff.

"I welcome regulation and scrutiny of the industry."

Staff at Cat Cafe Manchester agree, they said: "We are in strong agreement that there needs to be more regulation in the industry, as we believe many cafes are operating in manners that are harmful to cats.

"We review the behaviour of our cats weekly, and if we feel any cat in our cafe is not happy and is showing signs of stress, we would immediately remove them from the environment.

"Cat Cafes are not all the same, and they should not be opened without serious thought and consideration for the cats welfare."

Daniel Warren-Cummings, central behaviour officer for Cats Protection, said: "Cats are simply not built to share space with a high number of other cats and it only happens because humans force the matter.

"Although many cat cafe owners start their enterprise out of a desire to help unwanted cats, they will ultimately commit themselves to having high numbers of cats to meet consumer demand, which makes it difficult to run these businesses in a way that truly protects cat welfare."

RSPCA cat welfare expert Alice Potter said: "We adore cats and so we understand the appeal of cat cafes.

"However, whilst cats, cake and coffee might be a happy combination for people, for the cats living 24/7 in these cafes it's likely to be a very different story.

"We don't believe these environments can consistently provide cats with a good quality of life and are hugely concerned that many cats will be unhappy as a result."

Let us know what you think in the comments below. Do you like cat cafes? Do you think there should be stricter rules for cat cafes? Or do you think they should close?