Cats calm Gaza cafe customers

Meow Cat Café in Gaza City has become one of the world's latest cat cafés. These places have grown more popular recently. People can enjoy a coffee while they hold and stroke the animals.

Cat cafés are a way of managing everyday stress. That's what made Nehma Maabad decide to open up this café.

Nehma Maabad: "Cats, for me, are a refuge that relieves me of psychological stress. So I thought of creating a project that combines serving people with something to cheer them up. That's where the idea of the café came from. It combines the concept of a normal coffee shop with a cute twist of having your cup of coffee while playing with a cat that will make you smile and forget about the pressures of life beyond the walls of this shop."

For many Palestinians in Gaza, the cat café's just the place they need. Since 2007, they haven't been free to live normal lives. There have been a number of wars between Palestinian and Israeli fighters.

Manar Abu Samra's a regular visitor.

Manar Abu Samra: "It's a wonderful idea, especially for cat lovers. The quality of cats here is beautiful and sweet, so it's a wonderful idea -- despite its strangeness to society -- and when I heard about it, I felt happy."

Nehma charges people $2.65 an hour to enter the café's cat area. That charge covers the cost of looking after the pets.

Nehma Maabad:"The entrance fees for the cat zone are purely aimed at covering their food and drink. The café section functions like any other normal café in Gaza."

This entrance cost also pays for vet bills, and for different play areas for the animals. Manar believes it's worth paying.

Manar Abu Samra: "Someone who loves cats will come visit and won't care about the cost, but I don't think its entrance fees of nearly 10 shekels ($2.65) per hour to play with the cats is a high fee. It's appropriate."

Our knowledge is growing about how animals can help us fight stress. As we learn more, cat cafés will probably become even more popular.

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