Cats calm Gaza cafe customers

One of the world's most recently established cat cafés is the Meow Cat Café, in Gaza City. As people search for ways to switch off from everyday pressures, the popularity of these places, where visitors can chill out with a coffee and a friendly cat, has grown considerably.

It was precisely this idea that originally encouraged owner Nehma Maabad to set up the Meow Cat 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 the Palestinian residents of Gaza, the café allows locals some relief from the challenges of living every day under an Israeli blockade since 2007. The region has experienced the pain and hardship of repeated wars fought between Israel's army and Palestinian fighters.

Manar Abu Samra's one of the café's loyal customers.

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 ensures the costs of keeping the cats are covered by adding a small entrance charge to the café's cat zone, of approximately $2.65 each hour.

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."

Vet bills and also play areas and activities for the kittens are financed by this entrance fee, which Manar insists is value for money.

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."

It's highly likely that the fashion for cat cafés will persist and develop further, as the knowledge surrounding the calming effects of stroking an animal becomes better understood.

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