Cat cafes began in Taiwan due to the fact that individuals living in apartments were not allowed to have pets.  Cat cafes offered a way for animal lovers to get their fix…specifically, their cat fix even though they could not own a pet.  The world’s first cat café, Cat Flower Garden, in Taiwan opened in 1998.   After that, the concept took off in Japan and the number of cat cafes in that area blossomed in the next 5 years.  There are approximately 80 cat cafes in Japan.  This concept worked its way over to the United States with the first US cat cafe, The Cat Town Café, opening  in October of 2014 in Oakland, CA.  After that, cat cafes opened in Naples, Florida; Denver, Colorado; NYC, NY; SanDiego, CA; Portland, OR; Franklin, MA; Washington, DC; San Jose, CA; Austin, TX; Seattle, WA; Dallas, TX; Madison, WI; Charleston, SC; West Chester, OH; Columbus, OH; St. Louis,, MI.  In addition to RAHWAY KITTY HALL, New Jersey is slated to have two more cat café’s open: Catsbury Park in Asbury Park and PURRsonal Space in Palmyra!