A kingdom of cats

Furry felines rule the roost in the city’s only café where visitors can bond with cats over their morning coffee.

By Tatyana Sochiva

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: February 13, 2013 (Issue # 1746)

CAT REPUBLIC Dyushes, a Don Sphynx, makes up for his lack of fur by cuddling up to fellow residents of the Cat Republic.

In a city renowned for its countless grandiose, record-breaking sights and museums, the Cat Republic is not listed in Top 10 guidebook recommendations. Yet this café with a difference, in which noble felines rule, already has a devoted and steadily growing following.

After obtaining a visa and washing their hands, visitors to the Cat Republic may pass through the magic wardrobe to meet the country’s furry inhabitants themselves. There is one simple rule here: Never insist on interaction with any cat that is not interested.

“The relationships between our cats include a lot of different stories,” Anna Chugunova, spokesperson for the Cat Republic, told The St. Petersburg Times.

“There is a whole series of tales. Dyushes, who is a Don Sphynx, is very friendly with furry cats, he likes to warm himself by cuddling up to them.”

“On the contrary, the Persian cat Mary suffered so much from her fluffy fur coat this summer that the staff of the Cat Republic decided to cut the beauty’s hair. She looked very funny. Many people couldn’t help smiling when they saw her. Mary felt very insulted, foremost by her hairdressers. She wouldn’t go near them, and would not allow them to stroke her or hold her in their arms. And when somebody pointed at her and laughed, she left the room in a huff.”

The Cat Republic consists of several rooms that house a café, a library, a mini-cinema, an exhibition gallery and a souvenir shop, all based around a cat theme.

The walls of the cats’ domain are decorated with fanciful murals by Olga Popugayeva and Dmitry Nepomnyaschy. The wall paintings portray cats alongside their best friends, the Hermites, who are a diminutive people living in the State Hermitage Museum and other museums, according to a new urban mythology.

This association with the great museum is far from accidental. A number of the quadrupeds residing in the Republic hail from the Hermitage — home to a celebrated army of felines who help keep the museum’s storerooms free of vermin — and are named in honor of paintings and notable artists, or people connected to them.

“The Cat Republic continues to help the cats at the Hermitage,” said Chugunova. “It assists in the treatment of their illnesses, finds places for them to live and raises funds for their care.”

The Cat Republic started out as a branch of the Vsevolozhsk Cat Museum located just outside St. Petersburg.

CAT REPUBLIC Several of the feline residents came from the State Hermitage Museum.

“There was no point in making a duplicate version of [the museum],” said Chugunova. “Firstly, we aimed to create a platform for interaction. And then we combined this dream with the idea of a cat café. That’s how the Cat Republic was born.”

There are currently 15 cats in residence at Cat Republic. The newest emigres include a mixed-breed cat from the Hermitage named Gauguin, a Leopard cat named Gala and a purebred American Curl named Mango.

Each cat has its own story, and not always a happy one. Shreky, a Cornish Rex, fell out of a window at the age of five months and broke three of his legs. The cat’s owners took him to the Elvet veterinary clinic to be put down. But because the clinic has a policy of always curing animals that can be saved, vets there set the kitten’s broken bones with metal plates.

“Within a couple of months, Shreky looked like a cyborg-cat,” Chugunova recalled. He eventually ended up at the Cat Republic for further rehabilitation because he had gotten used to round-the-clock attention while recuperating and was bored when left alone at home.

But no matter where the cats come from, all of the republic’s residents have been carefully selected for their capacity to be friendly — both to one another, and to visitors. Every day the cats provide valuable anti-stress therapy to the children and adults who pet, feed and photograph them.

The stated goal of the Cat Republic is to educate the public on proper cat care. In addition to a variety of events and master classes, meetings with felinologists and zoopsychologists are held regularly.

“The Cat Republic has taken part in the city’s Museum Night, Children’s Day and the Cat Mania exhibition that was held at the Peter and Paul Fortress,” said Chugunova.

The idea of a feline kingdom may be new for St. Petersburg, but it is based on a Japanese model. “The first cat café emerged in Osaka,” said Chugunova. “They have the same format — people come to sit and have tea as well as to commune with the cats.”

While such businesses are booming in Japan, the Cat Republic so far remains a unique destination in a city known for its more traditional museums and galleries.

The Cat Republic is located at 10 Ulitsa Yakubovicha, tel. 312 0487. Open daily, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. catsrepublic.ru