La Maison du Chat

27/12/2022

As many of you already know, we sadly have to close our little cat café this December for good. Even though we are heartbroken and devastated, today we would love to share all the great things we achieved in the past 2 years. We had
▫️ 81 cats adopted
▫️ 14 amazing volunteers
▫️ 17 people working with us
▫️ 12 coffee mornings for the elderly
▫️ 54 boxes of donations for the Ukraine
▫️ 55 support groups during lockdown
▫️ 20 ballet classes for 3-4 year-olds
▫️ hosted various SEN support and charity groups/meet-ups

and made hundreds of people smile. We will never forget what this place meant to us and to you guys, our amazing community. Thank you from all of our heart, together we made a difference. And that’s what we are proud and thankful for ❤️

23/12/2022

Packing the kids’ bags, they’re going home this evening 😻😻

16/12/2022

Dear lovely customers, supporters and cat lovers,

it is with great sadness that we have had to take the decision to permanently close our little cat cafe after Christmas.

After the devastating impact of Covid, the almost 6-month closure we suffered due to Westminster Council delays cost us such a large amount in direct costs that there is no way a small business such as ours can ever repay or recover from that. Add into the mix the ever-rising cost of utilities, goods and staffing, and burden of red tape and we find ourselves unable to ever break even.

We are heartbroken to say the least, but remain open until 23rd December and will be open every day until then, so you can come and enjoy our lovely cats, our freshly made food and cat-themed merchandise just in time for Christmas.
Equally, if you want to purchase a piece of furniture or equipment please feel free to make us an offer and take a memento of our cosy little spot home with you! (this includes our amazing cat frame which will be available from 24th December).

Thank you for all the support, for your love for our cats and for your belief in this community project, we do hope we made a difference and we have loved putting smiles on so many faces ❤

Florence and team 🐈

02/12/2022

So very happy about all our November adoptions! 🐈😻🐈‍⬛ British, Tunisian and Cypriot cats all in their loving new homes, let’s keep it going!

La Maison du Chat London shared a post on Instagram: "We can‘t believe it! In November, 10 cats were adopted from our cafe 😻 Let’s do it all again in December and find a furrrever home for Sanoura, Alice, Phillip, Ozzy, Alfie, Frey, Alma, Simona, Teddy, Mickey, and Minnie for Christmas 🎄 #...

25/11/2022

🚘 We are looking for another kind person heading northwards who might be able to make a bit of a detour and take a car-full of donations up to the lovely Broken Biscuits charity for disabled animals in Lincolnshire 👏🏻 pretty please!

We would absolutely love to get a load more bedding, food and treats up to their dogs and cats in time for Christmas!🧚🏻‍♀️

Please share this post far&wide even if you can’t help with the drive directly ❣️

12/11/2022

YOGA at LA MAISON DU CHAT IS ON! 🧘‍♀️

Join Dr Kristine from Resurface for an hour of Trauma Sensitive Yoga on Wednesdays at 8am and make this a fully zen day by moving onto the cat lounge for some purr therapy with breakfast afterwards 😻

Shhhhht 🤫 this week is 50% off!

Register now: email [email protected] to book your spot.

LIMITED AVAILABILITY so book now! £15pp standard price, only 6 places available.

*Please note there will be no cats present during the yoga session, but you will be able to interact with them after the session as the cat lounge opens at 9am.

11/11/2022

We have some lovely original art in store, most of it painted by local artist Melissa Milan.

We have decided to list it all in an online auction on here to help us raise funds for our vet bills - all profits from this auction will go directly to Micky’s dental bill.

All of these items also make ideal gifts for the animal lovers in your life 🥰

To place a bid, please comment below the photo of the item you would like.
Please note some items have a reserve price.
Postage fees will be applied on top of the bid price, or you can pick the item up from Pimlico.

Auction closes on Friday 2nd December at 5pm.

10/11/2022

Do you have a special occasion to celebrate? Why not book our (cat free) events room downstairs 🧚🏻‍♀️
Find out more here:

Our café is home to delicious food, great drinks, and best of all it's full of gorgeous kitties for you to play, snuggle, and even do yoga with!

05/11/2022

🚨COMPETITION TIME🚨
These two lovely ladies have no name yet!! Help us pick a name! Write your suggestions under this post in the comments 😻

£1 donation per name entry required which will go towards vet bills

Please pay it into Douda’s fundraiser with suggested name as reference

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/furryearsdouda?utm_term=87bYae4dJ

We are looking forward to seeing all of your ideas 😻😻😻

04/11/2022

🙌🏼 Thanks to an amazing chain of wonderful people, a car- (very) full of donations is currently making its way up to Lincolnshire to a wonderful little charity called Broken Biscuits who take care of disabled dogs and cats.

💗Couldn’t have done this without Manuela, Heather, Sarah, Dia, Katherine and all the kind people who have been dropping donations off at the cafe 🌸

Thank you all, making a difference one step at a time 🔥

03/11/2022

😻 We are so very happy to announce our October adoptees:

🐈 Douda, pocket rocket from Tunisia
🐈🐈🐈 Lottie, Toffee and Greyson the kittens from Cyprus

They are all settling in well to their new homes and the start of their forever happiness 😻

Thank you all for helping us out a roof over their heads while they waited for their purrfect families to come along!

We still have several cats waiting for adoption, if you are looking to adopt please contact Furry Ears Rescue to apply!

28/10/2022

📺 Who else spotted our stunning Sanoura on ITV news last night? 😻

🐈We currently have 5 lovely adult cats looking for their furever homes, and whilst our kittens have been getting loads of attention, we aren’t receiving any applications for the others 😿

🌸If you’d like to adopt a loving rescue, please send us your email address in a message and we will pop over an adoption form 📃

😻 Sanoura - 2 years old - indoor or outdoor - very affectionate and playful - good with children
😻 Keyana - 1 year old - indoor or outdoor - affectionate and will become playful once settled - children 7+
😻 Doris - 2 years old - indoor or outdoor - super affectionate and will become a lap cat/companion cat - children 12+
😻 Minnie - 2 years old - indoor - little wild child who will become a great companion after a few months of settling - no children
😻 Mickey - 2 years old - indoor or outdoor - very sensitive chap who will grow a strong bond once he has settled with his family - no children

24/10/2022

Hiya, I'm Jolsina, nice to meet you! I am a 5 month old black and white curious but calm kitten. Before I came to London, things were a bit rough. I was born in Ayia Napa in Cyprus in a hotel - a dream you would think - but the manager didn't like us and wanted to get rid of us in a very mean way 🙀 Luckily, a lovely volunteer came to pick us up and took us in. And then we went on a big adventure to the UK. It was a lot but I managed to keep my curious and inquisitive streak alive and well. I really love playing with people of all ages, I like children and have a very calm presence. Are you looking for a play partner for life? Coz I am 😻
email [email protected] if you would like to apply to adopt me! 🐈

14/10/2022

Did you know that we make our own delicious waffles in-house?

Next time you are in, make sure you try it - or why not order one now on Uber Eats?

Gluten Free also available 💛

https://ubereats.app.link/hdbsrXZTSqb

14/10/2022

❤️‍🩹 Douda still needs your help ❤️‍🩹

Tongue out (not) Tuesday from Douda who has now had 8 teeth out!

She is recovering well but we are still missing £370 to pay her vet bill which is due urgently!

Please help donate to help Douda cover her vet bills and have her chance of a new life 🙌🏼

We exist so we can help cats in need get the treatment they need and find the purrfect forever home, but we can’t do it without your help! ❤️‍🔥

Her fundraiser can be found here:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/furryearsdouda?utm_term=87bYae4dJ

Thank you!

05/10/2022

!! Extended to 20th October!!

DOG TREATS: CLEARANCE SALE

We have a load of Fish4Dogs dog treats for sale for just £1 each!

Available this week until 8th October

Pop in a grab a stock now!

24/09/2022

We are looking for someone driving up from London to/through Lincolnshire who could take up some boxes of pet food&bedding donations to a wonderful little charity we support - please share far&wide, and get in touch if you can help! 👏🏻

13/09/2022

**FOUND!! ***
Westminster: Unfortunately, another cat missing from the area, please keep a look out for this one alongside Nimki 😿

08/09/2022

Douda needs your help!

Having lived most of her early life on the streets of Tunis, she didn’t have the easiest start in life.

Fighting for survival every day and making do with any scraps she could find resulted in her missing out on crucial nutrition and good dental health (that’s why they get biscuits), and catching nasty viruses.

We noticed that she was struggling with her mouth a while after she arrived here so we took her to the vet for a checkup. Douda’s teeth are in terrible condition and she needs a whole load of dental work. And that’s why we need your help, to share the load and help her get the treatment she needs asap!

Check out the link in the bio for more information and the fundraiser.

We are truly thankful for every penny that will help us get Douda to the happy, healthy life she deserves 😻

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/furryearsdouda?utm_term=2Wk8vqjAN

02/09/2022

!! UPDATE: REUNITED!!

Pimlico area SW1

27/08/2022

For our local followers, please keep an eye out for Nimki for our neighbours down the road 🥺

12/08/2022

Feeling the heat? Come and try our newly arrived all-natural ice lollies from Lickalix 😻 available for takeaway or to eat in 🙂

30/07/2022

We are so excited to announce our grand re-opening today! Come and meet our new cats 😻
Book now on OpenTable to guarantee a space, or try your luck with a walk-in!

https://www.opentable.co.uk/r/la-maison-du-chat-reservations-london?restref=252597&lang=en-GB&ot_source=Restaurant%20website

16/07/2022

🌸💕 Thank you SO much to everyone who wrote into the council, donated to our crowdfunder, volunteered their time and skills and generally supported us through the hell of the last 5 months.

🥳🥳WE HAVE FINALLY RECEIVED THE NEW ANIMAL LICENSE!! 🥳🥳

This means we will shortly be re-opening with cats, so please watch this space for our Grand Re-Opening announcement :))

In the meantime, we will be preparing everything on site for our new cats to arrive - perhaps you could help give them a little hand over to their new lives?

Furry Ears Rescue have a little fundraiser up - see link below, please share.

And see you soon!

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/furryearsrescue?utm_term=xB2xvrXkk

12/07/2022

🥳🥳 UPDATE: It worked!!!!!! (See new post)

CAFE UPDATE: HELP!!!

We STILL don't have cats.

Words cannot even begin to express the despair with which I write this update.

Thanks to your amazing and incredible support in April and May, we were able to remove the unreasonable restriction for the third doorway, and then raise an AMAZING £6800 in our Crowdfunder to help pay for the new animal license application (£893) and a month's worth of empty running costs.

So many incredibly kind people bought us items from our amazon wishlist, which were crucial to being compliant on the other points raised in the inspection (cat netting, extra sink).

A special shout-out goes to Pimlico Plumbers for kindly donating the plumbing-in of the extra sink that was required for the animal license, and Lisa Payne our artist in residence for fixing the cat netting and CCTV amongst many other things.

This gave us the support needed to buy time and make it through the licensing process...or so we thought.

We re-applied for the animal licence in early May, and finally scheduled in a new inspection on 9th June. At that point, we were expecting to receive the licence by around 15th June, and to be announcing the amazing news to you all.

Instead, it is now mid-July and the council STILL have not provided any update on the license, just mentioning the same points that were already discussed during the inspection.

This is a final attempt to try and save our lovely little community cafe.

To save a local, small, independent business. To save dozens more cats in need.

To make a difference.

Please help us by writing into our Westminster councillors - you can email your local councillor or the new leader of WCC, Adam Hug, on [email protected], to make him aware of our situation and what the cafe means to you (just like in April - it is a completely new team so they might not have the background). We need our elected representatives to look into this, now more than ever!

For other ways to help, please take a look at our Linktree https://linktr.ee/lamaisonduchat which links to our Amazon wishlist and our still-live Crowdfunder. Thank you!

14/05/2022

‼️Just 1 day left to help save our cat cafe! ‼️

🆘 As you will know, we have just been through an incredibly difficult few months, and whilst there is finally light at the end of the tunnel, things have been taking even longer than expected.

🥰 Please, please consider a small donation towards our Crowdfunder, where you can also treat yourself to a lovely reward while helping us survive this difficult time!

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-our-community-cat-cafe

❌ We will soon be due to pay another month of rent and lease fees, so we need all the help we can get to cover even part of these costs and survive until we have our animal license sorted. It would be awful to have to close before we have had a chance to resolve this issue 💔

✅ Your support so far has been absolutely amazing on all counts, please help us with this final push! 💗

Thank you all so much,

Florence & The Cats

25/04/2022

‼️ URGENT ‼️

We now need your help to fill our Crowdfunder.

📲 if you haven’t seen our latest update post on the mad door situation and our elected councillors’ brilliant job at holding the council to account thanks to your amazing support, then please check our pinned post.

🪫we now need urgent funds to enable us to survive the next couple of weeks until we can resolve our animal license and host cats in need once again

✅ Here’s how you can help:

1. Donate to our crowdfunder, either with a direct donation or by treating yourself to one of our lovely rewards

2. Create a fundraiser in parallel that can be linked to our Crowdfunder

3. Share our Crowdfunder far&wide so we can reach as many cat & cake lovers as possible

4. Come into the cafe and purchase lots of coffee and cake to cheer us up in the meantime!

❗️please note, it’s an all-or-nothing fundraiser so if we don’t fill our base target we won’t receive a penny ❗️

💗🐈 THANK YOU IN ADVANCE 🐈💗

Www.crowdfunder.co.uk/save-our-community-cat-cafe

We have been fighting an unnecessary third entrance door and need to cover the costs incurred while waiting for this problem to be resolved

14/04/2022

💗💓UPDATE - WE DID IT!!!! 💓💗

❤️‍🔥My heartfelt thanks to all of you for your incredible support through this exhaustingly difficult time, for your lovely messages, your smiling faces, and all your efforts with contacting our local elected representatives.

✅Following the amazing work and swift representation of all of your views by Cllr Matthew Green and our local councillors Angela Harvey and Jim Glen, alongside the brilliant support from Cllrs Jacqui Wilkinson and Christabel Flight, I was contacted by the licensing team at WCC and we have now had some very constructive conversations about the layout of the cafe and licensing matters.

😁 This means we have come to the agreement that once we have addressed a number of other minor health and safety points that were discussed during the inspection, such as the addition of cat netting above the cat lounge, we will no longer be required to install the clunky, pricey, unnecessary third door and associated doorway! 😻

😁 I have also been provided further assurance that despite a current waiting time of around 10 weeks for animal licensing inspections, we would be considered a high priority case and wouldn’t be kept waiting anywhere near that long for another inspection as this isn’t a new case. 😻

🐈 So where does that leave us?

Immensely thankful, utterly grateful, completely blown away by the kindness and support from our local community and our representatives. You absolutely are the bees knees!

🆘 But also…

😿 In whole lot of trouble financially!

Following the ravages of the Covid measures throughout 2021, and having unfortunately missed out on key support such as Covid grants, loans and furlough, we have used up all of our Rainy Day Fund and are really struggling at the moment.

🐈‍⬛ Two months of not having the cats in hasn’t negated the need to cover fixed costs such as rent, equipment lease, etc - and our landlord is becoming impatient.

We also need to find a way of paying for the new license application and some of the materials required to get the license happily signed off, such as the cat netting or a new sink for bowl washing.

🆘🆘🆘🆘And so I am now, once again, asking for your kind help in a slightly different format- if you can in any way find some spare funds to help us out of this situation and enable us to move onto greater things, it would mean the world!

Here are some ways you can do this:

1. Buy us something from our Amazon Wish list (like a cat net!)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3R65PFRRPCC6H?ref_=wl_share

2. Buy yourself something from our eBay listings (search on items by seller, all items being sold to raise funds for us are named LMDC

https://ebay.co.uk/usr/flomazon2c7v

3. Contribute to our crowdfunder - with just a simple donation or by signing up for a unique reward

Www.crowdfunder.co.uk/save-our-community-cat-cafe

Thank you so much once again to everyone who has got involved and supported us, on every level, through this sorry saga - knowing you were there gave me the strength I needed to keep on going through these trials and tribulations.

With my very best wishes,

Florence

12/04/2022

** Update 14/04/22: we did it!! See our new post**

CAFE UPDATE - WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We are now open as a neighbourhood cafe, but sadly still without cats 😿

The reason for this is that Westminster Council are now requesting for us to install a whole extra entrance-way with an extra door. Those of you who have visited will know how ridiculous and unnecessary this is - we are already a tiny space as it is, but we always focus on keeping our cats safe.

We have been trying to appeal this decision, and now we need your help.

Despite the Council having fully reviewed our plans during the planning application, and also during an inspection in late 2020, they never mentioned the need for this extra doorway. Suddenly, we are being told that cats could easily escape and the current two-door system is very dangerous for the cats.

To install this unnecessary doorway would cost us approximately £20,000, which we simply cannot afford. The cost is not only for the doorway, but because we would then need to move the counter, which then requires a whole new floor, etc etc - we absolutely want to keep the cafe wheelchair accessible as we are a community space first & foremost.

Here is how you can help us at this stage:

1. Write to Cllr Matthew Green, Cabinet Member at WCC for Business, Licensing and Planning : [email protected]

2. Write to your local councillor if you are a Westminster resident : https://committees.westminster.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1

3. Come into the cafe to enjoy a tasty cup of coffee, pot of tea and delicious cake - we’d love to see you and our terrace is a sun trap from 2:30 onwards 🙂

4. Look out for our crowdfunding link which we are preparing, to help us survive the next few weeks

Unfortunately, we just cannot justify this unplanned and unnecessary cost, particularly after the disastrous effects of the pandemic throughout 2021. It would break our hearts to have to close because of such a pointless bureaucratic exercise when there is so much more feline love to share with the community, and so many more cats to save.

Thank you so much to all of you for your patience and support at this difficult time,

Florence

PS if you have a Groupon voucher, we suggest you request a refund, and then re-purchase a voucher once we have confirmed that we do have cats on the premises again. Unfortunately we have absolutely no control over the Groupon voucher or booking system at this stage.

24/03/2022

Update from Poland: after a few delays, the lorry arrived yesterday morning at the volunteer base!

Our Pimlico packing volunteers might be able to spot some very familiar items on these photos 😉

Thanks again to everyone for the amazing effort and donations, a real helping hand for those whose lives, families and livelihoods have been shattered by the actions of a backward-looking megalomaniac.

“If there's one observation that rings true in today's changing world, it is that freedom and peace go hand in hand.”