A friendly new café has recently opened in Vaudreuil-Dorion: Café cats and friends. Opened by Anne-Marie Leishman, the café is not only a place to spend time with friends, but also a showcase for the Stéri le Chat organization .

Upon entering the café, Boo, the hostess of the premises, greets visitors and guides them to the tables, before, of course, returning to her activities, i.e. monitoring the arrival of the next customers.

A bus driver for Exo in the morning, Anne-Marie Leishman now devotes her afternoons and evenings to her dream of owning a café. A devoted animal lover, and feline lover in particular, Ms. Leishman had the idea of combining her two passions.

"I've always wanted to have a café. It's really been a dream of mine for a long time. But a café with cats is even more fun," she confided to Néomédia.

At the time of our visit, three cats ruled the premises: Boo, Lisa and Julie. Since then, Lisa has found a new family and Smokey has joined the Café.

"The cats here all come from the Stéri le Chat organization, and they're all up for adoption, except Boo. She's the Café mascot. This is her home," explains Anne-Marie.

Popular in many major cities in Europe, Asia and the United States, Café-style establishments with cats are relatively new to Quebec. In recent years, several have opened in Montreal, Laval and Quebec City, but according to Anne-Marie Leishman, the concept was lacking in Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

"I really wanted to build something for Vaudreuil-Soulanges. Montreal and Laval are great, but there are a lot of possibilities here too. I really wanted to create a place that would bring people together, that would be playful and fun, where people could interact."

In addition to offering a few on-the-go meal options and desserts, Café cats and friends has a boutique corner offering a panoply of items bearing the effigy of, you guessed it... cats. Sweaters, pencils, key rings, magnets, bags, in short, cat lovers will have plenty to spoil themselves with.

"I also want to set up events such as adoption days, Karaoke nights, games nights, there's no shortage of ideas," laughs Anne-Marie.

The official opening of Café cat' and friends will take place on April 27. In the meantime, you can still drop in for a bit of pet therapy. To find out more, visit the Café cats and friends Facebook page.