Cafe opens for New York cool cats

Eartha Kitt lent her name to the opening of New York's cat cafe

A US cat food company has found the purr-fect way of spoiling its feline clients - by opening a temporary New York cafe for them and their owners.

The Meow Mix cafe serves up dishes such as Deep Sea Delight and Cluck a Doodle Doo for the cats, and baguettes and soda drinks for the owners.

There are just two rules, says the Meow Mix Company - no dogs and no catnip.

The Manhattan cafe is open for just a few days and, if successful, the firm says it may become a permanent fixture.

Film star Eartha Kitt, who played Catwoman in the 1960s TV series Batman, was among those who attended the launch.

"Well, I think the Cat Cafe is a very good idea because it is a wonderful way for us to get acquainted as people because if you have a cat and we have a cat we can all sit at the same table and nosh," she told Associated Press television.

Cat happy

Other cat owners agreed.

"It would be fun to try it," said Frank Guiterman, who owns a Persian cat called Scarlett O'Hara.

"You know there is no place for people to take their cats, so may be this would work out nicely," he told Reuters television.

"I think if it is going to succeed anywhere, it is going to be right here on 5th Avenue, definitely," said Ellen Levin.

But some, such as Lauren Lazarus, were more doubtful.

"I decided to torture my cat and bring her here but she is not having fun," she told Reuters television.

Richard Thompson, CEO of New Jersey-based Meow Mix Company, said: "Our goal is to keep cats happy. The idea is that you can bring them and start socialising them."