From http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/china-business/2012/03/19/334996/Spoiled-pets.htm

BEIJING, Straits Times/Asia News Network — China is saying “hello kitty” in more ways than one. In fact, it seems to be raining cats here, but not dogs.

The country welcomed the first theme restaurant based on the famous Japanese cartoon character Hello Kitty to Beijing recently, a culmination, perhaps, of its love affair with the feline.

Since 2006, China has played host to food and beverage outlets for lovers of real cats. These so-called cat cafes, where people can sip coffee while playing with kitties, have already clawed their way into four major cities.

At least 11 such outlets, which first appeared in Taiwan in 1998, can be found in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Kunming. They bank on an increasingly affluent society where people not only have pets, but can also afford to pamper them.

The cat cafes join a growing trend of theme cafes that cash in on everything from maids — where servers dress like Japanese anime characters and call their customers “masters” — to martial arts and robots. There are also toilet theme cafes, with toilet-like seats, and food that is served on model toilet bowls. Some of the food even resembles what goes into toilets, although hopefully not in taste.

But few are as popular as the cat cafes. Inside, patrons find resting spots such as cubbyholes and cat stands, ensuring the purring ones feel as at home as possible. Scratching posts allow the cats to groom themselves while their owners knock back a latte or mocha.

To make sure the cats feel as important as their owners, some of the cafes even have dedicated entrances for them.

Chadoushe cat cafe in Beijing goes one step further, offering free medical advice for cats because a regular customer is a veterinarian.

Such creature comforts seduce both the cats and their owners.

“I bring my two cats here on the weekends to play with the owner’s cats while I read a book, drink tea or chat with friends,” said financial analyst Geng Yi, 26, at Sirena Bar in Beijing. ‘You don’t have to worry about the cats.’

“I’ve not had any cat fight, because our customers understand that we are running a business. Most of them come to enjoy our cats because they cannot keep them at home,” Wang Bo from cat cafe L’infusions in Beijing said.

Indeed, very few fights happen, if any, because these cat owners are very aware of their pets’ temperaments, according to both Sirena’s owner Zhang Lange and Geng Yi. Most customers do not bring their own cats along, however.