Cat cafes now allowed to stay open until 10 p.m.

Instead of worrying about business hours, how about regulating, inspecting and enforcing the proper care and treatment of our feline friends? I fear for the cats once this fad dies out or becomes unprofitable for the owners.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/man-arrested-on-suspicion-of-killing-10-stray-cats<

On a more SERIOUS note:

another day another weird law

Animals in pet shops SHOULD be allowed to sleep... They used to be "lit up" all night, so the new law "lights out at 20h00" is a good one. However, cats that are free to roam among customers is a totally different story and they probably enjoy it just as much as the customers do.

Experts concluded that the late hours had no noticeable effect on the cats’ stress levels.

If I were a cat, I'd be stressed that the people regulating my employment haven't taken into account the impact millenia of evolution has had on my sleep cycle. Also that this AP reporter doesn't seem to know the difference between nocturnal animals and crepsular animals.

But I suppose being a cat someone could just leave an old cardboard box out for me and I'd de-stress pretty quick.

This isn't a pet shop, it's a cafe that has cats. I see nothing wrong in it being open all hours so long as the cats are the ones who get to decide whether they want to be there or not. If there's a cat-flap leading to a separate, quiet, darkened room where the cats can go whenever they like to get away from customers when they've had enough, I don't see a problem.

My cat hangs out in the living room with us until quite late at night, and it's her choice; sometimes on my lap, sometimes on the back of the sofa, sometimes in her catbed. And sometimes she chooses to head on upstairs to sleep where it's quieter.

Let the moggies choose, not the law (the law is there to keep pesky you mans in check). I hope the law isn't interpreted to mean that if the cafe owner so wishes it the cats must be on call to entertain customers till all hours.

I like Cleo's idea of a "flap-door" where the cats can "escape" when they've had enough. Cats are SO "independent" they can usually take care of themselves - so long as there is an "escape-route" where they can go and have a "cat-nap" when they've had enough.

*crepuscular

This is a catastrophe

They are worried about cats' stress level but not actual human's stress level???

Cats are nocturnal, so if any regulation was required here at all, they should regulate the day hours and not the night hours. Do these government clowns think cats have 9-6 work days??