Looking for comfort? Need to chill? Try some cat therapy at this Café

30 Mar

**Tania Barton: “Cats provide an incredibly peaceful and calming experience for people.”**

The Cat Retreat Cafe at Chevallum is having it’s 2nd birthday this year, and besides this birthday milestone, there are many things to celebrate.

The Cat Retreat Cafe is a labour of love for owner, Tania Barton, who has operated the well known Hobbits Knob Cat Retreat in the same location for the past 13 years. It is regarded as one of the best cat boarding establishments in Australia, with cats coming from overseas and interstate.

“Whether people are relocating, working away, travelling, in hospital, building & renovating, or simply need someone to help with the care of their cats, they rely on our team to love their feline fur babies as much as they do,” said Tania.

Cats are particularly close to Tania’s heart. She spent many years volunteering at an animal refuge and went on to study Animal Care and Behaviour, which led to a 10 year career in Veterinary Nursing.

“I have 42 years of life experience with cats,” Tania said. “I have studied cats, their behaviour and personalities all of my life,” she said. “It gives me an enormous joy to pass this experience and knowledge on to my team.”

The Cat Retreat Cafe is Tania’s way of giving back to the community by working alongside and educating children and the wider community on animal welfare issues, raising awareness of abandoned and surrendered cats, and to provide another avenue of working with these cats to help them find a loving new home.

“I grew up in a violent, drug & alcohol fuelled home and my animals saved my life,” Tania said. “But I do not see myself as a victim, rather, a survivor, and I have my animals to thank for that. When times got bad, I would escape to my cats, dogs, chickens and birds, where I would express my true feelings and emotions. It was the only place I felt safe… in my own little ‘mind world’ with the animals.”

Cat Café ‘Zen Zone’ therapy sessions

“Now that I am a mother myself I understand that children especially need a safe space to retreat to,” she explained. “I will be providing the Cat Café ‘Zen Zone’ to therapy groups including counselling sessions, special needs children, yoga and meditation groups, retirement village residents, nursing home & palliative care patients, and other groups who feel they need cats in their life.

Tania works closely with the Sunshine Coast Animal Refuge to rehome cats to loving families. “It has been enormously gratifying to bring refuge cats into this environment to help rehabilitate them, and also to provide our guests with the opportunity to get to know them and see if they form a connection with a particular cat.

“Many times, animals are surrendered to the refuge because there is no connection between them and their owner,” she said. “Time and again, we have seen cats and our guests ‘choose each other’. It is a really special thing. And we know that the match is perfect for both the cat and the owner, because it has not been an impulse buy. So far, we have facilitated the rehoming of 45 cats.”

The Cat Retreat Café provides a safe, comfortable space where people of all ages, abilities and from all walks of life can connect with cats, and in some cases with each other. You can book sessions where small numbers of people are able to sit in the peaceful environment of the deck to interact with the cats.

“Cats provide an incredibly peaceful and calming experience for people,” Tania said. “They are extremely sensitive animals and we often see them providing our guests with their unique type of companionship and in some cases, comfort. It is really very special.”

• The Cat Retreat Cafe is located at 129 Dales Road, Chevallum.