Cat Café Athens
LOCATION: Athens, Greece
WEBSITE: catcafe.gr
OWNERS: Natalie Sellinidou & Dimitris Sgouro
YEAR OPENED: 2023
CAT CAPACITY: 19
SUMMARY
Cat Café Athens is located within minutes from major Athens attractions, including the Acropolis and numerous well-visited museums. Tucked into a local neighborhood, the exterior of Cat Café Athens is a beautiful blue turquoise color and multiple signs with the café logo direct customers to the café. Once inside, you will find both indoor and outdoor cat lounge spaces, along with an enclosed café and merchandise area. The indoor cat café lounge features brick walls lined with photos of adopted cats and Van Gogh-inspired cat art. Tables are arranged to facilitate conversation and to allow for interactions with adoptable cats. Information on local rescues and ways to support community cats are placed throughout the café with scannable QR codes. The enclosed outdoor cat lounge is spacious, and the turquoise walls are highlighted with yellow, purple, green, and orange décor. Cat walks, trees, and shelves line the walls with plenty of cat-friendly resting spaces. Both indoor and outdoor spaces are inviting and warm.
In our interview, Natalie talked about first seeing a cat café in Seoul during her travels as a flight attendant. This early experience sparked her curiosity, and she began to imagine opening a space of her own. Natalie’s dream was to create a cat café where people could interact with cats, but that would also provide adoption. Years later, with her husband Dimitris, they started a kickstarter campaign and received enough funding after one month to open Cat Café Athens.
Natalie and Dimitris work directly with the local animal welfare union to bring cats in from local shelters. A big part of their work involves educating the Athens community about how to interact with cats. While Greece is often viewed as a cat-friendly society, Natalie said that much of their work focuses on educating people on the well-being and responsible care of cats. In 2025, Natalie and Dimitris organized the first cat festival in Greece, bringing cat rescue and lovers together to celebrate and care for cats.
RESEARCH FINDINGS
In my interview with Natalie, two of the research findings stood out:
Research finding #1: Cat café owners start with a range of cat rescue and adoption experiences.
Prior to opening Cat Café Athens, Natalie fed cat colonies in her area. After discovering a cat cafe in Seoul, and later visiting cat cafes in London, Paris, and other European cities in her work as a flight attendant, Natalie and her husband Dimitris opened Cat Café Athens. Now they work directly with the local animal welfare union, an organization that identifies adoptable cats that would be a good fit for a café environment. Natalie and Dimitris bring visibility to local cat rescues and have since organized the first Cat Festival in Athens with a focus on education, adoption, and cat-centered activities.
Research finding #2: Cat café owners consider a number of ethical and practical issues when choosing or accepting shelter or community cats into their café.
In my interview with Natalie, she describes opening a cat café in Athens as a risk, as there are not laws that allow for animals in indoor spaces like cafes. Despite the uncertain status of opening a cat café in Athens, Natalie and Dimitris received a great deal of support in their fundraising efforts. They now work with the local animal welfare union to identify cats to bring into their café. Adoptable cats range in age, and some are special needs, including blind kitties.
