Kitty cafe Birmingham
I thought I was lucky to get this job but over the years the stress is unbearable. Managers in the past used to train majority of people in most areas of the cafe therefore got me doing multiple jobs at once when I was meant to be looking after the cats in the clinical cattery. Trust me it’s nothing clinical about it. A number of times on occasion I would walk back into the cattery after an hour plus to find a cat had injured itself.
Birmingham also had cats relocated to them from another location where half of them was extremely ill. One passed in another employees arms at home (we didn’t get any benefits for fostering cats at home) and 2 others had to be put to sleep which I then had to return to the cafe and do my job as if nothing ever happened.
The owners do not care who you are but will put a fake act on when face to face with you as if they really like you. Hours drop drastically as soon as they get younger staff in even though many older staff have moved out of parents house. No matter how much you email them asking for more hours this won’t improve.
Kitty cafe used to be a good group but the owners have pushed out all the hard, reliable workers out as they got the least hours because of age. Manager and supervisors are also only paid an extra 50p for their job.
I never had any health issues before working at the cafe but they popped up out of no where.
Majority of the older cats also have gum issues which when we say don’t get recognised as the owner completely ignores these messages. One cat is that bad it can’t eat properly, dribbles because of it and sticks its tongue out for any comfort.
Many customers that come in complain about the smell and that’s because the cats are fed the cheapest food possible (whiskas) and there litter trays are foul.
Also when a cat passed away we was told to say it was “rehomed” and had to put a smile on our face while knowing we just got back from the vets with an empty cat carrier.
Majority of the staff and managers made the job bearable but the owners and admin side of things made it awful. You go into the job thinking you’re going to make a difference for the cats to cringing when customers say “I bet you love this job”.
£3-£5 a month on payslip as “tips”
Would get sent early so wouldn’t have to give staff a break
Other points-
- A cats tail was half amputated due to a pod door falling on it
- over 6 cats died due to stress while I worked there
- they would only take in kittens and if they took in an adult cat on the off chance it would be rehomed within months (adult cats aren’t used to the environment therefore get stressed as hell)
- when fostering cats you wouldn’t get any benefits
- I basically diagnosed cats and they wouldn’t end up going to the vets
A cat was put into the cafes care and I immediately said the cat had cat flu and probably other issues. This cat clearly didn’t want to be touched and would hiss and fight other cats. The cat was rehomed without going to the vets for treatment and shortly died after the new owners spent thousands at the vets.
There’s so many other stories I could tell I could write a book 🤦🏼♀️