The World’s First Cat Cafe - Kitten Coffee Garden in Taiwan

Taiwan’s first cat cafe Kitten Coffee Garden is one of the most ‘purr-fect’ things to do in Taipei – ‘fur’ real. It also holds the distinction of being the world’s oldest / first cat cafe that is still open today.

Opened in 1998 and currently located in Shilin, Taipei’s Kitten Coffee Garden is a cute coffee shop home to 13 cute cats and two adorable dogs.

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The World’s First Cat Cafe - Kitten Coffee Garden in Shilin, Taipei Taiwan

We visited Kitten Garden Coffee (also known as ‘Cafe Cats and Dogs’) in early 2025 and loved our experience – it felt very homely inside and it was nice to see the cafe’s cats and dogs sleeping, eating and playing together – try to time your visit with the cat feeding time too!

From admission / drink prices to how to get to the cafe, here is our guide to the world’s oldest cat cafe – Kitten Coffee Garden / Cafe Cats and Dogs in Taipei and photos.

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Table of Contents

Kitten Coffee Garden opening times & admission

This Cat and Dog cafe is open Wednesday to Monday (closed Tuesdays) from 12pm to 10pm – it is also closed on public holidays.

No tickets are needed for the Kitten Coffee Garden / Cafe Cats and Dogs but the minimum spend is NT$200 – the maximum time you are allowed to stay is 2 hours.

Please note children under the age of 12 are not allowed in this cat / dog cafe – the cafe is cash only and does not have WiFi (possibly to deter people from working on their laptops).

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Where is the world’s oldest cat cafe?

Located just across from exit 1 of Zhishan Station, Kitten Coffee Garden is in Taipei’s Shilin district.

To reach the cat cafe from Taipei Main Station, it is a 13 minute / 7 stop direct Metro train ride on the red MRT Tamsui – Xinyi Line.

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Visiting Kitten Garden Cafe in Taipei

Today, there are literally thousands of cat cafes all around the world but the cat cafe trend originally begin in Taiwan – Cat and Dog Cafe in Taipei started it all off in 1998 and it is now the world’s longest running cat cafe – how a-mieow-ziing!

Unlike the cat cafes you might have visited elsewhere in the world, you are not allowed to feed the cats here due to Taiwan’s strict animal protection laws. However, you can still enjoy cat feeding time as we did when a member of staff fed all the cats together. Too cute!

We visited the Taipei Cat & Dog Cafe one weekday morning at around 12.30pm and we were the first customers of the day.

There are about 10 small tables inside split across two rooms, each with their own cat cushion and kitty bed. By the time we left about an hour later, most of the tables were taken so we’d expect it gets very busy / full at the weekends.

As we walked in, the two dogs (Vivi and Xiong Xiong, both born in 2014) came bounding out to greet us – both were inquisitive and keen to nuzzle but very gentle. Later on, it was lovely to see all the cats and two dogs playing side by side.

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Cat and Dog Cafe prices / menu

There is no ‘admission’ fee as such but each person is required to spend a minimum of NT$200 (around £5 or $6 USD) on food or drink.

We opted for a cafe latte and cafe latte hazelnut and both cost NT$200 – if you buy a meal or drink, you can also add a slice of cheesecake or crepe to your order for NT$100.

Other drinks included flavored sorbets (NT$250) or you can order meals such as baked lasagna, rice gratin or spaghetti for NT$300.

We didn’t order any food but to us, it looked quite average. We’d say about half the cat cafe’s visitors were eating food, half just having drinks.

Also remember that the cafe is cash only – there are ATMs nearby at Zhishan Station.

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Meet the Cats (and Dogs)

The cafe is home to around 13 cats when we visited in January 2025 – the oldest, Sister, was born in 2010 and the youngest, An An was born in 2023.

There are a mix of breeds and ages and the cats just seemed to be fine with each others company – we didn’t see any fighting or hear any hissing during our visit.

All of the cats seemed to be very well looked after and each had their own cat cushions – the cafe had lots of room for the cats to run around plus several water stations, scratching posts and cat litter trays.

And in case you were wondering, no this Taipei cat cafe didn’t seem to suffer from cat pee smells.

All of the cats roamed around freely and whilst some would freely come up to you, many just preferred to stay sleeping and shied away from human attention.

The cafe owners are very observant and there are a set of rules that you must obey which are clearly displayed on every table – these include no hugging or picking up cats and no flash lights or lasers.

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Cat Welfare

You cannot feed the cats yourself but you can observe feeding time – the cats all jump on the table as they hear the sound of the cat biscuits and tins of cat food being opened.

There is also a ‘chill out’ area for cats should they want to escape people (we don’t blame them) – one of the cats has a collar which says ‘Do Not Touch as I Bite’ – you have been warned!

Being the world’s oldest cat cafe and open since 1998, a few cats have sadly passed away over the last 25 or so years and the bathroom walls are filled full of pictures and tributes to previous cats – a nice touch.

If you want to visit just for the cats but are nervous around dogs, just to say we found both Vivi and Xiong Xiong (the dogs) so friendly and calm so we don’t think there is anything to worry about. They played peacefully with the cats too and it was lovely to see.

We really enjoyed our visit to the Kitten Coffee Garden and would happily go again – if you are looking to do something else after the cafe, we jumped on a bus very close to the cafe and then visited Taipei’s Airline Alley, to watch planes land at Songshan Airport.