Edinburgh cat cafe gets permanent Grassmarket home

Maison de Moggy owner Laura O'Neill. Picture: Ian Georgeson

Maison de Moggy, which opened in a temporary location in Stockbridge back in January, will set up shop on West Port in a former bridal store - and its owner insists the new location will be bigger and better than ever.

The cafe, which is inspired by similar ventures in Japan, offers visitors the chance to enjoy a cup of tea while cuddling up to a host of different moggies including a bushy Maine Coon and a rare Norwegian Forest cat.

Owner Laura O’Neill, a former lawyer in the city, said: “It’s really exciting.

Lois and Michelle Stuart try out the cat cafe in its temporary location in Stockbridge. Picture: Jane Barlow

“I’ve been waiting to open my mouth about it for ages, and now I can finally talk about it.

“It’s bigger than the space we are operating at the moment.

“We are in the final stages of the design now and it’s looking amazing.”

Laura said she hopes to have the new cafe up and running by the end of May, with the Stockbridge store continuing to operate until the week before - and with plans to bring some new cats into the mix, she insists the venue will be a welcome edition to the historic Grassmarket area.

She said: “It’s all go and we are dead excited, but it will be a bit of an emotional goodbye for our last customers coming into the Stockbridge cafe.”