The Mau House | Formerly Meow Cat Cafe Essex

A little honest update from behind the scenes 🩷

I don’t think anyone is under the illusion that running a small business is easy, especially at the moment. Everyone is feeling the financial pinch, and seeing so many other cat cafés closing their doors recently has definitely been playing on my mind.

I’ve had a really difficult few months personally, and when things get overwhelming, I have a terrible habit of burying my head in the sand. But unfortunately, the emails, messages, bills and endless to-do lists don’t disappear just because I ignore them.

Right now, I’m at a bit of a crossroads.

On 1st November, I have the option to give notice on our lease, which would mean closing The Mau House in April 2027.

Do I want to? Absolutely not.

I’ve spent three years pouring everything into this place, sacrificing more than most people will ever see. But the reality is, the café doesn’t make money. I have three children to feed, bills to pay and I’m constantly questioning whether the financial and mental stress is sustainable anymore.

I genuinely don’t know what the right decision is, and I think either way a part of me will feel like I’ve failed.

But for now, I’m not giving up.

I’m trying to find my feet again, get some exciting events running, make changes to our menu and hopefully turn things around. It’s just difficult to find that motivation when your own mental health is struggling too.

I’m not posting this for sympathy, just to be honest about where things stand. Running a business isn’t always what it looks like on social media.

If you’d like to support us, whether that’s visiting, booking an event, donating or simply sharing our posts, you’ll find everything through the link in our bio.

Thank you to everyone who continues to support us and our rescue cats. I really hope this isn’t the end of our story. 🩷🐾