Inside story of how a 'cat café' had its kittens seized and shut within a week

Now a week after opening, Tabby Time: Cat Cafe and Child Care has announced that it is shutting down after animals had been seized by an animal welfare group.

The beginning of the end for Tabby Time came almost immediately. From the moment the business was first advertised, questions began being asked.

What began as people outraged at the lack of coffee, and the fact the business was charging for people to sit in owner Felicity Banks' living room, without public liability insurance, grew into something more.

The public's concerns that played out over social media were concerning the welfare of Tabby Time's cats and kittens, and the claims that people could possibly use their National Disability Insurance Scheme funding to pay for entry, as the owner suggested.

Tabby Time launched its social media page on January 2, before hosting its first day of trading at a Macgregor home two days later.

Less than a week after it opened it was already being investigated by multiple organisations, including a joint effort from Domestic Animal Services and RSPCA ACT, prompted by the social media concerns and official complaints.

"We are aware that a cat café is being promoted in Canberra," a joint statement from Domestic Animal Services and RSPCA ACT read.

"Safeguarding the welfare of our animals within the ACT is our priority. Domestic Animal Services and RSPCA ACT are working together to confirm the café's compliance with animal welfare codes of practice and licensing requirements under the Animal Welfare Act 1992 and Domestic Animals Act 2000."

It was a post from Ms Banks on Facebook's Canberra Notice Board Group, which was then shared on Reddit, that first gained the public's attention. The post advertised that for the minimum cost of $40 per hour, one or two adults could hang out with six foster kittens and the two cats Ms Banks owned.

"I don't get out of my PJs for under $40/hour," Ms Banks said in a Facebook post addressing some of the concerns, "partly because PJs are most excellent, and partly because I'm disabled by chronic illness and there are very few jobs I'm physically able to do."

Ms Banks, who is a foster carer for cat charity Paws for More, said her number one priority was to give people an opportunity to play with cats. And while she said she is not a therapist, she believed spending time with cats was beneficial for wellbeing.

On Tabby Time's Facebook page one post read "If your NDIS is self-managed, I THINK you are covered. But it is more like babysitting than therapy".

Ms Banks, who is also a professional babysitter, said she already receives payments from a client, via their NDIS payments.

"[The post regarding NDIS] was a red flag for a lot of people because it sounded like I was going to scam the NDIS which was never my intention," she said.

"My main job is babysitting for a disabled woman. So she's disabled by chronic illness. She can't look after her child for a full day so she has NDIS support for babysitting. So I thought probably there are other people who also have NDIS support for babysitting ... [and] if other people have NDIS funding that is specifically for babysitting, this might be something that's beneficial to their family.

"I go through an app called Kiddo. I didn't know how it works. But basically, they check the working with vulnerable people card and all those things, and then I get paid through the NDIS for babysitting and it's all legitimate."

A spokesperson for the NDIA said the agency had several fraud and non-compliance measures in place dedicated to protecting the funding of participants and ensuring NDIS funding is spent in accordance with a person's approved plan.

They did not confirm whether there were any issues with Tabby Time that might require investigation.

"NDIS supports must directly relate to a participant's disability. While NDIS providers are able to deliver services to the general public, all services funded through an individual participant's NDIS plan must be delivered in line with the NDIS Act," the spokesperson said.

"Any use of NDIS funding outside of the reasonable and necessary criteria outlined in the NDIS Act is not acceptable."

Other concerns which were raised were over the lack of public liability insurance - which owner Felicity Banks has said would have been organised in the next two weeks - as well as house insurance and workers' compensation.

"I made my mistake of starting my business before I got my paperwork in place," she said.

"I thought, let's see if this works before I start spending $500-$1000 on the very lowest level of insurance because I cannot justify that unless it actually works. I should have done the paperwork first, obviously."

It was Wednesday when cat charity Paws for More posted to its own Facebook account, distancing itself from Tabby Time.

It also noted that Ms Banks had "always shown great care to the animals fostered for [Paws for More] previously" and believed that the creation of Tabby Time was "an error [of] judgment".

Less than 24 hours later it went and retrieved four of the six kittens Ms Banks was fostering.

"We tried our best to retrieve the cats without conflict or incident to avoid any negative situation for the kittens which are always our primary focus," a post on the Paws for More ACT page read.

"We were able to retrieve four of the six kittens in care, unfortunately, we could not convince the carer to hand over the other two."

Paws for More called Domestic Animal Services - which had already inspected the home once that day with the RSPCA - and the ACT police for assistance when it became clear staff "would not convince" Ms Banks to return the kittens.

"Neither were able to attend and assist due to legislations," the post read.

Paws for More said it also informed Ms Banks of its decision to "expel her" from the organisation.

Ms Banks has previously said that of the six foster kittens, only one was searching for a home. "Four, probably five" were waiting to be desexed before heading to their forever homes.

She added she hoped that Tabby Time would have been a place to help foster cats find forever homes.

The Canberra Times understands that the two remaining kittens, who were not removed from Ms Banks' property, had already been adopted and were waiting to be rehomed with their new owner.

Ms Banks said this happened at the request of the new owner as he "wanted them to stay in Canberra (and specifically with me as he had already visited his kittens here for a get-to-know-you visit at my (free) invitation". She added that a facilitator will be organised by the foster company to transport the kittens to their new home.

Ms Banks posted on the Tabby Time Facebook page on Thursday confirming the business had shut down and affirmed she has never and would never mistreat animals. She then invited people to contact "the Department of Domestic Animals" and the RSPCA if people wanted to confirm for themselves.

"Congratulations! I am officially shut down," she posted.

"Tabby Time Cat Cafe has paused operations until further notice.

"I do not think it will be permanent, but who knows?"