No sooner had the barista turned her back than an orange tabby leapt onto the counter, nosing a tray full of cups, saucers and spoons to the floor with a terrific crash. With a look of resignation, the apron-clad young woman bent to clean up the mess while the uncooperative cat wandered off to examine the contents of a customer’s coffee mug.

Such mischief is common inside Korea’s cat cafés, where animal lovers (typically high school girls and the occasional boyfriend) come to sip espresso and stroke up to a dozen felines of different breeds. Although the phenomenon began in Taiwan and was popularized in Japan, cat cafés have spread rapidly over the past few years in Korea, where pets are rarely allowed in apartment buildings.

A small room full of roaming cats could quickly get disorderly, but constant vacuuming ensures guests can enjoy their lattes without worrying about clumps of hair landing in the foam. The rules are strict: Visitors can pet the cats or try to engage them with a toy, but picking up or waking a napping feline is prohibited. A boardwalk along the ceiling allows the animals to nonchalantly survey the surroundings, which include a flat-screen television playing looped footage of birds and squirrels.

With cat memes and YouTube clips more ubiquitous than ever, it may not be long before kitty cafés catch on all over the world. Already Londoners have raised more than  £100,000 to open one in their city this year.