Pets in China Earn “Snack Money” in Cafes中国宠物在咖啡馆挣“零食钱”

Jane Xue sent her dog， a 2-year-old Samoyed named OK， off to her first day of work in mid-September 2024. Her employer？ A dog cafe in Fuzhou， in southeastern China.

2024年9月中旬，简·薛（音译）把她的狗狗——两岁的萨摩耶OK送去上它的第一天班。那么OK的雇主是谁呢？是中国东南部城市福州的一家狗咖。

“I feel it’s just like parents sending their kids off to school，” said the Ph.D. student as she dropped OK off for her new part-time job.

“我感觉这就像父母送孩子去上学一样。”这位博士生把OK送到它的新兼职地点时说道。

Xue wanted her dog to “experience a different life，” as she and her partner are usually out on weekends. “Sending OK to the cafe is a win-win. She gets to play with other dogs and won’t feel so lonely，” she said.

薛女士想要她的狗狗“体验不一样的生活”，因为她和伴侣周末通常会外出。薛女士说：“把OK送去狗咖是一件双赢的事。它能和其他狗狗一起玩耍，不会感到孤单。”

Pet cafes are a big business in China. Visitors get to interact with the animals that roam1 the shop， allowing the venue2 owners to charge more for the experience. Customers visiting China’s cat and dog cafes usually pay an entrance fee， ranging from 30–60 yuan per person， or simply need to order something like a cup of coffee.

宠物咖啡馆在中国是一门大生意。顾客可以与店内漫步的动物们进行互动，这样一来店主就可以为这种体验收取更高的费用。在中国，顾客光顾猫咖、狗咖，通常需要支付入场费，价格在每人30—60元不等，或者只需要点一杯咖啡之类的。

In addition to being surrounded by playmates， Xue says OK’s job in the cafe allows her and her partner to save money. If they leave her at home， they have to run the air-conditioning all day， which gets pricey. “Summers in Fuzhou can be brutal，” she added.

薛女士表示，在咖啡馆工作除了让OK有伙伴陪在身边，还能帮助她和伴侣省钱。如果把OK留在家里，就得整天开着空调，这是一笔不小的开销。“福州的夏天酷热难耐。”薛女士补充道。

Xue’s idea might sound unconventional， but it’s a growing trend in China. Called “Zhengmaotiaoqian” in Chinese， it translates to “earn snack money.” The phrase stems from the idea that these pets are actually working—either part-time or full-time—at cat and dog cafes and then returning home to their families at night， just like humans.

薛女士的想法听起来可能不合常规，但在中国却是一种日益增长的趋势。中文称之为“挣猫条钱”，翻译成英文就是“挣零食钱”。这个说法源于一种想法，即宠物在猫咖或者狗咖实实在在地工作——无论是兼职还是全职——晚上回到家中，就像上班的人类一样。

At the end of 2024， cafe owners and pet owners alike have been posting recruitment ads and CVs on Xiaohongshu， China’s answer3 to Instagram. In one viral post titled “What is the salary for working in a cat cafe？” a cat cafe owner wrote： “Many people say they want to send their cats to work in our cat cafe， if that is the case， let me introduce the salary of our cafe， as we just paid some of our old employees！”

2024年底，咖啡馆老板和宠物主人分别在小红书（中国的“照片墙”）上发布招聘广告和应聘简历。在一篇题为“在猫咖工作的工资是多少？”的爆火帖子中，一位猫咖老板写道：“很多人说想把自家猫咪送到我们店里工作，如果有意向，请允许我先介绍一下我们店里的工资水平，正好我们刚给几位老员工发完工资！”

According to the tongue-in-cheek4 post， which garnered hundreds of likes， a gray and white cat named Datou （“big head”） ended up getting five cans of cat food “after taxes.”

这篇开玩笑的帖子获得了数百个赞。据其所述，一只灰白相间、名叫“大头”的猫最终拿到“税后”五罐猫粮的工资。

“Cat employees wanted！” wrote another cafe shop owner in a post on Xiaohongshu that got more than 100 likes and 600 comments. “We’re looking for healthy， good-tempered cats，” the owner added. “We offer a snack per day， and a 30% discount for the pet owner’s friends！”

“招猫咪员工！”另一位咖啡馆老板在小红书上发帖写道。这个帖子获得了100多个赞和600多条评论。“我们正在寻找健康、脾气好的猫咪。”这位老板补充道，“我们每天会给它提供零食，宠物主人的朋友们（到店游玩）可享受30%的折扣！”

As for Xue， she says she stumbled upon5 some dog cafe posts on Xiaohongshu and thought it would be fun to send OK to work. She soon found one in Fuzhou called “Yezonghui” and messaged the owner. Next， it was time to groom OK in preparation for her job interview. “The cafe owner watched OK for about an hour to see if she interacted well with customers and got along with the other four dogs，” said Xue.

薛女士说她是偶然在小红书上看到了狗咖的帖子，觉得把OK送去工作会是件很有趣的事。她很快就在福州找到了一家名为“耶总会”的店，并发信息联系了店主。接下来，她给OK梳洗打扮了一番，为它的工作面试做好准备。薛女士说：“咖啡馆老板观察了OK大约一个小时，看它能否和顾客友好互动，能否和其他四只狗狗融洽相处。”

The screening process clearly went well—the pretty white Samoyed was offered the “job.” “My OK is the star of the cafe！” she said.

筛选过程显然很顺利——这只漂亮的白色萨摩耶得到了这份“工作”。“我的OK是咖啡馆里的明星！”薛女士说。

“Clingy6 and good at purring7”

“黏人又很会发出呼噜声”

Some are not as lucky as OK when it comes to the job hunt.

在求职方面，有些宠物并不像OK这么幸运。

Xin Xin， a Chinese teacher at an international elementary school in Beijing， has two cats （one black-and-white and one orange）， as well as a Shiba Inu dog. She was on the lookout for a job for her 2-year-old tuxedo8 cat， Zhang Bu’er， which means “not stupid” in Chinese.

辛馨（音译）是北京一所国际小学的中文教师，她有两只猫（一只黑白相间的，一只橘黄色的），还有一只柴犬。她曾为她两岁大的奶牛猫“张不二”（“不二”在中文里是“不愚蠢”的意思）寻找工作。

Xin posted her cat’s CV on Xiaohongshu on September 8， 2024， hoping to find him employment at a cat cafe， but didn’t have any luck.

2024年9月8日，辛女士在小红书上发布了她猫咪的简历，希望为它在一家猫咖找到工作，但是没有得到任何反馈。

“He is clingy and good at purring！ A cat chosen by God to work at a cat cafe！” Xin wrote on Zhang Bu’er’s resume， noting that they “only expect some cans of cat food or snacks as his salary.”

“它黏人又很会发出呼噜声！是天选猫咖打工猫！”辛女士在张不二的简历中写道，并指出“只需要几罐猫粮或零食作为工资”。

“I thought （cat cafe） owners would reach out to me—now it looks like I need to take the initiative and send the （cat’s） resume out，” she lamented.