I may not be much of a dog person, but I absolutely love cats, so when I heard of a pub famed for its feline-friendly furnishings, I knew I had to check it out. Last weekend I took a trip to Bristol to visit some friends and, of course, to see the famed pub The Bag O’ Nails where pints flow freely and cats wander through the bar.

When we rocked up on Saturday afternoon, I was a little worried as I had heard from multiple friends that the pub “absolutely stinks” of cat pee. While I don’t have a particularly strong sense of smell, my boyfriend is like a bloodhound - both in that he doesn’t like cats, and that his sense of smell is significantly keener than mine. I was relying on him to tell me if the pub stank or not.

As soon as we reached the pub - about a half an hour walk from Bristol Temple Meads - we could see how popular it was. Three people were perched on a small table outside, while the narrow bar inside was absolutely rammed with people.

It was so full of punters it took me a second to realise there were not one, not two, but three cats sitting calmly on the bar as the staff weaved around them pouring pints.

The prime seats - the ones in front of the bar, and by extension, directly in front of the cats in their cardboard boxes - were all taken, as were all the seats lining the walls of the cramped pub. Even trying to get to the bar was a challenge, let alone navigating back with two pints, so once we had our drinks we headed outside to perch on the street and debrief.

I hadn’t noticed any smell to the pub so I checked with my boyfriend. He let me know the pub definitely had a little funk to it - but nothing so bad that he couldn’t be in the room. The best part about standing outside was getting to read all the signs on the door, which strictly ban children under 14 (including babies), ‘idiot pub crawls’, dogs and mice from entering the pub.

Although the service was fabulous, the feline occupants adorable and the pub was fun, there is one good reason I won’t be returning to Bag O’ Nails - it simply was too popular for my liking.

Maybe it’s because I visited on a Saturday afternoon, but the pub was simply too cramped to be able to properly sit and enjoy the cats. I did get a couple of chin scratches while I was waiting for my drinks, but due to the number of patrons in the bar it felt too overwhelming to stay for more than one drink.

Overall, Bag O’ Nails is a great pub, the cats are well loved and happy and the prices are reasonable - it’s well worth a visit, but maybe mid-week is better.