For those of you who have been with us since we started, you may remember a time when The Cat Cafe looked like this.

We have to say, we’re a little embarrassed by this. The person who wrote the place needed a woman’s touch was right. But that’s what happens when you get a contractor, a day laborer, and a person who’s motivated to open together. Everyone wants a functional, and not necessarily attractive, solution.

We’re happy to say that we’ve done a lot to enhance the customer experience at The Cat Cafe. Now, the interior looks like this.

We don’t think there’s anyone who can say the second picture isn’t a lot more pleasing aesthetically. We’re glad to have made these enhancements to the customer experience.

Why are we telling you this? Because the rising cost of doing business is forcing us to make some changes. We’ve been proud of having customers to purchase an item as their admission to get in to interact with the cats.

Unfortunately, with the costs of doing business rising, this system just does not generate the revenue needed to continue operations. And that is why we are shifting to an entry fee system.

We’ve looked into the admission policies of cat cafes throughout the country. We’ve found that admissions go as high as $25 for cat cafes in Los Angeles and San Francisco. A newly opened cat cafe in Boston is charging $15 for an hour of time with their cats. And their cats are not adoptable nor do they serve any food or drink.

We also surveyed customers of The Cat Cafe to get your thoughts. We appreciated your feedback and it was critical in our decision making.

Effective December 1, The Cat Cafe will switch to an admission fee system. We will charge $6 per person to enter the cat playpen. This fee will include a food or drink item. We feel this will help us generate the revenue needed to continue sending cats to good homes while maintaining a reasonable price for visitors.

To make things more economical for our frequent visitors, we will be selling memberships for unlimited admissions and a food or drink item. Memberships will cost $25 for a monthly pass and $200 for an annual pass.

Those of us at The Cat Cafe understand this is a big change. It’s not something we take lightly. We hope our customers understand we need to do this in order to continue operating.

You are welcome to contact us with your views on this change. We appreciate your continued support.

In October 2017, The Cat Cafe sent five cats to good homes and raised $293 to help The Rescue House carry out its mission of saving cats. The five cats who went home, Blaise, Yogi, Lila, Nathan, and Finley, brought the total number of cats sent home by The Cat Cafe to 261 since January 2015.

“It’s always fun to send cats home,” said Tony Wang, general manager of The Cat Cafe. “Sometimes, though, if they’ve been with us for a while, it can be a little bittersweet. So while we were really happy that Nathan and Lila went home, it was a little sad for us to know they wouldn’t be greeting us when we came in the next day. But sending Ninja Nate and Little Liles home means that we are able to help The Rescue House take care of more cats.”

“We’re also happy that our customers helped us raise close to $300 for The Rescue House,” added Wang. “This goes directly into helping The Rescue House with the supplies and services they need to keep operating. People like the ones contributing are a big part of the reason why The Rescue House has been able to send over 13,000 cats to good homes since they were founded in 1999.”

In addition to giving you the results from October, we want you to meet the newest member of the clowder. The Rescue House decided we didn’t have any fluff at The Cat Cafe. So, they figured we needed a long hair cat.

And that is why they brought Roxy in to join the clowder at The Cat Cafe. Roxy is a black and white domestic long hair. She’s very inquisitive and friendly when it’s quiet. Even when there are a lot of people, she peeks out into the playpen to see what’s going on. This four year old tells the other members of the clowder to back off if they get too close. But we’re sure that will change once she gets used to the space.

Roxy’s arrival brings the number of cats in our clowder to 12. Come on in, enjoy a coffee, and have fun with them!

At The Cat Cafe, we said goodbye to several cats recently, including long term residents Nathan and Lila. We will miss Ninja Nate appearing from nowhere, and we’ll miss Lila’s chirp meow. Sending them to a good home made things easier for us and and made us happy. With those cats finding new homes, The Rescue House brought additional cats in. Let’s introduce them to you.

The first group of cats are a group of sisters who all have names starting with the letter G. And even though these three girls all are part of the same litter, they’ve got different personalities and one of them has a completely different coat pattern from her sisters!

Fortunately for these girls, a kind person found them when they were still nursing. In order to help these cats thrive, an animal rescue group brought them to a foster home, where they were raised in safety and with a lot of love. This really helped with their socialization, and when you see them interacting with people at The Cat Cafe, you’ll see how.

Gemma is the most outgoing of the three. This orange tabby was exploring the playpen within minutes of arriving. She quickly started walking around with her tail in the air, and she started soliciting attention from people who she had just met right away. She quickly decided that she liked being by the windows, and that’s where you’ll find her most of the day.

Even though Glory looks a lot like her sister, she has a completely different personality. She’s a lot more cautious and takes a little while to warm up to people. She spent most of her first days at The Cat Cafe in the retreat, but when we went in there, she was very affectionate. She’s also got a demanding meow and if she wants your attention, you’ll definitely know it!

Yes, Gracie is definitely part of the same litter, even though she’s got a completely different color pattern. You’ve probably heard that cats like being up high. Gracie is proof of that. She quickly found that the top of the Urban Feline Carribean palm is the highest spot she can go to. So she goes there! And if you can get Gracie to come down, she may hop into your lap to show you affection.

Sadie is the only arrival who isn’t part of this group of sisters. You’d never guess it from how well she’s integrated into the clowder at The Cat Cafe. Sadie has been through a lot in her ten months of life. She and her kittens were dumped at a high kill shelter. Both she and her kittens were in horrible shape.

Fortunately, a rescue group stepped in and nursed these cats back to health. And Sadie blossomed with love and proper care. Pet Sadie, and she may hop into your lap to show you she likes it. And if she does that, her purr motor will really get going.

Come on in and meet the latest members of The Cat Cafe clowder. Who knows? You may fall in love with one of them and want to take them home! Or, you can just say hello to them and enjoy spending time with them.