We’ve read a few stories over the past week about cat cafes in Japan and Toronto having issues. In Tokyo, The Cat’s Paw was shut down when authorities, responding to reports of potential health issues among the cats, found 62 cats in a space where only ten cats were permitted.

“We warned the cafe in January and told them how to treat their cats better, but the neglect continued,” said an official at the Tokyo Animal Welfare Center. “So we took action.” It is unclear whether the cafe will be allowed to reopen, with the authorities requiring improvement before that is allowed.

And in Toronto, allegations were made by a former employee of TOT Cat Cafe that the cats were not properly fed or given access to water. This led to Toronto Humane Society pulling their animals from the facility.

These two situations have caused many animal welfare experts to ask potential cat cafe customers to choose their venues wisely. And we agree with this.

The situation at The Cat’s Paw would not happen here at The Cat Cafe, because all of our animals are spayed and neutered. And the idea of putting 62 cats into this space? Unthinkable. We’d never do that.

We share the viewpoint of Takako Saito, who runs the Asakusa Nekoen cat cafe in Tokyo. “When you care about the cats, you don’t see them as a money making product first and foremost. You give the cats plenty of hiding spaces and you don’t disturb a sleeping cat to make it play with customers.”

We have had customers complain that our rules for interacting with the animals are too restrictive. We make no apologies for them, and if this results in lost business, that is something we are willing to accept.

We believe that in the end, if we ensure that the customers treat the animals well, we will have happier and more interactive cats here at The Cat Cafe. And that will enhance the experience for both customer and cat alike.

Please let us know if you have any questions about this. As always, we here at The Cat Cafe thank you for supporting us!

We had a bunch of new arrivals at The Cat Cafe over the past few days, and we wanted to introduce them to you. We’ve got a lot of black cats in, and sometimes it’s a little hard to tell the various house panthers apart. But we think you will find that when you interact with these guys, you’ll really enjoy yourself.

Rambo is one of those black cats who joined us at The Cat Cafe. He’s an inquisitive and engaging guy when he’s in the mood. You can find Rambo wandering around the playpen, often chasing wand toys around. And when he has had enough playing, he’s still open and receptive to being pet.

Moving on to the bonded pairs, we first have a bonded pair of sisters, Willow and Higgins. You may remember that we had a Willow who was a tortie, complete with tortitude. Well, it’s kind of fitting that the second Willow we’ve had in here has a little tortie coloration, although it’s not as pronounced. She enjoys interacting with people once she gets to know them, and if not, she’ll hop up into a place where she can get away.

Her sister Higgins is a longhair and she’s a little more shy. Higgins can be found in the corner, hanging out, most of the day. She will from time to time come out to interact with people, but don’t be upset if she heads back to her safe spot after a few minutes.

The second bonded pair we have here at The Cat Cafe are two brothers, Sebastian and Nicholas. And you can see how bonded they are right away, because they cling to each other and snuggle together. They’re both a little shy as well.

Nicholas is a little more outgoing than Sebastian, and he’s the first one of the two who will interact with you. He’ll solicit pets by rolling over and if you don’t pay attention, he’ll give you a little meow to make sure you do.

Sebastian is more reserved. You’ll have to work to earn his trust, but when he does give it to you, this long haired house panther will flop right at your feet and demand attention.

Come on in and join us here at The Cat Cafe so you can meet these new arrivals and hang out with your old favorites.

All of our adoptions here at The Cat Cafe are ones we really enjoy. It is always fun to see the relationship develop between customers who visit us and the cats they adopt. Often, it requires multiple visits for adopters to decide that one of the cats here is right for them.

That is what happened with our latest adoption, when long time senior residents Coco and Oreo went home.

Coco and Oreo arrived at The Cat Cafe in September of 2015. These two ten year old litter mates quickly adapted to living here, and they were always around to greet visitors. Both of them liked affection, but it had to be on their terms. Coco was not shy about letting those who wanted to interact with her if she wasn’t in the mood to leave her alone. Usually it was done vocally, but if people persisted, she wasn’t shy about giving them a swat to emphasize the point.

Oreo was more relaxed than Coco around people. If he was annoyed with someone, he would growl and walk away, but he never really swatted or hit anyone. Instead, he would rely on walking away and his vocalizations.

When it came to other cats, however, both of these two were not ones to be pushed. They had no problem letting other cats know, whether through verbal cues or actual physical ones, when they wanted to be left alone. And if one of them was engaged in an argument with another cat, the other sibling would come running to back them up.

These factors, combined with the age of the two, made it difficult for them to find a home. Many people would comment on how pretty Coco looked or how handsome Oreo was, but when they showed their feisty side, people would look at other cats to adopt.

It took a while, but the right people came along. These people were specifically looking for an older bonded pair, and we suggested that they take a look at Coco and Oreo. They first visited when we were doing our educational event on FIV positive cats, and missed out on Coco and Oreo. But they came back twice when these two cats were here, and decided to adopt them.

We will miss walking in to The Cat Cafe and seeing Coco and Oreo, who were here for around half the time we have been open! But we are glad that they left us for a good home.

At The Cat Cafe, we enjoy showing special needs cats to show that even though they may require a little more attention than other cats, they can be loving and fun companions. We have adopted out a blind cat, a few cats with one eye, a cat missing a tail, and a cat with hyperthyroidism. But until now, one group of cats has been missing. And those are cats with FIV.

This is because our partner, San Diego Humane Society, is very cautious when it comes to how certain cats are handled. While FIV positive cats can live with other cats in a home environment, in a shelter environment, extra precautions must be taken. With so many other animals potentially affected, it is best to take a very conservative approach to ensure the well being of all the animals.

Because of this, in order to highlight how FIV positive cats show no signs of being different than other cats, The Cat Cafe has some very friendly FIV positive cats in right now. They’ll be in our facility for a couple of weeks.

There are a few things customers should know about cats with FIV. The first is that FIV cannot be transmitted to humans. It is a disease that is specific to cats only. The virus is the feline equivalent of HIV, and like its human counterpart, it is difficult to catch.

FIV is spread between cats through deep puncture wounds, which are typically seen between unaltered males fighting for territory. In a typical household setting, with cats who have been spayed or neutered, these intense fights do not occur.

Cats with FIV may not show signs of the disease for many years. Eventually, though, just like with their human counterparts, the immune system gets compromised and routine diseases that cats with healthy immune systems can fight off become much more challenging. This does not mean, however, that FIV positive cats cannot live healthy and happy lives for a long time.

Please come visit The Cat Cafe over the next few weeks to see how friendly and fun an FIV positive cat can be.

It’s been a busy week here at The Cat Cafe. We sent another cat, Fritter, to her forever home. And then we got five cats in to bring us up to a total of 11 cats. We haven’t had as many cats in as we normally have for a while, but that’s a good thing! We’ve been low on cats because San Diego Humane Society didn’t have any that were appropriate for us.

We believe our sweet spot here at The Cat Cafe is 10-12 cats. And with the new arrivals, that’s where we are!

This weekend would be a great time to meet them, and we know a lot of you will make the trip. Don’t forget, if you want to avoid a wait during our peak hours, there are a limited number of reserved admissions available.

Alexander is a handsome two year old black cat who’s on the big side. He’s 17.2 pounds, and while he’s got a big frame, whoever adopts him will have to help him lose a little bit of weight. But that shouldn’t be too hard, because Alexander likes to play and is very sociable. He figured out the cat door and was running around the cat playpen within an hour of arriving at The Cat Cafe.

Houston, hello! If you remember that old sports related catchphrase, congratulations. If not, come on in and say it to another big black cat. This four year old’s favorite toy thus far is the catnip stuffed owl. You’ll find him kicking it around, tossing it up in the air, and sometimes getting so focused on it that he gets distracted and rolls right into a wall or table!

Do you like orange tabbies? Well, we’ve got one for you. Julius is a friendly two year old who has the stereotypical orange tabby personality. He’s friendly and inquisitive, and he might just hop up on your lap if you give him a chance!

You might be thinking, wow, that’s a lot of boy cats. What about some girls? Well, we’ve got a couple, and they look a lot alike! You’ll have to look closely to tell the difference between Renee and Tessy.

Renee is a year younger, at two years old, and she’s a little bigger. She weighs 9.4 pounds and she’s a friendly girl. She has a cute little meow chirp, which she shows off when she gets to know you. And with her inquisitive nature, that won’t take long. She’s been wandering through the playpen here at The Cat Cafe when it’s quiet. When she feels more comfortable, you’ll see her out much more.

Then there’s Tessy. Tessy is a smart one. This three year old girl managed to squeeze her 9.3 pound frame out of the carrier on the way to The Cat Cafe. She is still a little shy and she isn’t quite ready to come out into the cat playpen for long. But she’s a friendly and sweet cat when she learns to trust you.

Come on in to meet these new arrivals or to see some of your favorite cats! And don’t forget, if you don’t want to risk waiting during our peak hours on the weekend, book a reserved admission for your visit to The Cat Cafe!

One of the things we have tried to do here at The Cat Cafe is to allow customers to be as spontaneous as they like. Want to check out the kitties? Come on in! You may have to wait to see them, but you can enjoy good coffee drinks in the meantime. And then, when there is enough room for you in the playpen, you are greeted by friendly cats.

We’ve talked to a few customers, however, who really wanted to get in to interact with our adoptable cats but who didn’t have the time to wait. These folks were understanding, but disappointed that they could not get in to interact with the animals.

In order to try to make both groups of customers happy, we are rolling out a limited number of reserved spots during our peak hours of 10 to close on the weekend.

If you want to visit The Cat Cafe and be sure that you will be admitted, you can book a slot at a specific time during these hours. The cost of one of these reserved admissions is $10, and that gets the purchaser a drink or snack item and a guaranteed admission slot for an hour. The only way to book a reservation is to do so on our website. We will not be taking reservations over the phone.

A reserved admission is good for the hour in which it is booked. After that time is up, if the cat playpen is not full, those purchasing a reservation are welcome to stay longer. However, if the playpen is at capacity, we will ask those who purchased a reserved spot to allow others to enter.

There are five admissions available per hour, so there will be plenty of spots available for those who do not book a reservation. You must book reservations one day in advance.

We feel that this is the best way to keep customers of The Cat Cafe who want to visit without planning the trip happy while also handling those who have time constraints.

Thank you for working with us as we look to accommodate both customers that want to book a specific time and those who are more spontaneous.

 

We love hearing from our customers here at The Cat Cafe, and we like it when we get suggestions on how to improve the experience for them. Some of them, we can’t implement due to restrictions on what we can do since the building is considered a historical building. But when we can make modifications to make everyone’s experience better, we do it.

That’s why we’ve added a live streaming camera courtesy of MeShare. A lot of you have wanted to be able to look in when you’re not here, and you wanted to be able to do it not just from your phone, as our Petcube cameras require, but on your laptop or desktop.

Another thing that many of you mentioned was that the decor could be made more colorful. While we worked to improve the aesthetics of the room by adding artwork, photos, and other pieces, some of you said that the color scheme was bland.

Well, we haven’t painted the walls at The Cat Cafe a different color, but we have added quite a bit of color thanks to Urban Feline. This San Diego based business is working to make a difference in the lives of cats in homes and shelters everywhere. You may have seen their work in some of the adoption rooms at San Diego Humane Society.

Now you can see some of their items here at The Cat Cafe. We’re very happy to be working with Urban Feline, and wanted to let everyone know about their Kickstarter campaign. They’re working hard to make sure that they can take their business where they want it to go, and they need a little bit of help doing it. So if you want to help support a business that makes high quality cat furniture that goes way beyond the ordinary, please become a contributor to their crowdfunding campaign.

We want to thank all of our supporters who came to visit us before the playpen at The Cat Cafe got a little upgrade, and hope that you all will come on by to enjoy some good coffee with friendly kitties soon!

It’s been a very busy January here at The Cat Cafe. We’ve had a few events that we wanted to let you know about, and we’ve done a whole lot of adoptions. January 2016 is shaping up to be our best month for adoptions since we opened!

We started the year off with a very special adoption. Bailey Jo, a cat who is completely blind, was the first adoption we completed this year. We were very happy to have had her in here at The Cat Cafe and glad that a couple who has experience with a special needs cat was the one that adopted her.

Bailey Jo didn’t spend too much time with us, but she worked her way into everyone’s heart. Even though she was blind, she was fine with walking around the room, even when it was filled to capacity. And it didn’t take her very long to figure out the cat doors between the playpen and the retreat, which was a concern we had.

Since then, there have been 10 other adoptions and it’s only January 20th. We’re likely to celebrate our one year anniversary by completing the most adoptions of any month here at The Cat Cafe.

We also held our second Cats on Mats session, which is something that we’re going to do on a monthly basis. We are going to continue to limit attendance to 12, because there just isn’t enough room to accommodate any more people.

In addition to the Cats on Mats session that we’ll hold on the second Wednesday of each month, we are looking into holding one on Sunday evenings. That way, we can try to work with people’s schedules so they can make it here to The Cat Cafe to have cats silently judge their yoga poses.

We are also looking into a reservation system for a limited number of spaces during our peak hours. We want people to be able to visit The Cat Cafe without making reservations, but we also want to make sure people with a limited amount of time to spend with us are able to get in to interact with the cats.

Finally, we’re trying to work through a way to have evening hours once or twice a month. One of things we hear from a lot of customers is that they wish we’d open in the evening, and we’re working doing this.

As always, we’d love to hear from you if you have any questions or suggestions. Thank you for making the start to 2016 a great one and we look forward to seeing you again soon!

It’s been a busy year for us at The Cat Cafe. After many delays due to construction and build out challenges, we opened with our full hours and adoptable cats in January 2015. We received quite a bit of media attention, and the resulting traffic was more than we were ready for.

But we learned from those challenges, and we adapted to handle them. We quickly implemented a limit to the number of people who could enter the cat playpen, and we went from five cats to ten. Then we added a couple of more and went to 12 cats. For a while, due to space challenges at our partner, San Diego Humane Society, we added a couple more cats and went to 14.

We learned that the sweet spot for cats is around a dozen, because that means that customers will be able to see quite a few cats but those who want to take a break can retreat into the back.

But most importantly, The Cat Cafe sent 117 cats to good homes. Our first adoption, Butterball, was a cute little orange tabby who was very friendly and playful. The people who took Butterball home aren’t the only people who adopted him, as we adopted him as our avatar.

The 117th adoption took place on New Year’s Eve. We closed out the year by sending home a senior special needs cat, Pushy, to a family that fell in love with him. What is interesting about Pushy’s adoption is that this was the second family to fall in love with him. One family that was visiting The Cat Cafe on their vacation fell in love with Pushy as well, and they wrote a check to cover Pushy’s adoption fees!

All along, we continued to focus on serving good locally roasted coffee and espresso drinks to our customers, while improving the quality of the snacks we offered.

We’re very happy with what The Cat Cafe accomplished in 2015, and we look forward to even better things in 2016. Thank you for all of your support in this journey and let’s make it an even better one this year!

Everyone here at The Cat Cafe, both human and feline, want to wish our customers and supporters a very Merry Christmas!

For four cats, they got the best Christmas present ever. Some of these cats were long term residents at The Cat Cafe, and some of them arrived fairly recently. But all of them got the Christmas present they wanted — a forever home!

Kookiez was the cat who had been here the longest. She arrived back in early October. She and Cleopatra, another long time resident calico, became friends. They would chase each other around, and play fight. It was very fun to watch Kookiez basically tackle Cleopatra to start the play fighting session. Once Cleopatra was adopted, Kookiez seemed to miss her friend.

Now, she doesn’t have to worry about that. She’s going to go to a home where she’ll get lots of attention, because one of the residents works from a home office.

And she’ll have another alumni from The Cat Cafe with her. She’s going to be joined by Willow, who arrived in mid-November. This tortie was given up by her foster because she deserved to get more attention than the foster could provide. And now she’ll get it from both Kookiez and one of her adopters.

Halo didn’t spend as much time as the other cats who were adopted at The Cat Cafe, having only joined us a few weeks ago. He was adopted by a couple who pointed out to us that his left rear leg didn’t have any toes. It only made him more adorable. The lack of toes didn’t slow him down, and that, along with his playful but shy personality is what made his adopter decide to give him the best Christmas present a cat could ever want — a forever home.

And on Christmas day, someone came in to give Zelda her Christmas present. The Cat Cafe is closed on Christmas, but since we needed to be here to feed the cats and clean their litter boxes, we were happy to allow a service member to take a cat home on Christmas. They’ll be deployed soon, and they wanted to give their family something to help them get through that deployment. And they wanted to surprise their family, who had been wanting a cat, on Christmas.

We’re so happy that Kookiez, Willow, Halo, and Zelda were able to get the best Christmas present for a cat ever — a forever home. And we’re happy that The Cat Cafe was able to be a part of this.