Since The Cat Café opened in January 2015, we have partnered with San Diego Humane Society for adoptable cats. Our partnership has been an extremely productive and enjoyable one. We’ve adopted out 219 cats, which helped free up much needed space at our partner’s facility. And we’re glad to have played a role in helping San Diego Humane Society with its goal of Getting to Zero.

When The Cat Cafe opened, San Diego Humane Society didn’t have as many Neighborhood Adoption Centers. In order to help find more homes for adoptable animals, San Diego Humane Society expanded the number of Neighborhood Adoption Centers. Adding an additional five Petco and PetSmart locations helped find more homes for adoptable cats. But it also made it next to impossible for San Diego Humane Society to provide enough cats to all of its partners.

That is why effective February 11, 2017, The Cat Cafe will partner with The Rescue House for adoptable cats.

“Our partnership with San Diego Humane Society has been a strong one. They’ve been extremely responsive and helpful during the more than two years we’ve been working with them. They helped us get things going when we were in the planning stages, and they’ve been extremely supportive. Unfortunately, the demand for adoptable animals has escalated to a point where they just can’t keep up. That’s why we’ll be working with Rescue House for adoptable cats moving forward,” said Tony Wang, General Manager of The Cat Café

“We have a win-win-win arrangement for adoptable cats,” said Sarah Thompson, Director of Corporate Adoption Partnerships for San Diego Humane Society. “The Rescue House will now have a location — The Cat Café for showcasing rescued cats for adoption. Patrons of The Cat Café can continue interacting with cats in a friendly, social environment, and SDHS can honor the partnership we enjoy with Petco. There’s no shortage of cats in need of homes, but we’re limited in the number of cats who enjoy living at an offsite facility where they are greeted by many people throughout the day. Our most outgoing cats who thrive in these types of settings go to our offsite adoption locations.”

“We are very excited to join with The Cat Café as their adoption partner,” said Joan Star, Director of The Rescue House. This is such a wonderful way to have adoptable cats that are waiting to find their forever home, do so in a comfortable, expansive, homelike environment where they receive attention and love from the patrons of The Cat Café. And the patrons of The Cat Café receive attention and love from the cats. This is a winning combination that we are honored to be a part of.”

While San Diego Humane Society won’t be providing us with cats anymore, The Cat Cafe will continue to support their mission to Inspire Compassion. And from a customer perspective, there won’t be any difference. Customers will continue to enjoy their locally roasted coffee and espresso drinks in the company of friendly cats.

If you have any questions, please let us know. And we look forward to seeing you in The Cat Cafe soon!

Visitors to The Cat Cafe know that we have fewer cats than we like right now. San Diego Humane Society simply does not have the number of cats they typically have in. We’re fortunate that they understand that we must have cats or we don’t have a business. Some of their other neighborhood adoption centers do not have any cats at all. And if you walk through their main campus, you’ll see there are lots of adoption rooms with only one or two cats.

That doesn’t mean they’re not working hard to get cats for customers at The Cat Cafe to interact with. Recently, they stepped in to help Imperial County Humane Society, whose shelter was nearing capacity. They made the long drive out to El Centro, and brought back a number of cats. Two of these cats made a much shorter trip to The Cat Cafe. And after they made such a long journey, it’s only fitting that they have long names.

First up is Countess Purrington, and is she ever appropriately named. This brown tabby didn’t take long to work her way into the staff’s heart. She’s about two years old, and she’s a big girl, tipping the scales at 15 pounds. While she’s heavier than she should be, one thing we don’t want to see get smaller on her is her heart. She’s got a cute little meow, and when she gets to know you, you’ll hear that little meow. And that’s how you’ll learn why she got her name, because she’ll purr like crazy when you pet her.

The second cat to make the trip from El Centro to The Cat Cafe via San Diego Humane Society is Professor Popcorn. Our professor is three years old, and he weighs around 13 pounds. He’s a little more shy and will take more time to warm up to you and play than most. But people who are willing to take that time will be rewarded by a handsome cat head bonking them. We’re not sure how he got his name, but we really don’t mind because it’s pretty cute!

Even with the reinforcements, we still have fewer cats than we would like on site. We’re working hard to bring more of them in, and we appreciate your patience while we do this. Come on in to see these new arrivals and hang out with old friends at The Cat Cafe!

During December, The Cat Cafe gets a lot of visitors for the holidays. We’re always happy to have this influx of visitors who get to meet our San Diego Humane Society cats. Some of them fall in love with the cats and then they go home. What better way to close out the year than with a new four legged family member?

The first adoption we completed in December was for a special needs cat named Sunflower. Sunflower arrived at The Cat Cafe after surgery to correct an eye condition called entropion.

We had a number of veterinarians come through because of the CVC San Diego, and they all commented on how his surgery was very successful. Even though some visitors expressed concerns over the scabs from the surgery, we left them alone. We didn’t want to pick off the scabs and potentially reopen the wounds.

“We’re always happy when we send any cat home,” said Tony Wang, general manager of The Cat Cafe. “But when it’s a special needs cat, it’s even better. Often, adopters overlook them. So we really enjoy it when someone sees past their medical condition and decides to adopt!”

In addition, The Cat Cafe raised $294 in contributions for San Diego Humane Society. “We also really enjoy helping raise money to help our partner with its mission to ‘Inspire Compassion’ throughout San Diego County,” added Wang.

“Our partnership with The Cat Café has been instrumental in finding homes for our cats much quicker,” said Sarah Thompson, Director of Corporate Adoption Partnerships at San Diego Humane Society. “Not only does it open up more space at San Diego Humane Society so we’re able to take in more animals in need of immediate care but it also provides additional socialization and a new environment to be seen by potential adopters. We’re so grateful for this partnership and every person who chooses to adopt!”

We look forward to seeing you visit us at The Cat Cafe throughout 2017. Help us kick off the new year right and see if you fall in love with one of our feline friends.

With November coming to a close and the end of the year in sight, The Cat Cafe continued to send adoptable cats from San Diego Humane Society to good homes. In the month of November, The Cat Cafe completed five adoptions.

“This was a slow month from the adoption perspective,” said Tony Wang, general manager of The Cat Cafe. “However, we’ve heard from multiple animal welfare organizations throughout San Diego that adoptions were slow in November. We hope that December will see a pick up in our adoption rate. Still, we’re happy that we sent five cats to good homes.”

The Cat Cafe also raised $220 for San Diego Humane Society during the month. “Instead of soliciting tips for our employees, we pay them an above market wage,” said Wang. “That means we can solicit donations for San Diego Humane Society. We believe in giving back to the community. And so we work to help raise some money to help our partner perform their life saving mission.”

In addition, The Cat Cafe introduced additional food items produced by another San Diego based company. Adam’s Lunch Box joins Cafe Virtuoso, West Coast Coffee Roasters, Bread & Cie, and The Cravory as locally based suppliers to The Cat Cafe.

“Our partnership with The Cat Café has been instrumental in finding homes for our cats much quicker,” said Sarah Thompson, Director of Corporate Adoption Partnerships at San Diego Humane Society. “Not only does it open up more space at San Diego Humane Society so we’re able to take in more animals in need of immediate care but it also provides additional socialization and a new environment to be seen by potential adopters. We’re so grateful for this partnership and every person who chooses to adopt!”

We here at The Cat Cafe enjoyed the five adoptions we completed in November. We look forward to sending a lot of cats home in December and in 2017!

It is always a bittersweet experience here at The Cat Cafe when we send a cat to a good home. We enjoy the unique ways they greet us an interact with us. It’s a lot of fun learning about their unique personalities. We enjoy sending cats home, something we’ve done 209 times now. But we’re also sad we won’t see them anymore.

When Grey and Sunflower went home, we went through these emotions again. It was a lot of fun watching Grey blossom from a shy cat who spent most of his time hiding into a loving and playful cat who entertained visitors. We also enjoyed watching the scars from Sunflower’s entropion surgery recede. And we loved how he would entertain everyone with his antics.

But when we send cats home, new cats arrive at The Cat Cafe. And we’ve got two cats from San Diego Humane Society that we want to introduce you to.

Kitty Baby is the first new arrival. Because she’s shy, she will need some time to become really comfortable with visitors. When her people moved to a home where cats are not allowed, this two year old girl was surrendered. She tips the scales at nine pounds, and she is friendly and playful once she gets to know you. Kitty Baby also enjoys interacting with respectful dogs and children.

M.J. also made the trip from San Diego Humane Society to The Cat Cafe. We’ve started to call him Big Fluffy. And the reason why we have done this should be obvious. M.J. has been adopted and returned three times. We’re going to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Any adopter will have to show that they can interact with this seven year old, 15 pound boy on his own terms. And they’ll have to make sure that they help him lose weight. But if they do that, they’ll have a very sweet and loving feline in their home!

Come visit us at The Cat Cafe and say hello to these two new cats and some old time favorites!

Since we opened, The Cat Cafe altered the menu to suit customer tastes. Anyone remember the protein bars we used to sell when we first opened? Not too many of you would. We didn’t sell too many of them and we dropped them from our menu. And because of customer requests, we dropped the generic pastries we used to sell in favor of locally made ones from Bread & Cie.

We’re doing something similar here at The Cat Cafe by adding a sandwich, protein tray, and fruit and yogurt parfait from Adam’s Lunch Box. You’ll see these in the refrigerator where we stock chilled drinks.

It’s taken a while for us to get these in because we wanted to find a local vendor we could work with. Once we found Adam’s Lunch Box, we knew we found the right vendor. They make their items to order the day before delivery. So when you purchase one of these items, you’re getting something freshly made right here in San Diego.

Now you can enjoy a much more substantial meal while enjoying the company of our kitties. Right now, we’ve got six cats here to hang out with you when you visit The Cat Cafe.

You may know that our partner, San Diego Humane Society, recently went to a horrendous hoarding situation in El Cajon. They pulled nearly 80 dogs from a home. All of those animals look like they will be okay but that’s required a lot of effort on the part of their staff. And that’s one of the reasons why we don’t have as many cats as we like right now.

We are working closely with San Diego Humane Society to get more cats in. Please be patient with both us and them as they resolve this difficult situation. And if you want to help them take care of these dogs, please consider making a donation.

We look forward to welcoming you in to The Cat Cafe where you can enjoy our new food items with our kitties!

It’s always a little sad for us to say goodbye to cats when we adopt them out. We’ll admit it. We get attached to the cats who join us at The Cat Cafe. Some of them all but demand we do it, because they hop on our laps and purr up a storm. Others are a little more aloof, but they give us the slow eye blinks when we walk into the room and talk until we come over to pet them.

But we know that this is something we have to do so that we can be successful at achieving one of the goals at The Cat Cafe — sending cats to good homes. And we always enjoy bringing new cats in to our venue.

Grey is the first cat we will introduce you to. He is a little younger than most of the cats we get in, at only seven months. And he’s a very friendly cat. He greeted us immediately with head bonks and purrs. But this 10 pound boy is a little shy around people he’s not familiar with. He’s starting to come out of his shell and interacts with people in the playpen more. We still need to be respectful of his shy nature, however. Please give him the space he needs to feel comfortable.

Kitty is a little more reserved than Grey is with her affection. In fact, you have to work to get this four year, four month girl to interact with you. She probably needs to lose a few pounds, because at 13 pounds, she’s carrying a little more weight than she needs. She also needs to go to a home where any children respect her boundaries and where little love bites are okay.

Stella and Tigger, who are a bonded pair, also arrived at The Cat Cafe recently. These two came to us from San Diego Humane Society‘s Oceanside facility. They weren’t too happy on the ride to The Cat Cafe, but once they arrived they started to fit right in.

Stella is quieter and more reserved than her brother. Both of these cats are one year and two months old. She is also smaller, weighing in at nine pounds. When she gets to know you, she’s very affectionate, and will leap up to give you head bonks. And she purrs like crazy when she likes you.

You will likely see Tigger, who is the larger of these two cats at 13 pounds. out in the playpen more. And he’s very entertaining! Tigger has discovered the scratching poles in The Cat Cafe playpen also make for great climbing poles and he uses them as such.

Stella and Tigger must go home together because they are a bonded pair.

Come on by to meet some of your old favorites and see the new cats who have joined us at The Cat Cafe!

We here at The Cat Cafe have multiple goals. We enjoy serving award winning coffee from local roasters. And we are proud to serve cookies and pastries from locally based companies. We love giving people the chance to enjoy a little purr therapy with San Diego Humane Society cats.

But the thing that makes us the happiest is when we send cats to good homes.

In October, we were able to send eight cats to good homes. We started the month off by sending Blondie, who had raised a bunch of kittens before arriving here, to her forever home. Then we adopted out a couple of bonded pairs. Smokey and Tiger had been here for about five months before finding an adopter. Dean and Deluca, who have since been renamed Max and Milo, spent about a month here before they went home.

Next up was another long term resident, Sammy. And then we closed the month out by adopting out another sibling pair, Noah and Cora.

These adoptions bring the total number of cats that we have adopted out at The Cat Cafe to 203. We’re really proud of how we’ve been able to find homes for all of these animals, and hope to continue to send animals home at this pace.

In addition to adopting out eight cats, The Cat Cafe raised $218 for San Diego Humane Society. We’re glad that our customers choose to support this wonderful organization in its mission to Inspire Compassion.

As we here at The Cat Cafe move into November and holiday season, we want to thank all of our supporters and customers. We wouldn’t have been able to send these cats home without your support. We look forward to seeing you back in here to meet our adoptable cats from San Diego Humane Society and to enjoy our award winning coffee!

We wanted to let everyone know what is going on with our sidewalk seating area and also to let you know that we would love to host holiday parties here at The Cat Cafe.

We’ve submitted all the paperwork for the sidewalk cafe to the City of San Diego, and we should have the permit we need to build things out soon. We couldn’t have done this without your support. The Cat Cafe is grateful for all of you who supported us, whether it was with a small contribution, large contribution, or by sharing our crowdfunding campaign.

The sidewalk cafe will allow us to provide more seating for customers who are waiting to get into the playpen. In addition, it will allow us to host holiday events. Events will have to comply with our limits on the number of people who can be in the playpen.

But that doesn’t mean they won’t be fun! If you are interested in having a holiday event at The Cat Cafe, let us know. We will work with you to make it a great event. With the sidewalk cafe, we can have food catered. And we won’t break any laws prohibiting serving food where animals are present.

We can’t serve alcohol at these events because we don’t have a liquor license. But you don’t need a drink to enjoy spending time with your friends or coworkers during a holiday event!

If you’re starting to plan for holiday events, we’d love to talk to you. Email is the best way for you to get a hold of us. Please send us details on what you’d like and how many will attend. We will work with you to make things happen.

Thanks for your support of The Cat Cafe and we hope to host your holiday party!