Coffee With Cats: America’s First Cat Cafe Opens In Oakland

Cat lovers can now celebrate with the opening of the first permanent cat café in the United States. On Saturday, Cat Town Cafe in Oakland, California opened its doors to feline loving customers who want to spend quality time with cute kitties while sipping a hot cup of coffee.

The concept of a cat café first started in Japan, and soon, the cat craze spread to different parts of the world. Mashable reports that Cat Town Cafe is the first of its kind in the U.S., but cat lovers in different locations such as Seattle, Denver, Los Angeles, and Portland will soon be enjoying their own cat cafes too.

The café is divided into two sections, one where customers can place their orders, and the other is a play area for the cats where customers can hang out with their furry friends. Guests who want to visit Cat Town Cafe can make a reservation or walk in anytime. The cats’ play area is limited to a certain number of customers at a time, and they can play with about a dozen cats.

According to Huffington Post, all the cats in the café are available for adoption. The founders of the café, Ann Dunn and Adam Myatt, get the cats from local shelters. Dunn is also the founder of a non-profit organization called Cat Town, which aims to provide homes for rescued cats. Myatt, on the other hand, is a photographer known for his cat photography.

The two raised funds for the cat café through an Indiegogo campaign, and they were able to raise $40,000, with an additional $20,000 donated by Pet Food Express. They also received grants and private donations.

The main goal for the cat café is to look for people who will adopt cats as they get a different type of exposure than when they are kept in a shelter.

Dunn said that her organization has received positive response since the café opened.

“Sometimes I think it’s a lot to put the cats through, but if it means they will be adopted more quickly, then it seems worth doing. If we were just opening an adoption center, people would have been like, ‘so what?'”

Opening a cat café is no easy feat. The city of Oakland had concerns about opening a cat café, but the duo eventually got the green light when they convinced regulators that the Cat Town Cafe’s operations would follow strict health codes.

Cat Town Cafe has received an overwhelming response since it opened, and the cat café is now fully booked for two weeks and weekends after that.

[Images via Cat Town Cafe]