For people who can’t have cats in their homes or who want to make more feline friends, Orlando’s first cat cafe is the ideal spot.
The Orlando Cat Cafe, whose tagline is “Where the cool cats hang out,” opened last September in Clermont, Florida about 25 miles west of Orlando, and as the name implies, is a hybrid cafe and cat shelter.
Property manager Sandra Cagan wanted to do something philanthropic in her community, so channeling her love of cats, she worked with no-kill shelter The Animal League and Axum Coffee, which was founded to help its namesake city in northern Ethiopia, to create the café.
“I heard a speaker the other day who said ‘After you turn 50, you stop thinking about what you’re going to put on your resume and you start thinking what people are going to write in your eulogy,’” Cagan said. “I do this because I love cats and this is an environment in which we’re able to adopt out cats. That’s what’s in it for me.”
Anywhere from 11 to 20 felines can be found in the cafe’s cat area, a separate room where people can play with the cats away from where the food is prepared. For those who just want to watch the cats, a large window allows people to look in. And if the cats want their privacy, there is a cats-only room to which they can escape. The cats even get days off—Mondays the cat area is closed do they can have some down time.
The cafe also offers activities, like coloring with the cats, cat yoga, and high tea with the kitties.
Adults to the cat area are charged $8 per hour visit and children $4, or if someone knows they will be coming back a lot, they offer one-year memberships for $150. The best part of the deal, though—if someone wants to take their coffee mate home, all the cats are adoptable.
Cagan says the ones that live at the cafe are all healthy, up-to-date on their shots, have been microchipped and fixed, and are ready for adoption.
So far, over 12,000 people have visited from all over the world, Cagan said, and 80 cats have been adopted
“I know from personal experience how happy a cat can make a family, so I can see it from a family’s side—they get a new family member—and of course for the cat—they get a forever home,” Cagan said.
