RESEARCH FINDINGS
1) Cat café owners start with a range of cat rescue and adoption experiences.
It goes without saying that all cat café owners love cats and most grew up with cats in their lives. A decade into the adoption-centered cat café model in the United States, there is no typical experience among cat café owners. Some owners, like Kathy Jordan in Philadelphia, open a cat café to allow for more space for their cat rescue organization. Other cat café owners, like Lisa Boone in Salt Lake City, was inspired to open a cat café after watching an episode of The Amazing Race that featured cat cafés in Japan.
2) Cat café owners consider a number of ethical and practical issues when choosing or accepting shelter or community cats into their café.
While the issue of cat rescue is global, cat café owners respond to local circumstances when deciding which cats (or sometimes kittens) are accepted into their café. In Ghent (Belgium), for example, the cat café only features cats who have been in shelter longer than a year. More easily adoptable cats are still adopted through the local shelters. In Reykjavik (Iceland) where there are few rescues, most cats enter the cat café directly through owners who need to rehome their cats and vets who save cats from euthanasia.
3) Cat café owners are involved in an enormous amount of uncompensated labor in their communities.
The demands of owning a cat café typically extend far beyond the walls of the café and regular business hours. Many cat café owners, like Carrie Schwartz in Phoenix, are directly involved in trap-neuter-vaccinate-return in their communities and also oversee extensive foster networks. Leila Qari at Denver Cat Company has personally transported rescues from outside the Denver area and started her own rescue, Denver Cat Rescue, to facilitate cat foster, rescue, and adoption. Due to urgent needs in most communities, cat café owners mentioned being involved in trap-neuter-vaccinate-return, organizing foster networks, responding to calls from people in the community with cat-related concerns, and offering a range of educational programs.
4) Cat cafés are inclusive community spaces.
Nearly all of the cat café owners mentioned the wide range of people who frequent their cafés. Cat café visitors range in age from young children to senior groups, and cat cafés are often sites for birthday parties, community events (paint and yoga nights, drag bingo) and even occasionally weddings. In Salt Lake City, Tinker’s Cat Café is recognized as one of the city’s favorite queer-friendly spaces. Cat café owners often described their spaces as LGBTQ+ friendly for both their staff and customers. Flags and Pride-themed merchandise was common in most of these spaces.
CONCLUSION & DISCUSSION (or Why Cat Cafés Matter)
A decade into the adoption-centered cat café model in the United States, there is no typical cat café owner experience, instead owners come from a range of backgrounds, including cat rescuer, vet tech, small business owner, cat behaviorist, and even lawyer. Some open non-profit organizations and others start a small business. What unites all cat café owners is their love for cats and commitment to animal welfare.
From a sociological perspective, adoption-centered cat cafés are responding to community-based needs and under-funded animal welfare programs. They offer shelter and visibility to cats. Nearly all of the cat cafés worked directly with local shelters to identify and place cats at the café. From my interviews, there appears to be supportive relationships between most shelters and cat cafés, with shelters being relieved that additional space is available to shelter and bring visibility to adoptable cats.
When asked, most cat café owners thought about their role in the larger cat rescue community as saving and making space for “one cat at a time.” This is certainly true. Given limited community-based resources – including trap-neuter-vaccinate-return programs, foster programs, and support for community cats – there were urgent needs in almost all communities.
Evelyne at DreamCATchers in Ghent, Belgium imagined a better world where her services we no longer needed because social support systems were in place and well-funded. As a sociologist, I also like to imagine better and more supportive communities.
There’s still a long way to go before we realize well-funded public services and extensive community-based supports for cats. As we work to achieve this better world for cats, cat cafés offer creative and supportive spaces that save cats from euthanasia, facilitate adoption, bring visibility to cats, educate the public about cats, and provide a great deal of uncompensated labor on behalf of the larger cat community.