SUMMARY

Pounce Cat Café + Wine Bar is located in Savannah, Georgia on Broughton Street. This beautiful historic district is home to a mix of local restaurants, galleries, boutiques, markets, and is known for its haunted buildings, including the Marshall House, along with numerous ghost tours. Pounce is centrally located on Broughton Street within walking distance of major parks and attractions. The exterior of Pounce features a black and white awning with a leaping kitty logo and two large windows that display merchandise and give a peek into the cat lounge area. The interior of the cat café continues the black and white logo with pink walls, furniture, and grey cat beds and lounging spaces. The space is welcoming, beautifully designed, and features tables and sitting areas throughout where customers can relax, watch, or play with adoptable cats.

Ashley Brooks is the owner of two Pounce Cat Café + Wine Bar locations. The first is in Charleston, South Carolina and the second location is in Savannah, Georgia. In my interviews with cat café owners, both of the Pounce cat cafes were recommended as must-visit cat cafés due to their exceptional reputations within the cat rescue and adoption community. In my interview with Ashely, I learned that her experiences with cat cafes started when she was a graduate student in Washington, DC where she worked at Crumbs and Whiskers as the first employee and then manager. After graduate school, Ashley used her on-the-job experience to create a business plan, start a Kickstarter campaign, and open the South’s first cat café, Pounce Cat Café + Wine Bar, in Charleston. Reflecting on her experiences opening the two Pounce locations, Ashley says “I’ve always been a crazy cat lady and loved the whole idea of it.”

Pounce partners with The Humane Society for Greater Savannah to bring visibility to shelter cats. When I asked Ashley about her larger role in the animal shelter and welfare community, she commented that cat cafes, “give a platform for cats to be interacted with in such a different way than they normally are … so many people who adopt from us weren’t even looking to adopt, but they come in and these cats feel like this is their home and you get to interact with them in such a different way than going to a shelter.” I could see this first-hand in my visit to Pounce, where customers were engaged in play and cuddling with the adoptable cats.