Cat cafés are spaces where people can meet and interact with cats. While the world’s first cat café started in 1998 in Taiwan, cat cafés emerged just over a decade ago in the United States. Drawing on features of early cat cafés, including coffee and snacks, cat cafés in the United States shifted the focus from resident cats to an adoption model.

Social Context of Cat Cafés

Just over a decade ago, in 2014, the first cat café in the United States, Cat Town, opened in Oakland, California. Since then, more than 240 cat cafés have opened across the United States with the primary mission of adopting cats that would otherwise remain homeless, or worse, euthanized. Cat cafés typically partner with local rescue organizations to identify cats that can be featured at local cafés.

Sociologically speaking, cat cafés can be viewed as an extension of the animal shelter system, while offering a more pleasing environment for people to meet with and interact with adoptable cats. Cat cafés are incredibly popular spaces for people to visit as they provide opportunities to interact with cats in small, personalized spaces.

While nearly all cat cafés in the United States focus on adoption, the designs, and missions of cat cafés vary greatly, from the original Cat Town cafe in Oakland that specializes in working with cats that are considered “unadoptable” due to health or behavioral issues, to Crumbs and Whiskers that fosters kittens and cats in an Instagram-ready environment with plenty of amenities.

A visit to nearly any cat café features a wall with photos of adoptable and adopted cats, along with signage listing the number of cats saved from euthanasia. While it may be tempting to think of these spaces as offering merely a unique or boutique café experience, a place to relax, or a kid-friendly activity, a closer examination of cat cafés reveals important social networks, communities, and a new model in the animal rescue and shelter movements. My research on cat cafés explores these connections and highlights the work that is being done within the cat community.