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Want cuddles with your coffee? Go to a cat cafe

By Brad Hundt staff Writer bhundt@observer-Reporter.Com 6 min read
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Boone hangs out in the loft of Colony Cafe on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh. Colony Cafe is, so far at least, Pittsburgh’s only cat cafe.

Kaylee has it made.

Lolling in a cat bed in front of a second-story picture window, the 13-year-old calico can catch some Zs, scrutinize vehicular and pedestrian traffic on Penn Avenue or, when the spirit moves her, go nibble some cat food that mixes chicken and brown rice. Then she can have some fun with younger playmates like Boone, Ziggy, Gina and Phantom.

It’s a pretty sweet life, particularly when you consider the legions of cats in the world that spend their days foraging for food, dodging cars or being chased by dogs. But what makes Kaylee’s days even better are the groups of people who troop up the steps to the loft where she lives and dole out attention and adoration.

Kaylee is one of 12 cats who make their home at the Colony Cafe in Pittsburgh. Located at 1125 Penn Ave., the cafe is the first, and so far only, cafe in Pittsburgh where customers can order coffee and a grilled cheese sandwich, and then go frolic with a feline. Though a longtime mainstay of Japanese culture, cat cafes have infiltrated the American market. The first cropped up in Oakland, Calif., in 2014, and they are moving into the heartland. Cleveland is getting its first cat cafe this month, and they’ve taken root in Des Moines, Iowa, Lexington, Ky., Charlotte, N.C., and Minneapolis.

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Zingy, who has been a resident of the Colony Cafe for seven months, is reluctant to get his photo taken.

And if customers at cat cafes become particularly attached to one of the cats, they’re welcome to adopt them and take them home.

“We’ve always been involved in rescuing and fostering,” said Sue Hendrickson, who founded Colony Cafe with her husband, Erik. “Both of us thought it would be a great concept.”

It opened in 2017 in a space that had been used for a coffee shop and delicatessen. Both refugees of the New York corporate rat race, the Hendricksons decided to relocate to Pittsburgh when they determined it had many of the amenities they were looking for. They also saw Pittsburgh had no cat cafe and they could fill that niche in the market.

“What I most enjoy about owning the cat cafe is helping to bring some happiness to our guests when they connect with a cat they want to adopt, which makes room for us to take another animal out of the shelter,” Hendrickson explained.

Cat cafes took off in Japan because many of the country’s residents are confined to small apartments and not allowed to keep pets. Unlike their American counterparts, however, cats in Japanese cafes can wander freely and tend to be part of the cafes for life. In America, local health codes result in cats being restricted from areas where food and drink are prepared and served. At Colony Cafe, a door, a flight of steps and another door separate cats from the dining room.

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A passageway where cats can exit the loft at the Colony Cafe and find their litter boxes.

“We’re inexperienced, but we’re learning as we go,” Hendrickson said. “We always had respect for small-business owners. It’s hard work, the 24/7 aspect of it.”

Like many trends, cat cafes gained their first American foothold in California. Cat Town opened in Oakland, Calif., in October 2014, not long before another cat cafe opened across the bay in San Francisco. Cat Town co-founder Ann Dunn had worked for years in public housing redevelopment, and had generally been impervious to cats until, one day, a friend brought a freshly rescued kitten to Dunn’s house. Dunn decided to keep it, and that was the beginning of a fascination with cats that culminated in launching a rescue shelter and, as an offshoot, the cat cafe.

“We obviously didn’t come up with the concept,” Dunn explained on the phone from Oakland earlier this month. “But we were the first in figuring out the health permits and zoning to make it work.”

Given the growing preponderance of cat cafes, Dunn is regularly called upon for advice on how to launch and maintain a cat cafe. What advice does she give?

“Don’t take it lightly,” she said. “It’s a real business.”

Colony Cafe works with Animal Friends in Ohio Township for its cats. They stay at the cafe until they are adopted. In the months since the cafe opened, 135 cats have been adopted, including “many, many” black cats, three cats with three legs, two one-eyed cats and a cat that was deaf.

While there is no admission cost to the cafe, entrance to the Cat Loft is $8, which covers some of the costs of operating it, such as utilities and cleaning supplies. Reservations are suggested, and groups of 10 are allowed to go up to the loft at a time.

The cafe has some regular customers. Hendrickson explained one mother and daughter make it a part of their weekly routine to come to the cafe and check out the cats. She also noted the cafe gets a cross-section of visitors – while the majority of those checking out the Cat Loft on a recent visit were female, Hendrickson said they receive their share of male visitors, with some guys wandering in before they go to Pittsburgh Penguins games.

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A warning to customers at the Colony Cafe in Pittsburgh

Another Pittsburgh-area cat cafe, the Black Cat Market, is in the works in Lawrenceville. Co-owners Indigo Baloch and Olivia Ciotoli launched a Kickstarter campaign two years ago to nudge it forward. They hope to have a soft opening within the next month, and will be partnering with the Humane Animal Rescue League.

“The greatest challenge getting the cafe off the ground is mostly involving permits,” Baloch pointed out. “It’s a very unique idea, so there isn’t much set protocol for it yet. But we’re close to at least a soft opening to start helping these cats find their forever homes.”

The Colony Cat Cafe is open 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and is closed Sunday and Monday. Hendrickson emphasizes the cats are usually at their most active around 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., and, no, there are no refunds if the cats are lethargic or snoozing.

“This is not a ticket to a performance,” she said.

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