About The Cat Cafe
Southern California's First Cat Cafe in America's Finest City
How It Works
Get Started
- Check in at the coffee bar when you arrive. We know you’re anxious to get in to interact with the cats but we’ll need to check you in and get your food or drink item ordered first. The Cat Café is proud to feature:
- Espresso drinks made from an award-winning roast from Cafe Virtuoso
- Pastries from Bread and Cie
- Cookies from The Cravory
- Wait until your designated time to head in to the cat room. You can wait outside and enjoy the weather or you can wait inside and watch the cats through our Cat Room windows.
- We fill up quickly during peak days. We strongly encourage reservations so you’re not disappointed with the wait to interact with the cats. We’ll do our best to accomodate walk in visitors, but there is a chance you won’t be able to get in without a wait.
Do's & Don'ts
We know that many of you may have cats at home, but things may work differently at The Cat Café. Since we are working with The Rescue House and want to make sure their cats are treated well, we ask our patrons to do the following:
- Be respectful of the animals and learn the signs they show when they want you to ease back. We have posted signs describing the way cats show discomfort with their tails and their ears. Please keep these in mind when interacting with the cats.
- Don’t pick up the cats. Most cats don’t like to be held, and they are not shy about letting you know this. We don’t want anyone to get scratched or bitten by a cat who’s not happy about being picked up.
- Children must be supervised at all times. At The Cat Café, we want to make sure that we can continue to allow children to learn how to interact with animals. We need your help in ensuring this. Please ensure that your children are respectful of the cats.
- Cats don’t like loud noises, so please keep your voices down when you enter the cat room. We have a sound monitor in the cat room. A siren will let us know when it gets too loud. Please remember to keep the volume level down so we don’t have to hear that siren.
- Photography is fine — the internet is all about cat pictures and videos! However, flash photography disturbs the cats, so please refrain from that.
- The Cat Café has a
zero tolerance policy for any individual who is causing distress to the animals. It’s a rare occasion for us to have to ask someone to leave. We’d like to keep it that way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you accept walk-ins?
Yes, but if we are at capacity, you may be required to wait to get in. We strongly recommend booking your space 24 hours in advance to avoid disappointment.
Where do you get the cats?
For a little over two years, The Cat Café took in cats from San Diego Humane Society. As they started putting cats in more Neighborhood Adoption Centers, the demand for animals became next to impossible for them to fulfill. That is why starting in February 2017, The Cat Café began receiving cats from The Rescue House.
How do you make sure the cats stay healthy and unstressed?
The welfare of the cats is a very important concern. It’s not just the humane thing to do; it’s good for business. Nobody wants to hang out with unhappy or unhealthy cats!
The Cat Café limits the number of customers can interact with the cats to no more than ten. We’ve found this number allows for the best interactions between our cats and visitors.
How many cats are in The Cat Cafe
According to the ASPCA, communal cat living facilities should have no more than a dozen cats. We think that’s a good number to shoot for, but there may be fewer cats depending on availability from our partners and recent adoptions.
Can I bring my own cat to The Cat Cafe
No. Bringing a cat to a strange location with other cats may be stressful and make them unhappy. Unhappy cats create an unpleasant atmosphere, which is something nobody wants.
How do you make money?
Great question. Any business, including The Cat Café, needs to make money. We can’t find homes for cats unless we can keep our doors open. We charge a nominal admission fee, which you pay upon entry. Your admission fee includes a food or drink item.
What about toxoplasmosis?
Patrons of The Cat Café don’t have to worry about this because the only way toxoplasmosis is spread is through the feces of an infected cat. The staff cleans the litter boxes, not the customers. Even if customers scoop the litter boxes, only cats who have eaten infected prey spread the disease. Since the cats at The Cat Café are served commercially prepared food, this is not a problem.
Because of how we run The Cat Cafe, it’s just not something our customers have to worry about.
Child Policies
The Cat Cafe is one of the few cat cafes to allow children to visit. Most cat cafes do not allow children to visit. In order to continue to allow children, we need help from parents. Here’s what we ask you to do.
Actively Supervise Your Children
We’ve had parents bring their children in and immediately sit down and start texting or answering emails. Please know that we require parents to actively supervise their children. Active supervision means watching their children to make sure they’re interacting with the cats appropriately.
Help Your Children Maintain A Calm Environment
We work hard to keep a calm and relaxed environment. It’s an environment where the cats can thrive and it’s also what customers expect. If your child would not be happy in this kind of an environment, please wait until they can before you bring them.
Prepare Your Children to Listen to Directions
We understand that even when you are watching your children, they will sometimes do things that you don’t want them to do. Make sure they are willing and able to comply with directions given to them by the staff or volunteers in the cat room. This is for their safety as well as the safety and well being of the animals.
Decision of Staff and Volunteers is Final
If the staff or volunteers feel that a child's actions may not contribute to the calm and relaxed environment we maintain at The Cat Cafe, we will first attempt to educate them. If children already inside the cat room do not act consistently with the environment we seek to maintain, we'll inform them and their parent. Continuation of problematic behavior will mean the child must leave. The decision of volunteers and staff is final. No refunds will be given if children are required to leave due to their behavior.
We’ve had literally thousands of children come through and visit us, and we’ve only asekd a handful of them to leave. We’re happy that we’re one of the few cat cafes that allow children to visit! With the cooperation of all parents, we're sure we’ll be able to continue this policy.
