Cafe Finds Great Way To Help Cats Get Adopted Into Forever Homes

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When is a local café more than just a place to sit down and have a relaxing cup of coffee? When it is located in Louisville, Kentucky and has adopted the name of the Purrfect Day Café. If it sounds more like a day care center for cats, you are not far off. As it turns out the shoppe serves as a place for relaxation and entertainment for a number of cats as well. You will not find them drinking coffee but it is almost impossible not to notice them as you stroll by.

The statistics as of this writing are the Purrfect Day Café has been able to find a forever home for more than 600 cats since the idea was started back in August of last year. That averages out to about 125 cats per month, so the evidence is that the idea is working out just fine. If you cannot give one of the roaming felines a place to call home, there is a jar that allows you to donate to the Kentucky Humane Society or you can add a little extra to your tip and ask that it be given to the organization.

For those not familiar with a forever home, the difference between a regular home and a forever home is the forever home carries with it an agreement that the adopter(s) will keep the cat (or dog) for the remainder of its lifetime. As noble as this idea is, the actual agreement can get complicated. The common understanding is that the adopting parties will keep the cat or dog for as long as possible. But if there is a reasonable reason they can no longer keep the pet, their responsibility is to find the pet a new home. But some forever home agreements take things further, a little too far in the eyes of some potential adopters, by placing strict conditions on when the pet can be moved on to another home. The idea is to prevent moving the pet from home to home arbitrarily.

Returning to the cafe, you will find a seat that has not yet been occupied by a cat, creating a situation where seating is available on a first come, first served basis. The number of cats varies from day to day, but it is not permitted to use the phrase “swing a dead cat” as in “There are so many cats in here you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting one.” The café is a safe space for the furry felines, and they don’t take well to speech that has the potential to use up one of their nine lives.

Of course, you are wondering how it is possible to keep the care traffic from becoming an experience similar to herding cats. Well, these people are very serious about the mission, so it you want to sit down for a drink you need to schedule an appointment. There is no sign that says “walk-ins welcome” so it’s best to go online and schedule an a-pawoint-ment. But since sitting around is not everyone’s cup of Joe, you can sign up for a yoga class or the Cat Lounge Experience. Groups start at 9:30 a.m. Each session lasts 50 minutes, the extra 10 minutes of the hour used to prepare everyone for the next group.

For the people who step into these cat confinements, the drink selection is actually quite nice. There is the expected coffee and tea choices, but there is also a selection of wines suitable for most palates. If you are thinking this kitty themed café is adorable, the owners do seem to have gone a bit overboard in at least one area. Their menu has a section for popcorn and the first choice is called Kitty Litter. It is a mix of white and dark chocolate with a healthy dose of graham cracker dust. They up the imagination ante by stating there is no scooping required. For those who are previous or current cat owners and have had to clean out the litter box this can get people to be more than a bit squeamish.

Minor flaws aside, this idea created by the Purrfect Day Café owners has to be seen as a success. The cats are happy and have the chance to be placed in a forever home, the potential adopters can actually spend time getting to know their kitty before taking it home, and the Kentucky Humane Society benefits monetarily as well as having a friendly connection to the community. For the small price of admission, scheduling a visit to the café guarantees a memorable experience – even if you don’t take a cat home.