The Orlando Cat Café is a collaborative effort between Cagan Management Group, Axum Coffee, and The Animal League. Sandra Cagan, Vice President of Cagan Management Group, started the Orlando Cat Cafe and acts as its developer and owner. Doreen Barker is the Executive Director of The Animal League. Renaut VanderRiet is the owner of Axum Coffee. It took approximately 22 months of planning and construction before the cafe opened its doors in September 2016.
Sandra saw a news story on NBC Nightly News on December 31, 2014 that covered a cat cafe's opening in New York City. The story stayed with her for several days. She was turning 50 years old in 2015 and thinking a lot about her life's purpose. Someone said something that stuck with Sandra: "When you turn 50, you stop thinking about what you’re going to put on your resume and you start thinking about what people are going to say in your eulogy." Sandra understood that she couldn't do anything about Syria or Global Warming, but with 20 years of real estate experience and a life-long love of cats, opening a cat cafe was something that she COULD do!
About the cafe:
Sandra wanted The Orlando Cat Café to have an adoptable component to it - her goal was to help the cats find their "forever homes." The Orlando Cat Cafe is quite a bit larger than some of the others. It houses a good sized coffee shop as well as a spacious Kitty Play Area. The cats live a very good life in the Kitty Play Area while they await their forever families.
Visitors enter through Axum. There, they can choose from several different specialty coffees and teas as well as paninis, croissants, and cakes. For a small entry fee ($8 for adults and $4 for children), visitors can enter the Kitty Play/Adoption Area. They can bring their food and beverages in the Kitty Play Area if they wish. In the Kitty Play Area, there are anywhere from 12 to 20 kitties available for adoption. Guests can play with them or just relax with them.
The Orlando Cat Cafe has welcomed visitors from literally all over the world, as well as locals who either just want to relax with the cats or possibly look for a future family member. The cafe features several special events every month including a High Tea Event, lectures, Yoga with Kitties, Book Signings, and Painting with the Kitties.
How to visit:
The coffee shop is open 7 days a week from 7am to 6pm. The Kitty Play Area is closed on Mondays to give its feline residents a bit of a break. Monday is also the day that new adoptive families come in to pick up their new addition. The Kitty Play Area is open Tuesday-Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Reservations are strongly recommended and can be made on the cafe's website.
How you can help:
Come visit The Orlando Cat Cafe, then tell your friends! Share it on Social Media. So many kitties are looking for their forever homes. The cafe works exclusively with The Animal League, a no-kill shelter located in Groveland, Florida. The Animal League has been in business since 1988 and enjoys a stellar reputation both in the State of Florida and beyond.
In the cafe's first year, they adopted out 121 kitties to forever homes. Of course, Sandra hopes to see that number continue to grow.
