First Look: Baton Rouge’s first cat cafe will serve coffee, tea and cuddles

Guests will soon be able to walk into Cat Haven’s new cat cafe and be greeted by a handful of friendly feline faces. The cafe is part of the no-kill animal rescue’s new facility at 530 Shadows Ln., which will open in November.

The establishment is just over 7,000 square feet and can house 125 cats, which is 50 more than the old facility. Cat Haven’s executive director Holly Carey is excited about the new space and the opportunity to save even more cats. 

“We’ve saved a little over 20,000 cats since inception. So, we’re hoping to be able to save more,” says Carey.

WHLC Architecture designed the new space and added fun details like cat-shaped pet doors and a custom cat-tile backsplash. The extra space also includes larger glass enclosures, a bigger surgery and recovery room, two non-circulated rooms for quarantined pets and an outdoor “catio” play area.

Carey has long awaited the opening of this new location. She says the Cat Haven team was inspired by the growing popularity of the cat cafe concept seen around the nation and wanted to bring one to Baton Rouge. 

This new establishment will benefit both the shelter’s adorable occupants and visitors. Carey says Cat Haven’s old facility didn’t allow much interaction between cats and humans. She says the cats need at least 20 minutes of socialization a day, and they relied heavily on volunteers for that. 

Now, the felines can interact with multiple people at once in an open, inviting space. Human visitors will also see rewards from this arrangement. 

“There are a lot of people in Baton Rouge, students that maybe live in dorms or apartments that don’t allow pets, people that have a family member that might be allergic to cats and they can’t have cats,” Carey says. “So these people want to come out, and really it’s therapy for them.”

The cafe will serve pre-packaged foods, coffee and tea. Plenty of seating is available, along with outlets for patrons to charge their devices. Carey encourages people to study, hang out and spend time with the cats. 

The cafe also has rules to keep the cats and humans safe. Guests must remove their shoes upon entry. Guests can buy socks if they forget to bring a pair. Most importantly, guests are not allowed to pick up the cats.

“You want the cats to come to you,” Carey says. “Adult cats typically aren’t going to want to be picked up unless they’re just overly affectionate. So just so as not to stress them out, that’s going to be one of our rules.” 

While visiting the cafe, guests can start the adoption process if they feel a connection to one of the residents. All cats in the cafe, as well as those in the building’s shelter, will be up for adoption.

Regular adoption facility hours will be Monday through Saturday from noon to 6 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. The cafe will operate from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. 

To see when the space will open, keep up to date with Cat Haven on the organization’s website and Facebook and Instagram pages.