Okanagan’s first cat café sees hundreds of felines adopted

The cats at Catelowna Cat Café wander freely around a large, bright space filled with toys, scratching posts and climbing structures.

Some snooze in highly hung hammocks with their tails hanging down while others tuck into cosy beds in front of a window overlooking Ellis Street in Kelowna.

Visitors settle into the space with hot drinks to interact with the kitties, many of which approach for pets or to play.

The once abandoned cats brought in from numerous local animal rescues don’t stay in the café for long, in fact, an average of five of them are successfully adopted out every week.

“We just adopted ten of them out this week, I’m pretty amazed,” said café owner Ashley Karns. “People are coming indoors now after being away for the summer and all of a sudden are ready to adopt.”

Opening in June, 2023, the Catelowna Cat Café is the first and only establishment of its kind in the Thompson-Okanagan. Karns was inspired to open it after volunteering at rescue centres and seeing they were inundated with abandoned animals. It took a lot of learning and elbow grease to get the café operating and Karns didn’t know how successful it would be become.

“More and more people are finding out about us and more cats are finding good homes,” Karns said. “This is my purpose in life and thanks to my hardworking team, we’re able to make a difference.” 

To date 424 cats have been adopted. Every cat available for adoption has had an extensive health check, been spayed/neutered, and is up to date on all vaccinations.

Only two per cent have been returned. Potential adopters have to come for a secondary visit to ensure the cat is a good match and the adopter is serious.

“Our low surrender rate is a measure of success and means we’re working hard at the initial steps,” Karns said. “This is the perfect environment to get to know the cats and know what kind of human is best matched for them.”

The cafe takes in shy, shutdown and feral cats that are rehabilitated in a different wing of the facility. New cats are kept in a quarantined area where they get accustomed to their diet and get familiar with other cats before integrating into the lounge area.

There are three litter boxes in the lounge area and five in a separate room. The use of air purifiers, odour control measures and constant cleaning keeps the space smelling fresh despite the 32 cats living there.

When asked whether a similar model would work for dogs, Karns said no.

“You’d need a huge space or you’d get more fights happening, and there’d be loads more liability issues and noise,” she said. “There’d be a lot of poop to deal with and you’d need a human to take the dogs out to do their business. It all comes down to poop and behaviour.”

Prior to entering the cat lounge, visitors can purchase delicious drinks and snacks at the café. Lidded drinks can be enjoyed in the lounge. Picking up cats or waking them up isn’t permitted and there is a maximum of 16 visitors allowed at a time.

Catelowna Cat Café is self-funded and relies on entrance fees, selling merchandize and organizing events to stay afloat. When large veterinary bills come up, Karns reaches out to the public for donations. This year she is reaching out to businesses and corporations to host team building exercises at the venue. A veterinarian symposium will be held there this fall.  

Catelowna Cat Cafe is located in Kelowna at Suite 201, 1441 Ellis Street. 

The café can get booked up quickly. It is advised people reserve their visit through the website ahead of time. Go here to reserve a visit, see upcoming events or make a donation.