I am gearing up for a month full of festivities, frolicking and good alliteration and also taking time this month to answer some questions from my mailbag.
Q: When I visit it says that there are 16 cats in residence, but I only counted 12? Where are the other kitties?
A: Excellent question! The Orlando Cat Café is equipped with a “break room” for the kitties, sort of like an “employee lounge” where we can eat, drink, use the restroom facilities, and nap. If you don’t see everyone in the Cat Play Area it’s because some are “on break”. There’s a computer back there too so some of us use that time to “help” our human staff with their work while others watch Netflix or buy stuff from Chewy!
Q: Where do the cats come from?
A: All of our felines are provided to us by our rescue partner, SPCA Florida and all are spayed/neutered, up to date on their vaccinations, and microchipped. Plus, they are all ready to be adopted! Our adoption counselors sometimes have extra information on how we got to SPCA Florida, so don’t be shy about asking!
Q: How long does the average cat stay before getting adopted?
A: So…there is no such thing as an “average” cat (we are all “exceptional”!). Some kitties have been at the Cat Café for as little as 5 minutes before finding their family and our longest resident was here for 6 months before she found hers. The important thing is that as long as they are happy and healthy, we don’t impose a time limit and the kitty stays with us until their purr-fect match is found (and that always happens eventually!).
Q: When is the best time to visit?
A: We like to sleep. A lot. Next to eating it’s really our favorite activity! But we are MOST active the first 2 reservation hours (because we are excited to see you) and the last 2 hours before we close (because we are excited to be getting dinner!) #truth.
Q: Do I need a reservation?
A: While reservations are not required, they are strongly recommended especially during peak periods which includes holidays, spring break, summer, weekends, and days ending in the word “day”. In other words, we are a popular bunch and in order to ensure a spot in the action, you should make a reservation. Also please note that reservations online need to be made 24 hours in advance.
Q. Does everyone get along?
A: Do you get along with everyone? Probably not. Same here! We are all checked out by SPCA’s Feline Behaviorist as the café environment is not every cat’s cup of tea (see what I did there!) but the ones that the Behaviorist feels would do well are sent to the much-coveted Orlando Cat Café. Do we fight? I wouldn’t’ call it “fighting” –more like “she’s touching me” sort of stuff. Like brothers and sisters. Or frenemies.
Q. What do the different colored collars mean?
A: Red collars are girls and blue collars are boys. Sometimes you might see a different color collar (some would call it “sparkly”) and that usually means that you should “proceed with caution” (just like a traffic light!). Maybe that kitty doesn’t like to be disturbed while she is sleeping or doesn’t like to be petted on her back. When you see a sparkly collar, you should ask one of the Adoption Counselors before proceeding.
