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Visiting Mauhaus, the St. Louis Cat Cafe

If you’re visiting St. Louis like I was last week, it’s a great opportunity to visit the Mauhaus cat cafe. Housed in a lovely historic building that dates back to 1900, this friendly cafe is full of light  and cats.

The sidewalk sign outside said it all. Hanging out with cats is a great stress reliever, and it’s nice when you’re far from home and your own cats.

When you enter the cat cafe  through the cafe, a large painting looks over you and the friendly barista. The two culinary cats in the painting are the Mauhaus permanent residents, Lorelai and Taylor. All of the other cats in the cafe are adoptable through Stray Haven Rescue.

Before going through the glass doors and into the cattery, you can order a drink or a pastry. They had the cutest cat-themed cookies!

The cattery itself is built to delight cats. One wall is made entirely of a shelf unit designed for the cats to traverse from floor to ceiling, or ceiling to floor in Taylor’s case in this photo. He had been sleeping above the front windows and used the shelf system and its cat-sized pass-throughs to work his way down to visit.

The middle of the room has an massive cat tree stretching from the floor to the tin ceiling made of wood matching the wall unit. The cat tree leads to a catwalk that spans the room.

The catwalk stretches from the wall with the wall unit across to the cat tree and then continues to the edge of the big windows. Can you spot the cat snoozing on the catwalk?

Huge windows make this space a bright and sunny one. Cats were happily snoozing on beds placed on the broad windowsills in the early afternoon sunshine during my visit.

This kitty is named Catfish. He is wearing a collar to warn you that his tummy is a trap. I thought that was an interesting way of informing cafe visitors which cats were amenable to tummy rubs.

Taylor, the permanent resident cat, likes tummy rubs. Isn’t that a happy face?

Little Binx was eager to play with a wand toy. You can see in the background that the built-in wall units include hiding spaces for the cats. From what an employee said, they also have a basement space, away from cafe visitors.

Drowsy Turbo looked anything but fast.

Visiting a cat cafe mid-day means you are entering during cat siesta time and will find drowsy kitties. Cats crepuscular animals, meaning they are most active in the twilight morning and evening, and cafe cats can’t resist their genetically programmed urge to sleep during the middle of the day. It doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in your company. Pollo Loco, with typical cat priorities, was very interested in what kind of goodies he could find on the table.

Mauhaus is the most architecturally beautiful cat cafe I’ve visited, and one of the friendliest, too. They are a great stop when you are visiting St. Louis.

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May 27, 2019 Filed Under: Tourism 14 Comments

Tally Cat Cafe in Tallahassee, Florida

On a recent trip to Tallahassee, Florida, I stopped into the Tally Cat Cafe, a new cat cafe. Although the cafe has only been open since. May. It turned out to be a very special visit.

A special visit to Tally Cat Cafe

The Tally Cat Cafe opened at the end of May, so it has only been open for about 3 months. I was curious to see the place in part because it’s a cat cafe, but also because I grew up in Tallahasee and remember the storefront now occupied by the cat cafe as a pet supply store. Funny how things come full circle, isn’t it?

Tally Cat Cafe Now Open Sign

Walking in, the place looks nothing like a pet supply store. The cafe area that you enter first is painted a startling black, making the peach tones of the walls of the cattery really noticeable through the large viewing windows.  It’s an interesting contrast of the modern look of the cafe and the softer, more Southern colors of the cattery.


cafe room at Tally Cat Cafe

I paid for a drink and my entry fee, then headed down a short hallway to cattery. Like most cat cafes, there are doors to enter the hallway and then doors to enter the cattery to prevent escape artist cats from making a run for it.

The cattery itself is arranged with catification along the walls and mostly open space throughout the middle of the room.

cat room at Tally Cat Cafe

As with most cat cafes, there is a closed door leading to what I imagine is some kind of a utility room that holds the litter boxes. The arches to the litter area had cat-shaped decorative molding. I noticed the light turn on when a cat ran inside, so it appeared there was some kind of a motion sensor in the room to minimize electricity use and also allow the cats to do their business without having to go in the dark. That’s a clever idea you could use in a litterbox area at home.

doorways to litterboxes at Tally Cat CafeWithout any other visitors, I was immediately surrounded by all of the cats who were interested in interacting with humans. I have been to cat cafes in the afternoon when all of the cats wanted to sleep, but I discovered that when you arrive first thing, the cats are a lot more interactive.

My new pro tip: Plan your cat cafe trips early in the cafe’s day for more interaction.

This also meant that when the barista brought my drink to me, I had a hard time being the first one to get to it. This little guy is a little young to be drinking coffee beverages!

tuxedo kitten sniffs latte art at Tally Cat Cafe

The Tally Cat Cafe partners with the Leon County Humane Society. They are a no-kill rescue organization who pulls animals from other animal organizations who do euthanize for space, like the county’s animal control shelter. According to their web site, they don’t take animals from the public. So all of the cats in the cafe were rescued to save lives in other shelters in the area.

adoptable torbie kitten at Tally Cat Cafe

And the cat cafe has worked! In the first three months they were open, they adopted out 78 cats, which is amazing. The Leon County Humane Society reports that since January, the rescue organization has adopted out 101 cats and 151 kittens in total, which means 30% of their cat adoptions have come through the partnership with the cat cafe.

In fact, this little guy, Clooney, was adopted later the day I met him.

black and white tuxedo kitten at Tally Cat Cafe

There’s a lot I don’t know about cat cafes that I would like to learn more about, including how the rescue organizations choose which cats are best suited to spend time in a cat cafe and which are better off at their adoption center.

Super-friendly cats like Clooney are obvious, but less-demonstrative but still very sweet cats, like Pamina, seem like they would be less certain choices. She took a while to warm up to me even though I was the only one in the cat cafe, sneaking up behind me repeatedly before letting me pet her.

calico cat at Tally Cat Cafe

She had the same opinion of kitten antics as she did of me, but the kittens weren’t as willing to let her sit by and watch.

orange tabby kitten tries to play with calico cat at Tally Cat Cafe

From what I was able to learn, some of the cats who seemed kind of shy, like Duck, were new to the cafe and were probably still adjusting to the environment. Duck spent a lot of time watching me, but she always made sure she had an escape route in case I approached her with my grabby hands.

tuxedo cat at Tally Cat Cafe

Elsa, the gray princess, put on her offended face every time I looked at her. Maybe this is why she has been at the cafe a while. Once she warmed up to me, she has the softest fur I’ve ever felt.

gray tabby cat at Tally Cat Cafe

Garbanzo was all up in my business every time I turned around. He’s a very “me, me, pick me!” cat, and he was very curious about the sound my camera made.

friendly orange tabby at Tally Cat Cafe

He was also fascinated by my camera strap. People who have seen me at conferences will recognize this camera strap. I felt kind of bad taking such a fun toy away from him when it was time for me to to leave.

With his outgoing personality, you won’t be surprised to hear that Garbanzo was also adopted later the day I visited.

playful orange tabby cat at Tally Cat Cafe

I love hearing about all the happy endings for the cats I met at the Tally Cat Cafe, and I really enjoyed my special visit there, too. If you happen to be in Tallahassee, be sure to drop in! There are new cat friends waiting to meet you.

orange tabby cat climbs wall unit at Tally Cat Cafe

A very special visit to the Tally Cat Cafe in Tallahasee Fl, where you can drink coffee and coffee and visit with adoptable cats. #adoptdontshop #adoption #cats #catcafe
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August 29, 2018 Filed Under: Tourism 14 Comments

An Amazing Evening with the Acro-Cats

When you see a big, purple bus with cat eyes on the front, it means one thing: The Acro-Cats have come to town!

I last saw them perform two years ago, but this time, but time they were traveling in a different bus, since the previous 1963 model was finally replaced in 2016 through a successful Kickstarter campaign. It’s also a great traveling billboard for the cats.

acro cats bus

I was excited to hear that the cat circus was finally returning to Orlando, but the most exciting of all was getting to share it with a kitty-loving friend who had never seen them before.

The Acro-Cats Act

Samantha Martin, an animal trainer, travels the country with her cats, sharing the stories of how the different rescue cats in her group joined her family and show.

Cat raises paw next to "who is number one" sign during Acro-Cats performance in Orlando

Some cats have mastered cute moves, while others show feats of great feline agility as they climb, balance, or leap through hoops.

calico cat jumping through hoop during acro-cats show

Allie, one of the performers, is a great cat athlete, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest cat jump: 6 feet!

acro-cat leaping

Some of the cats even do very circus-like tricks, like jumping through a hoop whose center is covered in paper.

acro-cat oz jumps through paper hoop during Orlando performance

One of the most fun things about the performance is when it doesn’t go quite as planned. As we all know, cats can have their own ideas about what to do and when to do it. At times, the feline performers wander offstage instead of performing.

black-and-white acro-cat Jax leaves stage during Orlando performance

When that happens, the show goes on with the other cats. Once the kitty returns to the stage from walkabout, they return to their jobs of performing.

tuxedo cat stands up on skull during acro cats performance in orlando

It’s hard to believe how much how much dexterity and concentration these cats have.

black cat pushes glitter ball during acro cats performance in orlando

I’m especially impressed that they perform these feats while a roomful of strangers is watching them, often behaving in ways that my cats would find alarming. For example, there was a woman sitting in the front row during our show who gave a horror-movie scream when a cat lost her footing and fell off a stool. My cats wouldn’t have come out from under the bed for an hour if I screamed like that, but the Acro-Cats are confident professionals, and the kitty jumped right back up to to continue.

The Rock Cats

One of the unique parts of the Acro-Cats show is their  all-cat rock band. It features various cats from the troupe performing on different instruments, like the bell…

white cat rings bell during acro-cats performance in Orlando

… the xylophone…

cat playing xylophone at Acro-Cats Orlando show

…or the traditional rock band instruments like guitar, drums, piano, and cymbals. Yes, that’s a chicken playing the cymbals.

cats pretend to be a rock band

Of course, no band is complete without more cowbell, and they have that, too!

white cat rings cowbell during Acro-Cats performance in Orlando

Acro-Cats Rescue

All of the Acro-Cats are rescue kitties, which makes these beautiful kitties extra-special.

Pudge the acro cat

Even more special, as the Acro-Cats travel around the United States, they foster kittens. When the kittens are old enough, they are adopted into loving homes among fans along the way.

While they were in Orlando, the Acro-Cats had two foster kittens with them. One was adopted the first night of the week of shows, and the second continued to make appearances in the show throughout the week. This little kitten was already doing basic tricks like jumping from one chair to another and sitting up on cue.

Look how small she is, and she is already trained to perform. That really is amazing!

acro-cats foster kitten

Most of the foster kittens will find their way to loving homes, but a few will stay on with the troupe and become performers who travel themselves.

orange acro-cat

The Acro-Cats bring a wonderful, positive message about how capable cats are of learning and how much it can improve your bond with your cat to learn together. I left the show thinking “I can teach my cats to do that, too!”

Amazing Acro-Cats Sign

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June 21, 2017 Filed Under: Tourism 20 Comments

Cat Nutrition Seminar at the Orlando Cat Cafe

I attended a seminar about feline nutrition last week at the Orlando Cat Cafe.

orlando cat cafe exterior

The Orlando Cat Cafe partners with the South Lake Animal League to let visitors spend time with adoptable cats. When I visited last week, there were 16 adoptable cats in the cafe. Nine were under a year old. Central Florida is a part of the country where kitten season never ends, so our oversupply of kittens is probably why the average age of cats in the cafe is lower than I expected.

orlando cat cafe adoptable cats

My previous visit to the Orlando Cat Cafe was in their opening week, and they had not approved any adoption applications at that point. They have made a lot of happy matches between cafe cats and humans since then! Being the closest cafe to Walt Disney World, vacationing visitors from other parts of the country have fallen in love with cats and adopted them while visiting on vacation.

orlando cat cafe adoptions board

Last week’s visit wasn’t just to visit the cats. It was also to listen to a seminar by Jodi Ziskin, the Healthy Pet Coach. She talked about biologically-appropriate nutrition for cats.

Jodi Ziskin speaks at the Orlando Cat Cafe

Some of what Jodi talked about wasn’t news to me. I understand that humans are omnivores and fuel ourselves with carbs while cats are carnivores and need protein a fuel. She explained how cats have no biological need for grains or the grain substitutes like chick peas that are being added to many cat foods.

She also discussed how kibble isn’t biologically appropriate, especially in terms of getting enough hydration into your cat. She mentioned canned food as an alternative to keep cats more hydrated.

Raleigh, an adoptable cat at Orlando Cat Cafe

I found it interesting that she said up front that she cooks for her cats. She says it takes about 20 minutes to make enough food for four days. Since that’s an avenue I have considered trying for picky Pierre, that caught my attention.

She admitted that premade, dehydrated food for cats that they would actually eat used to be impossible to find, which is an experience I had years ago. But she also said that has changed, and that people who don’t like to cook like me can feed cooked food that way at home. Watch out, Pierre!

Snowy, an adoptable cat at Orlando Cat Cafe

Jodi talked about benefits of probiotics, and I learned that probiotics made for cats are actually stronger than the ones for humans, since a cat’s stomach is more acidic than ours. I knew about the cat’s stomach part, but I never thought about them needing different probioitics than humans as a result.

Marilyn, an adoptable cat at Orlando Cat Cafe

One of the tips Jodi gave us is something I learned a couple years ago from Ingrid King at the Conscious Cat: sprinkling nutritional yeast on a cat’s food is a great flavor enhancer. And it’s healthy for them, too, unlike some of the other things you might add to their food to try to get a reluctant cat to eat.

Wild Cherry, an adoptable cat at Orlando Cat Cafe

When Jodi talked about making cat food at home, she stressed that it didn’t have to be hard. She mentioned the raw food recipe I used and pointed out how intimidating it can be and went on to say that there are now premixes with all of the supplements and dried glandular tissue in them, so all you need to add is meat. I have wondered about these mixes but thought they sounded too good to be true. Hearing someone who consults on pet nutrition recommend them makes me want to take a second look.

Kringle, an adoptable cat at Orlando Cat Cafe

Upcoming Talks at the Orlando Cat Cafe

Jodi’s lecture was informative, and packed with great information that anyone listening could put into use immediately.

Yale, an adoptable cat at Orlando Cat Cafe

If you’re disappointed you missed this talk, you can attend one of the upcoming events where Jodi is scheduled to return to the Orlando Cat Cafe to speak about some more interesting topics:

  • March 21, 2017 – Proactive Healthcare for Cats
  • May 18, 2017 – The Importance of Enrichment and Play
  • July 20, 2017 – How to Avoid Common Behavioral Issues
  • September 14, 2017 – Integrative Care vs. Conventional Care for Cats
  • November 16, 2017 – Senior Cat Care

Severus Snape and Kringle, adoptable cats at the Orlando Cat Cafe

The Cat Cafe Cats

The cats currently at the Orlando Cat Cafe were especially lively during the seminar, occasionally upstaging Jodi while she spoke. As anyone who lives with cats knows, they are crepuscular, meaning they are most active in morning and evening twilight times. The cafe cats were no exception. They raced up and down cat trees and explored behind Jodi as she talked.

I was especially charmed by a petite young cat named YingYang who through some birth defect or incident has an asymmetrical face. Her nose and muzzle point a little bit to the right, making her look a little bit askew. But she was friendly and sociable, and I’m sure someone will fall in love with her and adopt her.

YingYang, an adoptable cat at the Orlando Cat Cafe #adoptdontshop

I’m looking forward to visiting the cat cafe again for more of Jodi’s seminars in the future. While I would love to be able to visit with some of the same cats, I’m really hoping that all of these kitties will be gone to loving homes before I have a chance to visit again, because every one of them deserves a family to love them.

Raleigh, an adoptable cat at Orlando Cat Cafe

 

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January 23, 2017 Filed Under: Health, Tourism 16 Comments

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