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.
Summer says
What an awesome cat cafe! My human missed it… probably because she had her own cat cafe in her hotel room. MOL!
The Island Cats says
What a great cat cafe! The mom is sorry she didn’t get to go when she was in St. Louis last week.
Catscue Catmom says
What a lovely place and so thoughtfully designed. Thanks for sharing this!
Random Felines says
It was a great space. Glad we got to see it
Eastside Cats says
I made The Hubby look at your photos, since there are some really great ideas to catify a room! Looks like a terrific cat cafe, and hope lots of kitties get adopted from there!
Sweet Purrfections says
Sorry I missed visiting this cafe while I was there. It was great seeing you though
The Swiss Cats says
What a pawsome place ! Purrs
The Florida Furkids says
What a fun place!
The Florida Furkids
Melissa & Mudpie says
What a beautiful place! I don’t think I’d ever want to leave…
Brian Frum says
That really looks like a most wonderful experience for kitties and humans!
greg-in-washington says
The cats in the photos all look very content. Looks like a nice place to visit and chill out.
mommakatandherbearcat says
I’m embarrassed to admit I live here and I’ve never been there! I didn’t even find out about them until last year’s CWA Conference. Adding to my list …
Katie Isabella says
wow. I wish I could be there! It’s fabulous!
Timmy Tomcat says
That sure is a nice Cat Cafe. It is great they have adoptable cats so people can have a cuppa and see if they are a good fit. Great stuff