FAQ
General Info
A cat café is half coffeehouse, half lounge, half cat adoption center (We realize that’s a lot more than half!!) We are a temporary cat and kitten foster home with the goal of changing the way adoptions happen. We offer the purrfect setting for humans and kitties to find their purrfect match. Your visit helps keep felines out of the traditional shelter environment and supports a model that results in a higher rate of successful adoptions. We have three main rooms: 1 main cat activity lounge, our new Nine Lives Wine Lounge (no one under 21 admitted) and 1 student lounge/cat co-working lounge. We have a cat-pacity to house up 12-15 adoptable cats and kittens at any one time in our safe, loving and healthy space! We offer delicious freshly brewed coffee from our proprietary coffee roaster (ALL NEW!), prepackaged snacks and refrigerated drinks, waters and (coming soon!) cat-themed snacks made exclusively for us from a local bakery. Our café is America’s first cat café with an antiques and rare books emporium and also the first with our own publishing house! We are also RVT owned and operated.
The first cat café opened in Taiwan in 1998 and the concept quickly spread throughout other countries. The United States has more than 120 cat cafes offering a comfortable and clean environment for cats until they find their forever homes. If you’d like to check out North American cat cafes OR even international cafes, please grab a cup of coffee and visit www.theneighborscat.com.
Whatever you want! We have a full calendar of events each month as well as special events such as Date Nights, Jewelry making classes, Mewvie Nights, Paint and Purrs, Wine Tastings and Pairings, cat care classes and many other exciting tricks up our sleeves! You can simply grab a snack or drink and go and play with all of the adoptable cats and kittens (or adopt one!!), or you can play games, read books, or… get some work done in our student lounge where we offer free wi-fi and plenty of comfy space for you to meet up with friends or work/study while you watch kitties and enjoy coffee. “Work-from-home” doesn’t get any better than at Chico Cat Cafe.
Our mission is to help Butte County reduce senseless overcrowding and unneeded euthanasia. We work with many local cat rescue partners to pull at-risk kitties from their facilities. Our unique partnership allows us to save the truly at-risk cat or kitten needing immediate care and socialization. Our cat café is their foster home – they get to live and play free of any fear or illness and free of being confined in cages or fending for themselves in the streets. They get to hang out with other cats and kittens and get comfortable will all humans who come in to visit with them.
No, BUT Cat Lounge reservations are strongly encouraged. We are so grateful that there are tons of people that want to visit small businesses like ours, especially on the weekends. As such, all of the cat lounge hangouts are usually booked up in advance and walk-in availability is extremely rare. Reservations are the best way to guarantee your spot as we only allow 9-12 people per hour in the cat lounge. Make a Reservation
Just click on Book Now. You will see real time availability for each day and time slot, and you simply select your desired time for the number of people in your group. You pay online at the time of booking and sign a digital waiver. You will receive an email confirmation for your reservation, and if you need to make a change, you can do so up to 24 hrs prior to your reservation.
Our cats are amazing, but they don’t pay their own bills. The small entrance fee is necessary to cover the cost of housing our feline friends in a comfortable and chic environment – we want them to have plenty of room, lots of nooks to snuggle in and structures to climb, and tons of toys to help them stay engaged and happy.
Behind the scenes, we have lots of costs associated with having sufficient staff to keep the cats safe, and the frequent cleaning needed to keep both you and the cats healthy. It also covers extra supplies that our rescue partners cannot provide – kitty wipes, extra litter, food, treats, beds, first aid animal needs, eye drops, OTC meds, etc.
100% of adoption fees are given directly to the rescue or shelter responsible for the cat. In addition, most often the adoption fee doesn’t even cover the full cost of vetting and care the rescue or shelter has put into the cat. Which is why we do not ask the rescue/shelter to split the adoption fee with us.
The entrance fee charged is how we are able to pay for the rent, utilities, food, supplies, and caring staff for the kitties.
We are not currently hiring at Chico Cat Cafe, but would love your support with cat items and other donations. Our Amazon Wishlist is available on our website and on our Facebook page! If you would like to help by volunteering, our rescue partners can always use extra hands! Ask John or Jodi for assistance.
Please send us an email at meow@chicocatcafe.com. Please be as specific as possible about what you do, your portfolio, and your rates. We strongly focus on cat-related products and events, and prioritize local feline artists and vendors.
Tuesday – Friday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Mondays we are closed
Originally, our name paid homage to John’s rare book business roots and our love of cats. Smart businesses recognize gaps in the market and seek to fill the need. While we have accomplished this goal, we also know that we are growing and growing businesses need to grow along with their name. So now our name more accurately reflects and celebrates Chico and our cat-loving community. We ARE Chico’s Cat Café!
What does the new name mean to Chico?
Our new name, Chico Cat Café, gives us increased online visibility, which is a fancy way of saying that now more people can find us! Cat Lovers Google “Chico Cat Café” to find us, not “The Great Catsby” – while our original name is unique, what it is not is memorable. Our new name does not get lost in translation. We now connect succinctly with our growing audience.
What is different about us now?
Honestly, not that much! We have become a destination for events and first dates, even hosting cat-centric paint and sips, emerging authors book signings and school field trips for young cat enthusiasts. Our Nine Lives Wine Lounge is now open and functions during our private events. Our origin story is the same – that of a sea-tossed kitten, abandoned by no fault of her own during a disaster, to be found wandering the dangerous and dark streets of Paris at a time in history ripe with the horrific realities of animal cruelty and neglect, where she fortuitously arrives at the stoop of her forever person – and we vow to continue our tradition of rescuing and saving kittens from the sea of uncertainties of a homeless life.
Adoption Info
We get this question all the time, and the answer is simply, wherever their hearts are most content – which is the beauty of our concept. The kitties have free reign of their part of the building, which consists of about 1,200 square feet of main cat lounge, boutique, purrivate cat litter box room and student lounge, but they will typically settle down amongst a big furry puddle of kitties in the main lounge. We are a foster home for all the kitties until they find their furrever homes, but they have quite a spread while they are our guests here!
There will be approximately 12 -15 cats and kittens in our cat lounge at any given time, all available for adoption.
The cats and kittens at Chico Cat Cafe are provided by our various cat rescue partners. Chico Cat Cafe plans to have an initial out-reach to over 5 counties (Butte, Glenn, Tehama, Yuba and Shasta) throughout Northern California. Currently, we contract with 5 different cat rescues. Many of our kitties will be transferred in to our rescue partners from rural shelters that do not have the resources to support felines.
Super clean. We follow cleaning procedures similar to hospitals and veterinary clinics and are cleaning and lint rollering hourly, in addition to bi-weekly steam cleaning of all furniture, human and feline. Our cats are well-screened by our rescue partners to ensure they are healthy and we take VERY good care of them here. We also run medical-grade air purifiers in each main room and clean and sanitize every hour. With any animal facility, there is a small risk of zoonotic illnesses but we work extremely hard to make sure everyone stays healthy and sanitary. We have many extra precautions to prevent human illness too.
Yes. All cats are examined by our rescue partners before arrival, which includes being spayed/neutered, microchipped, receiving updated vaccinations, and possible testing for FeLV & other viruses/illnesses. If you have any questions, please contact us or chat with a café team member during your visit.
No worries––our café is open to all. If you simply love cats but are unable to bring one home, we welcome you just the same. Until our kitties find their new homes, they need all the love and affection they can get (and they have a lot to give, too!). Please feel free to come by, grab some coffee, and snuggle up with a furry friend. And if you know someone who’s been searching for a kitty friend, give ‘em a nudge to visit! You can also consider supporting us in other ways, such as by donating to a local cat rescue.
Oh yes, and we would love it if you did! We have matchmakers right here in the café who will help you find the right feline companion for you or your family and will walk you through the process. We record all our adoptions and post them – our goal is to find great homes for all our furry friends so that we can foster more. Keep checking back to see the impact that you, our loyal guests, are making!
Here are the details on how to make that happen at Chico Cat Cafe Cat Café and Lounge. And yes! 100% of the adoption fees go to our rescue partners.
First you will make a booking via the website to meet our adoptable kitties.
Adoption fees vary, according to the age of the kitten or cat and on the originating rescue of said cat or kitten. All kitties over 4 months also have had their rabies vaccinations. All kitties have been spayed/neutered, micro-chipped, received their flea and de-wormer treatments, and basic booster shots.
When you visit, let our staff know you are actively looking to adopt. When you fall in love with a kitty, one of our Au Purrs will walk you through the process of connecting you to one of our rescue partners.
Adoption approvals are typically finalized on-site, which means you may take home your new family member within a few days of submitting your adoption application. Our rescue partners rarely approve same-day adoptions.
*Please note that we don’t complete adoptions after the last session hour. Pick-ups may be arranged for the following day.
We do a deep clean of our cat lounge 3 times a week and monitor the kitties every day for potential illness. Just like with people though, sometimes the kitties are asymptomatic (not showing signs of illness) while they are with us and end up getting adopted and going home. Our rescue partners can help you if this happens. Please reach out to us and we will get you in touch with them!
Our adoption rates are very high so a lot of times a kitty you see online has the potential to already have been adopted. Please note, we do not “hold” kitties. If you are interested in a cat or kitten, but cannot bring them home within a week, we cannot guarantee that feline will be available when you are ready. Because there are always kittens that need to be pulled from needy rescues and shelters, we like to make room for new kitties as soon as we can.
Policies
Much like going to the movies, or flying on a plane, you choose the time and date that suits you and it is your responsibility to attend and arrive on time. We cannot extend your time, as that would not be fair to the guests in the session after you, nor is your session transferrable to another time slot. Once you have booked your session, you must attend that session only. If you provide 24 hours’ notice, and something has come up, we can reschedule you to another date and time where available.
Yes….and no. We strongly recommend making a reservation to guarantee your desired visit date & time, ESPECIALLY on the weekends! We will always accept walk-ins WHEN availability allows. However, in order to guarantee your visit to the Cat Lounge, we highly recommend booking a time slot in advance via our booking system.
We understand things happen! Our scheduling policies are as follows:
Cancellations
You may cancel your reservation up to 24 hours prior to your visit for a full refund. After that time, we are unable to refund reservations due to it keeping us from booking other visitors on short notice.
Reschedules
You may reschedule up to 24 hours before your reservation! Only one reschedule is permitted per reservation. Reschedule requests left uncompleted will be forfeited after 30 days. No-show appointments cannot be rescheduled nor refunded.
Everyone. ALL guests who wish to enter the cat lounge must have a ticket, regardless of age. IE. 5 people in my group, I need to buy 5 tickets.
We are constantly monitoring all new developments regarding COVID-19. Barring a change in directions from health officials, we currently require or perform the following:
- Items such as silverware and drinkware are pre-packaged and disposable.
- Guests must sanitize their hands before entering the cat lounge.
- Our staff also sanitizes high-touch surfaces such as touch screens, door handles, railings, and counter-tops between sessions.
- We utilize 3 medical-grade air purifiers with 4-stage filtration to cleanse the air.
- We advise to please continue wearing your mask if you are unvaccinated. California government regulations state that masks are recommended for everyone when levels of COVID-19 infections are higher, depending on CDC COVID-19 community level. Currently the Butte County community level is LOW.
All of our guests in the cat room sign a waiver, and those under 15 need their parent to sign their waiver. A child 15 and under must have 1 adult present per 2 children.
We do ask that parents keep close supervision of their little ones around the kitties. Our felines need to feel super secure in their environment and know that everyone that’s chilling with them is chill.
We will also have special events and reserved sessions for children, such as Caturday Morning Cartoons and PJs (coming soon!)
Our adoption rates are very high so a lot of times a kitty you see online has the potential to already have been adopted. Please note, we do not “hold” kitties. If you are interested in a cat or kitten, but cannot bring them home within a week, we cannot guarantee that feline will be available when you are ready. Because there are always kittens that need to be pulled from needy rescues and shelters, we like to make room for new kitties as soon as we can.
Chico Cat Cafe is one of the few cat cafes to allow children to visit. Most cat cafes do not allow children to visit. In order to continue this, we need help from parents. Here’s what we ask you to do:
Actively Supervise Your Children
We’ve had parents bring their children in and immediately sit down and start texting or answering emails. Please know that we require parents to actively supervise their children. Active supervision means watching their children to make sure they’re interacting with the cats appropriately.
Be Sure Your Children Can Help Maintain A Calm Environment
We work hard to keep a calm and relaxed environment. It’s an environment where the cats can thrive and it’s also what customers expect. If your child would not be happy in this kind of an environment, please wait until they can before you bring them. That way, everyone, both two-legged and four-legged, can enjoy their time at Chico Cat Cafe.
Prepare Your Children to Listen to Directions
We understand that even when you are watching your children, sometimes, they will do things that you don’t want them to do. Make sure they are willing and able to comply with directions given to them by the staff or volunteers in the cat playpen. This is for their safety as well as the safety and well-being of the animals.
Decision of Staff and Volunteers is Final
Upon entry, if the staff or volunteers feel that the actions of individual children will not contribute to the calm and relaxed environment that we seek to maintain at Chico Cat Cafe, we will educate them on the need for this. If they cannot do this, we will decline your admission. If children enter the lounge and do not act in a way consistent with the environment we seek to maintain, we will inform them and you of this. Continuation of problematic behavior will mean the child must leave. The decision of staff on this is final. No refunds will be given if children are required to leave due to their behavior.
Conclusion
We’ve had literally thousands of children come through and visit us, and we’ve only had to require a handful of them to leave. We’re happy that we’re one of the few cat cafes that allow children to visit! With the cooperation of their parents, we’ll be able to continue this policy. Thank You!
About Your Visit
When it’s time to visit, come around to the front of the building, ring our snazzy new doorbell and check in. We’ll make sure we have your reservation and waivers signed in our system. We’ll also review our house rules and catiquette with you and answer any questions you may have. You are welcome to hang out on the front porch until your time has been called if you’d like! You will enter our vestibule and sanitize your hands prior to admittance. We will ask you if you’d like to place a specialty drink order from Cal Java, our coffee partner, OR you may prefer to enjoy a complimentary brewed coffee from our own private roaster once inside. If it’s raining, take your shoes off and place them into one of the cubbies in our shoe caddy. We recommend simply sitting down and letting the cats come to you (don’t worry, they will)! Our cat lounge is where our adoptable kitties call home, and you can expect them to be doing all the normal activities they would do at your furrever home; such as playing, climbing, eating and napping, lots of napping. Sometimes the cat room may be full of cat-action, and other times it may be all Zen and quiet. There is plenty to enjoy in both scenarios.
There is a visitation fee per person to enter the cat lounge. Visitors are allowed a specified number of minutes with our feline residents to play, cuddle and sip. You may purchase a specialty drink or enjoy complimentary brewed coffee and a snack while in the cat lounge during your session. Then sit down and enjoy the kitties!
We get this question all the time, and the answer is simply, wherever their hearts are most content – which is the beauty of our concept. The kitties have free reign of their part of the building, which consists of about 1,200 square feet of main cat lounge, boutique, purrivate cat litter box room and student lounge, but they will typically settle down amongst a big furry puddle of kitties in the main lounge. We are a foster home for all the kitties until they find their furrever homes, but they have quite a spread while they are our guests here!
We are very fortunate here on the Esplanade to have ample parking directly behind our café! Alternatively, we have a few spots directly in front of our building.
There will be approximately 12 -15 cats and kittens in our cat lounge at any given time, all available for adoption.
Typically, there are up to 9-12 people in the cat lounge during each session and the number will vary with the number of felines, to give all equal opportunity for quality time with the kitties. Just as with a restaurant, seating within the cat lounge is spaced to allow distance between your party and other guests.
This is the question (or statement) we hear the most – “I can’t wait to come and bring my little Fluffy!”. Please do not bring your own cat – we will have plenty!
Our cats are carefully screened for illnesses and we cannot accommodate outside cat guests. Please just bring photos of your furries to add to our walls! Chico Cat Cafe Cat Café and Lounge serves as a temporary foster home for cats who are waiting to be adopted. We make sure to only have the number of cats that can roam comfortably and stress-free in the space we have, we ensure all cafe cats are up-to date on vaccinations, and have been eased into the cat cafe environment. We cannot accommodate new, unfamiliar cats coming in and out of the cafe daily. This is for the protection (and sanity) of our guests and cafe cats. Our Cafe is strictly for cats and kittens looking for their forever
homes.
Yes, you must pay the admission fee for entry. Chico Cat Cafe is almost entirely funded through our cat lounge visits. Each entry fee allows us to continue our mission of fostering and finding homes for kittens. While some may think it’s silly to “pay to play”, your support is used to care for rescue cats and the attendants who keep them safe and healthy.
No, BUT Cat Lounge reservations are strongly encouraged. We are so grateful that there are tons of people that want to visit small businesses like ours, especially on the weekends. As such, all of the cat lounge hangouts are usually booked up in advance and walk-in availability is extremely rare. Reservations are the best way to guarantee your spot as we only allow 9-12 people per hour in the cat lounge. Make a Reservation
Just click on Book Now. You will see real time availability for each day and time slot, and you simply select your desired time for the number of people in your group. You pay online at the time of booking and sign a digital waiver. You will receive an email confirmation for your reservation, and if you need to make a change, you can do so up to 24 hrs prior to your reservation.
Yes you can. But – for convenience and fairness to all guests, and for payment portals, all of our booking is self-serve online as well.
Much like going to the movies, or flying on a plane, you choose the time and date that suits you and it is your responsibility to attend and arrive on time. We cannot extend your time, as that would not be fair to the guests in the session after you, nor is your session transferrable to another time slot. Once you have booked your session, you must attend that session only. If you provide 24 hours’ notice, and something has come up, we can reschedule you to another date and time where available.
Yes….and no. We strongly recommend making a reservation to guarantee your desired visit date & time, ESPECIALLY on the weekends! We will always accept walk-ins WHEN availability allows. However, in order to guarantee your visit to the Cat Lounge, we highly recommend booking a time slot in advance via our booking system.
We understand things happen! Our scheduling policies are as follows:
Cancellations
You may cancel your reservation up to 24 hours prior to your visit for a full refund. After that time, we are unable to refund reservations due to it keeping us from booking other visitors on short notice.
Reschedules
You may reschedule up to 24 hours before your reservation! Only one reschedule is permitted per reservation. Reschedule requests left uncompleted will be forfeited after 30 days. No-show appointments cannot be rescheduled nor refunded.
We love to host! Please email us for information regarding large bookings (groups of more than 6 people). Looking to host a private event in our space? Contact us for rates, details & availability!
Everyone. ALL guests who wish to enter the cat lounge must have a ticket, regardless of age. IE. 5 people in my group, I need to buy 5 tickets.
Neither. We love trees, so a screenshot of your confirmation email with the date and time showing is fine.
Our cats are amazing, but they don’t pay their own bills. The small entrance fee is necessary to cover the cost of housing our feline friends in a comfortable and chic environment – we want them to have plenty of room, lots of nooks to snuggle in and structures to climb, and tons of toys to help them stay engaged and happy.
Behind the scenes, we have lots of costs associated with having sufficient staff to keep the cats safe, and the frequent cleaning needed to keep both you and the cats healthy. It also covers extra supplies that our rescue partners cannot provide – kitty wipes, extra litter, food, treats, beds, first aid animal needs, eye drops, OTC meds, etc.
100% of adoption fees are given directly to the rescue or shelter responsible for the cat. In addition, most often the adoption fee doesn’t even cover the full cost of vetting and care the rescue or shelter has put into the cat. Which is why we do not ask the rescue/shelter to split the adoption fee with us.
The entrance fee charged is how we are able to pay for the rent, utilities, food, supplies, and caring staff for the kitties.
Not a cat person? We’ve heard that you exist 🙂 Give us a try – we think you will be pleasantly surprised and we believe that our kitties can win you over.
Yes! You can purchase gift cards to be used on anything at Chico Cat Cafe. However, please note that currently gift cards cannot be used to book appointments ahead of time through our booking portal. However, they can be used for walk-in admissions and retail purchases.
Yes we do! We know that cat lovers will want to visit often, and we want that too. Do you want some great purrks? You can learn more about memberships here.
Also, when you arrive ask for one of our business cards, or pick one up from the reception desk – we have a fun rewards program on the back!
Absolutely! We love parties! Birthday? Bachelorette party? Reunion? Wedding? Graduation? Retirement? Team Building! Whatever the occasion, our kitties would love to help you celebrate. We turn our main cat lounge into our “Party Pawlor” that we reserve just for these special times. All party plans are available on our website but please email us at meow@chicocatcafe.com for custom pricing and additional information.
How about cat hair in your food and drink for an authentic cat ownership experience?! All kidding aside, you don’t have to worry about that at Chico Cat Cafe. We have a “snack room” where you can select freshly brewed coffee or prepackaged snacks and drinks in a separate room from the cat lounge. We are working on partnering with a local bakery to provide awesome cat-themed snacks for purchase, all of which will be prepared off-site. If you would like a specialty coffee drink, please place your order with us and we will order it from Cal Java a block away! You are most welcome to bring your outside food/drink inside to enjoy at the café while mingling with the kittens if you are so inclined.
Super clean. We follow cleaning procedures similar to hospitals and veterinary clinics and are cleaning and lint rollering hourly, in addition to bi-weekly steam cleaning of all furniture, human and feline. Our cats are well-screened by our rescue partners to ensure they are healthy and we take VERY good care of them here. We also run medical-grade air purifiers in each main room and clean and sanitize every hour. With any animal facility, there is a small risk of zoonotic illnesses but we work extremely hard to make sure everyone stays healthy and sanitary. We have many extra precautions to prevent human illness too.
We are constantly monitoring all new developments regarding COVID-19. Barring a change in directions from health officials, we currently require or perform the following:
- Items such as silverware and drinkware are pre-packaged and disposable.
- Guests must sanitize their hands before entering the cat lounge.
- Our staff also sanitizes high-touch surfaces such as touch screens, door handles, railings, and counter-tops between sessions.
- We utilize 3 medical-grade air purifiers with 4-stage filtration to cleanse the air.
- We advise to please continue wearing your mask if you are unvaccinated. California government regulations state that masks are recommended for everyone when levels of COVID-19 infections are higher, depending on CDC COVID-19 community level. Currently the Butte County community level is LOW.
All of our guests in the cat room sign a waiver, and those under 15 need their parent to sign their waiver. A child 15 and under must have 1 adult present per 2 children.
We do ask that parents keep close supervision of their little ones around the kitties. Our felines need to feel super secure in their environment and know that everyone that’s chilling with them is chill.
We will also have special events and reserved sessions for children, such as Caturday Morning Cartoons and PJs (coming soon!)
Oh yes, and we would love it if you did! We have matchmakers right here in the café who will help you find the right feline companion for you or your family and will walk you through the process. We record all our adoptions and post them – our goal is to find great homes for all our furry friends so that we can foster more. Keep checking back to see the impact that you, our loyal guests, are making!
Tuesday – Friday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Mondays we are closed