Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Kitty Cafe attracting animal lovers
New business draws animal lovers and the curious
Last Sunday afternoon, a couple of young guys walked into Kennett Square’s newest business while the owner and manager were momentarily away from the front desk.
They stood there, smiling expectantly, and then one looked around said, “So how does this work?”
They weren’t the only firsttimers through the doors. For the past few weeks, since TreeTops Kitty Cafe had its informal opening at the beginning of the month, more and more area residents have been learning how cat cafes work.
The basic concept is simple: You make a contribution and then you hang out with cats. The idea first took hold in Asia, then spread to the United States, but it’s new to the Kennett area — the closest other cat cafes currently are in Philadelphia and other large cities, says owner Laurellen Treisner.
Treisner has operated TreeTop Animal Rescue since 2006, sheltering homeless animals in foster homes until they can be adopted. The service never had a physical center, but it had cats living at the Paws and Claws pet store at 305 W. State St., where the cat cafe is now.
The pet-store cats were there to be adopted, but Tre-
isner noticed that some people would come to the store just to play with them. When the store went out of business, Treisner thought turning the space into a cat cafe would be a natural next step.
Treisner and her collection of staff and volunteers were hoping for a good response, and they got one. Right from the beginning, cafe cats got adopted at a steady rate.
And when the service had its grand opening Saturday, Aug. 19, a crowd of people surged in to eat cake, listen to live music, get faces painted, and of course play with the cats. Men, women, young, old, it seemed there was a pent-up desire in the area just to sit down and interact with cats.
Treisner had chosen a feline staff of 10 or 11 cats who were good with large groups of strangers, and even with the bustling crowds at the grand opening, there were cats placidly sitting on various perches as new human friends petted and talked to them. Young cats scampered about cheerfully. Others clambered on specialized cat furniture or chased toys that accommodating humans offered them.
One kitten named Mickey simply curled up in a basket and snoozed blissfully, as only cats can, occasionally acknowledging with a sleepily friendly look the many people who found her adorable.
That was Saturday, but on Sunday there was a new crowd of 10 or so in the cafe, interacting with the feline staff or just relaxing.
Treisner has multiple goals for the service. Obviously one is to offer some cat time to people who can’t have them for whatever reason. The fee to visit for a half-hour is $5 for those 14 and older, $7 for an adult and child, and $10 for a family. Monthly passes are available.
Also available are snacks like coffee, tea, and pastries from local merchants. And there’s Wi-Fi — it’s a cafe, after all.
While offering the cat-deprived some feline company is one goal, Treisner has another big one — to get cats adopted. Every time a patron falls in love with a cafe cat and goes through the adoption process, another from the foster homes can take its place, and another homeless cat can be brought in to the system. With millions of homeless cats in the shelter system nationwide, every open space can literally be a lifesaver.
One thing the cat-loving community agrees on is that sometimes a cat and a human will just click, and become good friends almost instantly. And they also agree that often enough the cat makes the decision for you. A situation like TreeTops Kitty Cafe, with multiple cats interacting with multiple people, allows that to happen as often as possible.
Treisner is quick to emphasize a third goal — simply to offer a relaxing place to get away from a stressful world for a while.
“We just wanted to have a comfortable place where people can hang out,” Treisner says.
Few creatures know how to relax as well as a cat, Treisner says, and the idea is to emulate them and relax yourself. Get a cup of something and a snack, and then just take it easy the way you would in any cafe, except there are cats there too.
That’s pretty much all there is to it at the TreeTops Kitty Cafe, when it comes to how it works. As for why, well, at least among the cat lovers happily hanging out these days with new feline friends in the 300 block of West State Street, that’s not a question that comes up much.