Cat café opens in Richmond...meow!
RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - If you like cats and you like coffee, you are going to be ecstatic to find out the first cat café has opened in Richmond.
The cat café is at 1706 and 1704 East Main Street in Shockoe Bottom.
Angela and Jeff Sidener are leasing neighboring spaces, one for the café and one for the "cat lounge." There will be no cats inside the coffee shop, but you can bring coffee inside the cat lounge after purchase.
The coffee side is called "Central Purrk" and will sell coffee and pastries. Right now, it's still closed and under renovation and is expected to open soon.
The lounge and retail space where cat lovers can play with cats, adopt cats and purchase cat-related items is called Zoomies. Sidener said the name came from when cats "zoom" past you, especially in the middle of the night.
"People can come here and study and relax and spend time with the kitties," Sidener said. "There will be no live cats at the coffee shop. You can either purchase pastries and coffee and bring it over here into the lounge or you can order it here and we'll bring it over to you."
Sidener said she came up with the idea for a cat café after working over the years in a rescue.
"It's getting adult cats adopted mainly," Sidener said. "It's a hard thing to get adult cats forever homes because they go to the stand and they are stressed and don't show well but here, it's a living room environment to show their personality and meet strangers and give the company a lot of adults are seeking to."
Sidener went to visit other cat café's, like the one in Washington, D.C. to get inspiration.
The cats up for adoption and who are living at Zoomies are from Richardsons Rescue, an in-home foster agency in Richmond that Sidener helped found along with Helen Miller and Jerry Ingram. Richardsons Rescue is an all-volunteer group that has been around since October of 2015 and has kittens and cats in foster homes. There are 25 to 30 volunteers, 15 fosters that are spread out from far Southside to the East End, Short Pump all the way to King William.
The rescue also provides spay/neuter services and veterinary care.
"We want everyone to know the cats that are here are all for adoption but they go nowhere until they find a forever home with a family," said Helen Miller, executive director of Richardsons Rescue.
For now, there will be five to eight cats living at Zoomies. Once a cat is adopted, a new cat from Richardsons Rescue will be brought in.
Each cat through Richardson's Rescue at the cat cafe costs $95.00 and is neutered, spayed and has all his or her vaccines and shots.
For those who want coffee and no cats, the coffee shop is open to the general public.
To spend an hour in Zoomies you have to sign up online here.
It's $10 for an hour of playtime or $6 for 30 minutes of playtime. You can do a walk-in for 15 minutes to see what Zoomies is all about. There is a three-hour
pass for the weekday for $18. They also host game nights, paw-some paint nights and "bend and purr."
The current cats being housed at Zoomies can be found here.
On weekends, or at special events, there could be kittens brought in for a visit.
For more information on Richardsons Rescue, you can visit their website here.
If you are interested in a cat at Zoomies, or through Richardsons Rescue, you can fill out an application at Zoomies or online.
Richardsons Rescue is also looking for volunteers and foster homes for their cats, and you can sign up here.
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