'Catfe' Concept Comes to Metro Detroit

Is this not just the cat’s meow?

Ferndale is about to get a pet adoption center where patrons can sip java and stroke cats and kittens that are available for adoption.

The Ferndale Cat Shelter has raised enough money through an online fundraiser to open the Catfé Lounge at 821 Livernois within a month.

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Donations will offset operational costs at the Ferndale Cat Shelter, a nonprofit group that places homeless cats in foster care and spays and neuters feral cats under its trap-and-release program. Foster care is only stop-gap measure, and the goal of shelter director Deanne Iovan and a cadre of supporters is to get cats into permanent homes.

The group doesn’t have physical shelter facilities, and Catfé Lounge will allow people to meet pets in a non-shelter, fun and relaxing atmosphere and, hopefully, result in increased adoptions, Iovan told Patch.

Foster-care needs are unmet for as many as 100 cat and kittens at any given time in Ferndale.

“It’s a big job and, depending on the number of cats we have, it can be tough to find the right people,” Iovan said. “There are varying degrees of need — some need socialization, some are kittens that are really active and some don’t get along with other cats, so it’s hard to find a place for them.”

An Indiegogo campaign raised $6,724 — 184 percent of the original goal — to cover the security deposit on the building, utilities and supplies needed for the soft opening of Catfé Lounge in an area of Ferndale that is highly walkable and close to other animal-centered businesses.

The space will be cage-free, allowing people and felines to get to to know one another in a relaxed setting. Suggested donations of $10 an hour to benefit the Ferndale Cat Shelter are suggested, and free wi-fi will be available.

“People would still be able to go next door and have the same kind of coffee shop experience with the cats,” she said.

Iovan said the project has been met with enthusiastic response within the rescue community and Ferndale at large.

“What I have found in doing this rescue work is a lot of people with big hearts who want to help with homeless animals,” she said. “All these wonderful people I’ve connected with who are doing rescue work reaffirms my faith in humanity.

“I’m just a small part of a really big network of people who care,” she said.

First Cat Café in China

The concept in Ferndale differs from some other cat s around the world.

The world’s first cat café, Cat Flower Garden, reportedly opened in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1998, and the concept has also flourished in Japan. In Tokyo, stressed-out office workers seeking respite from the world’s most crowded concrete jungle can stop by dozens of animal cafés that harbor a variety of animals — cats, of course, but also falcons, iguanas and many other species.

The first such establishment to open in Russia is Cats’ Republic in St. Petersburg, the home of the celebrated Hermitage Cats that protect the world-famous art collection from rats and other unwanted guests.

The idea quickly caught on. In Moscow, the Cats and People cat café opened this spring. There, cat lovers can not only bring their pets in for a cup of tea, but also rent and play with them in another room.

The first U.S. cat café in a permanent space — Cat Town Café — opened in November 2104 in Oakland, CA. A pop-up cat café opened in New York in April for a limited run, and others were expected in Portland, Los Angeles, Denver, San Diego and Denver before year’s end.

The Cat’s Meow is expected to open in Ann Arbor next year.

How to Give

The Indiegogo fundraising site is still active and provides transparency and accountability, which Iovan said is important. But for those donors who want 100 percent of their donation to go to the Catfé Lounge, direct giving is the best option. For details on how to do that, go to the Ferndale Cat Shelter website. For updates, like the Ferndale Cat Shelter on Facebook.

» Photo via Facebook