What Exactly is a Cat Café?
Cat cafés originated in Asia in the late 1990’s in large cities where residents often lived in small apartments & having pets was impractical for most. People would stop by the cat café to have a snack & spend time with the resident cats. Since then, cat cafés have gained popularity and begun opening in cities around the world.
Cat cafés have become extremely popular in the United States since the first cat café opened in New York City in April 2014. (There are now five separate cat cafés in New York City alone!)
Most cat cafés in the United States are more of an “open-air adoption lounge,” where adoptable rescue cats can hang out and meet people in a cage-free environment. (The US has more stringent regulations around animals & food being in the same spaces.) Potential adopters can spend time with the adoptable cats in a more home-like environment. Other visitors who cannot have their own cat for whatever reason can spend time with the cats without the responsibility of permanent ownership. It’s really a win-win!
In the United States, the cat café is less about the “café” and more about the cats.
Lazy Cat Lounge Lowell aspires to be a small, relaxing, home-away-from-home space in the heart of downtown Lowell where people of all ages can work, study, and interact with resident and/or adoptable cats. When we’re ready to open, booking time in the cat lounge for a low hourly fee will be done online via this website!
Our Story
As an active animal rescue volunteer for more than 20 years, I’ve been dreaming about opening a “cat cafe” in my city of Lowell, MA for the past 6 years. My family and I love animals of all kinds, but cats have become my focus since I first volunteered for The Pat Brody Shelter for Cats back in 1995. Since about 2009, my family & I have fostered more feral cats, pregnant cats, and orphaned kittens than I can count. I really want to create the cat café as a giant foster home where I can dedicate my time to helping as many cats, and people, as I can.
We currently share our home with 4 elderly rescue cats (Sally, Phil, Matilda & Hocus) plus one six-month-old “foster fail” tabby named Jack. Jack came to us as an orphaned foster kitten via Broken Tail Rescue in August 2023. We bottle-fed him for the first few weeks of his life & have had the joy of watching him grow. I really hoped that Jack would become the welcoming kitty committee and mascot of Lazy Cat Lounge Lowell, but unfortunately, he tested positive for FIV & won’t be able to fulfill that role. Never fear; this is not a death sentence. It’s just a condition. You can read more about FIV here.
I’m so excited to share this journey with you! ~ Brandi Jong, Owner
