What to expect at Chattanooga’s new cat café

cat cafe

Chattanooga has a new cat café, where people can play with and adopt cats. (Photo: MacKenzie Scott)

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We’ve been teasing it in our post of the day and on our Facebook page, but ICYMI — holy felines — there’s a cat café in Chattanooga now.

We were picturing the Japanese cat café where Shoshana from “Girls” worked, so we had to know what St. Elmo’s Naughty Cat Café is really like.

Here’s what we found out. ⬇️

Getting fur-miliar with Naughty Cat Café

🐱 The business fosters adoptable cats from the local organizations Humane Educational Society + Pet Placement Center.

📍 3742 Tennessee Ave., Suite 100

⏰ Closed Mondays, hours here. Reservations recommended.

💰 $13/hour, which includes a free non-alcoholic beverage. Beer + baked goods are available to purchase.

🐱 You must be at least 8 years old to visit. First-time visitors need to sign a waiver + you should arrive 10 minutes earlier than the reservation.

Upon entering, visitors sign in + can sip a complimentary cup of self-serve tea or coffee, peruse merchandise or purchase a pastry from Mama Crunk’s Pies or Cupcake Kitchen.

Two large cat lounges connect to the entry room + currently house over 20 cats, which roam freely from room to room. There’s also a Kitten Sanctuary, which currently houses two of the café’s shy + timid cats. As kitten season approaches + local shelters receive an overflow of kittens, Naughty Cat Café will foster and care for them there.

I can haz all the kittehs?

  • Owners = Whitney Sickels + Heath Hanson
  • 100% of the $50 adoption fee goes to the animal shelters. The entry fee + sales of snacks benefit the business’ maintenance and operations.
  • The name “naughty” was inspired by cats’ mischievous nature.
  • The website features an updated list of the adoptable cats at the café.
  • All cats are spayed/neutered, up-to-date on vaccines, vaccinated for rabies, microchipped + FeLV/FIV tested.
  • Monthly events will be announced + may include yoga with cats or a BYOB wine night with the cats.
  • The business offers three private party options.
  • Since opening the second week of March, 10 cats have been adopted + the café has had 1,400 visitors. 🐈

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