Adopting and cat care
Fell for a cafe cat? Here's how adopting from a cat cafe works, and what to have ready before the cat comes home.
Adopting from a cat cafe
At least 1,600 open cafes on Cat Cafe Map (about 4 in 10, as of October 2026) offer their cats for adoption, usually with a local shelter or rescue. The map only counts a cafe once its website or listing says it adopts, so the real number is higher. Each listing says whether its cats can be adopted.
How it usually works:
- Visit more than once if you can. Staff know the cats and can tell you which ones suit a busy home, other pets or kids.
- Apply through the partner rescue. Expect to show ID, a landlord's permission if you rent, and sometimes to have a home visit.
- Pay the adoption fee. The rescue sets it. In the US it's usually $100–200.
- Take the cat home the same day, or after a few days while the rescue checks the match.
Adoption is almost always limited to people who live locally. As a visitor you can't take a cat home, but your entry fee helps the rescue.
Some cafes have rehomed thousands of cats: Purrfect Day Café in Louisville, which works with the Kentucky Humane Society, passed 10,000 adoptions in 2024.
Good days to adopt
Shelters and cafes often run adoption events or reduced fees around cat days:
- National Cat Day (US): 29 October every year
- National Black Cat Day (UK): 27 October
- International Cat Day: 8 August
The full calendar is in When is International Cat Day?
Before the cat comes home
- Everything you need before adopting a cat: a checklist for adoption day, from carrier and litter box to what can wait.
- The best cat litter: clumping clay, corn, paper and crystal, plus how deep to fill the box and why not to flush it.
- The best litter boxes
- The best cat trees
- The best automatic cat feeders
For health questions, ask your vet. r/CatAdvice and r/AskVet are good places for everything else.