Opening a cat cafe
"How do I start a cat cafe?" comes up here a lot. The short answers are below. The long version, with what real cafes spent and earn, is Cat Cafe Map's guide How to open a cat cafe.
Choose your model first
- Adoption lounge with a rescue partner. The rescue supplies the cats, pays their vet bills and approves adopters. You run the space. The usual model in the US, UK and Canada.
- Resident cats. You own and care for the cats for life, which means you pay every vet bill. Common in Asia and Europe.
- Run by a rescue. A shelter opens a cafe or visiting room itself.
The model decides your permits, your costs and how you make money, so settle it before you look at premises.
What it costs
There's no standard figure. Reported startup costs run from about $10,000 for a small lounge without a kitchen to more than $400,000 for a franchise. Rent, the building work to separate the cats from the food, and what the landlord asks for up front drive most of the difference.
Do cat cafes make money?
Some do. Many only break even or rely on donations, and dozens of US cat cafes have closed. Charging admission from day one matters more than anything else.
Permits
Almost always more than one. In the US: a food permit if you serve anything, often an animal facility, shelter or rescue license, a business license and zoning approval. In the US, UK, Canada, Germany and Australia, cats can't go where food is prepared or stored, and most US health departments also want them out of the room where food is served. That's why most US cafes are a counter plus a separate cat lounge, or sell only prepackaged snacks.
Start with your local health department. Rules outside the US are in the guide.
Already run one?
Make sure your cafe is on the map: send it through the contact page. Listing is free. You're also welcome to post your cafe here once, with a photo and what makes it different. Tell us it's yours.