Occasionally, you just need a cup of coffee and a chance to cozy up with a couple cute kitty cats.
So on a rainy, drab Wednesday morning, Hannah Tsukroff, vacationing from Massachusetts, stopped by Coastal Cat Cafe on Garden Street for coffee and cat cuddles. Her cat Tiger died recently, and Tsukroff found the Pensacola business while searching for things to do in Pensacola.
It was just what she needed, as 18 cats − 17 of which are fosters and looking for forever homes −scurried throughout the spacious and feline-friendly cat rooms in the converted home. A few ambled over near where she was sitting, curious about the new visitor.
"I've had cats my whole life,'' she said, as an itsy-bitsy gray tabby, Gonzo, scurried nearby. "So it's just calming to be here. It's therapeutic."
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Coastal Cat Cafe opened at 1508 W. Garden St. in December. The front part of the business is the cafe area, where visitors can purchase coffee from local roaster Fix Coffee, and treats and beverages from local vendors such as Big Jerk Coda, Craft Gourmet Bakery, the Hummus Lady and more. Owner Adrienne Brynteson also sells crafts from local vendors.
But beyond the cafe, a secured door leads to the Cat Sanctuary, where 17 foster cats, and the permanent house cat Miss Cookie, roam and play and visit with guests. There are murals and art on the walls and cat towers, ladders, shelves and other toys − gizmos, whirly things and hidey-holes abound to keep the cats occupied.
Visitors − walk-ins are accepted if space is available, but reservations are suggested − pay $15.53 to spend 45 minutes with the adorable cats in the sanctuary. (I was one of the first visitors this Wednesday morning and sat on the floor and a sweet 8-month-old orange tabby named Oscar Wilde immediately fell for me, and vice-versa. He brushed his side across my leg and nudged his little head into my calf, purring all the while. When another orange tabby got curious and moseyed over near us, Oscar Wilde showed his fangs and hissed, and other cat − I didn't even get its name − scurried away.)
The cats are all available for adoption and come from the Coastal Cat Cafe's partners, Panhandle Animal Welfare Society and Pensacola Foster Kittens. Cost is $125 for a cat or kitten, $75 for a senior cat 10 years and older. Bonded cats are just $125 for the pair. All the cats are spayed/neutered, vaccinated and micro-chipped. All proceeds go to the two foster agencies who supply the cafe with the cats and kittens.
Coastal Cat Cafe is Pensacola's first cat cafe, though they have been popular in larger cities − originating in Taiwan − for a few years now.
Brynteson, a University of West Georgia alumnus with a Master of Business degree, moved to Pensacola with her boyfriend six years ago. They were both working from home − she in transportation logistics − and once in Pensacola, Brynteson, always a "cat person," began doing some volunteer work with local animal adoption and welfare groups.
"When I moved down here, I noticed that Pensacola didn't have a cat cafe and started looking into it and realized it was pretty attainable,'' she said. "There's a big population of people who love dogs, and animals in general including cats, but it seems here more geared to the dog population with not a lot strictly related to cats."
Now, Pensacola has a cat cafe, a place of sanctuary for both humans and felines. Though locals often visit, many folks on vacation, such as Tsukroff, visit, often because they're missing their own pets.
That same day, Sarah Moll and her boyfriend Garrett Woods, vacationing from Midland, Ontario, also visited and played with the cats.
"I have two Siamese cats at home,'' she said while sitting on the floor as kittens and cats flocked nearby. "I miss them and found this place when I was Googling things to do in Pensacola. I grabbed my boyfriend and said 'We're going.'"
For more information, go to www.coastalcatpcola.com.
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