Coffee & Snuggles: New cafe will open this summer in Perry with adoptable cats. See inside

Relax over a cup of coffee and snuggle with a kitty at a new cat cafe expected to open this summer in Perry.

Paws Awhile Cat Cafe at 1200 Macon Road is expected to offer a unique experience in which guests can interact with adoptable cats in a relaxing environment.

“I just wanted to create an environment that felt almost like home where people and cats, potentially finding their forever homes, could relax and visit and just ‘pause awhile’ in this busy world even for a short time,” said owner Rebecca Marfell. “Somewhere fun and different where some memories could be made. The play on words just came to me instead of pause awhile but to paws awhile.”

Marfell rescued her own cat, a 12-year-old orange tabby named Seymour, when he was a kitten.

Where personalities shine

Nestled in a corner suite of the Perry Plaza, the windowed venue is divided by a wall with a cozy cafe on one side and a comfortable lounge filled with couches, chairs and pillows where guests can interact with the cats on the other side.

Cafe customers can enjoy something to eat and drink while watching the cats in the lounge through one of two windows, and for a fee, they can enter the lounge with their purchases to socialize with the cats.

For those who want to interact with the cats, they’ll be able to make reservations online once the business is closer to opening and reserve a 50-minute slot. Ten slots at the top of each hour are expected to be available for booking. The cost is expected to be $15 per person with family discounts expected to be offered. Walk-ins will be accepted if there is an open slot.

“The great thing about the cat lounge is it’s more like a home environment,” Marfell said. “You may not want to adopt. You just want to spend time with the cats.

“But for those looking to adopt a cat, it kind of creates a nice environment. Personalities shine a little bit more. Even kitties that may have been in the system, some even for years, this hopefully will provide maybe a different type of environment that they have a better opportunity to find a home,” she said.

A safe haven

Filled with lots of places to sleep and climb, the lounge also will be a safe haven for the cats who will live there instead of in a foster home or at a shelter until their adoption.

“They are free roaming and don’t have to experience being in a cage,” Marfell said. “It will be their home. They have tons of windows. If I was a cat, I’d be happy there.”

About 10 to 15 cats will live there at a time.

Tunnels in a wall lead to a cat room where their litter boxes are kept and where the cats also can go when they want some privacy.

Paws Awhile Cat Cafe is currently working with the Humane Society of Houston County, Paws in Middle GA Rescue and The Rescue Ranch-Warner Robins.

All adoptions will take place through the application process of the nonprofit that owns the cat, and the cafe can help customers contact the correct organization to complete the adoption process.

A business

While the cat cafe is a passion for Marfell, it’s also a business.

“It’s just like an experience like a movie going to Rigby’s,” Marfell said about why a fee is charged to visit with the cats. “We are for-profit so we’ve got rent and taking care of the cats and all those expenses that come with having a business.”

The bulk of the income for the business will be from the entry fee for people to go in and socialize with the cats. A portion of the income will come from the sale of food and beverages. Cat-themed T-shirts, purses and earrings also will be sold at the cafe.

Additionally, Marfell expects to offer some special events that would also generate income such as yoga or bingo.

‘The right time’

A realtor and business owner, Marfell said she’s had the idea of a cat cafe “in my head for quite a long time.”

“I just didn’t really know the best way to go about it or if it would even be something that would be accepted and have people interested in the concept,” she said. “But I saw them popping up in other places. So it just kind of felt like the right time to finally go for it myself.”

Marfell has a bachelor’s degree in foods and business, and she was a licensed veterinarian technician for 12 years.

“I get to finally just meld all those things together and do the cat cafe,” she said.

The business logo was designed by her 17-year-old daughter, Rylee Marfell, based on Seymour, who has curly white whiskers.

“When the gentleman was making my sign, he left the whisker off and I was like, ‘Oh, you’ve got to put the whiskers on because that whisker makes the whole cat,’ ” Rebecca Marfell said.

Her daughter also did the artwork on the cafe’s windows.

How do cat cafes work?

How a cat cafe can operate is “very dependent” on local city and county regulations, Marfell said.

“You will find quite a lot of variety in the U.S. and Europe,” she said. “Some are libraries with cats. Some are full-on food service with cats or just maybe the coffee bar.”

In Perry, the local ordinances prohibit the preparation of food on site. Marfell plans to offer pre-packaged food items and beverages, and hopes to partner with local businesses such as Bodega Brew to sell some of their products,including baked goods.

Cat cafes have proven successful in providing forever homes for cats, said Marfell. She noted the success of The Kitty Cup in Port St. Lucie, Florida, which posted on its Facebook page July 10 that 62 cats have been adopted after only being open a little more than a month.

Paws Awhile Cat Cafe is now expected to open in August. Marfell said she’s waiting on the installation of a customized air ventilation system and next inspections. Then, she’ll want to give the cats some time to become acclimated to their new home.

She’s still fine-tuning details, but she expects to be open six days a week, likely closing on Thursdays for deep cleaning and to give the kitties a rest. She’s considering hours of 11 a.m. to either 6 or 8 p.m.

Purr-fect spot

Marfell chose the Perry location for the cafe because of all the windows.

“I looked a little bit in Warner Robins, went out to Perry, just kind of drove around and came across my location, and I was like, this is it,” Marfell said. “There is no doubt in my mind. This is where I need to be: the corner unit with all the windows, plenty of light.

“It was just meant to be. It’s a perfect spot,” she said.

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