Relax, sip some coffee, and then adopt your newest feline family member at one of Pennsylvania’s cat cafes.

The first cat cafe opened to fanfare in Taiwan in 1998. Fast forward a couple of decades and you can visit a cat cafe in virtually every corner of Pennsylvania, as the concept—a place, often a coffee shop, where people can pay to visit and play with cats—has since spread around the globe. The Commonwealth has at least 20 cat cafes, whether we’re talking full coffee shops or simple cat lounge areas.

To visit, all you generally do is book a reservation (usually a period between a half hour and an hour), pay a small fee, sign a waiver that you understand kitties have claws, and then go hang out with cats—sometimes while enjoying a quality beverage.

All of the cats in Pa.’s cat cafés are rescues and available for adoption! So, while you can just spend time with your feline friends without having to worry about the litter box, you can also use your time in your local cat café to get to know the cats up for adoption—you just may find a fur-ever friend.

Cat cafes in Central Pennsylvania

Second Chance Strays Cat Rescue & Lounge – Altoona

Cat cafés have become so popular they even grace small towns like Altoona. Second Chance Strays Cat Rescue & Lounge is a relatively new cat rescue that operates a cat lounge so that potential cat parents can hang out with and get to know the cats for adoption.

An all-volunteer outfit, Second Chance doesn’t operate a full coffee bar, but it does offer drip coffee, refrigerated drinks, and snacks, all included with your cat lounge cover charge. Your payment mainly goes to taking care of the cats, as each adopted cat is fully treated and spayed or neutered.

The Scratching Post – Lewisburg

The Lewisburg cat cafe called The Scratching Post was started by the local rescue Cherished Cats Rescue Alliance to give visitors opportunities to interact with some of the rescue alliance’s adoptable cats, with the goal of finding forever homes for all of them. While no food or drinks are sold on-site, visitors are welcome to bring their own.

Cat cafes in Northeastern Pennsylvania

Cats in Bloom – Bloomsburg

Cats in Bloom is a nonprofit cat cafe located in Bloomsburg that’s fully supported by its volunteers and donors. The cat cafe is a warm and welcoming space to do work or chat with friends while cuddling with cats or watching them play. W

hile Cats in Bloom does not sell food and drink itself (because of municipal code restrictions), you can bring your own food and drink into the cafe! (Just don’t feed the cats, obviously.)

Unlike some other cat cafes, Cats in Bloom is not a cat rescue, but a cat “adoption platform” as the organization describes itself: the café works with area cat rescues to help their cats find forever homes.

Purrfect Mugs Cat Cafe – Plains

Purrfect Mugs Cat Cafe is a NEPA cat cafe in Luzerne County that offers cat cuddles, coffee, and gifts!

The cat den, where adoptable cats from a local rescue roam free, is a living-room-like lounge space that you pay a small cover charge to enter. The coffee shop and gift shop are separate from the cat den, so while reservations are recommended in order to hang with the cats, you don’t need a reservation to grab an espresso drink or buy some gifts made by local artists.

Coal Cats Cafe – Tamaqua

Coal Cats Cafe, located in Schuylkill County’s Tamaqua, is a cat cafe that leans into its Coal Region location—the logo above the building features the most adorable cat coal miner. Unlike the cat on the storefront, the cats inside Coal Cats Cafe are not miners, as they are adoptable felines from local Starting Over Animal Rescue (S.O.A.R.).

Reservations to visit the cat den are recommended; you don’t need one if you’d just like to visit the café to order a coffee drink or a pre-packaged snack.

Cat cafes in Western Pennsylvania

The Calico Café – Brookville

Jefferson County’s Brookville is home to the charming Calico Café, a cat cafe with a full-service coffee shop. The cafe area, where the drinks are brewed and served, is entirely separate from the lounge where one spends time with the cats.

The Calico Café hosts eight adoptable adult cats at a time. Before scratching some cats, you can order baked goods or tasty drinks with cute names like “The Tuxedo” (a vanilla mocha) and, of course, “The Calico” (a caramel mocha). The cafe also sometimes hosts fun events like “cat yoga,” which is exactly what it sounds like: yoga while surrounded by cats!

Purrista Cat Cafe – Erie

Erie’s first cat cafe, Purrista Cat Cafe, is a cat lounge space alongside a full coffee bar with specialty coffee, espresso drinks, teas, and snacks!

For feline company, the cafe partners with Because You Care, Inc., an Erie-area animal rescue. About 10 cats wander the cat lounge space, where human visitors can play and cuddle with the kitties. The cat café also regularly hosts other events for cats and community, such as cat yoga or painting while surrounded by cats. Reservations are recommended!

Cattfeinated Cat Cafe – Greensburg

Cattfeinated Cat Cafe, the first cat café to open in Westmoreland County’s Greensburg, has been responsible for the adoption of more than 500 cats! The operation is pretty big—the cafe has two cat playrooms that visitors can enter to hang out with the cats. Between the two cat areas, Cattfeinated Cat Cafe is home to 20 adoptable cats!

Not a rescue itself, the cafe works with local rescue Wayward Whiskers. Outside of the two cat lounges, the café has a full coffee bar with seating. This area is separate from the playrooms in case you couldn’t get a reservation but still want to visit—or perhaps if you’re allergic to cats.

Dexter’s Cat Café – Indiana

Dexter’s Cat Café in Indiana isn’t owned by a human named Dexter—it’s named after Dexter, a cat-loving dog! Otherwise, Indiana’s first cat café is all about cats.

The front area of the café is just like a regular café with coffee drinks and snacks available for purchase. The cat room is where the magic happens, magic being human-feline bonding. If you think you have found your forever friend at Dexter’s and want to adopt one of the cats, you’ll go through the cafe’s animal rescue partner, Four Footed Friends.

Black Cat Market – Pittsburgh

Centrally located in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood, Black Cat Market is a space for cat lovers who want to spend time with cats while connecting with the neighborhood community. After all, Black Cat Market is not simply an adoption center or coffee shop (though it is both of those things)—the market is also host to several events (with cats!) like yoga, painting, book clubs, poetry readings, and more.

For the classic cat cafe experience of hanging with the cats in the cat room, reservations are recommended.

Rescue and Relax – Pittsburgh

Rescue and Relax is a Pittsburgh nonprofit that is both a cat rescue and a cat lounge! The lounge, located in the Swissvale neighborhood, is a public space where visitors can mix and mingle with adoptable cats.

There is no explicit charge to enter—Rescue and Relax operates on a “pay what you can” system to ensure that everyone who wants to relax in the space alongside cats can do so. And while snacks and beverages are available, they’re also not for sale—the nonprofit relies solely on donations! While you’re in the space, you can enjoy meeting your potential new furry family member as well as playing cat-themed games and perusing cat-themed books.

Kitty Queen Cat Rescue – Ross Township

Just north of Pittsburgh in Ross Township, Kitty Queen Cat Rescue is a local animal rescue that also has a cat lounge where you can book time to meet the cats up for adoption. The cat lounge has cozy sofas and chairs for relaxing with the kitties, and there are between 30 and 45 rescue cats and kittens at any one time.

The lounge doesn’t have food or drink for sale, and food is not allowed, but visitors are welcome to bring their own drinks (as tong as they have lids).

Cat cafes in Southeastern Pennsylvania

Black Cat Cafe – Devon

Devon’s Black Cat Cafe is a special place in Chester County, as you can hang out with cats alongside not just a coffee bar, but a full-service restaurant!

Black Cat Café serves full breakfasts—think made-from-scratch hashbrowns and french toast—as well as sandwiches, soups, salads, and burgers for lunch. Though the food is delicious, the place is still mostly volunteer-run, and café proceeds go to Pet Adoption and Lifecare Society (PALS) animal rescue, which owns and operates the café.

The cats don’t roam the restaurant, of course—the health inspector wouldn’t approve—but instead are up front in the gift shop, where you can also choose to hang out with a drink and the café’s free Wi-Fi. 

MeWow Café – Doylestown

MeWow Café in Doylestown works with area rescues Kitty Junction, A Bigger Purpose, and Hart2Heart Animal Rescue to help find homes for rescue cats. The cafe does this by providing a cozy environment complete with locally made treats and cups of coffee for future cat owners to get to know the cats that are up for adoption.

This Bucks County cat cafe is quite popular; we recommend making a reservation to ensure you’ll get the time you need to spend with the cats!

Betty’s Corner at Project PAW – Easton

The Lehigh Valley’s first cat cafe, Betty’s Corner, can be found inside Project PAW—an Easton location of the Center for Animal Health and Welfare. Here, six adoptable cats are waiting for snuggles and pets—and their forever home.

Guests can also partake in snacks and coffee while they meet the cats. There’s also a thrift store inside Project PAW, and its proceeds benefit the animal rescue!

Treetops Kitty Cafe – Kennett Square

Treetops Kitty Cafe, found in Kennett Square, has found homes for more than 850 cats since it first opened its doors in 2016. Treetops is a nonprofit animal rescue that houses adoptable cats, often rescued from high-kill shelters, that always roam free in the lounge space. Guests can pay a small fee to spend time with the cats, whether because they love cats or because they’re looking for a new family member.

Note that the cafe does not serve food or drink, though it does sell gifts and merch alongside its kitty cuddles.

Cat Nook Cafe – Norwood

Cat Nook Cafe in Delaware County’s Norwood has a cat lounge where guests can spend time with the rescued, adoptable cats, or you can hang out in the café area with a coffee and simply watch the cats play—perfect for those with allergies! You can make a reservation or you can just walk in for a visit with the cats.

Get a Gato Cat Cafe – Philadelphia

Get a Gato Cat Cafe is an excellent way to, well, get a gato (“cat” in Spanish) in South Philly. And rather than a simple coffee shop in the front, you’re treated to a Colombian-inspired cafe with specialty coffee drinks and tasty food options like arepas and guava hand pies.

The cafe and the cat lounge are located in separate areas, so you’re free to get some food without a cat room reservation. Note reservations are highly recommended to visit the cats—and potentially adopt one! Get a Gato partners with Fishtails Animal Rescue for its VIPs (very important purrers).

Le Cat Cafe – Philadelphia

Le Cat Cafe can be found in Philly’s Brewerytown neighborhood. The cat cafe is the project of local Green Street Rescue, and the resident cats are all adoptable from the rescue. Reservations are recommended and can be made online, whether they’re for an hour visit, a half-hour visit, or events like cat yoga.

While the cafe doesn’t have a full coffee bar, rather than purchase a beverage (coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or cider), your drink is included in your visit price!

Whiskers Cat Cafe – Philadelphia

A relatively new cat cafe in South Philadelphia, Whiskers Cat Cafe is home to more than 20 cats who are looking for their forever homes. While the cat café isn’t a full food-and-drink establishment, when you pay to visit the cats, you get free coffee, tea, water, and wi-fi. For its adoptions, Whiskers works with local cat rescue organizations PURR Philly and The Cat Collaborative.