Cat Cafe boosts adoptions for local animal rescue

In the midst of the pandemic, local animal rescue Hearts Alive Village found itself struggling to run a floundering pet supply store.

Supply chain issues made it impossible to get pet food, and empty rows of shelves lined the walls of the shelter’s location near Rainbow and Oakey boulevards.

Staff asked themselves: What if we became a cat cafe?

Hearts Alive Village Cat Cafe opened and replaced the old supply store in May 2022. It now serves as a (hopefully) temporary home for around 35 to 40 cats, with two residents — 9-year-old Poptart and 19-year-old Muffin — as its permanent ambassadors.

Brittany Rutledge, the feline program coordinator for Hearts Alive Village, says she tries to play matchmaker for humans and cats at the cafe.

“Cats and dogs don’t necessarily show their best in a cage — it doesn’t show their true personality. Versus, out and about, you can see how these guys interact with each other,” she said. “We learn more as we go … but (the cafe) absolutely helps with their mental well being. That makes a huge impact on them being adoptable.”

And the cafe’s kitty matchmaking works. About 30 percent of the rescue’s total cat adoptions last year were facilitated by the cat cafe, with 352 cats adopted — averaging to almost one cat adopted every day.

This year, more than 160 cats have been adopted from the rescue in the past couple months alone, Rutledge said.

During the week, the cafe sees about 20 to 30 people a day, and as many as 70 on weekends.

Rutledge said people often come in and fall in love with a cat they may not have considered for adoption thanks to an interaction they had in the cafe.

“A lot of people that come in to meet cats might originally be looking for a kitten, or (say) ‘I want a super young playful cat,’” she said. “They may come in and realize ‘Oh my God, this cat sat on my lap. I love this one.’ … They’re more willing to interact with other cats than what they originally thought in their mind,” she said.

Reservations for the cat cafe, open daily from noon to 7 p.m., can be booked online at heartsalivevillage.org/cat-cafe. One-hour sessions are $15 each and help fund the cats’ medical care.

Las Vegas students can also take advantage of a buy-one-hour, get-one-free deal. The cafe is open for all ages.

Rutledge asks guests to respect the cats’ space when they visit, and to be patient.

“We like saying this is the cats’ space, and we’re just they’re janitors.”

Contact Taylor Lane at tlane@reviewjournal.com.