Woman Walked Into a Cat Cafe and Asked for the 14-Year-Old Nobody Wanted. The Shop Has Now Helped 465 Cats Find Homes

When Kit Howard arrived at a cat cafe in Bend and said she wanted to adopt a 14-year-old cat with hyperthyroidism, the person at the desk burst into tears. The cat, Mallory, had been there for two months, and Howard was asking for the kind of pet many people pass by.

The adoption request that stopped the room

Howard had already seen Mallory on Instagram before making an appointment at Playful Paws, Bend's first and only cat cafe. When she got there, she did not ask to browse for long. She said she was there to see Mallory and wanted to adopt her.

Howard later recalled that the staff member at the desk started crying because Mallory had been waiting for a home and, as Howard put it, "nobody wants to adopt an old sick cat."

Mallory was not the only cat Howard took home that day. She also adopted a younger cat that struggles with swollen paw pads. Howard's visits to the cafe did not stop there. She later decided that younger cat needed a playmate and adopted a 10-month-old kitten that had been weaned from his mother too early. Her fourth adoption from the cafe was a cat that was underweight and had asthma. Her fifth was another 10-month-old kitten with upper respiratory issues.

Howard says she is drawn to cats that are old, sick or have special needs, or some combination of all three. She also said she has now hit her limit with five special-needs cats, even though a one-eyed cat and a tripod are expected to become available.

How a Kentucky idea turned into Bend's cat cafe

Playful Paws marked three years this month and has now recorded 465 cat adoptions. The cafe opened in August 2023 after owner April Ferguson visited a cat cafe in her hometown in Kentucky and started asking local shelters about whether Bend could support something similar.

That search led her to what she saw as a gap in Central Oregon. Ferguson wanted a place where people who love cats could simply spend time with them in a calm setting, while also helping rescue animals find permanent homes.

She has said there was no place where people could just sit with cats in the cats' own space and let their personalities come through. That, in her view, is the need the cafe has filled.

Since opening, Playful Paws has worked with Cascade Canine Rescue East and West, also known as CCREW, to place adoptable cats. The setup is simple. Cats live at the cafe while they wait for homes, and visitors pay $20 for 50 minutes with them. The animals then get five to 10 minute breaks between visits.

The resident cats usually range from six months old to seniors. Some stay only a few weeks. Others remain for a few months before someone takes them home.

For Ferguson, the response has still not become routine. She has said she still blushes when people thank her for creating the space, and that seeing people connect with the animals has been a joyful part of the job. She also described the business as a leap of faith that became something she is deeply proud of.

A cat cafe that ended up helping the rescue, too

CCREW mainly focuses on dog rescues, but the partnership with Playful Paws has widened what the organization can do for cats, especially the animals that tend to be harder to place.

Ashley Germak of CCREW said the cafe has been especially valuable for senior cats and for cats with special needs tied to behavior, diet or medical conditions. By using the cafe, she said, the rescue can house 14 adult cats at a time. She also noted that it is harder to find fosters for adult cats, making the arrangement a major help.

Germak estimated that Ferguson has helped get maybe 470 cats adopted in three years. She said the cafe has made a difference for shy cats that might not otherwise have found homes, and added that the cats are clearly benefiting from it.

Ferguson said the toughest adoptions are usually the older cats and the ones with special requirements, whether that means a particular diet or a health condition. Howard's story is the clearest example of what can happen when the right person walks in and asks about the cat others overlook.

Howard believes the model works because people can spend real time with a cat before making a decision. She said it is a more humane way to keep animals in a no-kill shelter environment and a fun way for people to responsibly adopt a pet, since they can effectively take a test run for an hour and figure out which cat fits them.

Locals, tourists and a growing 'cat town'

Not everyone who books time at the cafe is there to adopt. Ferguson said about half of the customers are locals who either want to adopt or just relax with cats. The other half are visitors to Bend who miss their own cats and want something to do.

The adoption map stretches well beyond town limits. Most adopters come from Central Oregon, but some have come from Portland and as far away as Maryland, Illinois and Florida.

That reach has fed a bigger conversation about whether Bend is becoming more of a place for cat people. Germak said Bend is becoming more of a cat town than it used to be. Ferguson is less certain that the city already has a cat scene, but she has said she thinks Playful Paws is helping build one and called the cafe's team the pioneers.

Howard, who first heard of cat cafes in Japan, thinks the local appetite is growing. In her view, having a place like this can encourage new cat ownership and turn more people into cat people.

Playful Paws is also leaning further into the experience side of the business. Monthly events are scheduled to begin this fall and continue until summer. The lineup includes meditation and stretching on mats with cats starting Sept. 26, and a sound bath with cats starting Oct. 10.

The cafe's food and drink options are still basic, with refrigerated drinks plus chips and candy, though Ferguson has said the menu could expand later. The bigger target for now is adoptions. She expects the cafe to reach at least 500 by the end of this year and is aiming for 600.

For a place built around sitting quietly with cats, those numbers are striking. But the story may be easiest to understand through the scene Howard described: one person walking in, asking for the 14-year-old cat with medical needs, and proving that even the animals who wait the longest can still be exactly the ones someone came for.