As cat cafe marks first year, adoptions add up

With the first anniversary of its opening almost here, it’s finally time to break out the ultimate pun and acknowledge that Heather Wendlandt had a purr-fectly wonderful idea when she opened The Cattitude Cafe.

Since July 15, 2023, when Wendlandt opened the doors to her restaurant that features a special room where cats and cat-lovers can gather, 248 animals have found their forever homes.

“Oh, my gosh, it’s been amazing,” Wendlandt said recently. “We’ve surpassed every goal we’ve set for ourselves. I’ve been truly amazed with the adoptions and the community support.”

In its first 25 days, 30 cats were adopted, and the number grew to 240 by early June, giving Wendlandt hope she could reach her personal goal of 275 adoptions by the one-year mark.

Even if she doesn’t make it to 275, Wendlandt knows the impact her cafe has had.

“Honestly, it feels unbelievable and also absolutely amazing to have helped this many kitties find homes,” she said. “I’m so grateful.”

The Cattitude Cafe still has a few days to reach its goal, and it has new arrivals waiting to find — and give — love.

All the cats at The Cattitude Cafe come from the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society, and it has helped that facility, which generally has 200 cats up for adoption at any one time. The Humane Society is designed as a holding facility until the animals it shelters are adopted, said executive director James Oppenheimer. The focus is on giving the cats, dogs and other creatures a good life while they are there, but space constrictions mean living in small kennels.

At the cat cafe, “they’re treated like longtime residents with a lot of space, and they have constant human attention,” he said.

The Humane Society selects its most adoptable cats for Wendlandt’s restaurant, the ones that get along with people of all ages, with children and with other cats.

Oppenheimer sees several reasons behind the successful first year.

“It’s a unique concept to Sioux Falls; there’s not anything else like it,” he said. “These are common in most larger metro areas, but this is the first one in this town. They have good food, and they have good service there. The focus is on making everything great.”

Another plus is how separate heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems serve the cat room and coffee shop, making it a much more successful experience for visitors, he said.

The Cattitude Cafe’s existence has eased some of the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society’s burden, which as a nonprofit must raise $3.3 million a year to stay open and is constantly seeking sponsorships.

If anything, it has made life a little simpler for Humane Society staff.

“That’s less litter boxes we have to clean, less kennels we have to clean, significantly less food,” Oppenheimer said. “If anything, it’s helped us. Running them back and forth is the only additional work we do, and that’s only a couple times a week.”

Oppenheimer himself visits The Cattitude Cafe once or twice a week, and his daughter now has a job there. When he visits, he sees relaxed animals who, when they tire of people’s company, can retreat to a secluded area.

“I feel great because I see cats living their best life,” Oppenheimer said.

The cafe has one cat, Darla, that permanently resides there.

Some cats have stayed four to five months; others were adopted within 24 hours.

Sasha was there for 5 1/2 months but eventually found a home.

“I’d like to think there’s a cat for everybody,” Wendlandt said. “The most amazing thing is you get to pick the personality of the cat. You’ll find 15 different personalities here, and the one that fits you better will make a better long-term pet.”

Sometimes, regular customers who can’t adopt pets come in and are sad to find their favorite is gone. At the same time, they’re elated the cat has a loving home, Wendlandt said.

Some of the cats haven’t gone far.

“I think every single employee has adopted at least one cat, and most have adopted two,” Wendlandt said. She added a fourth and city-mandated final cat to her home when she adopted Junior, who was renamed Vinx after the black cat in the movie “Hocus Pocus.”

The food side of the cafe is also doing well, Wendlandt said. A specials menu rotates every two months in addition to the regular menu.

Customers occasionally ask if they can bring in their own cats, but the answer is no.

Visitors enter the cafe’s eating area in the Johnson Building at 11th Street and Second Avenue, then can pay a separate fee to enter the cat room.

To celebrate the first anniversary, Wendlandt is planning to offer raffles, games and prizes Monday with live adoptions from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The current process requires the potential adopter to visit the Humane Society to fill out the paperwork before taking a cat home the next day.

“If you do fall in love, you can adopt the cat and take it home right then and there,” Wendlandt said.

Oppenheimer said staff will be available to process the adoptions, and the number of cats available will increase temporarily to 35. That will include some kittens, which usually don’t visit the cat room. Wendlandt’s goal is to see 10 to 15 cats adopted that day.

“You can have a cat sitting in your lap while you’re doing your adoption,” Oppenheimer said.

Just offering her thanks doesn’t do enough to express her gratitude for the successful first year, Wendlandt said. It could not have been possible without everyone who bought food or drinks or visited the cat room.

Often, the adopters will send Wendlandt and her staff updates on how their pets are doing, and she also received Christmas cards. Seeing the happy cats in their home environment has made it all worthwhile, she said.

“We wanted to see these cats have a better life,” she said. “That’s what drives us all.”