Second Cup Cat Cafe

"Took my daughter here as a birthday request. We loved it here so much. A beverage is included in price of admittance. $15/hr per person. The cats are well loved and taken care of. We loved one so much we adopted her."

"I recently started volunteering at Second Cup Cat Cafe and have met so many wonderful visitors and employees! The Cat Cafe has a steady stream of visitors that are looking for adoptable cats. I enjoy rolling up my sleeves and being able to help clean and organize. It greatly helps the hard working employees so they can focus on visitors and help answer questions. The Cafe has 20-30 cats at a time and that takes a lot of organization, time, and dedicated employees to tend to EVERYTHING the cats need. Prior to volunteering, I had no idea that cats had such a variety of personalities and it has been fun "getting to know" the cats. Kansas City is very lucky to have a wonderful company like this! If someone is looking to adopt a cat(s), I highly suggest going to Second Cup Cat Cafe!"

"My family came from out of town and wanted to experience a cat cafe. This location was closest to our hotel and after reading several reviews and perusing the website we booked a reservation. I was really let down to find the “cafe” consisted of canned sodas and a keurig. We were under the impression there would be specialty coffees made to order. We waited for some time before a volunteer leaving noticed us and sought out an employee to assist us. When we entered the cat lounge we were again disappointed. The local humane society in northern Indiana has better lounge areas and it’s totally free to hang out with the cats. At this point I had earned the ire of my husband for spending $45 to sit in fold out chairs and look at cats huddled in the rafters. They did have a few pieces of mediocre furniture covered in blankets occupied by other patrons and the only 3 social cats were also occupied. My perspective would maybe be different if I was looking to adopt and had appropriate expectations for what the set up would be. I’m sure these people have a heart for cats and are clearly trying to balance a small business, but it was just not a good experience for my family. Later I looked over their instagram page and it seemed they got a big influx of cats the night before which I’m sure lends to a change in behavior for the entire room. Maybe things are generally more relaxed but all the cats were tense and standoffish. Maybe it would be worth having a transition area for new arrivals to rest before being introduced to the general population? One family attempted to adopt a cat while we were there and it was an unsuccessful disaster. This is where I decided it was worth reviewing. If you know cats you know they’re easily stressed. I suggest they designate a room for cat loading. The employee brought out a carrier and all the cats instantly freaked out. They attempted to pick up the cat and it scrambled for the wall. After a scuffle the cat was in hand and put in the carrier but unfortunately it did not get closed before the cat shot out and was back to scaling the wall. It nearly fell on my daughter and I which would have resulted in injury. It then got up into the rafters and was unreachable. The employee in frustration made a sarcastic remark, “I just looove cats”. While I understand their frustration, it was so off putting to be made by someone working in pet rescue/adoption. They then asked the family if they had finished the paperwork to which the family said they hadn’t. The employee said “good” and told them not to bother finishing as they wouldn’t be able to get the cat out. They directed the family to try coming back the next day. My mind is absolutely blown. It’s heartbreaking to see this and this is not how a professional place should handle adoptions. The employee did apologize and I’m sure they were doing their best. As I stated having a room to carry the cat to be loaded where the door can be closed and prevent patron injury/ the cat can’t escape would be preferred practice. Needless to say the rest of the cats were absolutely terrified following this incident and were all just hiding. I hope this feedback can inspire some changes that will make future visits for patrons more successful as well as reducing stress for the cats. ETA: a lot of cats were sneezing and had runny eyes"

"We loved how easy it was to talk with the staff, make arrangements and to take home sweet Ginger kitty! We even discussed holding our childs birthday party here with the separate large space to host and the love our family and kiddos love cats! There are lots of wall climbing spots and toys for the kittens & cats. We enjoyed watching them scurry, hide and play like they would in a home atmosphere. Cats have their personalities and some can be hesitant but we found no shortage of kitties to snuggle and play with. The staff was extremely gracious and helpful throughout our time together. We love our kitten who is home, healthy and LOVES TO PLAY!"

"Had such a great time there. The staff clearly loves all of the cats at the Cafe. We went when other people were there with children so we just let the cats come to us. Such a great environment and program for cats who otherwise would be locked in cages all day long or left on the streets. I absolutely LOVE the fact the cats have someplace they can go when they feel the need. Keep up the FANTASTIC work."