Every time Rachel Anne visited a cat cafe in a new state, she said the same thing: “I’m going to open one of these.” As a model who traveled across the country regularly, she made a point to visit a cat cafe in each state she went to. And as a cat lover, she made a point to honor one commitment every week for nine years, despite her frequent travels: Every Monday night, she worked a volunteer shift at AnimaLovers (now Whiskers Animal Benevolent League) in Rensselaer.
After years of volunteering not just for AnimaLovers but for other rescues in the area, too, Anne was determined to make her dream of owning a cat cafe a reality. In 2022, after searching for a space (“It turns out nobody wants to lease or rent to you if you have, like, 40 cats,” she says), she finally bought a building in Rotterdam and, in August 2023, The Pretty Paw Lounge, the Capital Region’s first and only cat cafe, opened.
When you enter the former gun shop (yes, it took a while to transform the place), you’ll find walls lined with handmade and local goods, tables and chairs, and a cafe counter, where you can purchase hot beverages, baked goods, and your cat cafe experience. While you can choose between a 30- or 60-minute visit with the cats, your food and drink has to stay in the cafe area.
Once you pay for your session, you enter into a large room with cats sprawled out and toys, tunnels, beds, and scratching posts scattered throughout. Oh, and a hamster—sorry, cat—wheel, as well as a Barbie cat house. For most customers, this is where their Pretty Paw visit starts and ends: playing with adorable, adoptable cats. But I got to see firsthand all that goes into making what once seemed like a passing social media craze into a viable business that does a whole lot of good.
The back area, which is just as large if not larger than the main room and cafe, is where the hard yet meaningful work happens. It consists of multiple hallways containing glass-doored rooms with one, two, or three cats (and lots of toys and beds) in each. There are separate rooms for new cats undergoing an initial 14-day hold, during which they are tested for and vaccinated against various feline diseases (and treated, as necessary). While many enter “population,” aka the main room where the public interacts with the cats, after the initial hold, some don’t.
Take Trooper, who was recently brought in after getting a gunshot in the paw. “He’s so scared of people—understandably,” Anne says. “So he can’t go in the main room with everyone. But we have people that come in and sit with him. He’s a behind-the-scenes cat.”
And some cats, especially those rescued off the streets, just do better on their own or with fewer cats. “We typically keep these cats in the back so we are able to monitor them, give them TLC, and teach them how to trust humans,” says Calista Orlyk, staff member at The Pretty Paw Lounge (and my sister). “For example, I have a coworker who reads Lord of the Rings to our newest feral cat to get him socialized and comfortable with human interaction.”
Cats also might stay in the back if testing reveals they have a contagious disease like ringworm, in which case they’re transferred to the basement, where volunteers and workers don full-body suits, gloves, and booties to treat cats without spreading anything outside the rooms. The basement is also where laundry is done two to three times per day, using a special sanitizer to remove any bacteria from fabrics.
With 40-plus cats, each with their own health considerations and conditions, you would think the operation would be difficult to manage or keep track of. But the cafe’s dedicated group of employees and volunteers has a system—and it works.
“We have a white board with a list of any special health needs for cats, such as sensitivities or medications,” Orlyk explains. “We also have a daily spreadsheet where we record when food, litter, water, and medications are given or changed, and note any changes in behavior. We also keep each other updated in a work group chat, where we communicate any updates or changes at the end of each day.”
But beyond coordinating logistics, employees genuinely care about the cats’ wellbeing, and it shows. “We brainstorm a lot to make the best decisions for each cat’s happiness and health,” Orlyk says. “I just feel grateful to show these kitties so much love during this in-between stage of their lives, and to help them find their permanent homes.”
Keywords: permanent homes. Every cat at The Pretty Paw Lounge is adoptable, and the cafe has connected more than 240 cats with their fur-ever homes. Anne has been pleasantly surprised by how many people come in looking to adopt senior cats, which she rescues from NYC euthanasia lists she first learned about during her time volunteering at AnimaLovers.
“It’s one of those things that I’m happy to know about, but it’s hard to look at, because I want to save them all,” she says of the lists. She told me that cats are often scheduled for euthanasia not because anything is seriously wrong with them, but because they’re older and there’s simply not enough space for them in the shelters. Her response? Many trips to and from the city.
Cats that aren’t rescued from the euthanasia lists mostly come from owner surrenders or local rescues and shelters that don’t have room for another cat. Between those three sources, the flow of cats needing homes can feel endless, but Anne is quick to remind herself that she can only do so much.
“If I took every cat I was contacted about, and filled every nook and cranny of this place with cats, it would compromise the care we’re giving our guys,” she says. “And they’re our priority.”
Want to contribute to The Pretty Paw Lounge cause? You can donate supplies (especially litter and wet food), money, or your time by volunteering.
