There will be yoga with cats and painting classes at this cat cafe in downtown Puyallup
Cat enthusiasts in Puyallup will soon have a local cat cafe.
Tacoma’s first cat cafe, Catffeinated, will move to the corner of West Pioneer Avenue and South Meridian in Puyallup. The owners plan to close the Tacoma location at 2515 Sixth Ave. sometime in February and open the Puyallup location sometime in March.
“It was an opportunity to have a larger space with a larger cat lounge,” co-owner Kristi Martin said.
Activities such as Cats & Mats — a 60-minute yoga class in the cat lounge — will continue to be offered at the Puyallup location. Purr & Paint events, which are art classes with cats, will also continue at the new location.
The Puyallup location will offer a bigger space for those who want to host private events, Martin said. The new location will also allow the crew to add new coffees, teas and other treats by partnering with local or minority women-owned businesses, Martin said.
Catffeinated is not an ordinary coffee shop, Martin said. In addition to the coffee, tea, blended beverages and snacks the shop offers, there are also adoptable cats from The Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County and three permanent resident cats.
The cafe has housed over 400 cats since its doors opened in December 2019, Martin said. The number of adoptable cats inside the cafe varies, because they only receive cats the shelter deems ready. All cats are spayed, neutered, vaccinated and microchipped.
“Kitten season happens in the spring through the summer, so we usually get quite a few kittens, which is kind of our favorite time of year,” Martin said.
Martin, 38, lives in Tacoma but grew up in Puyallup. Her co-owner, Melanie Weaver, lives in Puyallup. They opened the business after Martin visited a cat cafe in Washington D.C.
“This is a really unique business model. There aren’t any cat cafes south of Seattle. We just kind of jumped on the opportunity to be the first and only cat cafe in Pierce County, and it’s just been a really fun and creative adventure for Melanie and I,” Martin said.
