Cat Haven plans to open its cafe in November as part of a new adoption facility at 530 Shadows Lane. The 7,200-square-foot building can house up to 125 cats and kittens at a time, giving the Baton Rouge rescue more room for animals and a new place for visitors to meet adoptable cats.
Cat Haven planned to celebrate the expanded facility with a grand opening on Oct. 25 featuring a ribbon-cutting and community tailgate, according to WBRZ. The building holds 50 more cats than the old shelter, and its design by WHLC Architecture includes cat-shaped pet doors, a custom cat-tile backsplash, larger glass enclosures and an outdoor catio play area, 225 Magazine reports. It also has more than 23 individual living spaces, a dedicated surgical site and separate intake and medical evaluation rooms, according to WAFB.
Coffee, Pastries and Cats on Their Own Terms
The cafe will serve coffee, tea, pastries and light snacks, with cats roaming the space, 225 Magazine reports. Cat Haven says it will limit the number of people and cats sharing the room so the animals are not overwhelmed and visitors can interact with them.
Guests will be asked to remove their shoes at the door; socks will be available for purchase for visitors who arrive without them. Picking up cats will not be allowed. Cat Haven executive director Holly Carey said cats should approach visitors voluntarily to avoid stressing them, according to 225 Magazine.
A New Kind of Therapy, and a Path to Adoption
The cafe will also give cats an opportunity to socialize with visitors. Cat Haven says cats need at least 20 minutes of socialization each day, a task the shelter previously relied on volunteers to provide. Carey has also described the cafe as an option for people who cannot keep cats at home because of housing restrictions or allergies, 225 Magazine reports.
Every cat in the broader shelter is available for adoption, and every cat in the cafe will be available as well; visitors will be able to begin the adoption process during their visit. Carey suggests reserving a spot ahead of time since space is limited, though walk-ins are also welcome.
The cat cafe is described as the first of its kind in the Baton Rouge capital region, according to Cat Haven spokesperson Kelly Hurtado, as reported by The Advocate. Cat Haven has operated since 1999 with a mission to rescue cats, place them in permanent homes and reduce feline overpopulation, and it found homes for 940 cats and kittens in 2025 alone. The group's lifetime totals vary by source: Carey has said Cat Haven has saved a little over 20,000 cats since its founding, while WBRZ reports a figure of more than 24,000 and The Advocate cites about 23,000 housed since 1999.
Shelter roles and animal-care rules
Cat Haven’s rescue and adoption work is distinct from the role of Companion Animal Alliance, which says it operates East Baton Rouge Parish’s only open-intake animal shelter and cares for more than 9,000 animals annually. Cat Haven reported finding homes for 940 cats and kittens in 2025; because CAA’s figure covers animals of all kinds, the two numbers do not provide a like-for-like comparison of cat intake, live outcomes or adoptions, according to Companion Animal Alliance and its annual-care information. Louisiana’s animal-shelter operating procedures require sick animals to be separated from healthy ones, according to the Louisiana State Legislature.
Part of a Growing Cat Cafe Movement
Cat cafes have become increasingly popular nationwide as spaces where patrons sip coffee while interacting with cats that are often available for adoption, according to New Orleans CityBusiness. The first cat cafe in the United States opened in California in 2014, and unlike cafes in some other countries, U.S. cat cafes generally center on adoption, with animals sourced from local shelters or rescue groups, per HumanePro.
Louisiana already had three such cafes before Cat Haven's opening — NOLA Cat Lounge in New Orleans, Calico Cat Cafe in Folsom and Second Chance Cat Cafe in Houma — according to New Orleans CityBusiness. NOLA Cat Lounge partners with the Louisiana SPCA and charges $10 for 30 minutes or $15 for an hour, while Second Chance Cat Cafe, a nonprofit rescue where every resident cat is adoptable, charges $15 for 50 minutes by reservation. Similar concepts elsewhere have shown real adoption results: Louisville's Purrfect Day Café had placed more than 7,000 cats by October 2022, and a Washington state cafe called Milky & Coco's Kit-tea Cafe helped place 118 cats through a shelter partnership, according to The Reflector.
Hours and What to Expect
Cat Haven's cafe will be open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., per 225 Magazine. The adoption facility keeps separate hours, open Monday through Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. The cafe also offers seating and electrical outlets, so guests can settle in to study or simply hang out among the cats.
