Almost six months in, Peoria's River Kitty Cafe is purring right along. The combination coffee shop/cat cafe has found a forever home for dozens of furry friends.
Owner Holly Walker calls the response these first few months "overwhelming."
“We’ve celebrated 83 adoptions, some more pending this week, so I’m hoping to get to the 100 mark very soon,” she said. “Business has been great with the coffee and the lattes and the treats and snacks that I’m getting now from LeBakery, things like that.”
Walker, a former 8th grade math teacher, had no background barista experience. But, she says a partnership with Peoria's Intuition Coffee has provided her and her one employee with everything she needs to feel confident making drinks of all kinds.
“Honestly, learning the drinks was the most overwhelming part, because I was not a barista before I started,” said employee Beth Radisic. “But we had amazing training by Ty [Paluska] at Intuition. He is such an amazing man and the coffee is delicious.”
But enough about coffee, the real stars of River Kitty Cafe are a rotating cast of 20 adoptable cats from Peoria County Animal Protection Services, or PCAPS.
When you enter the cafe, you can see the animals behind a plexiglass counter window and a double set of doors. The doors and plexiglass are remnants of the buildings’ previous use as a title loan business. The animals frolic in a room full of cat toys, furniture and beds, their litter boxes tucked carefully away under benches.
Walker says customers pay for a set amount of time and enter the cat room, relaxing in the presence of the friendly felines.
“I get so excited when the adoptions take place and, you know, the cats are finding a home,” she said. “Some of the stories that these cats have, when they come in here. The trauma that they’ve experienced, how scared some of them are of people and of situations like this. Just to see them, kind of relax and become the cat that they were always meant to be, right?”
If you take a look at the cafe's adoption wall, you can see the evidence of one of those stories. A handful of the adoptees are named after 80's pop music: Careless Whisper, Mr. Blue Sky and Cherry Bomb.
PCAPS Kennel Services Manager Alex Menke says they all came from the same cruelty hoarding case earlier this year.
“We removed, I think it was over 100 cats by the end of getting all the kittens and everything out,” she said. “And that was huge. Because we had a group of cats, once they got vetted, obviously they had to go through a lot of medical care.”
After treating the cats for conditions like dry skin and upper respiratory infections, PCAPS named them all after rockin’ tunes. Now, some of them are finding new homes through River Kitty Cafe.
Every pathway for adoptions helps. Menke says Peoria County has a significant population of stray cats. Trap and release spay and neuter programs help with controlling the herd, but it's difficult to keep up.
For example, Menke says the shelter took in 173 total cats in the first 20 days of August, compared to adopting out 48 in the same period.
“One thing, of course, every shelter faces is space,” Menke said. “Where are we going to put all of these cats when all of our adoption rooms are full? And this gives us another outlet, another way to get our cats out there. Get them noticed, get them recognized and get them adopted into loving homes.”
Holly Walker says the adoptions and education are a vital part of River Kitty Cafe's role in the community. At last check, the Cafe said goodbye to adopted kitty number 99.
Walker is excited to be so close to 100, even if, for some cats, letting them go can be hard.
“Wessie, he was one of our original cats and I just adored him,” she said. “And although I was sad to see him get adopted, his new family is absolutely amazing and he’s living his best life now.”
Of course, not everyone who visits River Kitty adopts. In fact, some of them may be too far from home to comfortably transport a cat back.
Walker says she's seen visitors from the Quad Cities, Iowa and Indiana, as well as further south. The demand is high and Walker has risen to meet it, open seven days a week with expanded hours.
You can find more about the cafe, including ways to contact Walker about volunteering to help care for the cats, at the River Kitty Cafe Facebook page.
