Cat lovers can now dine and bond with their pets in the first permanent cat café that opened in Oakland on Saturday.  Owners of Cat Town Café are not just after the pleasure the activity provides, but also seek ways to care for homeless felines.

It all started on a personal account of witnessing cramped rescue shelters, said co-owner Ann Dunn, that prompted her to build a nonprofit organization intended for cats.  The Cat Town in downtown Oakland welcomes dine-in customers, who may have the inclination to adopt stray cats.

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Julie Sammons, an employee at the University of California-Berkeley, shared the same vision with Cat Town Café.  The store attracted curious passersby with its artistic wall decors by Derp and T, and the functional miniature houses for cats to snuggle in.

Dozens of initial patrons lined up for different reasons.  Some like Ellen Breeden thought that Oakland's cat café is better than others featured online.  Marilyn Standley, on the other hand, simply loves cats because of their pleasant demeanor.

But in order to continue operation, Cat Town Café needs to adhere with state-mandated building and sanitation code.  For instance, the cat zone and the actual café are separated by a corridor secured with two doors.  Employees work exclusively for each zone, working carefully not to exchange duties at any point in time.

The structure of the building allows the air from the café into the cat rooms and not the other way around.  Customers are also offered separate bathrooms for improved sanitation.

Dunn and co-owner and photographer Adam Myatt said that getting business permits was not as difficult as others have thought.  Apparently, when the idea was conceived in December 2013, funds kept flowing through a Kickstarter campaign, Time magazine wrote.

Some Cat Town Café visitors go home with their adopted felines, which successfully translates Dunn and Myatt's vision into reality.  Others who are either allergic to fur or have completely no plans on taking home cats have already considered the idea.

TagsOakland, Cat Town Cafe