Remembering what happened to the first-and-only San Antonio Cat Cafe

For all my cat lovers, there once was a place where you could cuddle a kitty and grab a coffee all in one stop. Cat cafes aren’t unusual. There are shops in Denver, St. Augustine, and Oakland. However, the first-ever San Antonio Cat Cafe didn’t have nine lives and was short-lived.

The Cat Cafe opened on October 21, 2017, with a purr-fect setup. There were two parts under one roof: the cafe – for coffee and pastries – and the cat room, where patrons took their cafe purchases and hung out with the cats. It was a hit at the time as it was the first to ever open in the city, according to a report from MySA.

Before we get into what happened, let’s remember its short life. The Cat Cafe was located on the city’s Northeast Side at 10458 Sentinel Drive, San Antonio, TX 78217. All cats were from rescue groups and were adoptable. Founder Casey Steuart called it a “matchmaking service for cats and people.”

The cafe portion of the building included a menu with bakeries, nachos, popcorn, teas, and other drinks. It was also BYOB. The enclosed area, where the cats roamed, had cushy chairs and tables, cat-friendly scratching posts and perches, and other arts and crafts for patrons. The cafe also offered cat yoga at the time. 

For those bringing a cat home, the cafe vetted the process with multiple visits before adoption. For cat lovers, it was a dream.

Things got too feral in 2018. The Cat Cafe temporarily closed in April 2018 after investigators with Animal Care Services checked on the health and safety of the estimated 50 cats in the location, according to a report from MySA. ACS seized two young cats and ordered the facility to not allow the public to interact with the felines until it addressed their health issues.

At the time, an ACS investigation revealed the cafe had up to three dozen cats without rabies shots. It was also reported that the cafe had sick cats mixed with healthy cats. The investigation was launched after a former employee accused the owner of hiding the deaths of several cats from the general public. The former employee also said the owner would wait weeks at a time before taking sick cats to see a veterinarian, according to the MySA report.

Steuart claimed the cats did not die from neglect, and worked with ACS to fix the health problems. Despite the temporary closure and scrutiny, the cafe reopened and purred on. However, in July 2018, the Cat Cafe announced on Facebook that it was moving out of its location due to the new owners of the building. The Cat Cafe said the new owners “made it their mission to threaten all sorts of actions against” the shop and the kitties.

When the cafe announced its closure of the shop, the owner mentioned a new private location was in the works. However, no announcements have been made as of today. The cats relocated and no news has surfaced about “the SA Cat Cafe 2.0.”

MySA reached out to the business to inquire about future plans but no one has responded as of Tuesday, August 1. 

There’s also a cute outdoor cat cafe called Tuxedo Cat’s Coffee, where typically two or three cats hang out at. The cafe is temporarily closed until Wednesday, August 2 but will open again on Thursday, August 3. For more on the shop, visit its Instagram.