Procedures

Please enter the coffee bar when you arrive. We know that the cats to your left when you enter are very distracting, but for The Cat Café to stay open, we need you to pay your admission fee first. Once you pay your fee, you’ve got a lot of options. Nine Lives is proud to feature:

  • Espresso drinks

  • Smoothies

  • Drip coffee & teas

  • Pastries from local bakers

  • If there is room for you to head on into the cat lounge, we will send you in right away. If we are at maximum capacity, we’ll have you take a seat outside in our seating area. Once we have space, we’ll bring you in.

  • If nobody is waiting to get in to interact with the cats, you are welcome to spend as much time as you like with them. When there is a wait, we’ll clear out the lounge periodically.

  • You can avoid the lines and see the cats when they are much more active by visiting Nine Lives during our non-peak hours.

  • Most of the time, reservations are not required to mingle with the cats here at Nine Lives. We do offer a limited number of reservations during our peak hours so that we can accommodate those who need to be able to get in at a specific time. These need to be booked at least 24 hours in advance. Without a reservation, you may have to wait to interact with the cats.

Dos and Don'ts

We know that many of you may have cats at home, but things work differently at Nine Lives. We want to make sure their cats are treated well; we ask our patrons to do the following:

  • Be respectful of the animals and learn the signs they show when they want you to ease back. We have posted signs describing the way cats show discomfort with their tails and their ears. Please keep these in mind when interacting with the cats.

  • Don’t pick up the cats. Most cats don’t like to be held, and they are not shy about letting you know this. We don’t want anyone to get scratched or bitten by a cat who’s not happy about being picked up.

  • Children must be supervised at all times. At Nine Lives, we want to make sure that we can continue to allow children to learn how to interact with animals. We need your help in ensuring this. Please ensure that your children are respectful of the cats.

  • Cats don’t like loud noises, so please keep your voices down when you enter the playpen. We have a sound monitor in the cat playpen. A siren will let us know when it gets too loud. Please remember to keep the volume level down so we don’t have to hear that siren.

  • Photography is fine — the internet is all about cat pictures and videos! However, flash photography disturbs the cats, so please refrain from that.

  • Nine Lives has a zero-tolerance policy for any individual who is causing distress to the animals. It’s a rare occasion for us to have to ask someone to leave. We’d like to keep it that way.

Do you have any questions that weren’t answered? Feel free to contact us.