Frequently Asked Questions

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Yes, online reservations are HIGHLY recommended. There is only a small chance that we will have any available seating. If you're lucky enough to walk in and get a spot, you will still need to register online at our Front Desk.

Once your reservation is made—there are NO cancellations accepted. We will gladly reschedule if 24 hours notice is given prior to visit. 

If you are 15 minutes late for your time slot, it will be given away without a refund. 

Fees for entry into BaristaCats help sustain the cost for care as they take up residence at BaristaCats until they find their furrever home. 

Overall maintenance as well as necessary supplies, staffing, toys, etc are directly funded with the help of your visiting fee and any additional donations. 

100% of our adoption fee does go back to the Humane Society of Southern Wisconsin, so we heavily rely on donations to keep our organization going.

You are helping provide a safe space and happy quality of life for these kitties until they find their furrever homes and for that, BaristaCats thanks you!

Yes! 

In addition to having the opportunity to play with adorable cats in a cozy

environment, 15 of of the 20 feline friends at BaristaCat Café are seeking a furrever homes. 

Adoption is made available through our partnership with The Humane Society of Southern Wisconsin in Janesville. You can learn more about the adoption here or on their website at petsgohome.org 

BaristaCats Café has 20 cats at any given time. 15 are adoptable, and 5 are our “crew” cats that permanently home the café. 

To keep everyone, including our cats, comfortable and safe, we only allowed 15 people in at a time (per hour), so we strongly encourage you to make an online reservation ahead of time.

Well, if you're asking if 20 cats smell like cats, then yea, it probably will, but that doesn't mean it's going to smell BAD!

We clean multiple times a day, and provide the cats with their own private accomodations. You're coming into the Pawlor at your own risk, as per the required Waiver, but we would never allow our cafe to smell bad or be a place we wouldn't eat ourselves.

No, sorry! 

Unfortunately, for the safety of our café and cats, your furry friend will need to stay home (as much as we’d love to meet them!). 

If you’re looking to add to your fur family, we’ll talk to you about your cat at home and help you decide which of our adoptable cats could be a good match.

Service Animals are only allowed in the front entry of our Café, away from the cats due to the significant risk of injury to the Service Animal from a cat that with an unknown fear of other animals.

It's in cats nature to protect their space and feel comfortable with the setting they are in. Although our cats are hand picked by HSSW to be social and friendly cats, it doesn't mean they have been properly socialized with Service Animals, especially dogs. This means the presence of a Service Animal would fundamentally alter the operation of the Pawlor and could possibly create a dangerous situation for both parities.

Our cats are free roaming, and to ensure the safe operation of our business we must insist that all outside animals to BaristaCats Café are not allowed in the Pawlor.

I'm so sorry, but this is not the proper environment to bring stray kitties. All of our cats have already been spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and checked by a vet to ensure their health before they come to the café thanks to our wonderful PAWtnership with the HSSW.

We have multiple wonderful rescues and shelters in the area that are better equipped to handle a kitty off the streets. The Humane Society of Southern Wisconsin can take kitties found in Rock County, but there is also Touched By a Paw and Lakeland Animal Shelter who accept kitties found in Walworth County.  Please make sure to call ahead to ensure they have room and will be able to care for them properly.

If you have to reschedule, give us a call! We WILL find a better time/day for you. Please do not just let it go. We can fill your slot easily for some else to enjoy the kitties. 

We CANNOT however refund your money. Unfortunately, we do not refund—only reschedule, so please make sure you have a day in mind or we can also issue a gift card for future use. 

Yes! 

Children are always allowed, but with adult supervision. Any child left unsupervised will be given an espresso and a free kitten 🐾

Just kitten! But furreal… watch them.. because they get grabby! 

Any minor under 18 must be accompanied by a 1 minor: 1 adult ratio, and must have their Waiver signed and submitted by a Legal Guardian.

There's a reason Cat Cafe's aren't easy to open, and a huge part of that is because we walk a fine line with our licensing. 

In order to keep our license, even after signing the Waiver, you must pick up your order from our front desk and take it back to your spot in the Pawlor yourself. 

Thank you for understanding!

For a few reasons actually!

First, we value quality over quantity, and if we offered to-go orders, it would be chaos at the front desk, and there's just not that much room for people to hang out there.

You're free to come in and check out our merch, but we can't have people loitering in the lobby for too long.

Second and most importantly, there's multiple other coffee shops in the immediate area that need your support. We aren't here to compete with anyone, we're here to bring people together and offer a whole experience.

Things happen and we want to be understanding, but this is still a business and it's about the wellbeing of our cats. 

We will have to change our standard entry fee to anyone who signed up for a Donation Event and still would like entry.

Excellent question!

Send us a message in the Contact Us page, or give our cafe a call during regular business hours! We're happy and willing to come up with a plan that can mutually benefit all of us.

People with allergies to cats must accept the risks of just entering the front door. Everyone is an individual and reacts differently to their allergies, so if you'd like to take a peek, you're free to come by, but we highly recommend you do not enter the Pawlor if you are sensitive to cats.