Sometimes it seems like San Francisco is going to the dogs. Dog lovers parade their precious pets all over the city. There are corgi meet-ups at the beach, Pet Pride Day at Golden Gate Park, the Dog Days of Summer at AT&T Park and Strut Your Mutt at Treasure Island. With all the focus on these canine comrades, what in the world are cat lovers to do?
Never fear! Even though it seems like our feline friends are left out of the mix, there are a lot of places where you can go to get your kitty fix.
KitTea Cat Cafe in San Francisco
KitTea Cat Cafe is a spot where you can order a cup of joe while also cuddling and playing with cats. Not only that—there are plenty of events here to keep cat lovers happy, from Cats on Mats to Mewvie Night to Caturday Morning Cartoons.
“Cats on Mats is doing yoga in a space with cats. For the cartoons, we put on old vintage cartoons from the 1940s to the 1980s with old commercials. It’s very nostalgic and comes with a cereal bar. We also offer movie nights with cats and cat-behavior classes,” said KitTea Cat Cafe founder Courtney Hatt. “We try to focus on events that would be comfortable, beneficial and healthy for people. Just like things that I, as an introvert with cats, would want to do.”
She said her events are a great way for cat people to have a place to meet. “Cat people tend to stay indoors more. We’re more introverted, and we’re not taking our cats out for walks and talking to people at cat parks,” she said. “So this is just a way to get out and meet each other. People connect.”
KitTea Cat Cafe has both resident cats and ones that are available for adoption.
Kundalini Yoga with Cats in Redwood City
If you can’t get the idea of yoga with cats out of your head, there’s a weekly Saturday-morning yoga practice with cats at Whis-Purr Rescue in Redwood City, taught by Ram Inderjeet. The room is small, fitting four to six people for a relaxing round of Kundalini yoga.
“The cats are free to wander the room. They interact with the yogis as they go through the postures,” she said. “In Kundalini yoga, part of our process is to not be distracted, so that’s fun for the people in the class. They find they aren’t very distracted after all.”
She said it’s great that the energy of cats and people mingles during these yoga classes. “There’s the cat energy, depending on the cats that are in there. We had two cat brothers who were in there for a while who would go to each person and want to touch them,” she said. “Some of the cats are kittens who were born feral, and they’re just learning how to be social. In Kundalini yoga, everybody in the room shares the energy in the room, and everyone receives the benefit of the practice, regardless of how well they do the postures. So I think the cats are receiving all the healing energy and sharing whatever gifts of agility and healing they have to offer.”
The class is donation based, with the money going to Whis-Purr Rescue. The cats in the classes are available for adoption.
First Caturday San Francisco at Dolores Park
Feline friends get to meet and mingle at a big event at Dolores Park, which is obviously organized by cats. According to the First Caturday Facebook page, cats must participate responsibly and caringly for their humans. It also indicates that if “you have never taken your cat or human outdoors in a safe and controlled way, this event is not the first time to do so.”
First Caturday didn’t want to be interviewed for this story, preferring to remain mysterious. But by the looks and sounds of it, cats on leashes and in pet carriers and strollers crowd this green and warm park in the Mission District.
As the event page indicates, “First Caturday is a day to reclaim the glory of the outdoors for our feline friends! 🐾 🐱🌲 It is a day for delightful outdoor cat-napping and socializing. 👯😺 It is where we can freely exchange information, friendship and joy to help make our cats happy and healthy.”
So if you have a cat at home that likes to go out on the town, this may be the event for you.
East Bay Cat Walkers
If you’re interested in learning how to walk your cat on a leash or already do so, there’s a purr-fect event for you in the East Bay.
The East Bay Cat Walkers is a meet-up group that gets together on every other Sunday. According to the group description, it’s a place to “share stories, review cat-walking products and discuss issues surrounding cat walking. In addition, one to two individuals per gathering will be invited to bring their leashed cat to the meeting to work on acclimating their cat to strangers.”
It could be just the right place to meet and interact with other cat lovers.
Cat lovers are uniting in the San Francisco Bay Area, putting on events meant for the more introverted sect of pet owners. Maybe the beaches and the parks are going to the dogs, but there’s always a soft couch or a yoga mat for people to mingle and play with their feline friends.
