OLYMPIA, Wash. — Inside a spacious cat room at Pawsific Northwest Cat Cafe, kittens are chasing each other, pouncing on cat toys and wrestling for fun. Owner Tiffany Weitzel says they may be cute but they're part of a huge population explosion in Thurston County.
"They all have different stories," she said. "Some of these cats and kittens were found under people's houses and under porches. I had a whole bunch handed to us that were pulled out of a dumpster."
Had they not been fixed, some of these feisty female kittens would be just weeks away from starting heat cycles.
"They could easily get pregnant and have their own litter of kittens by the time they were six months old," Weitzel said. "They can have two or three litters a year which are anywhere between three to seven kittens generally. They are breeders. They just breed and breed."
At the cafe $15 buys you a cup of coffee and 50 minutes with cats. All are adoptable with the exception of several resident cats.
Anna Singleton had a dozen kittens to choose from, but she wants to take the one named Coffee home.
"I read her profile on Petfinders and I saw that she was just like a crazy girl and I need that," she said. "I need a crazy baby. That's perfect for me."
Weitzel has a lofty goal. She wants to get 750 cats and kittens adopted every year. The former ICU nurse spends as many as 14 hours here, but she says she rarely feels tired or overwhelmed.
"It's an amazing job," Weitzel said. "I can't be sad with this many cats and kittens around. There's just something about them that's very uplifting."
Pawsific Northwest Cat Cafe is open every day of the week but Tuesday. It is located in the Olympia Square shopping complex at 3415 Pacific Ave SE F-1, Olympia, WA 98501.
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