Princess Pat was one of the three original residents of the cat lounge.
Story by Annie Lisenby Smith
Sigmund Freud said, “Time spent with a cat is never wasted.” This statement can be celebrated during the month of June, which is recognized as adopt a cat month. This month is chosen, because often it is the time most filled with newborn kittens. It is estimated that in the United States, there are 60-100 million stray cats. One southwest Missouri business is doing its part to find forever homes for cats in their community.
Resident cat Toots is a polydactyl cat and has 27 toes.
“I simply can’t resist a cat, particularly a purring one,” said famous Missourian Mark Twain. Tiffany Buck, owner of Nine Lives Cat Lounge and Adoption Center in Joplin, would likely agree with Twain. Buck has a huge love for cats and always wants to help them all. Nine Lives gives her the opportunity to help as many kitties as she can.
“The process of opening the Cat Lounge felt like it took an eternity, but flew by all at the same time,” said Buck. “Every time we finished a piece of our project it was like a weight was lifted and our excitement continued to build as we counted down the days to the Grand Opening.”
What is a cat café? The first cat café was opened in 1998 in Taiwan. Visiting Japanese tourists enjoyed the experience of dining with cats so much that they carried the idea home. The first Japanese cat cafés opened in 2004 and quickly met the need of pet companionship for the many apartment dwellers who were forbidden to have pets in their homes.
Cat cafés spread to North America in 2014. While in other countries visitors can have a full dining experience with the cats, in the U.S. health codes forbid this. “We would want our skeptical customers to know that the cats are completely separated from our café,” Buck said.
The cats are housed in a lounge that is distinctly separated from the food and beverage areas. Also, for the safety of the cats, visitors are not allowed to bring any food into the lounge, only drinks.
A focus that Buck has for her cat café is on cat adoption. Since March 15, 2021, Nine Lives has adopted out 279 cats and kittens. Not all cats in the café are up for adoption. Buck and her staff have chosen nine cats to be “lounge residents.”
“When we were picking our residents, we didn’t always have to look for certain qualities, most of our residents picked us,” Buck said. Each of the nine cats has a unique story for how they found their home in the cat lounge that include rescues, unsuccessful adoptions, and adoptions of cats that just needed to stay in the lounge.
The remaining cats are all up for adoption. Buck said that they work with many shelters and rescues and take a limited number of individual intakes that must meet some requirements.
If, after visiting the cat lounge, someone wants to adopt one of the cats, it’s a simple process that takes only about 30 minutes. “The new adopters fill out an application,” Buck said. “Once the application is approved, our staff will go over the adoption contract. Finally, the cat will have to pass a health check to ensure they are leaving in great health. The kitty can go home the same day.”
The mission of Nine Lives is to help as many cats find good homes as they can, but to also help the community grow and come together as a whole. Being in a smaller community allows customers to build relationships with staff and cats. Often, visitors make a new cat friend and look forward to return visits.
To enter the cat lounge, visitors must pay an entry fee. This money goes to pay for food, litter, vet bills, and any other needs the cats might have. Buck emphasized that it was the support from customers that allowed her to help so many cats find forever homes.
All are invited to visit the Nine Lives Cat Lounge and Adoption Center to visit the cats or sample their selection of sandwiches and coffee drinks. More information can be found at
www.ninelivescatlounge.com. And follow their
Facebook page to learn about hosting a special event at the cat café or about attending their upcoming Cat Yoga.
Whatever your reason to visit, it will be memorable. As author Lewis Carroll said, “Your house will always be blessed with love, laughter, and friendship if you have a cat.”
“I simply can’t resist a cat, particularly a purring one,” said famous Missourian Mark Twain. Tiffany Buck, owner of Nine Lives Cat Lounge and Adoption Center in Joplin, would likely agree with Twain. Buck has a huge love for cats and always wants to help them all. Nine Lives gives her the opportunity to help as many kitties as she can.
“The process of opening the Cat Lounge felt like it took an eternity, but flew by all at the same time,” said Buck. “Every time we finished a piece of our project it was like a weight was lifted and our excitement continued to build as we counted down the days to the Grand Opening.”
What is a cat café? The first cat café was opened in 1998 in Taiwan. Visiting Japanese tourists enjoyed the experience of dining with cats so much that they carried the idea home. The first Japanese cat cafés opened in 2004 and quickly met the need of pet companionship for the many apartment dwellers who were forbidden to have pets in their homes.
Cat cafés spread to North America in 2014. While in other countries visitors can have a full dining experience with the cats, in the U.S. health codes forbid this.
“We would want our skeptical customers to know that the cats are completely separated from our café,” Buck said.
The cats are housed in a lounge that is distinctly separated from the food and beverage areas. Also, for the safety of the cats, visitors are not allowed to bring any food into the lounge, only drinks.
A focus that Buck has for her cat café is on cat adoption. Since March 15, 2021, Nine Lives has adopted out 279 cats and kittens. Not all cats in the café are up for adoption. Buck and her staff have chosen nine cats to be “lounge residents.”
“When we were picking our residents, we didn’t always have to look for certain qualities, most of our residents picked us,” Buck said. Each of the nine cats has a unique story for how they found their home in the cat lounge that include rescues, unsuccessful adoptions, and adoptions of cats that just needed to stay in the lounge.
The remaining cats are all up for adoption. Buck said that they work with many shelters and rescues and take a limited number of individual intakes that must meet some requirements.
If, after visiting the cat lounge, someone wants to adopt one of the cats, it’s a simple process that takes only about 30 minutes. “The new adopters fill out an application,” Buck said. “Once the application is approved, our staff will go over the adoption contract. Finally, the cat will have to pass a health check to ensure they are leaving in great health. The kitty can go home the same day.”
The mission of Nine Lives is to help as many cats find good homes as they can, but to also help the community grow and come together as a whole. Being in a smaller community allows customers to build relationships with staff and cats. Often, visitors make a new cat friend and look forward to return visits.
To enter the cat lounge, visitors must pay an entry fee. This money goes to pay for food, litter, vet bills, and any other needs the cats might have. Buck emphasized that it was the support from customers that allowed her to help so many cats find forever homes.
All are invited to visit the Nine Lives Cat Lounge and Adoption Center to visit the cats or sample their selection of sandwiches and coffee drinks. More information can be found at
www.ninelivescatlounge.com. And follow their
Facebook page to learn about hosting a special event at the cat café or about attending their upcoming Cat Yoga.
Whatever your reason to visit, it will be memorable. As author Lewis Carroll said, “Your house will always be blessed with love, laughter, and friendship if you have a cat.”
