Our Story
The Great Catsby starts and ends with Babette. We wouldn’t be where we are today without telling her story and those of others who have come after her…. Here is our Origin Story….
The Great Catsby was founded in 2022 to honor a descendant of a Titanic kitten plucked from the sea by a survivor on one of the final life boats to escape the sinking that fateful night. In 1912. Being an orphaned kitten now, she dreamed of a place where kittens facing the hardest conditions could be saved and passed that desire down through the generations until today in honor of her legacy, we at the Great Catsby carry on the tradition of rescuing and saving kittens from the sea of uncertainties of a homeless life.
Babette’s story will be featured in the upcoming children’s book illustrated by Walter Bruneel, Babette’s Brave Story! Stay tuned for details!
Our Mission
We aim to reshape the traditional paradigm of saving shelter cats, eliminating the need for unnecessary euthanasia by facilitating adoptions through a unique café experience and its bonding opportunities. Our heart lies with aligning the county’s most at-risk feline populations – the ill and injured, elderly, terrified or stressed, shy and the vulnerable neonatal motherless bottle-babies – with the cat loving community, boosting the feline’s chances of adoption by increasing their exposure to more potential adopters in a way that radically transforms the welfare and well-being of local cats and kittens.
Our Vision
More than just a cat café, The Great Catsby will bring the community together as a feline activity center serving as the hub for feline lovers from around the North Valley – a gathering place to enjoy the company of cats, find a forever friend and to participate in fun feline-oriented activities.
Events will include trivia, mewvie night and paint and sip nights in -you guessed it- the company of cats! The cafe will also feature Babette’s Boutique with fun items for felines and cat lovers alike including books, both new and vintage, cat-themed antiques, collectibles and unique merchandise. Classes and workshops including Yoga and Kitten Kindergarten round out the offerings. What else? The North State’s only kitten-friendly Gaming Lounge! Where you can sit and play with a cat on your lap.
Through partnerships with various local cat rescue organizations all cats and kittens at The Great Catsby will be fully vetted and ready for adoption. The space will allow potential adopters to engage with the felines in a safe and interactive space with the goal of helping them find their forever homes by showcasing their purrsonalities in a new environment. We are so excited to share this space and vision with the community this fall and look forward to meeting visitors from across the North State.
What is a Cat Café?
A cat café is half coffeehouse, half lounge, half cat adoption center (We realize that’s a lot more than half!!) We are a temporary kitten foster home with the goal of changing the way adoptions happen. We offer the purrfect setting for humans and kittens to find their purrfect match. Your visit helps keep felines out of the traditional shelter environment and supports a model that results in a higher rate of successful adoptions. We have three main rooms (1 main cat activity lounge, 1 “pawrlor” which doubles as a purrivate party space and 1 cat co-working lounge) housing up to 12 adoptable kittens at any one time. We offer beautiful signature coffee drinks and cat-themed snacks (cake pops, anyone?) as well as a variety of bottled waters, smoothies and other drinks if you prefer other options. Our café is America’s first cat café with an antiques and rare books emporium and also the first with our own publishing house! We are also RVT owned and operated.
When did cat cafés originate?
The first cat café opened in Taiwan in 1998 and the concept quickly spread throughout other countries. The United States has more than 100 cat cafes offering a comfortable and clean environment for cats until they find their forever homes. If you’d like to check out North American cat cafes OR even international cafes, please grab a cup of coffee and visit www.theneighborscat.com.
What do you do at a cat café?
Whatever you want! We will have a full calendar of events each month. We have special events such as wine tastings and pairings, date nights, mewvie nights, Paint and Purrs, kitten care classes and many other exciting tricks up our sleeves! You can simply grab food or drink and go and play with all of the adoptable kittens (or adopt one!!), or you can play games, read books, or… get some work done in our cat co-working space where we offer free wi-fi and plenty of comfy space for you to meet up with friends or work/study while you watch kitties and enjoy coffee. “Work-from-home” doesn’t get any better than at The Great Catsby.
How are you helping local cats?
Our mission is to help Butte County reduce senseless overcrowding and unneeded euthanasia. We work with many local cat rescue partners to pull at-risk kittens from their facilities. Our unique partnership allows us to save the truly at-risk kitten needing immediate care and socialization. Our cat café is their foster home – they get to live and play free of any fear or illness and free of being confined in cages or fending for themselves in the streets. They get to hang out with other kittens and get comfortable will all humans who come in to visit with them.