A New Cat Cafe and Game Room is Coming to Eastern Iowa

What's better than playing with adorable kitties while you sip on a delicious beverage?! A new business called Press Paws Cat Café & Game Room is getting set to open in Burlington, Iowa.

According to the official website, Press Paws was created with the "goal of providing a safe and enjoyable space for cats and humans alike." A January Facebook post says that all of the in-house cats will come from local shelters, which means that they will also be adoptable! In addition to spending time with the felines, customers can also order a variety of cat-themed drinks and treats, and play a board game or read a book. The cafe will also have a shop with goodies from local vendors, and eventually host events like cat yoga!

Press Paws' Facebook page says that they initially hoped to open this month (April of 2024), but they recently had a setback that will postpone the opening a bit longer. On April 15th, the business posted an update that reads:

"We received notice from the city that due to our occupant level we are forced to install a second bathroom in the cafe. Unfortunately at the moment that is going to take some time not only from a design perspective to figure out where we can even fit one, but also from a time perspective to pull the appropriate permits and get the correct plumbers scheduled."

The post goes on to say that there is still a chance that the new cafe could open in May, but that there will be another update when there is an official timeline in place. In the meantime, you can follow the Facebook page HERE!

Press Paws will be the first cat cafe in the community of Burlington, but there are a couple of similar establishments in other parts of Iowa. For example, there is a non-profit called Books & Meows that is set to open soon in Davenport. For a $5 donation, visitors can hang out with adoptable cats in the casual seating area, the children's room, or in one of the quiet work/study spaces. They haven't posted an opening date yet, but you can check out the Facebook page HERE!

The city of West Des Moines also has a cat cafe called Coffee Cats. The cafe has a coffee shop and a separate cat lounge area that has adoptable cats from the Animal Rescue League of Iowa. You can read more about that cafe HERE.