Kitty Brew Cat Café

Cincinnati, Ohio · 17 mi / 27 km

8 ⁠‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​⁠Cats Cincinnati is a bed and breakfast, tea house and event venue in a restored 1885 Victorian mansion on Wilson Avenue in Avondale, home to eight resident cats. Rather than a walk-in cafe, it runs ticketed tea sessions that are open to the public: a traditional afternoon tea with cats is held most weekends, a Crazy Cat Lady Tea takes place on the second Tuesday of each month, and candlelight high teas run on select Fridays, alongside children's teas and seasonal themed teas. Its house-blended teas are named after the cats and served with sandwiches, scones and pastries. The cats wander through the tea room and common areas and greet guests before and after the service. Other ticketed events include yoga and sound baths with the cats, crafting and bingo. Guests can also stay overnight in three rooms or a poolside apartment, which is kept cat-free.

• Booking required

Covington, Kentucky · 21 mi / 34 km

Purrfect ⁠‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​⁠Day Cat Café in Covington is Northern Kentucky's first cat cafe, opened in the fall of 2020 as the second branch of Louisville's Purrfect Day. It sits in the 8th Street Commons, next to Libby's and behind Braxton Brewery, a short drive across the Ohio River from downtown Cincinnati. Anyone can drop in at the bar, which serves coffee, tea, wine, beer and spirits, while time with the cats is booked online in timed sessions; reservations are strongly advised at weekends, on holidays and in summer. The cats come from Paws Rescue in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, the League for Animal Welfare in Batavia and Cincinnati Animal CARE, and all are spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped. Adoptions are usually approved on site, and the cafe has placed more than 7,000 cats. Events include craft nights with kittens, cat yoga and private parties.

• Adoptable cats

Dayton, Ohio · 29 mi / 47 km

Gem ⁠‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​⁠City Catfé is a coffee house, wine bar and cat lounge in a green historic house on East 5th Street in Dayton's St. Anne's Hill Historic District, just east of the Oregon District. It opened in 2018 and works with its nonprofit partner Gem City Kitties, which also runs a low-cost vet clinic in Trotwood. Up to 18 adoptable cats live in the cat lounge, which is separated from the cafe by two doors and has a large wooden airplane for the cats, a nod to Dayton's aviation history. The cafe serves fair-trade coffee, tea, wine, cocktails and local baked goods, and an upstairs gallery doubles as co-working space. Lounge visits carry a small fee, discounted for members, and reservations are recommended. Twelve guests are allowed in at a time, children must be at least 5, and everyone signs a waiver.

• Adoptable cats
• Booking recommended

Georgetown, Kentucky · 79 mi / 127 km

Central ⁠‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​⁠Purrk Cat Cafe is a coffee shop and cat lounge at the Georgetown outlet center, next door to Peddler's Mall, about 20 minutes north of Lexington. Founders Jennifer and Ryan Hoskins opened it in January 2021 as central Kentucky's first cat cafe. The lounge works as a foster home for up to 10 adoptable adult cats from the Scott County Humane Society, and it passed 500 adoptions within two years. The cafe serves coffee from City Roastery, boba, dirty sodas, macarons and baked goods, and anyone can visit it or watch the cats through the lounge windows without a booking. Lounge time is charged per person by the hour or half hour, and reservations are highly recommended though walk-ins are taken when there is space. Children under 6 can visit during dedicated Kiddie Kat Hours. Monthly memberships are offered, and events include yoga with cats and trivia nights.

• Adoptable cats
• Booking recommended

Portland, Indiana · 83 mi / 134 km

CAT ⁠‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​​‌‌‌‌‌​​⁠TALES Books, Crystals & Cats is a nonprofit used bookstore and crystal shop on North Charles Street in Portland, in Jay County in East Central Indiana, run by and connected to the Midwest Pet Refuge rescue. It fills a spacious former church, with tens of thousands of used books in the old sanctuary, a section of antique and pre-1950 titles, and crystals, jewelry, handmade gifts and pet supplies. Several adoptable cats, typically 8 to 10, roam the bookstore and greet browsers, and visitors can go through to the rescue side to spend time with many more cats in free-roaming rooms, a catio and kitten suites. There is no charge to visit, children are welcome and comfy chairs invite people to stay. All the cats are spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped and can be adopted through Midwest Pet Refuge. All proceeds from the shop support the rescue.

• Adoptable cats

Columbus, Ohio · 86 mi / 138 km

Kitty ⁠‌‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌⁠Bubble Cafe & Bar is a cat cafe on North High Street at the northern edge of Clintonville, near Worthington, that opened in August 2022 as Columbus's only cat cafe. The cafe and bar side serves bubble tea, coffee, beer, wine, sake, cocktails, macarons and other snacks, for dine-in or takeaway, with no ticket needed. A separate cat lounge holds free-roaming adoptable cats from the rescue Colony Cats, and visits are booked as 55-minute sessions. Tickets are best bought in advance, since walk-ins are turned away when the lounge is full. Lounge sessions run in two blocks each open day, with a break in between, and the cafe is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Adoptions go through Colony Cats. Regular events in the lounge include yoga with the cats, bingo nights, paint-your-pet classes and holiday wreath workshops, often raising money for the rescue.

• Adoptable cats