But I am just here to adopt.

Great. Awesome. We can’t wait to help you find your new family member. Still twenty bucks to head into that lounge.

You can also email adopt@thecatcade.org to chat about which cats are in the lounge and who would make a good fit for your home so you can make the most out of your visit!

Can I get a refund?

No refunds. You click that reservation button and that money is in Leo’s bank account forever.

Seriously. There aren’t any refunds. Not for any reason.

So you’re a non-profit charity?

Yep. So don’t feel bad about giving your money to a bunch of smart-asses. It goes to pay for surgeries and medications and utilities and insurance and poop sand. So much poop sand.

Our EIN is 81-5469117.

Where does the money go?

The cats. Medical costs. Poop sand. Cat food. Oh sure, stuff like electricity and heat and water and rent and staffing too. Since I’m sure you are naturally curious as to where the dollars end up, let’s just say this - the difference between a non-profit and a for-profit business is, you can donate a million dollars and it won’t change the fact that every penny is mission-focused on taking care of the cats. Oh, Leo will be a millionaire but Shelly and Chris will still be arguing that we can’t afford more toppings on our pizza.

Why don’t you have a phone number?

Because we would spend all damn day answering questions like, “Where can I park?” “Is there a Cubs game?” “I’m running late, can you alter the time/space continuum for me?” 

There is no such thing as a cat cafe emergency. Check out the website: Google.com or send us an email to have your questions answered. 

I want to have the lounge all to myself, can I do that?

You sure can. It is $350 to reserve the entire hour. You get the lounge all to yourself. You can have up to 18 people in the lounge with a maximum of six guests between the ages of 12 and 18. It comes with one soft drink per guest.

No children under 12 years old, there are no exceptions to this rule. You will need to have one adult present for every 2 minors visiting during a private hour.

When making your reservation you only need to book it as one person, we do not need to know the names of all of your guests.

Just visit our page, from there you will check the box on the right side that says “book entire session”. The calendar will show you all available dates and times.

But my kid is great with cats and is super well-behaved but they are not 12, can they come in?

No. Not at all. Not even a little.

Do you do same day adoptions?

We do not do same day adoptions. Once you apply to adopt and you pass our rigorous test of jumping through hoops and checking all the correct boxes and have been determined to not be a serial killer, then maybe you can adopt. So be prepared with your lease and/or landlord approval and photo ID and the approval of all the people you live with so that you can help make the process easier on all of us when it’s time to process your application.

The adoption process can take 2-7 days depending on the amount of applications we receive on any given day. We get it, it’s not a perfect system, but we are doing our best to put these cats into the best homes for each of them and that takes time.

I found/need to surrender a cat. Will you take them?

Since we are not a licensed intake shelter, the answer is no. We also don’t know if you stole your neighbor’s cat in an act of revenge. Also, if someone loses a cat, they don’t usually look for them at The Catcade. Chicago Animal Care & Control (CACC) is the municpal intake shelter for Chicago. Please reach out to them for resources - 312.747.1406 or visitcacc@cityofchicago.org.

Where do you get your cats?

Your mama. Ah, we got jokes. 

The short answer is everywhere. We have taken cats in from Chicago, Kentucky, Michigan, Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, and even the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. We primarily work with county shelters that are overpopulated and under-resourced.

What rescue do you partner with?

We are our own rescue. Don’t believe me? Look up the license, dude. We do our own rescue work. These are our cats. We are responsible for the cost of their vetting and keeping them healthy. Any medical needs that arise with cats while in our care are taken care of by us, The Catcade. We take our cats directly from county shelters.

What do you need?

Monetary donations do the most help because unfortunately we can’t pay for surgeries and medications with cat toys and good intentions… unless you know a guy. Otherwise, check out our wishlist. Make a reservation and come visit. Apply to volunteer or become a foster. Cash in some of the gold bars you have lying around and build us a surgery suite. The options are endless.

My cat no longer likes this food, can you accept it? What about all this other stuff my cat doesn’t use?

You bet we can! As long as food is unopened we can accept it. You can drop it off anytime during our regular open business hours.

We also accept other in-kind donations like litter, pet supplies or gently used toys, unexpired pet medications, etc.

At this time we do not need any towel or linen donations.