The cat cafe craze has been long established in Asia, but the attraction—a hangout space, often serving snacks and beverages, where cats can be watched and played with for a fee—didn’t make it to the U.S. until a decade ago. These cat-lover paradises have been popping up more frequently, and the Athens area finally has one to call its own.
Entangled Cat Cafe opened in Watkinsville, next door to the Oconee County Courthouse, at the end of March. As a partner of the Athens Area Humane Society and the Circle of Friends Animal Society, the business serves as a foster location with fully vaccinated and spayed or neutered cats available for adoption.
The “catfe” is open Sunday through Friday, closed Saturdays, from 9 a.m.–7 p.m. Upon entering there’s bar-style seating facing a giant plexiglass window looking into a colorfully painted, fully decked out playroom. Leading into the cafe area, it provides a comfortable spot to observe the cats with free admission, and the perfect place to enjoy the cafe offerings while working or chatting with a friend. The cafe features a counter of coffee drinks, a variety of hot and cold beverages and catered snacks, like cat-shaped cake pops and cupcakes.
The cat lounge is all ages, with an adult required to accompany children under the age of 15, and can be entered for a fee of $15 per person an hour. The fee supports the costs of the keeping and care of the cats. Entering through the playroom, where there’s an additional space for kittens, the full lounge features benches and chairs to sit, a cozy fireplace, an Instagram-worthy corner and plenty of spaces for the cats to climb, interact with guests or take a well-deserved cat nap within view.
Owners Amy Haskell and Kristy Towler first began talking about their dream of opening a cat cafe in 2019, then COVID hit. Deciding to get the business started online, they launched the Entangled Cat Cafe website in July of 2022 operating as an online retailer and marketplace for cat lovers. After finding the Watkinsville location and signing the lease in March of 2023, it took a full year to open its doors. In the meantime, Haskell and Towler had been visiting cat cafes in other states to get a feel for what seemed to work well and what they could improve within their own space.
“What we noticed when we visited a lot of cat cafes was that they were really beautiful and they had these beautiful beds and things like that, but there was not a lot of play area for the cats,” says Towler. “We wanted to make our space really an enrichment space for the cats, so we wanted a lot of climbing, and that’s why we did the realistic looking tree and the pergola that they could climb on. That was the goal: to make it more entertaining for the cats.”
The humane society sends cats to the cafe that are a good match to thrive in a social environment. Towler says that you end up seeing a range of personalities, and in this environment the cats feel at ease to be their genuine selves. There’s also a rhythm to each day’s activity; the cats are more playful and active in the mornings, then get lazy and sleepy mid- to late afternoon. Within six weeks of its opening, 14 cats were adopted from Entangled. Only two of the original cats remain at the cafe, and one in particular—a black and white cat, Harvey—was adopted as a permanent cafe kitty.
While the cafe has treats for sale to bribe its cats for attention, its biggest seller is the cat toys and products for sale to take home. Entangled has brought its online market into the storefront, and there are a variety of locally made goods for sale. There are wooden charcuterie boards, including one that’s cat-shaped, crafted by Looking Up. Towler shops for vintage glass that Little Light Company pours candles into for a unique repurposed product. There’s also jewelry and T-shirts, with new products still to come.
“That’s kind of where the name Entangled came from. We wanted to be part of the community. We wanted to be entangled with local businesses and artists and craftspeople and things like that,” says Towler. “Then the other way that we came up with our name is because we wanted to be a place where the community gathers, cat lovers and even not cat lovers. Just a space for people to be.”
Entangled has hosted birthday parties and gatherings for local groups and organizations, and the owners hope to continue seeing other types of gatherings and even host their own events and classes in the space. While walk-ins are welcome, there is limited space available. For regular visits, time can be reserved online at entangledcatcafe.com.
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