The Orlando Cat Café is the (adoptable) cat's meow

Love cats? Then the Orlando Cat Café is the place to visit and possibly adopt a cat (or just play with them). It is the first of its kind to open in Florida, and owner Sandra Cagan is thrilled with its success. Since opening last September, more than 4,000 guests have visited the café and there have been 38 adoptions as of the end of the year.

"If you are not familiar with the Cat Café concept, it is something that started in Japan where it remains very popular," Cagan explained. "Since houses and apartments are very small in Japan, Cat Café's began to open where people who could not own a cat could go to mix and mingle with felines. Since blossoming in Japan, the Cat Café concept spread to Europe with cafes open in London and Paris."

The Cat Café here is a collaboration between Cagan Management Group, The Animal League and Axum Coffee, a popular coffee shop that also has a philanthropic spirit. "Axum is named after a city in Ethiopia with no clean drinking water. The owner of Axum donates his profits back to this city to help with their quality of life," Cagan said.

While enjoying coffee and pastries in Axum, customers can see the kittens and cats through a viewing window into the cat play area. Orlando Cat Café houses between 15 and 18 cats and kittens, ranging in age from six months to seniors. There is a fee to enter the cat area: $8 for adults and $4 for children, which allows cat lovers to play with the cats for up to an hour. This sure beats viewing kittens in cages.

In addition to playing with the cats, all are adoptable through The Animal League, a no-kill shelter in existence since 1988. Computers also are set up to apply for an adoption.

Cagan Management Group is the landlord of the Town Center at Cagan Crossings, where the Orlando Cat Café is located, and was the developer of the entire project.

Cagan is a snowbird between Florida and Chicago, where she is from originally. While here, she attends Chabad of South Orlando. She is also affiliated with the Orlando Torah Academy.

The café, located at 532 Cagan Park Ave., Clermont, is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. The cat play/adoption area is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

For more information, visit http://www.orlandocatcafe.com.