Some are very energetic and want to catch the red dot. Others lay down and sleep all day with no problems at all. You can shake the treat bag and they will come running. MauHaus cafe is a coffee shop located on 3101 Sutton Blvd in Maplewood that has free roaming cats. MauHaus have all of their cats listed out on their website. All of their cats come from Stray Haven Feline Rescue which is a foster based organization that rescues cats from high kill shelters as well as off the street. You are allowed to pet the cats but you can not pick them up. 

“Burreaux is a one-eyed cat that we have right now that had unfortunately been badly abused as an outdoor cat,” Dana Valenti, Mauhaus cafe owner, said. “Stray Haven rescued him and we are working with him to trust people again. He’s a very sweet boy and has made amazing progress given what he has been through.”

Like other animals cats have specific behaviors or sounds that they make when they feel a certain way. These behaviors can include biting, pouncing, and hissing when angry or they feel threatened, scent marking on humans that they feel at home with as a way of marking their home. Cats as well don’t really have a sweetness to their taste. As humans can taste things that are sour, bitter, spicy, sweet, etc. We started this business in 2016 after visiting cat cafes in Bangkok and knowing we wanted to share this experience with people at home,” Valenti said. “The big issue we noticed with the cat cafes in Thailand was that they did not solve the problem. The cats at those cafes are not adoptable, but are kind of high end specialty breeds and Thailand has a severe stray cat issue so it seemed a little counter productive. We knew if we started a cat cafe we wanted to do something to help cats in need.”

Reservations are the best option especially during the busy seasons (Weekends, holidays, spring break, and summer). MauHaus takes walk-ins but there is a fee for entry whether you have a reservation or not. Reservations last one hour and tickets are 11 dollars and six for children 12 and under. Reservations come with a complimentary drink and then a discount off any food or drink items. You are only allowed two children per every adult. Kids are allowed to have a non-coffee beverage of their choice.

“We don’t do same day adoptions for the cats. Some cafes do, but we have a fairly thorough process with Stray Haven to ensure that the cats go to the best home possible,” Valenti said”. “For us it’s always been about quality of quantity and we average around 100 adoptions a year which we are really thrilled with. The adoptions can take a bit of time but it’s worth it to make sure they are the best homes.”