Unique business allows customers to hang out with cats looking for forever homes

"Twisted Whisker Cat Cafe' opens in Tupelo this week

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – A new business in Tupelo allows customers to have a refreshment, do some work, or hang out with friends, surrounded by cats, that are up for adoption.

Marcie and Connor Harper are cat lovers, so when they visited Chattanooga and saw a Cat Cafe, they had to drop in.

“We loved the experience, it was great,” Marcie said.

Marcie, who was a teacher, was looking for a career change.

“I prayed about it. I started small, talked with Humane Society, Department of Health, things snowballed, made a business plan, it has happened,” she said.

This week, the “Twisted Whisker Cat Cafe” will open at 218 South Gloster. A customer’s visit begins in the lobby, where they can get a drink, snack, or bring their own food.  They pay an $11 admission fee and then it’s time to mingle with the cats, and maybe adopt one.

“There’s this main lounge here, there’s what we call the darkroom, over there and there’s a little nook upstairs as well, all cats are free-roaming, no kennels anywhere here, they live here, we’re a foster home for the humane society,” Marcie said.

At any one time, there will be about twenty cats in the Twisted Whisker Cat Cafe, and the owners are hopeful that the business makes it easier for adult cats, like Collie, to find forever homes.

“You go in a shelter, looking for a cat, go into the cat room and you see kittens, and they are screaming at you, saying me, me.  It’s a real problem where a lot of times people don’t adopt adult cats.  Having them here, you can get to know their personalities, know what they’re like, space to play, hide, and be comfortable,” she said.

There is also Twisted Whisker Cat Cafe merchandise for sale, and all adoptions can be handled on-site.

“Doing things like this can help give cat populations in Tupelo a place to be comfortable, long term, even if they’re not getting adopted, this is a happy place to be, a lot happier than the streets,” Connor said.

The Twisted Whisker Cat Cafe opens this Thursday.  Also, the owners stress that they only get their cats from the Humane Society.  For more information, go to The Twisted Whisker Cat Cafe on Facebook, or https://www.loc8nearme.com/mississippi/tupelo/the-twisted-whisker-cat-cafe/6795044/