Nine Lives Cat Cafe
About us
Nine Lives Cat Café is the Indianapolis' original Cat Cafe, located in Fountain Square neighborhood, downtown Indianapolis. We offer delicious coffee drinks and gift shop. You can also pay small fees to enter our world-famous cat lounge and spend time with our cat residents! We support cat adoption of partnered rescues in the Central Indiana area. Reserve your spot today at ninelivescatcafe.com.
With a paid admission to the cat lounge, customers can enjoy snacks and beverages in the company of adoptable cats. Customers can choose to enjoy their drinks away from the cats, and then enter the Cat Lounge if they so choose; they can also watch the cats play while enjoying a drink or snack from the cafe. Cats will not, at any time, be allowed to enter the room where food and drinks are served; they always stay completely separate.
DO I NEED A RESERVATION TO GET INTO THE CAT LOUNGE?
To guarantee a spot in the Cat Lounge, we strongly recommend you make a reservation in advance. Walk-ins will be accepted when there is free space in the lounges.
Walk-ins are always welcome in our coffee shop.
When making a reservation, the number of available spots is the number that will be shown in the dropdown menu. We have strict rules for capacity as the health, wellness and safety of the cats and kittens is our NUMBER ONE priority.
DOES IT COST ANYTHING TO ENTER THE CAT LOUNGE?
There is a cover fee to enter the lounges. If you are familiar with the concept of cat cafes, you will know this is a common practice. The fees go directly to caring for the cats, as well as helping to defray the cost of running a large free-roaming cat room. Our management and IndyAdopts! volunteers ensure the health and welfare of the cats for 10 hours each day! By paying the cat lounge reservation fee, you help us keep cats safe and healthy in the lounges, and what's a cat cafe without the cats?
CAN I BRING MY OWN CAT IN?
The cats in residence at Nine Lives (except for Sora, Squidward, Sasha and Weeble, our Resident Cats) are adoptable from local rescues. To keep our cats and your cats healthy and stress-free, we do not allow customers to bring their own cats in.
Fun fact: cats bond with their environment!
WHY CAN'T I PICK UP CATS DURING MY VISIT?
Our fourth resident, Weeble, was unintentionally dropped while a child was holding him (against his will and in violation of our rules). He sustained a broken femur and had to have a $5300 reconstructive surgery (or have his leg removed, and due to his young age and excellent chances for recovery, we opted for the reconstruction). He also had to spend nine very long weeks in a kennel as a part of his recovery.
We cannot allow cats to be injured while in our care. The health, wellness and safety of the cats in residence is our number one priority!
WHY AREN''T CHILDREN ALLOWED AFTER 1PM?
Weeble, whose injury was just described above, was injured unintentionally due to a child picking him up against his will and in violation of our rules; he was dropped when the cat staff addressed the situation.
We discovered that cats 'power down' after 1pm, so the vibrant energy of children does not match that of sleeping cats. It's for your child's greatest enjoyment and our cats' greatest health, welfare and safety that we limit children under 13 years of age in order to appropriately match young peoples' energy and cats' energies. That means this: we welcome you and your well-behaved children to visit us! Please make your reservations during our all ages admitted hours: 10am and 1pm any day that we are open.
DOES NLCC ALWAYS HAVE KITTENS?
No, we don't. Kitten season generally runs from mid-June to mid-January. We may or may not have kittens at any given time, but it is more likely that we will host kittens during kitten season.
Mid-January through mid-June is the time that we host primarily adults. This is a very relaxing time in the lounges, and it allows our resident cats to shine! Adult cats can exhibit more shy qualities and may hide. All cats are worth spending time with! The cat staff on duty take time to introduce you to all of the cats in residence.