Adopting, Volunteering and Cat Cafés in Miami: A Cat Lover's Guide

As far as we can find, Miami doesn't have a cat café right now. Two Miami-Dade cafés, one in South Beach that opened in 2018 and one on Biscayne Boulevard that opened in 2020, have both closed. As of 2026, the nearest cat café to Miami is Good Luck Cat Cafe in Fort Lauderdale, an adoption room run by a local rescue. Most of the area's cat life happens in its shelters, rescues and foster homes.

Two facts shape cat life here. First, kittens are born year-round in South Florida, not just in spring; the Humane Society of Greater Miami, The Cat Network and PURRR all say so. Second, the metro spans two counties with separate systems. Miami-Dade Animal Services reports that 2025 was its 11th straight year at the 90% no-kill benchmark, and it fixes community cats for free. Broward County runs trap-neuter-return under a 2015 change to its animal ordinance and says it doesn't remove or relocate community cats. Where you adopt, and who to call about a stray, depends on which county you're in.

This guide covers about 40 miles around downtown Miami: urban Miami-Dade down to Homestead, and Broward County up to Deerfield Beach. It walks through where to adopt, the rescues worth knowing, the nearest cat café, how to volunteer or foster, and what to do if you find a cat. Opening hours, fees and booking details change, so we leave those to each organization's own site and our listing pages.

At a glance

Where to adopt

Miami-Dade County

• Miami-Dade Animal Services, Doral. The county shelter. Its Pet Adoption and Protection Center at 3599 NW 79th Ave opened in 2016; at 70,000 square feet it's more than double the size of the shelter it replaced, and it has a community playroom for cats. Adoptions are done in person, first come, first served, and adopters must be 18 or older. By the county's own count, it kept a 90% save rate in 2025, the 11th year in a row it met that no-kill benchmark. It also adopts out cats from its shelter in Medley, at offsite events, from the HOPE Express mobile adoption vehicle and at partner PetSmart and Petco stores.
• Humane Society of Greater Miami, North Miami Beach. A private nonprofit that has helped Miami-Dade's animals since 1936. Its shelter, the Soffer and Fine Adoption Center on West Dixie Highway, describes itself as "limited admit, adoption guarantee": no animal is euthanized for time, space or treatable medical issues. It runs a low-cost spay/neuter clinic on site. Two programs suit families: Kitty Tales, where kids ages 5 to 12 read to shelter cats with a parent or guardian, and Kitten Yoga classes with adoptable kittens.

Broward County

• Broward County Animal Care, Fort Lauderdale. The county shelter, on SW 42nd Street, describes its adoptions as "open, non-judgmental," and it works with approved rescue partners to place special-needs and long-stay pets.
• Humane Society of Broward County, Fort Lauderdale. Founded in 1944, it's an independent nonprofit, not a division of the county or part of any national group. Its 33,000-square-foot shelter on Griffin Road is open admission for owned animals, and it runs a low-cost spay/neuter and vaccine clinic.
• Abandoned Pet Rescue, Fort Lauderdale. A no-kill shelter for cats and dogs on NE 9th Avenue, founded in 1996. By its own count it has made more than 10,000 adoptions since then (as of 2026), and a Miami Herald story it reposted calls it one of the largest no-kill shelters in South Florida. Its "365+ Club" spotlights pets who have waited a year or more for a home.

Broward also has cats-only shelters:

• Cats Exclusive, Margate. A cats-only, no-kill shelter founded in 1979 for Broward's homeless cats. It has its own veterinary clinic, which also serves the public.
• PURRR Adoption + Sanctuary, Oakland Park, just north of Fort Lauderdale. Founded in 2018, it's cats only: an adoption center, a sanctuary and a spay/neuter clinic. Visits are by appointment.

Adopting at pet stores

Several groups keep cats in pet stores. The Cat Network runs adoption centers in pet stores across Miami-Dade, where you adopt directly from the cat's foster parent. Beyond Nine Cat Rescue has cats at Petco in Oakland Park and PetSmart in Pompano Beach, Good Karma Pet Rescue runs volunteer-staffed catteries in Broward and Palm Beach pet stores, and Miami-Dade Animal Services places cats at partner PetSmart and Petco stores. Check each group's site for its current stores.

Rescues worth knowing

Many of these rescues are foster-based, with no building: their cats live in volunteers' homes until they're adopted. These stand out for what they take on.

Medical and special needs

• Little Beans' Hope Rescue, Miami. A foster-based, volunteer-run cat rescue founded in 2022, with no paid staff. It takes in cats "often turned away for being too sick, too old, or too complicated." It runs four programs: complex medical care, senior cats, stray rehab, and Hope at Home, which helps with vet bills so families can keep their cats. It also does trap-neuter-vaccinate-return.
• Beyond Nine Cat Rescue, Oakland Park. An all-volunteer cat rescue established in 2007 that refuses euthanasia for treatable conditions or population control. Its adoptable cats have included FeLV-positive cats and kittens. Meet cats at its adoption center by appointment, or at its two pet-store locations.

Kittens and bottle babies

• The Milk Drunk Foundation. A South Florida rescue that specializes in orphaned newborns that need bottle or tube feeding, kittens among them. It was founded by a retired midwife after she volunteered with Wonder Paws Rescue starting in 2019.

The Humane Society of Greater Miami and the Humane Society of Broward County also recruit kitten fosters (see "Volunteering and fostering").

Community cats and TNR

• The Cat Network. Founded in 1995 and all-volunteer, with no shelter. It runs the Miami Meow Mobile, its own mobile spay/neuter clinic based in Kendall, which serves Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties. It also issues low-cost spay/neuter certificates that private clinics accept, and lends traps. By its own count, more than 120,000 cats have been spayed or neutered through its Meow Mobile and certificate program, and more than 20,000 fostered and adopted (as of 2026).
• SoBe Cats Spay & Neuter, Miami Beach. A 100% volunteer nonprofit and the City of Miami Beach's partner on its Community Cat Program: trap-neuter-vaccinate-return, adoptions from the Kitty Campus on Collins Avenue in North Beach, and a Registered Feeder Program for the people who feed colonies. In 2021, as the Washington Post reported, its feeding network helped reunite Binx, a cat missing after the Surfside condo collapse, with his family.
• Good Karma Pet Rescue, Fort Lauderdale. A rescue for dogs and cats; most of its adoptable cats live in foster homes. It holds TNR days with a stated goal of 2,000 community cats a year, and its barn cat program places unsocial cats in pairs as working cats on rural properties.

The nearest cat café

Good Luck Cat Cafe, Fort Lauderdale

Good Luck Cat Cafe is the cat café and adoption room of Lady Luck Animal Rescue, an all-breed rescue for dogs and cats. It's on the second floor at 901 Progresso Dr, near the FAT Village Arts District and Flagler Village, about 26 miles north of downtown Miami. Every cat there is up for adoption, and each is fully vetted, spayed or neutered and microchipped; adoption includes a home visit. In its own words, the café "runs solely on donations and word of mouth."

It started around 2016 inside the Boomerangs thrift store in Wilton Manors, where it was staffed by volunteers and Lady Luck and Good Karma Pet Rescue handled the adoptions. In 2019, with the thrift store closing over a rent increase, the café moved to Fort Lauderdale.

Closed: The Cat's Meow Café on Biscayne Boulevard in the Upper Eastside, which partnered with Miami-Dade Animal Services, opened in 2020 and closed in 2023.

Closed: Cat Café South Beach on Washington Avenue, which opened in 2018 with cats from SoBe Cats, has since closed.

Volunteering and fostering

Several of the shelters and rescues above have cat-specific volunteer roles. Getting started typically means an application and an orientation, and many set a minimum age. Requirements change, so check each group's volunteer page.

• Miami-Dade Animal Services has a Cat Socializer role, plus Pet Pals and mobile adoption events. Volunteers are typically 16 or older (15 with a parent) and go through a background check and orientation.
• Broward County Animal Care has a Cat Enrichment Assistant role. Volunteers are 16 or older and start with a virtual orientation; under-16s can earn service hours by fostering.
• The Humane Society of Greater Miami starts volunteers with an online orientation, an application and shelter training, after which they schedule their own shifts.
• The Humane Society of Broward County takes adult volunteers from 18, with a monthly orientation and a background check, and has a teen program for ages 16 to 18. Its Friends of Animals Club is a monthly group of seniors who spend time with the animals.
• The Cat Network needs volunteers to care for cats at its pet-store adoption centers and staff weekend adoption shows. Its Youth Organization is open to high schoolers 15 and older.
• SoBe Cats recruits volunteers to care for cats at the Kitty Campus and to work as registered feeders, and it trains volunteer trappers.
• Good Karma Pet Rescue has roles caring for its pet-store catteries and helping at TNR and surgery days. Volunteers are typically 18 or older, or 14 with a parent for some roles.
• Cats Exclusive takes volunteers 21 and older only.

Fostering: kittens are born year-round in South Florida, with the most litters in early spring and late fall, according to the Humane Society of Greater Miami. Miami-Dade Animal Services gives its fosters training, food, supplies and medical support, and it looks for fosters for newborn kittens that need bottle-feeding. The Humane Society of Greater Miami warns that orphaned kittens may need care around the clock. The Humane Society of Broward County's "Baby Fosters" care for kittens until they're about 8 weeks old, and its fosters must live in Broward, Miami-Dade or Palm Beach County. Lady Luck Animal Rescue gives students community-service hours for fostering kittens, and Little Beans' Hope is entirely foster-based.

Found a cat?

In Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade Animal Services runs the county's official lost-and-found pet database, and both the Humane Society of Greater Miami and The Cat Network point people there. To report a lost, found or injured animal, call 311.

If you find newborn kittens, the county's advice is "Don't Kit-Nap the Kittens": newborns usually don't need human help, so keep the mother and kittens together until they're eating on their own.

In Miami Beach, SoBe Cats handles trap-neuter-vaccinate-return requests and the city's Registered Feeder Program.

Free and low-cost spay and neuter in Miami-Dade

• Miami-Dade Animal Services fixes community cats for free through its trap-neuter-vaccinate-return program, at the Doral center or the Pets Thrive in 305 Community Cat Center in Cutler Bay. Cats need to be at least 2 months old and 2 pounds. Each gets surgery, rabies and FVRCP vaccines and an ear tip. The county also lends traps. Both are for county residents only.
• Miami Veterinary Foundation pays for free spay/neuter of community cats at participating private vets, with no income qualification.
• The ASPCA Community Veterinary Clinic in Liberty City, opened in 2019 with Miami-Dade County, offers low-cost spay/neuter and basic care.
• The Cat Network's Miami Meow Mobile, based in Kendall, offers low-cost spay/neuter for pet, foster and community cats.
• The Humane Society of Greater Miami's Gardnar Mulloy Pet Rescue Clinic in North Miami Beach takes community cats for surgery.
• Street Cat Clinic is a Miami nonprofit clinic that focuses on spaying and neutering outdoor and rescued cats. Its TNR appointments are coordinated by the nonprofit Cat Solutions 305, and it spays and neuters for free for 501(c)(3) rescues in Miami-Dade and Broward.

In Broward

To report a stray or injured animal, call 311. Coral Springs, Hollywood, Margate and Pompano Beach run their own animal control, so in those cities call the city instead. Since a 2015 amendment to the county's animal ordinance, Broward has run a Community Cat Management Program with two tracks: trap-neuter-return, typically by appointment, and Return to Field. The county says it doesn't remove or relocate community cats.

For spay and neuter, the Humane Society of Broward County runs a low-cost spay/neuter and walk-in vaccine clinic, and PURRR (Oakland Park) and Cats Exclusive (Margate) have cat-focused clinics. Good Karma Pet Rescue holds TNR days and takes trap requests, and Street Cat Clinic also works with Broward rescues.

Annual events

We didn't find a long-running cat show or cat festival in the Miami area. Two recurring events are worth knowing:

• Good Karma Pet Rescue's Fall in Love adoption event, held each fall with North Fort Lauderdale Subaru, with dogs and cats. It reached its sixth year in 2026.
• The Humane Society of Broward County's VCA Walk for the Animals, a fundraiser walk every February in Fort Lauderdale. It isn't cat-specific; the 2027 walk will be its 37th.

For what's happening this month, see cat events on MeowScout.

FAQ

Is there a cat café in Miami?

Not that we could find, as of 2026. Cat Café South Beach and The Cat's Meow Café have both closed, and we found no open cat café in Miami-Dade County. The nearest is Good Luck Cat Cafe in Fort Lauderdale, about 26 miles north of downtown, where every cat is adoptable through Lady Luck Animal Rescue.

Where can I adopt a cat in Miami?

Miami-Dade Animal Services in Doral, the Humane Society of Greater Miami in North Miami Beach, and The Cat Network's adoption centers in pet stores across Miami-Dade. In Broward, start with Broward County Animal Care, the Humane Society of Broward County or Abandoned Pet Rescue.

When is kitten season in Miami?

All year. Kittens are born year-round in South Florida, with the most litters in early spring and late fall, according to the Humane Society of Greater Miami.

I found kittens in Miami. What should I do?

If they're newborns, leave them with their mother; Miami-Dade Animal Services says newborns usually don't need human help. Call 311 to report an injured animal. Once they're 2 months old and 2 pounds, the county can spay or neuter them for free.

Where can I get a stray cat fixed for free in Miami-Dade?

Miami-Dade Animal Services spays and neuters community cats for free at its Doral center and its Community Cat Center in Cutler Bay, for county residents. The Miami Veterinary Foundation covers community-cat surgeries at participating private vets.

Where can I volunteer with cats in Miami?

Miami-Dade Animal Services (Cat Socializer), The Cat Network's pet-store adoption centers, SoBe Cats' Kitty Campus in Miami Beach and the Humane Society of Greater Miami. Several of the rescues above also recruit fosters.

Explore MeowScout

• Everything MeowScout lists in Miami
• Cat cafés across the US
• Rescue organizations across the US
• Cat events near you