Cat Cafés, Adoption and Volunteering in San Francisco: A Cat Lover's Guide

The first permanent cat café in the United States opened in Oakland in October 2014, and it's still open. Cat Town was built for the cats least likely to be adopted from Oakland's city shelter: shy and fearful cats, seniors, and cats who are sick or injured. Other lounges in the area work the same way. KitTea in the Mission picks its cats "based on need," and Cat Chillin' Zone in Martinez takes in senior cats facing euthanasia.

One thing to know before you go: most places below are cat lounges rather than full cafés. Time with the cats is the point, and food and drink are limited, or come from a coffee shop next door.

This guide covers about 40 miles around San Francisco: the city, the East Bay out to the Tri-Valley and Martinez, the Peninsula down to Palo Alto, and Marin. It walks through the cat lounges, the places to adopt, the rescues worth knowing, 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 the venues' own sites and our listing pages.

At a glance

Cat cafés and cat lounges

San Francisco

As of early 2026, the San Francisco Chronicle counted two cat cafés in the city: KitTea and Whiskerwood Haven. They work in opposite ways. Some of KitTea's cats live there for good, while every cat at Whiskerwood Haven is up for adoption.

KitTea Cat Lounge & Rescue, Mission. KitTea is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that describes itself as a "rescue and sanctuary for cats in crisis." It started in Hayes Valley in 2014 and became a cat sanctuary in 2020, when it moved to 1266 Valencia St and its café side closed. Now it's a lounge with two kinds of cats. Some are permanent residents and aren't up for adoption. The rest are adoptable cats chosen "based on need (e.g. difficult to adopt, or on the euthanasia list)," from San Francisco Animal Care & Control, Central Valley shelters and a rescue in Qatar. Its adoption page says it specializes in bonded pairs, seniors and previously shy cats.

KitTea runs recurring events in the lounge: Purrlates (Pilates with the cats), Mewvie Nights, Cello and Chill, and Whiskers & Watercolors. Children must be 9 or older, unless a group with at least one guardian books the whole session or it's a private event. It's a 3-minute walk from the 24th St Mission BART station.

Whiskerwood Haven, Inner Richmond. Whiskerwood Haven opened on September 1, 2025, at 3000 Geary Blvd, behind the University of San Francisco. The SF Foghorn reported in 2025 that every cat there is up for adoption. The cats come from area shelters and rescues, and the Foghorn named three partners: Pink Paws for the Cause, Bay Area Cats and Give Me Shelter. It serves no food or drink. Walk-ins are welcome, and booking ahead is recommended.

East Bay

Cat Town, Oakland. Cat Town opened its café on October 25, 2014. It was the first permanent cat café in the US, as both Time and the San Francisco Chronicle reported when it opened. The nonprofit behind it was founded in 2011 by an Oakland Animal Services volunteer, and most of its cats still come from that city shelter. It takes the cats who struggle there: shy and fearful cats, seniors, and sick or injured cats.

The café is now Cat Town's Adoption Center, at 2869 Broadway. It typically has 25 to 35 adoptable cats. About half roam free, and the rest live in private "Studios." Souvenir Coffee is next door. Reservations are strongly recommended, and there must be one adult for every two children under 12. It's 0.7 miles north of the 19th St Oakland BART station, on the 51A bus line.

Cat Chillin' Zone, Martinez. This nonprofit cat lounge at 532 Center Ave says it exists to "save healthy homeless senior cats who are threatened with euthanasia in traditional shelters." It also re-homes cats that need hospice care. Adoption can happen the same day. Infants and toddlers can't visit.

Joybound Cat Lounge, Concord. In 2026, Joybound People & Pets (formerly the Animal Rescue Foundation, or ARF) opened a free cat lounge inside its thrift store at 1950 Market St. It keeps two to five adoptable cats at a time, brought in from Joybound's partner shelters.

Mini Cat Town, Pleasanton. Mini Cat Town is a nonprofit rescue for newborn kittens, founded in 2015 by three sisters. Its kittens are raised in foster homes. At 8 weeks and 2 pounds, already spayed or neutered, they move to its kitten lounges in shopping centers. The East Bay one is at Stoneridge Shopping Center. Admission is walk-in.

Peninsula

Mini Cat Town, Palo Alto. Mini Cat Town's lounge at 429 California Ave works the same way as the Pleasanton one. Its earlier pop-up at Stanford Shopping Center closed in April 2025.

At the South Bay edge of this guide, about 38 miles out, Mini Cat Town has another lounge at the Great Mall in Milpitas. Nabi Cat Cafe, a Korean-inspired café in Santa Clara, is right at the edge too. Its cats are all adoptable, from Kitten Rescue 101 and Scritch Kittens.

North Bay

We found no cat lounge in Marin. The closest thing is Kitty Corner in San Anselmo, Marin Humane's cat adoption center (see below).

Where to adopt

Animal services are organized differently from county to county. San Francisco has a city shelter and a separate private SPCA. In San Mateo County and Marin, private nonprofits handle the county's animal services. Palo Alto's city shelter is run by a nonprofit, and so is Alameda's.

San Francisco

• San Francisco Animal Care & Control, 1419 Bryant St. SFACC is the city's animal shelter, and it describes itself as San Francisco's only open-admission shelter: it takes every animal, whatever its species, temperament or condition. Its own FAQ asks "Is SFACC a no-kill shelter?" and answers "No." You don't have to live in San Francisco to adopt, but you do have to adopt in person.
• San Francisco SPCA, Mission. Founded in 1868, it says it was the first humane organization west of the Mississippi, and a 1968 historical plaque calls it the first SPCA in the West. Cats are at its Maddie's Pet Adoption Center at 250 Florida St. Adoptions are walk-in, first-come, first-served. The SPCA sold its Pacific Heights campus in 2022, so older listings that mention it are out of date.

East Bay

• Oakland Animal Services, High St. Oakland's city shelter. Adoption is walk-up, with no appointment, but you talk with staff first instead of browsing the kennels on your own. Its "Oakland Cats on Patrol" program adopts out working cats. Check its open days before you go.
• East Bay SPCA, Oakland and Dublin. Founded in 1874, which the org says makes it "one of the oldest shelters in the country." It isn't affiliated with national groups. Adoptions are walk-in, first-come, first-served, and it runs a spay/neuter surgery center in Oakland.
• Berkeley Animal Care Services, West Berkeley. The city shelter at 1 Bolivar Dr serves Berkeley, Albany, Piedmont and Emeryville. If several people want the same newly available animal, a random drawing decides.
• Berkeley Humane. Foster-based for now, while its Ninth St building is rebuilt as the Bay Area Animal Resource Center. In the meantime you can meet cats at its walk-in Adoption Outpost inside the Pet Food Express in North Oakland.
• Alameda Animal Shelter, Alameda. Volunteers formed Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter (FAAS) in 2009 to save the city's shelter from closing, and FAAS now runs it. You can visit during open hours without an application. Its South Shore adoption center has a free-roaming "Cat Experience" room.
• Hayward, Fremont and Dublin. Hayward Animal Services serves Hayward, and adoption starts with an online application. The Tri-City Animal Shelter in Fremont serves Fremont, Newark and Union City; adopters are helped first-come, first-served, and adoptions are completed in person. The Alameda County Sheriff's East County Animal Shelter in Dublin serves Dublin and unincorporated Alameda County.
• Contra Costa County. Contra Costa Animal Services in Martinez covers the whole county except Antioch, which has its own Antioch Animal Services. Richmond has no city shelter; Contra Costa Animal Services serves it.
• Joybound People & Pets, Walnut Creek. The nonprofit formerly called the Animal Rescue Foundation. Besides its Walnut Creek base, it has the free cat lounge in Concord described above.

Peninsula

• Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA, Burlingame and San Mateo. PHS/SPCA calls itself "truly an open admission shelter," responsible for San Mateo County's animals every day of the year. Its Center for Compassion is at 1450 Rollins Rd in Burlingame, home to its seasonal Kitten Nursery, and adoptions can be same-day walk-ins or by appointment. Lost-and-found and the spay/neuter clinic are at its Coyote Point campus in San Mateo.
• Pets In Need, Redwood City and Palo Alto. A private nonprofit that, according to the City of Palo Alto, has run the city's shelter since February 2019. Adoptions can happen the same day.

Marin

• Marin Humane, Novato. An "open-door shelter" whose officers serve Marin County around the clock. Many of its animals live in foster homes, so it encourages appointments. Its satellite cat adoption center, Kitty Corner, is in the Red Hill Shopping Center in San Anselmo, next to Pet Food Express. In 2021 it took in Hopalong, an East Bay foster rescue, and now runs it as the Hopalong foster program from an Oakland office.

Adopting at pet stores

Besides Berkeley Humane's outpost in North Oakland, Give Me Shelter holds regular adoption events at the Pet Food Express on Market St in San Francisco, and Island Cat Resources and Adoption shows its foster cats at adoption events in pet stores. Check each group's site for current stores.

Rescues worth knowing

Many of these rescues are foster-based: their cats live in volunteers' homes until they're adopted. These stand out for what they take on.

Seniors, special needs and hard-to-place cats

• Cat Town, Oakland. Besides its Adoption Center, Cat Town places cats with experienced foster homes. Its "In It For Life" program pays lifelong medical bills for hospice cats, and its "Forgotten Kitten Project" socializes kittens 4 months and older. Its curriculum for hard-to-place cats is taught through the Maddie's Fund Apprenticeship.
• Give Me Shelter Cat Rescue, San Francisco. Founded in 2003, this foster-based rescue takes adult and senior cats with treatable medical or behavioral conditions who are at risk of euthanasia. Adopting involves an application, a phone interview, a video call with the foster and a meeting with the cat.
• Cat Chillin' Zone, Martinez. The senior-cat lounge described above is also its rescue: it exists to save senior cats facing euthanasia and to re-home cats who need hospice care.

Kittens and bottle babies

• Toni's Kitty Rescue, San Francisco. It started in 1998, when San Francisco Animal Care & Control had no kitten foster program, became a 501(c)(3) in 2003, and has run its own adoption program, independent of SFACC, since 2023. Fosters raise underage kittens, including bottle-feeders. Kittens go home in pairs, or to a home with a young cat, and must stay indoors. By its own count it places 350 to 400 kittens a year (as of 2026).
• Mini Cat Town. The newborn-kitten rescue behind the Pleasanton and Palo Alto kitten lounges. In 2024 it launched the Spay Shuttle, a mobile low-cost spay/neuter clinic.
• Pink Paws for the Cause, Los Altos Hills. All-volunteer and foster-based, it rescues feral and abandoned kittens. It also does trap-neuter-return and manages feeding colonies, and it's one of Whiskerwood Haven's partner rescues.

Community cats and trap-neuter-return

• Island Cat Resources and Adoption, Alameda. An all-volunteer group founded in 1994 that works mainly in Alameda, Oakland and San Leandro. It combines spay/neuter for free-roaming cats with foster-based adoption. Its "Garden Cat" program places very shy cats in safe backyards, and it runs a monthly spay/neuter clinic in Oakland with Full Circle Cats.
• Full Circle Cats, Oakland. Its "Feral Change" program offers free or donation-based spay/neuter for unowned cats, along with trap lending and transport. It teaches free "Beginning TNR" and "Bottle Babies 101" workshops, and also places cats through foster-based adoption and as Garden Cats.
• Community Concern for Cats, Walnut Creek and Clayton. An all-volunteer Contra Costa rescue that runs its own Cat Hospital in Clayton. It combines trap-neuter-return with foster-based adoption.
• Bay Area Cats, Cupertino. At the South Bay edge, serving Cupertino and Sunnyvale. It focuses on prevention: its "Mom's Last Litter" program spays the mother cat and helps find homes for her kittens. It's another of Whiskerwood Haven's partners.

Other models

• Persian & Himalayan Cat Rescue. A volunteer group that has rescued and re-homed Persian cats from shelters, vets and owners since 1990. Its cats must stay indoors, and declawing isn't allowed.
• Nine Lives Foundation, Redwood City. A cat-only organization that pairs a low-cost spay/neuter and vaccine clinic with an adoption center. Besides indoor homes, it places cats as barn, business and winery cats.
• Milo Foundation, Point Richmond. A no-kill rescue founded in 1994 that pulls dogs and cats from high-kill shelters into an adoption center with cat rooms, and gives sanctuary to animals who need more time.

Volunteering and fostering

Many of the shelters and rescues above need volunteers, with cat-specific roles: socializing shy cats, caring for cat rooms, transport, adoption events and fostering. Most start with an application and an orientation, and many set a minimum age, typically 18. Requirements change, so check each group's volunteer page.

In San Francisco

• SF SPCA has cat socializers at its adoption center. It typically asks for about six months at two hours a week, and volunteers must be 18 or older.
• San Francisco Animal Care & Control has cat volunteers and animal transporters. It asks for one scheduled two-hour shift a week for at least a year. Volunteers are 18 or older, though 12- to 17-year-olds can work with cats as a parent-and-child team.
• Give Me Shelter and Toni's Kitty Rescue need fosters. Toni's takes foster applications seasonally.

In the East Bay

• Oakland Animal Services has cat volunteers and a dedicated role caring for kittens with ringworm. Volunteers must be 18 or older.
• East Bay SPCA volunteers can be 18 or older, 16 or 17 with a waiver, or 10 to 15 paired one-to-one with an adult. It typically asks for six months or 50 hours.
• Cat Town has Adoption Center hosts and a socializer role for under-socialized cats. Volunteers must be 18 or older.
• Berkeley Animal Care Services cat volunteers play with and pet the cats to lower their stress, typically at least an hour a week for six months. Teens can join: 14 and 15 with a parent, 16 and 17 with consent.
• Full Circle Cats trains trap-neuter-return trappers and needs clinic-day drivers. Island Cat Resources and Adoption, which has no shelter, needs weekend adoption-event volunteers, trappers and drivers, typically at least monthly for six months.

On the Peninsula and in Marin

• Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA has cat socializers and, in season, Kitten Nursery shifts syringe-feeding newborn kittens. Volunteers are typically 18 or older, with some roles open to 13- to 17-year-olds.
• Nine Lives Foundation has cat care, socializing, adoption counseling and clinic roles, for volunteers 18 or older, typically four to six hours a month for six months.
• Marin Humane has a Feline Intervention Team that does behavior work with cats who aren't ready for adoption yet; it requires experience handling difficult cats. Its adult volunteer roles are for ages 18 and up.

Fostering: many of these groups depend on foster homes, especially for kittens. The SF SPCA's "Tiny Paws" fosters raise underage kittens, including bottle babies, as well as mothers with litters and cats recovering from medical care. East Bay SPCA fosters kittens over 4 weeks and bottle-baby newborns, and its "Hisses to Kisses" track is for feral or behavior-challenged kittens and cats. Cat Town looks for fosters for shy, nippy or medicated cats, in Oakland and the cities next to it. Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter says bottle-baby fostering is its greatest need from March to October. Berkeley Humane is fully foster-based for now, and says new fosters can start "as soon as the next week."

Found a cat?

In San Francisco

If an animal is sick, injured or in distress, call San Francisco Animal Care & Control's emergency dispatch at (415) 554-9400.

If you find kittens, SFACC's advice is to wait. A mother cat usually comes back within a few hours, sometimes after as long as 8 to 12, so leave healthy kittens with her until they're at least 4 weeks old. Report the litter to the SF SPCA Community Cats Program, which tracks the litter, traps and spays the mother, and moves the kittens into SFACC foster care. Kittens older than about 8 weeks are very hard to socialize, so the program can tell you whether they should be fostered or go through trap-neuter-return.

The Community Cats Program offers fully subsidized trap-neuter-return for cats trapped in San Francisco County, covering sterilization, a microchip, an ear-tip and vaccines, and it rents traps. By its own count it handled more than 2,700 cats in 2025. For pet cats, the SF SPCA runs a spay/neuter clinic with tiered pricing for eligible San Francisco residents, and a Community Veterinary Clinic in the Excelsior, opened in 2022.

In Alameda County

• Oakland: for an animal emergency, such as an animal in distress, call the city's dispatch line at (510) 777-3333. Oakland Animal Services has online guides for found kittens, feral cats and spay/neuter help.
• Berkeley, Albany, Piedmont and Emeryville: Berkeley Animal Care Services takes strays, and offers free or low-cost spay/neuter vouchers to Berkeley residents through Animal Fix Clinic.
• Hayward, Fremont, Newark, Union City and Dublin: each has its own shelter (see above). The Tri-City Animal Shelter's found-kittens guide says to wait 6 to 8 hours for the mother, not to put food by the nest, and to call before touching the kittens.
• East Bay SPCA's found-kitten guidance: wait 8 hours for the mother, and leave kittens with her until about 8 weeks unless they're in trouble. Its trap-neuter-return appointments are for San Leandro and Livermore residents.
• Trap-neuter-return: Full Circle Cats' Feral Change program offers free or donation-based spay/neuter, trap lending and transport, and it runs a monthly Oakland clinic with Island Cat Resources and Adoption, which also helps with spay/neuter and trap-neuter-return around Alameda.

In Contra Costa County

• Strays: Contra Costa Animal Services takes strays from the whole county except Antioch, which has Antioch Animal Services.
• Animal Fix Clinic, Richmond. Founded in 1998 as Fix Our Ferals, for community cats, it changed its name because it now treats pets too. Community cats are still about half its patients, and it offers a heavily subsidized trap-neuter-return package.
• Community Concern for Cats does trap-neuter-return through its own Cat Hospital in Clayton, and Berkeley Humane runs its "Spay the Bay" low-cost clinic at the PetSmart in Pinole.

On the Peninsula

• Strays and found animals: Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA at Coyote Point, (650) 340-7022.
• Feral cats: PHS/SPCA's feral cat program is free with a county voucher for San Mateo County residents. It doesn't take domesticated strays. It rents traps at Coyote Point and gives kitten starter kits to people raising found kittens themselves.
• Palo Alto and nearby: Pets In Need offers low-cost cat spay/neuter to anyone, wherever they live, and handles feral cats for Palo Alto, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. Nine Lives Foundation's clinic in Redwood City is also open to the public.

In Marin

Marin Humane says to wait at least 8 hours for a mother cat to come back, and it encourages people who find kittens to foster them with a kit it supplies, rather than bring them in. Its Pet Safety Net helps low-income Marin residents with spay/neuter.

Annual cat events

• SF SPCA Holiday Windows, late fall through December. Adoptable kittens and puppies move into the windows of Macy's in Union Square, a tradition the SF SPCA counted at 39 years in 2025.
• Kitten Nursery Shower, every spring at Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA's Center for Compassion in Burlingame.
• CatVideoFest at the Roxie Theater in the Mission, every summer, benefiting Give Me Shelter Cat Rescue.
• Cat Town Yard Sale, Cat Town's annual online auction in late summer, which includes the "Mayor of Cat Town" contest.
• Kittens on the Green, a summer event Cat Town holds with Subpar Mini Golf in Alameda.
• Pawliday Boutique, Island Cat Resources and Adoption's holiday sale in Alameda, every early December.

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

FAQ

Are there cat cafés in San Francisco?

Yes, two cat lounges: KitTea in the Mission and Whiskerwood Haven in the Inner Richmond. Neither is a full café. KitTea's café side closed in 2020, and Whiskerwood Haven serves no food or drink.

What was the first cat café in the US?

Cat Town in Oakland, which opened on October 25, 2014. It's now Cat Town's Adoption Center, at 2869 Broadway.

Can you adopt a cat from a cat lounge in the Bay Area?

Yes. Every lounge in this guide places cats for adoption. KitTea also has resident cats who aren't up for adoption, so ask which cats are.

Is San Francisco Animal Care & Control a no-kill shelter?

No, by its own FAQ. SFACC is the city's open-admission shelter, taking animals regardless of species, temperament or condition. The San Francisco SPCA is a separate private nonprofit.

What should I do if I find kittens in San Francisco?

If they're healthy, leave them with their mother, who may be away for hours at a time, and report the litter to the SF SPCA Community Cats Program. If an animal is sick, injured or in distress, call SFACC's emergency dispatch at (415) 554-9400.

Can kids visit Bay Area cat lounges?

It depends on the lounge. KitTea admits children 9 and older, except when a group books the whole session or for private events. Cat Town needs one adult for every two children under 12. Cat Chillin' Zone doesn't admit infants or toddlers.

Where can I volunteer with cats or foster kittens in the Bay Area?

SF SPCA, San Francisco Animal Care & Control, Oakland Animal Services, East Bay SPCA, Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA, Marin Humane, Cat Town and most of the rescues above. Many of them also need fosters; Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter says bottle-baby fosters are its greatest need from March to October.

Explore MeowScout

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