UofL alumna brings cat café to Louisville to promote adoption

UofL alumna Karla Spencer (’83, ’89) felt called to act after learning that Louisville Metro Animal Services takes in nearly 1,600 animals each year, many of which will not find homes. Inspired by a trip to an Indianapolis cat café, the business school graduate quickly got to work on a similar concept here. 

Lucky Cat Café and Lounge is non-profit cat café where guests can sit back and relax with a number of feline friends. The building, located on Dundee Road near the Douglass Loop in the Highlands neighborhood, is divided into the café portion, where cats are prohibited, and the lounge portion, where guests can take their coffee or snacks to enjoy in the company of cats.

The feline companions are tenants of LMAS simply looking for their forever home. The café hosts about a dozen kittens at a time that are available for adoption. The necessities, like cat food and litter, are completely funded by donations

“I knew marketing, accounting and finance were important, so I got those set up right away,” said Spencer, who relies on donations to keep her costs low. “We’re not doing this to make money. We want to be a community-supported organization, and we have been.”

Spencer raises awareness through a variety of events within the community as well as in the shop.

For the complete story, visit uoflalumni.org.