Vancouver cat café gets another chance to stay in business thanks to community's generosity

Last week, Catoro Café, which allows customers to play with rescued cats and offers adoption services, announced it might have to close its doors due to financial struggles caused by the pandemic and rising costs for products.

But thanks to the outpouring of support from the cat-loving community, the café has raised more than $100,000 within days, which is just enough for it to stay in business.

Shenna Divina, one of the managers of the café, said she gets emotional thinking about the community's generosity.

"(I'm) overwhelmed but so, so, so grateful. Still processing for sure," she said.

"We have a lot of work to do and we're so grateful that we get to continue to do it," she continued.

The café launched a GoFundMe last week as a last-ditch effort to save the business, and it has already surpassed its goal.

The money raised will go towards vet bills, cat food and litter, and paying off debt that grew when COVID-19 restrictions forced the café to close or operate with limited capacity.

"Taking care of live animals, it's always going to be a high overhead cost," said Divina.

For customers, the café serves as a safe space that allows them to enjoy bubble tea, seek animal therapy and possibly adopt a cat.

"I love coming here," said customer Sandra Oh. "I love their mission. I love cats. And I actually got an application to adopt one of them."

"(I'm) excited and stoked because now there's an opportunity to get a cat from here," added Andrea Trevor, another customer.

"It gives people a good opportunity to interact with the cats before they adopt them, and yeah, it's a good time for everybody," said Benjamin Deacon, another customer.

Since it opened in 2019, the café has helped more than 850 cats find their forever homes, according to the managers.

"I just think it's important what we do here," said Divina. "We help cats find homes and people get to find a new best friend and kind of give them that second chance."