As a Louisiana-born girl, I grew up surrounded by good food, good people — but no pets. I always liked animals, but the idea of pet ownership just wasn’t something I was interested in. That all changed when my mother-in-law passed away, leaving behind one of her beloved cats, a sweet boy named AJ, who suddenly had nowhere to go.
I decided to foster him until we could find a suitable home. But after the very first night, AJ curled up in my lap, and his quiet companionship made the grief of losing my mother-in-law feel a little less heavy. In that moment, something changed, and from then on, my love for cats began to grow.
Over the next few years, I went from fostering one to living with four, and realized my mission to help homeless cats was bigger than my home could hold.
While traveling across the U.S. and abroad, I made a habit of visiting local cat cafés everywhere I went. They became my happy place, warm, cozy spaces filled with comfort, coffee, and cats. But when I returned home to Louisiana, I realized there were no cat cafés in our area. That’s when inspiration struck: I wanted to create a space right here in our community where people could relax, connect, and help give rescue cats a second chance.
The past year, my family and friends have helped bring that dream to life, building, designing, and supporting this vision every step of the way.
Second Chance Cat Café is more than just a place to enjoy coffee and cats, it’s a space built from love, loss, and purpose.
We can’t wait to welcome you in, share this experience with you, and continue working together to reduce feline homelessness across Louisiana, one cup, one cuddle, and one adoption at a time.