Iowa City’s Kitty Corner Social Club helped over 100 cats from local animal shelters find homes within the business’ first six months of operation. The establishment announced this milestone on social media.
Kitty Corner Social Club originally opened with the goal of finding permanent homes for their cats they have in house. Located at 20 S. Clinton St., the cat lounge and cafe has seen increased foot traffic.
According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, the business has received more than 22,000 visits and welcomed over 7,000 residents to meet the variety of cats that have passed through the adoption center’s doors so far.
Originally starting out with five cats upon the store’s opening in February, Kitty Corner has managed to average around 17 adoptions per month.
Reaching such a big achievement in this short amount of time was something the business never expected to see, Katy Brown, founder and CEO of Kitty Corner Social Club, said. Brown is immensely grateful to the community for welcoming and engaging with the business.
“There is no other business like us. I am amazed at the amount of support our small business has gotten,” she said.
Cooper Brown, son of the owner and general manager for the shelter, said the team is willing to accept cats from shelters within a 60 to 90 minute range of Iowa City.
A large number of cats, Cooper Brown said, come from places like the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Shelter, Muscatine County Humane Society, and Cedar County League for Animal Welfare.
“We reach out to anyone who has them [cats] and these places also reach out to us,” he said.
Cooper Brown said a large number of kittens come to them in the summer as it is overcrowding season within many of the nearby shelters. He said the number of people wanting cats has consistently lined up with the number of cats coming in.
Katy Brown keeps the cats on a schedule, taking the cats home on Sunday to rest and bringing them back on Monday. When the cats are in the store, Monday through Saturday, they are available to be viewed by potential adopters.
“We never knew how many cats we’re going to get each week,” Katy Brown said. “We adopt between six and eight cats per week from shelters and bring them to Kitty Corner for us to then adopt out using our own process. All the cats are socialized before coming here.”
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The adoption process is not unlike others, starting with a basic application that can be accessed on the website or via QR code in-store. Cooper Brown said Kitty Corners adoptions have a relatively tight turnaround.
“Our process is more personable,” he said. “It’s not first-come-first-serve. We talk to people through applications, have open dialogue with adopters…it’s really important to get the whole picture. Someone can look great on paper but not have the proper home or lifestyle to take care of a cat.”
One example he gave was having a reliable person to take care of the pet in the event the owner is unable to. He also explained there have only been a small handful of cats that have been returned after the adoption, something he said speaks to the business’ strengths.
A large array of cat photos line the “adaption wall,” dedicated wall space for employees to remember all the furry friends that have been adopted. This is one of Rhonda Scheidt’s, an employee at Kitty Corner Social Club, favorite things about the business.
“I would have never expected we would be this successful. I never realized how many cats needed a good home,” she said.
When the store gets its new cats, they come neutered and with all their shots. Some cats may have strong personalities, but Kitty Corner has not had any bad experiences with their cats yet.
“We like to get social cats,” Scheidt said. “Our most important thing is keeping everyone safe, especially kids. I think the social aspect benefits the cats as well as the visitors. It’s really important that this is a place to relax and build relationships.”