When Emily Deas was in college, she felt drawn to animal rescue as a mission. She started fostering/rescuing cats while loosely designing a cat cafe based on what she’d seen online and in other cities. Unbeknownst to her, Emily’s future business partner, Talisa Cantrell, was doing the same thing. When the pair met online, they knew it was meant to be.
“It’s a ton of work to open a cat cafe,” says Emily. “Not only are you opening a business, but you’re opening an animal rescue. I’d been waiting for a business partner because I had a very specific vision in mind. Then Talisa posted something on Facebook about wanting to open a cat cafe. I offered to talk about this with her, and soon as we met up, it was a perfect vision. We understood what we wanted it to be. This was the dream team.”
Together with Talisa’s boyfriend, William Ridenour, Scruffy’s Cafe started to take shape. It wasn’t about making a profit as much as it was about making a difference, and not just in the life of the cats open for adoption. The goal of the cafe is to help all who enter, cats and humans alike.
“Talisa worked as a crisis counselor and still has her license in counseling. I’d witnessed a lot of first-hand things with animal therapy, so when we met to talk about our ideas, it was the first time I met someone who was on-board with it being more than a cat cafe,” says Emily. “We wanted it to be a mental health resource.”
The original open date was the first week of April this year, right at the height of businesses closing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The timing, it seemed, couldn’t have been worse. They had plans for a big opening, for hosting therapy groups and kitten yoga, for making a big splash on North Broadway.
However, the restrictions meant rearranging the plan, so instead of a big opening, Talisa and Emily now refer to the start of Scruffy’s Cafe as their “humble beginnings”.
“We had to rein in our vision, so we decided to open up a warm and inviting space,” says Emily. “With the pandemic and all this tension in the world, we could wait until it’s perfectly our vision, or we could help. So, we decided to open our doors and start.”
Scruffy’s Cafe partners with Happy Paws Kitten Rescue, so even though adoptable kittens and cats are living at Scruffy’s temporarily, all adoptions happen through Happy Paws. Essentially, Scruffy’s Cafe functions as a large foster home, and that means all adoption proceeds stay with Happy Paws.
“We haven’t started our therapy options yet, but people come here having no clue that’s part of our goal. They come in and say they’ve had a terrible week, and they thought petting cats would make them feel better. I’ll sit with them and they’ll vent to me, and some people have heavy burdens on their heart,” says Emily. “We had a mother and son come in on the anniversary of her husband’s death, and her son hadn’t smiled in so long. It may not be therapy, but there’s love here. It confirms that it was okay to open during a pandemic. We adjusted for it, and we’re still doing good work.”
The plan for Scruffy’s Cafe includes partnerships with local brewers and bakers, but for now, in compliance with CDC guidelines, Scruffy’s offers prepacked snacks and self-serve coffee and tea. As businesses reopen and agreements can be made, the goal is to be a fully-stocked cafe and bakery with a variety of treats from area makers. Though the cats live in the same building, their living space is properly separated from the cafe.
So as to not exceed social distancing limits, Scruffy’s Cafe is open to customers and visitors on a reservation basis. Due to COVID-19 guidelines, they are allowing 14 visitors at one time. Considering the number of adoptable kittens and cats hovers around 15, give or take, the human-cat ratio works out perfectly.
“The beauty of the cat cafe is that half of the people who come are people who can’t adopt, so they either have a cat at home who doesn’t want another cat around, or they live in dorms, or they live with someone who’s allergic,” says Emily. “It’s one of those amazing things - some people come in to adopt, but there are so many people for whom it provides another need.”
For more information about Scruffy’s Cafe, to book a one-hour session, or to inquire about partnering with Talisa and Emily, visit ScruffysCafeKnox.com or call (865) 540-6955.