Purrrfect opening day as Windsor launches its first cat café

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It’s the cat’s meow in a purrfectly cozy setting at Yay for Strays, the newly opened cat café on Ottawa Street.

“We really wanted like a cosy, comfy feeling. We want you to feel like you’re at home when you’re here,” said Yay for Strays owner Chantelle Gaudette.

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“I am a cat lover. I truly love all animals,” Gaudette said. “I feel like the world has some negative people in it and it’s not in a good place right now.

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“So for me, when I’m with animals … (I) feel a sense of peace that I don’t have with anything else. They’re my everything.”

Gaudette says the shop is the first bricks-and-mortar cat café in Windsor.

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Yay For Strays Cat Café owner Chantelle Gaudette is shown at the Ottawa Street business in Windsor on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. (DAN JANISSE/Windsor Star) Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star

The quirky space — with a café and gift shop at the front and a cat lounge at the back — had it’s official opening Saturday.

A steady stream of customers flooded the colourful space.

“I really actually like the décor,” said customer Ari Piekny, who stopped in for a cheesecake-in-a-cup dessert and some bonding time with the café’s felines.

“I’m getting like a grandma’s house kind of vibe. Like when you would go to your grandparent’s house at like age seven.

“Everything was like cosy. That’s what I’m getting from this.”

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Visitor Ari Piekny stopped in to the Yay for Strays Cat Café on opening day, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (JULIE KOTSIS/Windsor Star) Photo by Julie Kotsis /Windsor Star

Several felines roam the lounge — all on loan and up for adoption from the Windsor-Essex County Humane Society — finding refuge in the escape room, napping on a cat condo or sprawled across the carpet waiting eagerly for someone to scratch their ears.

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There’s cushy sofas to lounge on, tables and chairs where one of the many board games can be played and a well-stocked library.

Gaudette’s brother Cole hung all the artwork and cat perches that fill the cat café walls.

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The furry residents at Windsor’s Yay for Strays Cat Café are eager to cuddle and play with visitors as the Ottawa Street shop opened for business Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. The cats are all available for adoption through the Windsor-Essex County Humane Society. (JULIE KOTSIS/Windsor Star) Photo by Julie Kotsis /Windsor Star

Yay for Strays is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at 1326 Ottawa St.

Admission to the cat lounge is $7 for half an hour, $10 for an hour.

jkotsis@postmedia.com

twitter.com/KotsisStar

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Waiting to greet guests, this furry host and resident of Windsor’s new Yay for Strays Cat Café on Ottawa Street is available for adoption through the Windsor-Essex County Humane Society. (JULIE KOTSIS/Windsor Star) Photo by Julie Kotsis /Windsor Star
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The exterior of the Yay For Strays Cat Café on Ottawa Street in Windsor is shown on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. (DAN JANISSE/Windsor Star) Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star

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