Feline Fans Hit The Mat With Cats, Paws For Beer; Watch Acro-Cats Purrform, Then Hang At Cool Cat Café
Ooh yeah, yeah, yeah the city’s cool cats are hanging out in straw hats and stealing the limelight this summer.
The cat’s out of the bag: Denver residents are starting summer by getting their paws on beer at the Dumb Friends League Catwalk. Then they’re headed to the fourth annual Cats on Mats yoga series pairing people practicing yoga with homeless cats and kittens at the Denver Animal Shelter.
Ooh the cool cats continue coming on strong, tapping on the toe with a new hat as Denver dances with the Amazing Acro-cats at the Bug Theatre. It’s a two-hour long purrformance featuring domesticated house cats. After speeding too fast having fun with cats they cool down at the Denver Cat Company, one of the country’s first cat cafes. A feline lounge-about, this cat-themed café serves coffee and pastries.
Paws For A Beer
Whether you’re a cat person or not it’s been proven that there are numerous health benefits to owning or simply being around felines. Cats are known to reduce a person’s stress and anxiety, can help lower blood pressure, boost our immune systems and have an overall calming effect on humans. So it just makes sense that this summer area non-profit organizations are finding ways to bring more and more people together with adoptable cats while raising money to support their causes.
Beer, cats and fun, all for a great cause — the Dumb Friends League Catwalk returns Saturday, July 13. Pet-lovers are invited to celebrate cats and kittens by sampling craft beer from 10 local breweries, while learning about programs that benefit feline friends and viewing adorable adoptable cats. General admission tickets include beer tastings from 10 local breweries from 7 to 9 p.m. Food from local food trucks and cat merchandise, including Catwalk T-shirts, will be available for purchase. The Hill’s Science Diet booth is offering a Tito’s vodka cocktail and free cat food samples.
The Catwalk takes place at the Dumb Friends League Quebec Street Shelter at 2080 S. Quebec St. The event’s feline friends request that you leave your canine companions at home for this event. Guests will receive a “pawport,” which includes information about the locations of the various beer samplings and cat information stations. Pawports stamped at every booth will be entered to win a prize. Information: ddfl.org/catwalk.
Cats On Mats
If you love yoga and kittens, this event is for you! Denver Animal Protection is hosting its fourth annual “Cats on Mats” yoga series at the Denver Animal Shelter through August. The hour-long yoga classes are taught by professional, certified yoga instructors and are “supervised” by a team of adorable, adoptable, free-roaming cats and kittens.
Classes are offered every Wednesday in July and August from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Denver Animal Shelter located at 1241 W. Bayaud Ave. Space is limited, and many of the classes sold-out last year.
Participants should wear comfortable clothing and bring their own yoga mat as well as a $20 donation to support the shelter. Cats on Mats helps to socialize cats that are ready for adoption, and participants who connect with a special cat are encouraged to begin the adoption process. Information: 720-337-1782.
Cat Band At Bug
Cat lovers are always suggesting that cats are entertaining and this month Valley residents are getting their first opportunity to see for themselves. A troupe of touring, performing house cats known as The Amazing Acro-cats — the only all cat band in the world — is bringing its act to the Bug Theatre on Navajo St., July 5-14.
This one-of-a-kind, two-hour long purrformance features talented house cats that roll on balls, ride skateboards and jump through hoops. The current band lineup features Nola on guitar, Asti on drums, Nue on keyboard, plus some brand-new members. They are Ahi on woodblocks, Albacore on cowbell, Buggles on trumpet and Oz on Saxophone. There is even a chicken — Chuck Norris — rockin’ the tambourine!
Using the magic of clicker training, cat lover Samantha Martin — and a few other humans — travel with more than 15 cats and kittens as they educate and entertain audiences that cats can actually be trained. Currently recovering from stage-three cancer, she tenaciously continues to save the lives of cats and kittens through rescue, foster and adoption. The event is suitable for cat lovers of all ages. Information: 303-477-9988.
Cool Cat Cafe
Denver’s first cat café and only the third in the country, friends of felines flock to the Denver Cat Cafe year-round to sip on Solar Roast coffee plus teas and an assortment of other beverages. Located on Tennyson St. in the Berkeley neighborhood, the charming spot draws customers seeking to relax with cats and get some work done.
Due to the health code, the tabletop spot isn’t a full-service café but offers an assortment of prepackaged snacks. At any given time, patrons can expect to find around 15 cats at the café, all of whom are fully vetted and ready to go home with you after completing the adoption process. The café has facilitated the adoption of more than 700 cats since opening in 2014.
The café was founded by Leila Qari — a former attorney — who was captivated by the concept of cat cafés popular in Japan and Europe. She used her own funds to open the café, painted every wall and hand-picked and designed the furnishings and decor. Her book-hoarding tendencies resulted in a small library in the back portion of the cafe, adding another dimension to the space and providing patrons with reading material while customers relax with the kitties. She also hires and trains the staff and still picks up shifts every week in order to stay connected with the business and the community. Hours are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Thur., Fri.-Sun. until 8 p.m. Information: 303-433-3422.