CHEYENNE - While the concept of a cat cafe is still gaining popularity in North America, Cheyenne's Catz N Coffee has made the difficult decision to close in the coming weeks mainly due to a lack of funding necessary to keep the show rolling. They still have one cat up for adoption.
A glance at the history
Catz N Coffee Connections is a cat cafe where you can hang out with or even adopt cats while sipping on a beverage... although you don't have to adopt a cat or get a beverage to hang out there.
Catz N Coffee Connections is located in a multi-tenant building on West 20th Street across from Civic Commons Park and down the street from the City Center building. The building in which the cat cafe resides was built in approximately 1906. A detailed history of the building isn't currently known by Optopolis, but their space recently was occupied by LifeChoice Pregnancy Care Center and the Cheyenne Metropolitan Planning Organization.
 View of building as seen from West 20th Street - Optopolis |
Catz N Coffee Connections was started by Jami Eastman-Raffa as Jami's first business, opening on April 1st, 2023. Catz N Coffee a non-profit that was opened with the goal of helping to get cats adopted. Wyoming Tribune Eagle notes that Jami is a former Cheyenne Animal Shelter employee who wanted to provide a more comfortable space for cats to live in while they are waiting to be adopted. Jami described it to Optopolis as an AirB&B for cats while they wait for their new home.
Catz N Coffee announces they will close in coming weeks
In mid-January 2026, Catz N Coffee posted to Facebook that they will be closing. In their post, Catz N Coffee said they, "celebrated nearly 200 cat adoptions," getting cats from across Wyoming into a new home. In a visit made by Optopolis on January 18th, the owner, Jami, told Optopolis that the space will be closing to the public on January 31st; after that point, they will be open on Saturday afternoons to sell off various inventory and items still left in their space as well as for cat adoption appointments. Their lease expires in March.
| TOP: Upstairs areas BOTTOM LEFT: Stairway downstairs | BOTTOM MIDDLE AND RIGHT: Downstairs Main Floor areas - Optopolis |
At the time of Optopolis' visit, two cats were still housed at their facility, but one had been adopted and is anticipated to go home on Wednesday, January 21st. An archive of the Catz N Coffee website indicates that the remaining cat to be adopted is a female, 2 years old, named Berkely.
Berkely, "lived [her] first two years with two roommates," before her, "mom had to move and wasn't able to take any of us. [Her] two roommates have already been adopted." Jami says that Berkely is a bit shy and skittish and asks for anyone interested in picking up Berkely to be patient.
The other cat in their possession which was relaxing upstairs during Optopolis' visit and is set to go home on Wednesday with her owners; she is a female, 1 year old, named Lupine.
 Lupine, a 1-year-old female, is set to go home on Wednesday. - Optopolis |
The main reason for the closure of Catz N Coffee comes down to a lack of funding. While they did have many sponsors including The Little Ol' Printshop, Murdochs, KFBC Radio, and Burns Insurance Agency who stepped up to the plate and supported Catz N Coffee Connections' non-profit mission, Jami believes that if she stayed open for another year, the business would run out of funding.
When their final official day will be
Catz N Coffee Connections is set to permanently close on Sunday, March 1st, 2026. That day includes a book club meeting where they will be reading I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. The event is free of charge, but donations are appreciated. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own copy of the book because they won't have copies available. The event will take place from 4 PM to 6 PM. Jami told Optopolis that the closure will leave Wyoming with no other cat cafes; Casper had one, but it closed years ago. The nearest cat cafes include Loveland, Boulder, Denver, and a few other areas in Northern Colorado.
What do you think?
How do you feel to see Cheyenne's local cat cafe shutter? What would you like to see open at the soon-to-be-former Catz N Coffee Connections once it closes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
PUBLISHED: 01/21/2026 at 12:44 PM
UPDATED: 01/21/2026 at 7:39 PM to clarify information in regard to Berkely.
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