Cat lovers are in luck as Venice is now home to a temporary kitten lounge, where people can play and cuddle with furry animals in need of adoption.
Tiny Beans Kitten Lounge, located at 1522 Abbot Kinney Blvd., welcomed its first guests on Saturday with the goal of getting the felines adopted.
The new kitten lounge, launched by the West L.A.-based CatCafé Lounge, will be in Venice for three months.
Kristi Labrenz, executive director of Cat Cafe Lounge and the Tiny Beans Kitten Lounge, said she started the nonprofit in 2018 with the goal of saving cats and making a dent in the region’s “kitten season.”
“Early on, I understood that kitten season is a really big challenge in Los Angeles,” said Labrenz. “Tens of thousands of kittens are born between spring and fall, and it’s quite an ordeal. It’s cute but it’s actually a pretty big crisis.”
Labrenz said she started looking into the adoption system and found that there were bottlenecks when adoptable-aged kittens “get stuck” within foster homes. To help relieve that bottleneck, she decided to open up a facility where adoptable kittens can live while they wait for a permanent home.
Those interested in cuddling and playing with kittens are encouraged to make online reservations here, but walk-ins are also welcome if space permits.