An Oklahoma-based cat cafe is eyeing San Antonio for a Texas expansion. Don’t Stress Meowt Cat Cafe says it intends to start pursuing an Alamo City location in the upcoming months, zeroing in on locations inside the loop.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, cat cafes originated in Taiwan before becoming a runaway success in Japan. The businesses allow guests to play with and pet their adorable denizens, offering crammed city dwellers comfort and escape. Although less common in the United States, they are a worldwide phenomenon, spawning rabbit, lizard, and even owl cafes.

Husband-and-wife duo Adam and Michaela Fitzpatrick opened their original location in Oklahoma City in 2023, quickly growing to a second outpost in Tulsa in 2025. Adam says they considered demographics when scouting locations, but that was reinforced by experiencing San Antonio first-hand.

“[San Antonio] should be proud,” says Adam via Facebook Messenger. “It’s great, but still extremely livable for the regular family.”

Adam describes the concept as a “happy place for cats and people.” The locations offer an award-winning coffee program, cat-shaped taiyaki pastries, retail, cat-exclusive boarding and grooming, and, of course, a lounge to meet furry friends.

Adam admits that American cat cafes can raise many people’s hackles. He and his wife, a mechanical engineer and a mental health therapist, respectively, apply their professional experience to the business to optimize the experience for both human and feline guests.

“Quality of cat cafes can vary wildly, since it’s a relatively new and unestablished concept in the States, and there are many very poorly run cat cafes,” says Adam.

Adam’s expertise particularly came in handy. His engineering career focuses on heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and indoor air quality. He says Don’t Stress Meowt locations don’t smell like cats at all, thanks to a glass enclosure separating the kitties from the food and drink.

Although guests are welcome to hang out with the cats, they are also encouraged to give them a forever home. Adam hopes to get 400 pets adopted per year and donate $30,000 to local animal welfare organizations.

Don’t Stress Meowt is not the first cat cafe to have designs on San Antonio. Alamo City’s first cafe, aptly named the Cat Cafe, opened in October 2017. In April 2018, Animal Services seized two cats and ordered the cafe to halt feline-human interactions. The concept closed in July 2018, promising a return that never happened.

Adam and his wife have visited cat cafes nationwide and diagnosed shortcomings to ensure a positive, healthy environment for both bipeds and four-legged creatures, they say.

“We’ve been refining what we believe to be the best cat cafe experience in the States, and [we’re getting] better with each build," he says.