Tucked into the heart of Whitewater, Wisconsin, BaristaCats Café & Sanctuary for Wayward Cats is part neighborhood gathering spot, part adoption bridge, and part international rescue operation.
Founded by Natalie Serna, this sanctuary has rehomed over 227 cats since opening its doors in February 2023, and the story behind its creation is as heartwarming a tale as the cats it saves.
It All Started With a Trip To England
Walk into BaristaCats Cafe & Sanctuary and you’ll find a cozy, carefully curated space designed for connection—between people and cats, yes, but also between neighbors.
Natalie built the café with students, locals, and community members in mind, offering a calm, welcoming environment where visitors can unwind, book a reservation in the “Pawlor,” and spend time with cats who are available for adoption.
With a capacity of 10 guests at a time, the experience is intentionally intimate to engender a calm, soothing atmosphere. Each of these cats come from a kaleidoscope of living situations from households to feral colonies, and the importance of the human visits gives each resident a sense of belonging and safety that they might not otherwise have.
Natalie never set out to open a cat café, despite always being an admirer of all things feline. She had a background in business and marketing and always knew she wanted to build a business of her own. It wasn’t until a post-COVID trip to England did the spark of an idea begin to form.
“I discovered my first cat cafe in Liverpool,” she recalls, “…I said to myself, ‘What the heck is this?’ and for the next month, I went to six other cafes around, and I got the different ideas, the different concepts.”
By the time she had finished her tour of England, the wheels were turning and the idea had blossomed into an ambition. She was going to bring this home.
When BaristaCats opened, it was only the third cat café in Wisconsin and the 153rd in the country. Today, there are over 300 in the US and the cat cafe community in Wisconsin has expanded to 7 with 2 more on the way.
From the beginning, Natalie knew she wanted to do more than most cat cafés do.
“I wanted to do more. I really wanted to save more. I wanted to give opportunities to people who are in really insecure situations” she says.
Over the past 3 years, Natalie has worked tirelessly to lean into the rescue side of things, building a network among other shelters and cat cafes in Wisconsin so they can share resources and lean on each other to help as many cats as possible.
The BaristaCats community has grown into something Natalie clearly draws real strength from. “We have hundreds of people that support us, and they’re not just silent supporters,” she says. “They’re actually there, asking, ‘How can we help? What can we do?'” On the rough days that come with rescue work, that network makes all the difference.
An International Rescue Mission
What sets BaristaCats apart in the most striking way is how far she and her staff will go to provide shelter and care for cats without homes.
Approximately every three months, BaristaCats coordinates the international transport of 10 to 15 cats from Kuwait, where stray cats can face conditions and limitations that have no equivalent here in the United States.
“There’s a lot of naysayers who ask, ‘why not save the cats over here?,” Natalie acknowledges, ” And I do, half of our cats come from local areas, but these kitties over there have some very dire situations. They don’t have the adaptability and options like we have here. So we bring them where they have more options.”
The operation is made possible by a woman who, according to Natalie, is a veritable superhero. Based in Kuwait, Alina manages the tough tasks necessary to save these cats from a life of squalor and disease on the streets. She coordinates medical care, placing cats in foster homes before they make their 6,000 mile journey, navigating the layers upon layers of international paperwork and red tape, and ultimately getting them situated onto their flight to a new home.
The logistics are staggering. Each flight typically carries 30 to 40 cats total, routed through Qatar Airways with a layover in Doha where the cats can enjoy some time out of their created, fed, and cared for before continuing the journey. All told, the trip takes 18 hours
In Whitewater, Natalie receives the cats and disperses them to a network of three or four regional rescues, depending on capacity. The Kuwait cats, as she calls them, tend to find homes quickly, often within a few weeks of arriving.
“We don’t know any boundaries or borders when it comes to rescuing cats,” she says. “It’s a life that needs to be saved.”
The Little Paws Pantry: Keeping Cats in Their Homes
BaristaCats’ mission doesn’t stop at rescue and adoption. In 2024, Natalie launched the Little Paws Pantry, a free pet food resource available to the Whitewater community and surrounding areas.
The idea had been percolating for a while, experiencing some difficulty in getting off the ground, but it got a huge boost in late 2025 when an unexpected partnership came knocking in the form of almost 3 tons of donated cat food from Fussie Cat.
The pantry operates simply and generously. There’s no cost to access it, and no application process. Visitors sign in, and each cat in their household receives a two-pound bag of food and six cans. Litter, collars, and other supplies are available when stock allows.
The pantry also serves as a bridge to other resources, spay and neuter assistance, and referrals to other local organizations for families who may not know where to start or who to turn to. Giving much-need assistance to families and their pets after the moment of adoption is an important resource that helps cut down on adoption surrenders and ensures that these cats find and stay in their forever homes, forever.
“We had a couple of surrenders last year because people just couldn’t afford it anymore,” Natalie says. “If we can help keep them in their home, we’re going to do whatever we can.”
Over 4,000 pounds of the initial donation was redistributed to 17 other rescues in the area, including the feral colony Natalie personally cares for, helping them survive harsh Wisconsin winters, where temperatures can dip into the negative.
How Can You Get Involved?
Visit & Adopt: Arguably, the most popular way is to simply visit the cats. Not just a fun activity, interaction helps acclimate the cats and improve their temperament around humans.
- Advance reservations are required for the Pawlor. Book at https://baristacatscafe.org/reservations.
- Adopt: Give the ultimate gift and find your new furever feline friend.
- Volunteer: From cleaning and cat care to event support, there’s always something to help with.
- Donate: Financial contributions help offset rent, medical costs, and operational expenses.
BaristaCats maintains active wish lists on Chewy and Amazon to stay stocked and keep the cats well cared for.
Spread the Word: Follow BaristaCats and share on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
At Fussie Cat, our mission has always been about more than what’s in the bowl, it’s about the cats those bowls belong to, and the people who do everything in their power to care for them.
Natalie Serna and the BaristaCats team embody that belief every day, and everyone here at Fussie Cat is proud to be an active supporter in their cause.
Because they’re worth it. All of them.