San Antonio's first cat cafe coming this summer

Get ready for this in San Antonio. A visitor takes a picture of a cat while people line up outside the pop-up "Cat cafe," where patrons can interact and adopt cats, in New York, April 25, 2014. The Alamo City will have its own cat cafe this summer, when San Antonio Cat cafe opens its doors. less Get ready for this in San Antonio. A visitor takes a picture of a cat while people line up outside the pop-up "Cat cafe," where patrons can interact and adopt cats, in New York, April 25, 2014. The Alamo City ... more Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND, Getty Images Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND, Getty Images Image 1 of / 42 Caption Close San Antonio's first cat cafe coming this summer 1 / 42 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO -- At last, San Antonio, you can haz a cat cafe.

San Antonio Cat Cafe will open its doors this summer at 8818 Broadway, a relaxing coffee-house-cum-scratching-post where you can pet and cuddle oodles of adoptable cats and bask in their furry Zen, and even give one a forever home in your own domicile.

Cafe owner Casey Steuart just got the keys and signed the lease for the nonprofit venture, which to date has raised a little more than $18,000 of its $20,000 Go Fund Me goal.

Steuart envisions an easygoing atmosphere as laid back as its four-legged denizens, where you can kickback with or without a feline and have an actual conversation, also with or without a feline.

"You're not going to leave feeling like you're more stressed than when you came in," Steuart said.

You're also not going to leave with a new cat on your first visit. San Antonio Cat Cafe encourages responsible cat adoption, with a vetting process that encourages potential cat parents to visit multiple times to ensure a good fit.

"This is something you can come back to repeatedly (and) feel if this is a right move to get a cat," Steuart said.

RELATED: Photos: S.A. crews rescue kitten stuck inside Medical Center traffic pole

In addition to adoptable cats, the S.A. cafe will host live music and a changing art gallery, with light eats as well as beverages of the alcoholic and nonalcoholic persuasion.

Like most cat cafes, San Antonio Cat Cafe will charge a cover fee to help with cat care. And like other cat cafes, the S.A. site will focus on adoptions as well as TNR (trap, neuter and return) for feral cat communities. The cafe also will offer cat care classes as well as cat foods and supplies.

As for the joy of just chilling with the cats, expect a special closed-off Cat Lounge with couches and chairs to curl up with a book, take in a movie or enjoy some other relaxing activity, as so many cats curl their tails around your ankles and curl up in your lap, or just lick their paws in a corner and grace your presence with that delightful indifference cat lovers relish ever so.

And don't worry about hairballs in your latte. The cats are separated from any food and drink prep or common areas, the cafe's website said, though you can take your cafe items into the cat area.

RELATED: S.A. dog lovers, kite enthusiasts head outside for the Fest of Tails Kite Festival and Dog Fair at McAllister Park

As the San Antonio Cat Cafe website noted, cat cafes are relatively new to the United States but are quite the hit in Asia, Europe and other areas abroad, dating back to the world's first cat cafe that opened in Taipei, Taiwan in 1998.

The U.S. now has more than two-dozen cat cafes, according to a directory at The Catnip Times. Texas cat cafe locations include ones in Dallas, Houston and Austin.

NOTE: This story has been updated to include comments from San Antonio Cat Cafe owner Casey Steuart.

rguzman@express-news.net

Twitter: @reneguz