What to Know
- Tuesday is National Cat Day
- Shannon Ellis and Pookie Methachittiphan, the owners of Instagram-famous Nala Cat, know a thing or two about cat adoptions
- They have even leveraged Nala’s furry fame to promote cat adoptions
Although you may want to crawl with your favorite furry friend to celebrate National Cat Day this Tuesday, the day is also a time to raise awareness about adoptions.
Shannon Ellis and Pookie Methachittiphan, the owners of Instagram-famous Nala Cat, know a thing or two about cat adoptions and the positive impact it has.
They have even leveraged Nala’s furry fame to promote cat adoptions.
“Nala is rescued. We adopted her so it is really important for us to give back and spread more awareness about adoption,” Shannon, one of Nala’s owners, told News 4 at Meow Parlour, New York City’s first cat café.
Nala, a 9-year-old Siamese and Tabby mix, has more than 4 million Instagram followers -- truly making Nala a cat-lebrity in the social media realm.
Christina Ha, owner of the Meow Parlour in the Lower East Side, also knows the importance of cat adoptions.
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The cafe, where patrons can sip a cup of java while furry, adoptable feline friends walk throughout the establishment, sees about 25,000 visitors a year.
"We have all these adoptable cats and you can hang out with them and enjoy your coffee," Ha said, adding that the idea for the cafe came after she rescued a cat.
"I was walking home one day and I found my cat Mr. Socks and it changed my life," she said. "I just wanted everyone else to have something as wonderful as that in their lives so I thought, 'How can we combine these passions?'"
Since opening its doors as the first cat cafe in the city in 2014, Ha and Meow Parlour has helped about 600 cats get adopted.
