Article and Photos by Linda Charlton
You can blame it all on Milo and Otis. The kitties are the personal cats of Sandra “Sandy” Cagan, lifelong cat lover, and founder of the Orlando Cat Café. The Cat Café, located in Cagan Crossings in the Four Corners area of Lake County, opened in September 2016. The following year Cagan started gifting pet oxygen mask sets to Fire Rescue, two per year, with a break for the pandemic in 2020.
This year Sandra did it again at the Café, on behalf of the Café.
Ceremonially handing one of the sets to firefighter Kirk Biccum of nearby Lake County Fire Station 112, Cagan said “On behalf of the Orlando Cat Café, I present you this oxygen mask in honor of National Pet Fire Safety Day.”
Folks gathered for the presentation included both south Lake County commissioners (Sean Parks and Doug Shields), officials from Lake County Fire Rescue, from the SPCA, from the Cat Café, and the entire crew from nearby fire station 112.
The sets run about $125 each, according to Cagan, and come with multiple masks to accommodate pets of different sizes. Medically they are the same as masks for people. It’s the masks that are different, designed for critters with muzzles. The masks are reusable, once cleaned, and are being put to good use.
Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Kris Bush said “We’ve all used them, at some point.” Firefighter Patrick Billson added that he used one just last month at a house fire on CR 474 and that the dog recovered nicely.
The Orlando Cat Café is a partnership with SPCA Florida in Lakeland, Minch Coffee, and the Cagan Management Group. So far they have racked up 1,402 cat/kitten adoptions, with approximately 80,000 visitors. Cat Café director of community purr-lations Jessica Whitehouse reports that in June alone the Cat Café had over 3,000 visitors.
Visitors pay $8 an hour to hang out in the Cat Café, where there are tables and chairs. On Monday there were 23 cats and kittens in residence, mainly kittens. Visitors wanting coffee/tea/pastries and no cats up close can always stay on the “cafe” side, which is separated from the “cat” side by an air-lock type intermediate room.
Orlando Cat Cafe is located at 532 Cagan Park Avenue, Clermont. Reservations are suggested for the “cat” side, but patrons on the “cafe” side can view the felines through a large viewing window.
Learn more by visiting The Orlando Cat Cafe or call 352-989-4820.
