Paint Night at Whiskers Cat Cafe

At Whiskers Cat Cafe, shelter cats in need of homes bounce around the warm, bright space while guests sip on their caffe mochas. But on Jan. 28, guests got to pick up the paintbrush and paint with the cats. Ever since kindergarten, you could always locate cat doodles in the margins of my notebooks and cat silhouettes drawn on my math homework — I love drawing cats. 

After hearing about the opportunity of taking a painting class with cats at Whiskers Cat Cafe, I knew that’s where I would be spending my Wednesday night.

The cat cafe consisted of two spaces — the caffeination station and the cuddling cat zone. An employee read us the “self-explanatory rules” of the cat cafe – don’t mess with the cats, pick up the cats or let them bite you, to name a few. Then it was time to enter. 

Everyone mingled with the cats, taunting the more energetic cats with toys and petting the quiet ones. At each table sat four easels, a red solo cup full of water and a paper-plate palette with red, yellow, white and black — Chiefs colors. We were going to paint a cat holding a Chiefs logo, which was intimidating as there were quiet a few components to it. Luckily, the instructor reassured the class that she’d explain the painting step-by-step.

My Chiefs logo somewhat looked like it could be put on a T-shirt, and the gradient was only a little streaky. It was going well until I got to the eyes. The instructor made one quick swoop with her brush and the cat could see — easy, right? Meanwhile, I had managed to paint something resembling the crying cat meme — lovely.

After adding the whiskers and nose, my cat was ready for the Super Bowl. The instructor made the simple oval shaped cat look easy — her simple brush stroke walk-through had my rarely-used painting skills come to life. I felt validated that I could follow, even though my painting was far from Van Gogh.

While I waited for the others to finish painting, I could pet an adorable, sleeping cat while sipping my blueberry hibiscus tea.

I chose a decaf tea instead of a coffee drink considering it was 6 p.m. on a school night, though they offered other caffeinated drinks. Only the drinks under $2, which included most of the teas, were included in the $35 reservation fee. Because the reservation fee was so expensive, I was looking for a more complex drink included in the fee.

While I sipped on my tea, a tiny cat snuck out onto the table — something you can’t get at any Starbucks. It was hard to juggle holding the palette, while keeping the cat from drinking the murky, yellow paint water, all while trying not to knock over all the easels. There was a lot of movement happing at once. It was hectic. A little bit more space for the cat to sit would’ve been beneficial for the both of us. 

Overall, the Paint Night with Cats night was a success. This would be a great way to experience something new if you love to craft. Next time though, I might just stick to the standard one hour reservation of pure cat time for only $10. But fair warning, either option you choose will leave you wanting to come back and hang out with the cutest cats.