BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Members of the Bowling Green community joined together downtown to celebrate and welcome the first cat cafe in northwest Ohio, Tabby & Fidos, with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Tabby & Fidos first opened in May of 2023, but officially celebrated ownership of their new location with a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Aug. 22.
The ceremony included co-owner of Tabby & Fidos, Patty Beam, a few executive members of the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce and an audience of community members, cat lovers and humane society directors.
Beam said opening this cafe was important to not only community members, but also to the BGSU community as well.
“I know that a lot of BGSU students are heartbroken leaving your pets at home,” said Beam. “We encourage you to go to our website, make a reservation to come into our lounge if you really love being with them and what they do for you.”
The cafe partners with the Wood County Humane Society, which works to provide cats for the shop and provide awareness to the overpopulation of cats in the Bowling Green area.
Since the shop opened in May, there have been 19 cat adoptions through Tabby & Fidos.
“They do a great service for us where they get our cats out to the community and interact with people,” said Wood County Humane Society President Heath Diehl. “With 19 adoptions in such a short amount of time, I mean they’re doing such great work for us.”
In the future, Beam says she and her co-owner, Morgan Meronk, plan on having “Fido Fridays,” where one dog from the humane society will come to the cafe for people to play with, promoting adoption in that aspect as well.
Once Beam gets the space, she says she’d like to allow more “fidos” to visit with people who come in.
To visit the first cat cafe in northwest Ohio, you can go on their website at tabbyandfidos.com and sign up for a time slot.
The cat cafe is available to students of BGSU, as well as the Bowling Green community and is located on Main Street.Visitors will pay an admission fee of $10 or $5 for children under the age of five.
Other activities, such as cat yoga, membership purchases and parties can be scheduled through the website as well.
“The purpose is to help people. A lot of us have anxiety, depression, life circumstances that are just heavy and I find everyone who comes out of there (is relieved),” said Beam. “It’s like rejuvenation in a way and the cats love them too. So even if they don’t want to adopt, it’s a great place for people to come and relax.”
