Make the purrfect memory at the nation’s largest cat café in Berkeley Springs

By Vanta Coda III, RealWV

Berkeley Springs, known for America’s First Spa, is also home to the biggest feline sanctuary in North America, Give Purrs a Chance Cat Café.

George Farnham founded Give Purrs a Chance in 2017 because of his opposition to cats being in cages during the adoption process.

“The wave of the future is having cat cafes where cats live in a cage free environment,” said Farnham. “It really is the best way to adopt cats where people can see them with their true personalities and how they interact with other cats and people.”

Located on, 51 Independence St, Give Purrs a Chance allows for a more spacious setting in which cats can wander throughout the 5,000 square foot environment, while mingling with visitors throughout the day. 

“Knowing that we were in a rural setting we knew we had to be different from other cat cafes,” said Farnham, “we never have more people than cats in this building.”

Housing so many cats has led Give Purrs a Chance to a high adoption rate, just recently ringing in their 2,000th adoption. While most local to Berkeley Springs know of the cat café, many of the adoptions come from out of state. 

“We’ve had adoption from 22 different states and Washington D.C.,” said Kaitlin Fleece, manager of Give Purrs a Chance.

Many adoptions take place in one day, due to many of the customers adopting from out of state. “Even though we often have the option of same day adoption, it’s a strict process to be cleared,” said Farnham, “We check out home ownership/landlord approval and pet approval.”

Another thing that makes Give Purrs a Chance different from other cat cafes is that it has full ownership over all of the cats on the property. Other cat cafes usually work with a shelter, having full ownership of the cats. 

Having full ownership of the cats leaves it up to the staff to help cats with their medical needs.

“Administering medical care to cats is a huge part of my job because it is a free roam environment, which is really great for their mental health, but if one cat gets sick then they all get sick,” said Fleece.

Give Purrs a Chance also seeks out cats that might be disfigured or that have noticeable physical health issues. “Other cat cafes try to get perfect looking cats, but ours don’t have to and they get adopted just as quickly,” said Farnham.

Give Purrs a Chance is located at 51 Independence Street in Berkeley Springs. For more information, visit givepurrsachance.org.