Sarasota loves animals. The city is known for its pet-friendly amenities, from a dedicated dog beach to boutique pet shops to hotels catering to pets to restaurants with plenty of outside seating for our furry friends. Now, two new animal-focused businesses have opened up in the Rosemary District, further building our bona fides.

Katy's Cat Café

Katy's Cat Café opened on Boulevard of the Arts six weeks ago. Owner Marian Morcos, 26, was inspired to open the café—named after her 17-year-old Russian blue cat—after visiting a cat café in Denver when she was 18. 

"I didn't know something like that could exist," she says. "I was glued to the idea, and eight years later, here we are: I have a cat café. I studied engineering in college, and could have gone into that, but I wanted to be happy now, so I figured out how to do it."

At Katy's, the business is separated into two experiences. One side of the space is a fully operational beverage and ice cream outlet, which the public can visit without paying a fee to hang with the cats. Or, for $20 per visit or $128 for a monthly membership (which includes a 50 percent discount on beverages), you can enter the "cat lounge"—divided from the café space by a glass partition—where adoptable cats and kittens from Satchel's Last Resort laze about. If you fall in love with one, you can submit an adoption application to Satchel's, which has assisted with eight adoptions from the café already.

"I understand that it seems like a steep cost," Morcos says of the fees. "But we are trying to give our cats the best care and attention that they could possibly have while they're here with us. That includes good food, careful attention and a great environment."

The café operates as a hybrid business model; the beverage side runs as a for-profit business, and Morcos will receive her 501(c)(3) status for the Cat Lounge later this month.

What about the litter issue? There's a separate area for litter boxes, accessible only by the cats and café employees and closed off to the public. Boxes are cleaned several times a day, and the cats can choose whether to use a traditional litter box or a self-cleaning version. 

Katy's Cat Café is located at 1490 Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota. For more information, click here.

Dog Bar Sarasota

Meanwhile, over on 10th Street, dog lovers rejoiced as Dog Bar Sarasota launched its soft opening last weekend, housed in the former Boo's Ice House and Dog Bar building. Boo's closed late last year.

Dog Bar owners Fred Metlzer and Stephanie Marble know a thing or two about the dog bar game. They opened Dog Bar St. Petersburg in 2016 before venturing south to open this Sarasota outpost, their second. 

"We were friends with Mindy [Kauffman] and Bobby [Boivin]," Metzler says, referring to the former Boo's Ice House owners. "We actually met at Dog Bar St. Pete and they asked if we would mind if they opened a dog bar in Sarasota.  Later, when we found out they were thinking about closing, we asked how we could help, and  it didn't take very long to decide to open our Dog Bar. We think every city should have a dog bar."

Dog Bar serves plenty of food for humans, like pizza and burgers, alongside cocktails and beer. "Our chef is all about fresh ingredients and just trying to move the menu around so it never gets boring," Metzler says.

And good news for former Boo's Ice House members: Metzler and Marble say they shouldn't have to resubmit paperwork for their dogs, as that information has been transferred over to Dog Bar. Membership is $200 annually, $30 monthly or $7 for the day, and comes with access to Dog Bar St. Pete, too.

Dog Bar is still stretching its legs this week during its soft-opening phase, with truncated hours from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., but it's fully open to the public. After next week's grand opening, on Saturday, July 19, it will be open 4-11 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and noon-midnight on weekends. 

Dog Bar Sarasota is located at 1314 10th Street, Sarasota. For more information, click here.