Scratch This: It's all things cat in the newest cat meetup joint in town!
The Cool Cat Collective is a purrfect (sorry) addition to a cool stretch of street!
The unarguably coolest stretch of street in Long Beach — 4th Street between somewhere before the promenade and Temple Avenue — got way cooler by one store width in July when Cool Cat Collective opened its doors. Inside is an alley arcade of unconventional artwork, high-end cat toys and furniture, books for kids and grownups, all with a cat theme. Most importantly, there’s a catio in which guests can be at one with the shop’s foster kitties and another, smaller one reachable by a bridge across the ceiling.
“Our primary objective is to help cats — that is why we opened the shop,” said Matt Carr, who owns and runs the CCC with his wife, Jena. “We donate 20% of profits to cat nonprofits.”
The Carrs have run brick-and-mortar cafes and bakeries for a decade and are also art lovers and creators of poetry and comic books and even a record label. They put the same amount of pride and effort into curating the Cool Cat Collective.
“Everything has to be cat related to be considered for our shop, but first and foremost, the art has to be amazing, crafted with skill and care, and from artists that we admire,” Matt said.
Each artwork and merchandise item is engaging and unique — they jump right out at the visitor, kind of like, you know, a bunch of cats. But the coolest thing about the Cool Cat Collective is the Carrs’ mentorship of cats. The catios occupy a relatively small part of the store, but the cats hanging in them occupy the greatest area of the Carr’s hearts.
There are estimates of 1 to 3 million cats living in the streets and parks in Los Angeles County. Matt said that there still isn’t enough information about the importance of spay/neuter and that the government isn’t doing nearly enough to address it.
“Just one unspayed cat can lead to thousands in three to four years,” he said. “We thought for months about all the different businesses we could create that would best utilize our experiences to successfully help cats and make some sort of difference.”
The Carrs hope to host a low-cost spay/neuter clinic in the future, and their website has a resource page. The kitties in the catios are a great example of making a difference through attracting people — they’re actually fosters from the Collective’s rescue partner, TippedEars, a TNR-based rescue.
TippedEars traps community cats in Compton, spays or neuters them, gives them any medical help needed, and releases them to their original location. While under spay/neuter anesthesia, the veterinarian will clip the top corner of the cat’s left ear to show that the cat has been fixed and doesn’t need to be trapped again, hence the name of the rescue.
Some TNR cats will be friendly and sociable, possibly because they had grown to trust people but also because they were dumped in a colony. The rescued kittens are young enough to learn to at least tolerate humans. Friendly adult cats or young kittens from TippedEars can wind up as fosters, enjoying life in CCC’s alley catio, where you can go play with them and maybe take one or two home, if you’re approved as an adopter.
“The cats in our care become very well socialized, and it's been so fun to see some of the shyer cats go from pancaking behind the litter box to running up to people for pets,” Jena said.
Jena Carr discovered TippedEars in, as she put it, “the most typical rescue-community kind of way.”
“I was contacted by a friend of my sister's who found a litter of kittens,” she said. “I reached out to a mentor of mine in the cat rescue community, who recommended looking into TNR groups and mentioned a few, including TippedEars. I took the time to familiarize myself with their mission and the wide variety of programs they run for Compton community cats, and was so impressed I reached out, hoping to volunteer.”
Volunteering with TippedEars and fostering the cats in turn introduced Jena to the TNR connection to rescue and the science behind it. It was a kitten step from there to fostering cats in their Collective, which Jena says gives TippedEars more space to rescue cats. And of course, the Carrs succumbed to foster failure at least once after taking in three kittens that had been left in a box in someone’s yard.
“I couldn't stop thinking about all the kittens we so often have to leave behind when doing TNR simply because there's no room in foster,” Jena said. “Being able to help those kittens, one of whom is now the youngest member of our family cats, was really rewarding.”
Besides playing with cats, visitors can enjoy art shows, classes and events. Currently, two shows are installed at the Collective: Monster Cats and Childless Cat Lady Art Work Show (CCLAWS), the latter of which is a collaboration between the Collective and the Page Against the Machine bookstore across the street. All the classes and events are listed on the Cool Cat Collective’s website.
“The classes will be after operating hours so that we can let all of our cats loose in the store to explore and be as distracting — or inspiring! — as possible while folks craft,” Matt said.
For the benefit of cats everywhere, a TNR 101 class will take place Friday, Oct. 11 — don’t miss it, please.
“Everything we do to make our business better will ultimately enable us to help more cats,” Matt said.
The Cool Cat Collective is located at 2741 E. 4th St., C, Long Beach, between Temple and Ohio avenues. Hours are Weds.–Sun., 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
YOURS DROOLY
“TippedEars is truly out there walking the streets — literally — making connections with whole neighborhoods of people, educating and providing such an incredible service for the community,” Jena Carr said, and Scratch This! is delighted to feature a few of the fostered felines! Here’s Matt Carr to introduce you to a few of them.
Visit Cool Cat Collective to meet them in person! Access this link for adoption information and bios for the cats in the videos as well as cats you didn’t see (but they see you).
Natasha and Boris are two playful cuddlers!
Fudge is as sweet as his name!
Peaches had a sad beginning — now it’s happy ending time!
TAIL-WAGGIN' AND NOSE-BOOPIN' EVENTS
This month, Friends of Long Beach Animals will celebrate its 35th year as the city’s most venerable animal-advocacy organization. FOLBA has been helping people with their pets and the pets themselves since a lot of you were puppies and kittens or maybe weren’t even part of a litter yet. Celebrate an anniversary with this wonderful bunch of people — dance to live music, dine and drink, and meet special guest TV actor Tom Kiesche (“Breaking Bad,” “Third Rock from the Sun”) and a bunch of four-legged attendees.
Friends of Long Beach Animals 35th Anniversary Fundraiser takes place Friday, Oct. 11, 7 p.m.–11 p.m. at El Dorado Park Golf Course, 2400 North Studebaker Rd., Long Beach. Buy your tickets here.
Pit bulls have to dress up or get into costume for Pit Bull Appreciation Day, hosted by the nonprofit Blockhead Brigade. They can attend this event in all their glorious goofiness, and so can any breed or mix! Pit Bull Appreciation Day will feature adoptions, skills like urban herding and scent work, community resources, and all kinds of fun, games and prizes. The event is free, but ticket purchases will help support community members who are struggling with housing, medical or behavior issues with their dogs. For the safety of everyone’s dog, 10 feet of space minimum is required between dogs, and leashes must be six feet or shorter (no retractables).
Pit Bull Appreciation Day takes place Saturday, Oct. 12 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Marina Vista Park, 5355 E. Eliot St., Long Beach. This link has all information and ticket sales.
Bunny Bunch’s 40-year celebration
It’s officially fall, and you can fall down the best rabbit hole ever at a party that would be the envy of the Mad Hatter and, of course, the March Hare! Celebrate four decades of rescuing and helping rabbits, chinchillas and guinea pigs get healthy and find their forever homes with the wonderful Bunny Bunch Rabbit Rescue! Listen to Dr. Sari Kanfer and Dr. Jennifer Dietz Kumar discuss health topics specific to the exotic breeds and will be joined by Dr. Gayle Roberts for health checks and vaccinations (appointments and costs at this link); grab a photo shoot with your bunny, guinea pig or chinchilla (appointments and costs here); bid on fantastic auction items; enjoy a plant-based lunch from the Veggie Grill; go shopping for your little fellas and girls at the boutique; and grab a copy of the 2025 Calendar of Rescued Rabbits so that you can write down vet appointments and other events! All funds will benefit the buns and the other pets at the rescue! Donate here if you can’t make it.
The Bunny Bunch's 40th Anniversary Celebration and 2025 Calendar Debut takes place Sunday, Oct. 13, 10:30 a.m.–4 p.m. at the Bunny Bunch Fountain Valley location, 10534 Bechler River Ave., Fountain Valley. Limited seating and appointments; reserve your spaces here.
Need a low-cost veterinarian, information about trapping community cats, places to volunteer — anything pet related? Follow this link for resources. Please add your own ideas in the Comments section.
We need your support.
Subcribe to the Watchdog today.
The Long Beach Watchdog is owned by journalists, and paid for by readers like you. If independent, local reporting like the story you just read is important to you, support our work by becoming a subscriber.
