Covington author Morgan Coleman wanted to create a story for her daughter, and she knew it had to include the Purrfect Day Cat Café.
“This Cat is Fat and I’m Fine with That!” Tells the story of a girl who adopts a big fat cat at a cat cafe, inspired by Purrfect Day, which is owned by Coleman’s brother, and a Facebook page.
The page “This Cat is Chonky” is, as Coleman describes it, “all about loving on fat cats.” She said people would post photos of their cats who have been “fat-shamed,” and “everybody says how they are perfect and beautiful.”
After the girl adopts the cat, she takes it home and decides to take it on a walk in her neighborhood, which she said was partly inspired by a man who walks his cat in her neighborhood “we do literally have a guy in our neighborhood who takes his cat on a walk here. You know, love the Cov,” Coleman said.
On the walk, the girl and her cat encounter several different people who call her new cat fat. But, the girl holds her head high because she doesn’t care that her cat is fat, and on the final page, she hears someone look at her and her cat and say, “Look at how happy they are.”
That final page is another ode to Covington: The background features a coffee shop which Coleman said is inspired by Left Bank Coffeehouse.
“That’s our little favorite place to go get mother daughter pastries,” Coleman said. “So, yeah, it’s a little love letter to Covington.”
Coleman, who went to school for playwriting, found a love a children’s literature during her five years working at the Kenton County Library.
“I just became kind of obsessed with picture books. And then finally decided to start writing them after my daughter was born, and she just kind of brought out the creative muse,” she said.
Her daughter, who is almost three, loves the Purrfect Day Cat Cafe and frequents it often. So when Coleman decided to adopt a cat, of course, that was where they went.
Chuck Patton, Coleman’s brother and Purrfect Day owner, told LINK nky that he was happily surprised by his sister’s inclusion of his business in her book. He said she came to him with the idea of writing a book about a fat cat getting adopted from the cafe, and he was thrilled.
While being a busy mom, Patton wasn’t sure that his sister would finish the book, but then he said, “she just kept on persevering and persevering and then had the illustration done and then everything I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s really gonna do this thing.’”
Patton said it was a nice tie-in because Coleman helped write some of the language for the cafe’s website, which he said “created a synergy with how we verbally represented ourselves.”
The cafe, which the website describes as a “cafe and bar meets an adoption center,” offers a place for people to spend time with cats either just for fun or with the idea of adopting. Patton said the business has three main objectives, which include adoption, shelter impact and fundraising. All of these are focused on getting cats to loving homes.
This year, Patton said the cafe is on track to do 1,300 adoptions, which he said is very out of the norm as most cat cafes will do around 150-300 in a year.
He attributes this success to making a trip to the cafe an experience, which involves everything from the website to social media to the vibe of the cafe. He also said his staff is a big part of the success because they are passionate about their work.
“Their sales are getting animals adopted.” The staff, Patton said, are always so excited to get to see a cat go to a new home. “They’re not on commission, but their commission is emotion.”
Purrfect Day Cat Café is hosting a children’s story time and launch party for “This Cat is Fat and I’m Fine with That!” at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 15. Attendees can cuddle with kittens while they read. No registration is required.