Mowdy is a longtime cat lover. Before she opened the bookstore, she volunteered with several rescues and fostered many cats.
Image: The Literary Cat Co.
Sydney Page
At a bookstore in this Kansas town, three cats are on the full-time staff.
Hank, a domestic longhaired cat, is the “regional manager.” His job duties involve keeping track of the computer cursor and “sleeping in adorable positions 22 hours a day,” according to the bookstore website.
“He’s the boss of this place,” said Jennifer Mowdy, owner of the Literary Cat Co. in Pittsburg, Kansas - a bookstore that doubles as a cat lounge and feline foster home.
Scarlett Toe’Hara, a black short-haired cat, who is polydactyl - meaning she has extra toes - is the “assistant (to the) regional manager.” She is the front door guard, plant inspector and treat tester.
Mike Meowski - a domestic longhaired cat with one eye, named after Mike Wazowski in “Monster’s Inc.” - is “assistant (to the assistant to the) regional manager.” His role involves cuddling guests and quality control for boxes. Mowdy is a superfan of “The Office,” and so bestowed job titles based on the characters of Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute, respectively.
“They’re just perfect,” Mowdy said of her three-cat staff, all of which she rescued.
Mowdy opened the store in 2023 after 17 years as an educator. While teaching, Mowdy volunteered with animal rescues and fostered cats. She also loved bookstores.
“They’re much more than a place you read books,” Mowdy said. “They’re a community hub.”
She wanted to fuse her two passions. “I decided I could do it; I could create something,” Mowdy said.
Lori and Eric Seiwert with the cats they adopted from the bookstore, Frog, left, and Toad.
Image: The Literary Cat Co
There are typically about seven cats - in addition to Hank, Scarlett and Mike - who live in the bookstore as foster cats. They’re “temporary staff,” and Mowdy’s goal is for her customers to adopt them.
“We partner with a rescue, and when they get a cat that they think has a personality that would fit, or they haven’t been successful in adopting a cat through other means,” she said. “If we have the room, we take them in.”
Many of the cats she fosters are older, or “have been overlooked for a long time,” she said. The cats come from SEK Animal Advocates, a local rescue network.
Poppy, a foster cat, hangs out in a book shelf at the Literary Cat Co. in Pittsburg, Kansas.
Image: The Literary Cat Co.
“Her adoption rate is fabulous,” said Susan Bastion, director of the rescue network. “Having a big open space where the animals can walk around and stretch their legs and interact with the general public is huge.”
Since opening the Literary Cat Co. about a year and a half ago, 32 foster cats Mowdy has brought to the store have been adopted by her customers, and another is in the works. In some cases, people have taken home two cats at a time.
Lori Seiwert and her husband adopted a brother-sister duo from the Literary Cat Co. shortly after it opened. The cats are named Frog and Toad after the picture book.
“We fell in love with them when we went and visited,” Seiwert said.
Ellie relaxes on a shelf at the bookstore.
Image: The Literary Cat Co.
Frog, who is male, and Toad, who is female, turned 2 in February. Seiwert said she and her husband often stop by the store to visit Mowdy and play with the other cats.
“It’s a nice thing for such a small community,” she said. “It’s very homey.”
Most cats are adopted within six months of arriving at the bookstore, though some find homes much faster; others have stayed for up to a year.
“We don’t give up on them,” Mowdy said, adding that she keeps in touch with most adopters. “This is the whole point; this is why we’re doing it - to see them go to good homes.”
Mowdy looks after the cats with Caitlin Fanning, a bookseller. They also have a volunteer who visits the store on Sundays and Mondays when it is closed to feed the cats and care for them.
Precious, a foster cat, patrols the bookstore.
Image: The Literary Cat Co.
The bookstore is near Pittsburg State University, so college students often bring their own books to study there and snuggle some cats.
“We’ve got lots of cozy chairs and reading nooks,” Mowdy said. “Lots of people don’t buy anything, they just come and play with the cats. That’s perfectly okay. We need to get the cats socialized, too.”
Most people who stop by the store “spend quite a bit of time,” she said. “They’ll curl up in a chair with a cat and read.”
The bookstore has become an environment for shy or unsocialized cats to get comfortable around people.
“It really, really just turns them around,” Mowdy said.
A child petting Mike Meowski.
Image: The Literary Cat Co.
The cats have free roam of the bookstore, and are never confined to a cage.
“The way that people see them during the day is the way they are all the time,” Mowdy said.
Before leaving work for the day, “we just make sure everybody is fed and watered, and anybody that needs meds gets them,” Mowdy said. “We tell them goodnight and don’t cause any trouble, and we see them in the morning.”
Mowdy was initially hesitant about opening the bookstore - which was recently featured in a popular TikTok video by That Good News Girl.
“I started over in my forties, which is a very, very scary place to be,” Mowdy said. “I’m not a risk-taker.”
But Mowdy said things have turned out better than she imagined.
“People have just been so, so super supportive,” Mowdy said.
As far as books go, the Literary Cat Co. carries a wide range of authors and genres, though. “I will order any cat book I see, both adult and kids,” Mowdy said.
She said her bookstore has already made a difference, and she hopes this is only the beginning.
“I am so proud,” Mowdy said. “It’s like a dream.” | The Washington Post