Editor Letter For September 2024: For the Love of Animals and Artistic Endeavors

Cupid, she is everything nice, but has a lot of spice.

In my retirement, I want to open a cat cafe. I have it all planned out. My hubby and I can live upstairs, and the cat cafe will be downstairs. It doesn’t matter if I make money beyond covering expenses. Having a dozen or so cats to play with (ahem, I mean socialize) and helping them find good homes is the best reward.

I’m not sure how Cupid, the ruler of our roost, will feel about this plan, though. I certainly wouldn’t let her mix with the other cats. Although she’s super sweet and the apple of my eye, she is possessive of her mommy and plays rough—she is everything nice, but has a lot of spice. 

Cupid surely needed that spice to get ahead, as she was brought to my vet from a hoarding household. By the time I found her, there was just this sweet little ginger cat who had yet to grow into her ears in a pink cage with her two brothers (who I hear later became barn cats). I asked to hold her, and when the vet tech put Cupid in my hands, I was smitten. 

It could happen to you, too, whether at the vet or at a shelter, in your backyard or at a cat cafe. I’m proud to say that, with 23, Florida has the most cat cafes in the nation. And Central Florida opened the state’s first cafe, when Orlando Cat Café came to fruition in 2016. It’s one of the three cat cafes featured in our article on p. 18, which focuses on how cat cafes enrich the community and the lifesaving work they do. 

I was also inspired by the stories behind the cat, dog and bird entries submitted to our 2024 Cute Pet Contest. There’s a lot of rescuing going on out there in the streets, and I thank each and every one of the pet parents  (whether or not they took part in the contest) for making a difference in the life of a stray animal. See the contest winners and runners-up on p. 14, and head to orlandomagazine.com for a slideshow that includes their stories.

I could talk about animals all day,  but we also have some great arts coverage in this issue. Mosey on over to p. 51 for our 2024-25 Arts Season Preview, where we take a look at venues great and small, and what’s coming soon to their stages. We’ve also got an interview with Congressman Maxwell Frost, who’s standing up for arts in Central Florida and across the country with his CREATE Art Act. Learn about his influences, how the world of music introduced him to the world of politics and watch him in action as a drummer. 

Now’s a great time to escape the heat and explore some of the great travel destinations that are a short drive or flight from Orlando. Visit our Ultimate Fall Getaway section, which starts on p. 63, for inspiration.