Update: “Cascade,” the missing BaristaCats cat has been found. Cafe owners reported Monday afternoon on their Facebook page that the feline was found hiding in the cafe’s ceiling. Updated plans call for the company to open on Friday. 

By Kim McDarison

Events surrounding Saturday’s downtown Whitewater structure fire startled members of the Serna family.

Natalie Serna, owner of the BaristaCats Cafe, and her children have been operating the feline-friendly business from their Center Street location for nearly a year.

Creating the business was her dream, Natalie said, noting that she plans one day to pass it to her children.

She had been working earlier in the day at the cafe on Saturday, and had left the building and its 15 cats with two of her three children, Graysen 18, and “80,” 16, with plans to stop for lunch.

She was preparing to enjoy a meal, when, at about 2:15 p.m., she received a phone call, she said. After that, everything changed.

The call was from her children, she said. They were frightened, and crying. Firefighters had arrived at the cafe and had asked them to evacuate. The BaristaCats Cafe operates from an older building which is part of an attached row. The building next door was burning and conditions for those inside the cafe were deemed by emergency responders to be unsafe.

Rather than leaving, Natalie said, her children were scrambling to save their cats.

She began scrambling to get back to the cafe.

On Sunday, Natalie described her reaction to receiving her children’s call, saying:  “As a mom, it’s terrifying to be on the phone with your children, and they are crying, and being so upset, and there’s nothing you can do, and saying it will be ok, and not knowing that it will be ok.

“I’ve invested two years of my life in this and $120,000, and I’m passing this onto my children.

“I’ve been through a lot, and I’m doing this so they don’t have to go through what I’ve had to go through to raise them.”

She worried about the lives in her cafe, both human and feline, and damage to her business. 

About her developing business, she said: “It was really scary to think this could be it.”

Upon her arrival, Natalie said she began “frantically helping.”

The building was filling with smoke, she said, and firefighters were saying they had to get out.

With 13 cats safely in carriers, the family, and a few brave helpers, left the building.

“We had no choice,” Natalie said.

To rescue the cats, Graysen and 80 had opened merchandise carriers in the cafe and had moved the felines to a shady space outside. With help from the owner of a neighboring business, and the chairperson of the Whitewater Chamber of Commerce Lisa Dawsey Smith, the cats were moved into vehicles and driven to Community Cat, a Whitewater-based rescue shelter located on the outskirts of the city, Natalie said.

At Community Cat, the animals were moved into larger pet crates, given food and water, and made to feel comfortable.

Natalie said she opted to stay with the 13 cats in her care, and sent her children and Dawsey Smith back to the cafe to find the two pets that had been left behind.

The first group of 13 cats were out of the Center Street building by 3 p.m., she noted.

When the rescuers returned, firefighters were allowing people back into the buildings. The Serna children and Dawsey Smith were able to locate a 14th cat that had found a hiding spot.

A 15th cat, a young, black female, remains undiscovered.

Natalie believes that the animal could be hiding in the building, perhaps even in a wall, she said.

On Sunday, with damage to the building at a minimum, Natalie said she and nine of the cafe’s cats returned to the building.

Also on Sunday, she said she sat quietly on the floor and listened for any sounds that might help the family locate “Cascade,” the only feline for which they cannot account.

She described Cascade as very good at hiding, and, she said, in her building, “there are lots of hiding spots.”

She also has asked members of the public to keep a watchful eye out for the 1-1/2-year-old female, thinking it possible that the animal slipped out the door in the commotion surrounding the fire.

Cascade is wearing a pink collar and bell, and likely is anxious, she said. Natalie has asked anyone who sees Cascade to call her cell phone: 262-812-9515, so a trusted family member can approach the cat and retrieve her. 

After the fire, Natalie said, the building smelled of smoke. With help from well-wishers, and through the use of air purifiers, the air has been made safe for humans and felines to breathe.

Not all of the 14 cats removed on Saturday have returned to the cafe, she said, citing decisions made by a partnering rescue group that disallowed the return of their cats.

As of Sunday, cats that had returned remained anxious, she said. A male cat was favoring a leg, which she believed might be the result of a pulled muscle.

In a recent Facebook post, Natalie said the cafe would plan to open on Wednesday. She said the decision about when to reopen would likely be made after assessing the cats on Monday. She planned to remain closed until all of the cats in her care were once again ready to receive guests.

“We will play it by ear,” she said.

During the excitement, Graysen injured his hand, and he spent some time in an area emergency room, Natalie said, adding that in the aftermath of Saturday’s events, he has had some trouble sleeping.

Recalling Saturday’s events, Natalie said: “I’m blessed. My kids and cats are safe, and I have a community base that is incredibly supportive and uplifting, and that keeps my heart and anxieties balanced.”

Of the firefighters and emergency personnel who came to help, she said: “Even though they had people crying and refusing to leave, they have to do their job.

“They have a job to do to not just save cats, but humans, too, and they did an incredible job of stopping it (fire) and containing it, and the police did a great job, and we had people who came to help.”

She said an individual in the neighborhood risked his life to help them save cats, and they were helped by a former employee. About seven people worked to find and bring the cats out safely, she said, adding: “they all did an incredible job.” 

This story may be updated.