Dr. Myra Ahmad has a unique morning routine. Before heading to her telemedicine startup Mochi Health in the Financial District, she picks which of her two British shorthair cats, 6-month-old Butter or 3-year-old Muffin, will join her at the office. Sometimes both make the trip, stuffed into a backpack and ready for a day of lounging under desks, napping in tote bags, and generally living their best office lives. When one goes missing, staff can track them using AirTags on their collars. The litter box? It’s strategically placed in the server room, where the cats prefer the warmth.

“They clearly like being in the office”, Ahmad told us. “They really, really like being around people”.

Butter and Muffin are part of a growing trend of cat-friendly workplaces popping up across the Bay Area. This shift makes sense when you consider that one in three Americans now own a cat, a 23% increase since 2023. With return-to-office mandates becoming the norm and more people treating their pets as family members, bringing cats to work is starting to feel like the natural next step.

Alison Gerken, a veterinary behaviorist at the SF SPCA, breaks it down: “We know that more and more pets are an integral part of caregivers’ family. So as long as it is a social, confident cat, then both for the cat and for the employees, it can be mutually beneficial”. Cats, she points out, can experience separation anxiety just like dogs. Eight to ten hours alone at home? That’s genuinely rough for them.

At Avia, a mobile game startup in Menlo Park, rescue cats Tangtang and Jiabao have been office regulars for nearly two years. “They’re a big part of our day-to-day office life and definitely bring a lot of personality to the workplace”, said Minyu Sun, Avia’s communications manager. The company even created plush versions of them as internal merch.

The benefits for employees are real. Research suggests that animals at work lower stress, boost mood, and improve morale. For cat lovers especially, it’s an immediate mood upgrade. Ahmad stocks cat treats alongside employee snacks in the kitchen and uses Butter and Muffin in company LinkedIn posts. For new hires, having a friendly cat available is an easy conversation starter during interviews.

Of course, there are practical considerations. Cat allergies affect 10-20% of people, so Ahmad’s cats get regular grooming and dunk sessions in Allerpet, a dander binder. One employee even reported that their allergies lessened with exposure.

But here’s the thing: not every cat is cut out for office life. Daniel Quagliozzi, a cat behavior consultant and CEO of Go Cat Go SF, notes that most cats aren’t naturally social like dogs are. The key is watching for stress signals like peeing in carriers or aggressive behavior. A happy cat shows a question-mark tail, rubs themselves on things, and stays curious.

While dogs still dominate the office pet scene, more companies are warming up to felines. Figma, the $11 billion design company on Market Street, allows both trained and vaccinated dogs and cats. Temescal Works, a coworking space in Oakland, welcomes nondisruptive cats and even provides snacks and water bowls.

At the end of the day, Butter and Muffin represent something bigger: a workplace culture shift toward recognizing what actually makes us happy and more productive.