WORDS Tara Crutchfield
PHOTOGRAPH Amy Sexson
Botany Cats BOTANY CATS HITS THE ROAD
A love of cats (and plants), a trip to an Orlando cat café, and a passion for helping animals led Lakeland native Janette Nettler to her dream job – one she created for herself. Florida’s first cat adoption lounge and plant nursery, Botany Cats, opened earlier this year and has introduced 12 cats to their new pet parents. “There are so many cats out on the streets and in shelters. All the shelters are completely full, and I want to help as many as I can,” Nettler said.
The original idea was to have a brick-and-mortar cat lounge. Finding space within budget proved difficult. Nettler didn’t have any experience working in coffee shops either, and Lakeland already has some great ones. Why not bring Botany Cats to them? Nettler rethought her business plan and decided to make it mobile. She first thought of renovating a school bus, but the concept soon evolved.
Janette Nettler has loved animals since childhood. She got her first cat at age four, followed by another several years later. As an adult, she got two Corgis and found that she adored dogs too. Now she has three cats at home, “Plus these guys, of course,” she said of her Botany Cats brood.
“I thought, ‘I already have a truck. Why don’t I get something I can pull?’ I started looking at campers, and I found this one,” she said. Her cat adoption lounge and plant nursery took the form of a 2009 Dutchmen Freedom Spirit travel trailer. “The layout was pretty much what I wanted anyway. I didn’t have to do too much as far as renovations go,” said Nettler. “Everything started working out, and it was like, ‘Well, this is what it’s supposed to be then.’”
Born in Lakeland, Nettler lived in North Carolina from age four to 14 before moving back to the Swan City. After another move, she’s been back in Lakeland for two years. “I keep coming back, and it gets better every time,” she said. “I consider Lakeland my home.”
She bought the trailer last November. “I took it camping to break it in before I did any renovations,” she said. The kitty camper took only a few months to renovate with minor cosmetic upgrades like removing the dinette and building a bench for more seating. Nettler dubbed the trailer Demeter. The Greek goddess of harvest and agriculture and a character in the Broadway musical “Cats,” Demeter was a fitting name to marry Nettler’s two concepts.
She went to college to study elementary education but gravitated toward veterinary medicine. Nettler changed career paths and became a veterinary technician for about five years. “I loved helping the animals,” she said. “I just wanted to do something a little more – to have something of my own and be able to plan my work schedule around my family.”
Botany Cats’ first day open was February 9, with a grand opening on March 5 at The Green House Garden Store – a locally owned plant shop where Nettler sources her plants. Now Nettler brings Botany Cats to local establishments like Quinteassence Kava Bar – where we met with her – Hillcrest Coffee, the Polk Museum of Art, and the Lakeland Public Library. “I can bring the kitties to the people. They don’t have to come to me, which is great,” she said. Nettler says she plans to work with other Lakeland businesses, including Cob & Pen, Swan Brewing, and The Joinery.
Familiar with the cat café concept, Nettler had the fleeting thought that she, too, could create an atmosphere around cappuccinos and cats. “I thought the idea of a cat café was so unique. There are so many cats out there that need homes. The boutique experience of a cat café was so different from a shelter,” she said. She took a trip to an Orlando cat café in 2021. “It was so relaxing, and it was fun, and the cats didn’t seem stressed. […] I fell in love and decided to make it a reality for Lakeland, but a little different – I put my own spin on it.”
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