Impawssibly Purrfect!

Kelley Zarzycki

Picture this: You live at or visit Bloomsburg, and decide to take a relaxing stroll downtown. On a corner of main street, an adorable logo of a cat sat in a flower catches your eye. You look in the big glass window and see a pair of green eyes looking back at you from atop his tower, his black coat of fur looking so incredibly soft. You become overwhelmed with the urge to step inside. Upon losing to the aforementioned urge, stepping through the double set of doors to ensure no kitty escapes, a friendly smile and warm eyes look back at you, and with just a $5.00 donation, you can spend an hour with all the cute cats at Cats in Bloom. 

Exterior of Cats in Bloom

Stepping inside, you can't help but grin at the scene. Adorable cat artwork and photos fill the walls. The sound of calming piano music enters your ears, partnered with the hushed voices of other visitors enjoying their time. The tables, rugs, chairs, and other mini-furniture for the cats build a festive atmosphere, matching the current major holiday for the time of the year. As cats brush your ankles and you find a cozy spot to sit, your eyes wander to the window where you see other people looking in the window at all the little cats running around. Sit back, relax, let the cats come to you, and take in the experience. Hopping from lap to lap, attacking shoe laces, dozing off by your side... Everyone in the room shares a mutual experience of comfort and joy.

                                                                                                    

Cats in bloom has three rooms that guests rotate through-- a main cat room, a small kitten room, and then the kitten room in the basement. When the owners finish for the day, they complete any clean-up or overnight tasks and the cats continue to roam freely in their given rooms throughout the night. For such a small, local establishment, they have a few simple but powerful goals. Co-founder and vice president of Cats in Bloom Michelle Yefko proudly details about what their goal is, showing off her hot pink Cats in Bloom shirt. Pushing up her glasses, she exclaims, "The main goal is to help homeless cats--rescue cats-- find homes. But, it can also be therapeutic for people. Our motto is 'Relax with cats', so... Customers come in with stress or folks that may be unable to own a cat due to an allergic family member..." Many customers that frequent this establishment attend Bloomsburg University and seek out Cats in Bloom as a place to decompress or do homework in a quiet environment. Two students that happen to be sitting near each other begin to chat and discuss their experiences.

    

    "Have you been here before?" questioned the new guest.

    "Oh yeah! I come here all the time to do homework... I don't know, it helps me decompress," the other student replied enthusiastically.

    "That's a good idea...I'll definitely be doing that in the future!" they proclaimed.

Kitten in the downstairs room

As previously mentioned, Cats in Bloom clearly puts tons of effort into taking care of their cats. "We have morning chores. In all the three areas, we have cleaning, sweeping, feeding, medications--morning and evening. In between social hours we are answering phone calls, dealing with volunteer meetings.. That's mostly it," Michelle detailed as she turned to check in the next visitors. Many of the cats that come in here need proper care, as mentioned with the medication. Cats in Bloom takes in street cats-- they differ the SPCA where animals are taken to be put up for adoption. They provide a temporary shelter for cats until they can find their forever home. 

Cats in Bloom exists as a dream location for anyone who loves cats. It's a perfect place for anyone of all ages. A mother and her daughter approach Michelle. The mom, looking curious, asks,

    "How old is Ember?"

    "Ember? He's about nine months," Michelle responds warmly.

    "Oh! Okay, thank you," the mom beamed, turning back to her daughter to ask, "Would you like to head downstairs, or would you rather stay here with Ember?" After a momentary pause, her daughter affirmed,

    "I think I just want to sit with him..." she confirmed, snuggling up to Ember.

Being in this shelter provides so much comfort for anyone, even if they don't intend on adopting. 

Wall of cats with names currently up for adoption

 Starting up Cats in Bloom wasn't the easiest process for the four founders. They opened just two months before everything shut down due to COVID-19. However, they pushed through and found the positives. Michelle reckoned that their location helped them bounce back: "I think it's a pretty central location. We have Berwick on one side and Danville on the other... It's perfect because we get referrals of people driving and stopping at the red lights...People walking to the library, post office, work... We're so visible on this corner." As such a stand out place, it's fairly easy for Cats in Bloom to get recognized and have word spread to any cat lovers. Michelle proceeded to explain how their number of visitors has skyrocketed since re-opening after COVID-19 became more managed. Their cozy corner spot wasn't the easiest to obtain, either. The founders used to volunteer at a different cat shelter for multiple years before deciding to run their own. "I happened to be driving down the street one night and I saw this building was for rent and I just thought it was the perfect location...We didn't have a plan in place but we did not want to lose the building. We called the landlord, thinking he'd never say 'yeah, sure, put 40 cats into a rental place'," she testified. "We explained what a cat cafe was and he said that it was the best idea he had heard. We were up against a tattoo parlor, a hair dresser, a mini market... But he thought it was a great idea, it just went from there!" she chuckled. Now, the referrals do their job and the number of customers has grown exponentially. Although a large portion of the visitors at Cats in Bloom spend their time simply hanging out, petting the fluffy felines, and relaxing, the heart of the establishment is, of course, finding forever homes for the cats. People who decide to adopt must go through the typical process of filling out adoption papers, getting approved, etc.

As the cats come and go through the shelter, the founders and volunteers always do their best to ensure the best experience for all visitors. Each and every cat that has spent time at the shelter has made a difference to at least one person, leaving a paw-print shaped mark in their hearts. While visiting, you get cycled through all the different rooms to meet all the cats, hoping to have someone provide a kitty their forever home. Michelle shared a story about how two sister cats that were adopted together had to be brought back due to life changes for the owner. They would come to visit and eventually intended to readopt. "They left without filling any adoption papers..Eventually their fiance came back and finished the adoption process. Later, they came and informed me the cats adjusted perfect, gets along amazing with their little girl who loves the cats just as much... it's stories like this that are just so memorable to me," she beamed. This establishment provides a perfect haven for people of any age. It's perfect for college kids and adults as mentioned before, but kids love it too! They provide a plethora of toys for people to entertain the cats with, which of course children get a kick out of. 

    

    "This one is my favorite!” exclaimed a little boy, tugging on his mother's jacket.

    “Remember we’re just visiting… not adopting," the mother reassured.

    “I am not leaving Denver. I’ll just stay here and you can go home!” the boy grinned from ear to ear.

Cats in bloom not only does stellar work with providing homeless cats safety, but brings endless amounts of joy and smiles to anyone's face who even just walks past the building. The establishment was formed with nothing but love in the hearts of the founders, radiating a positive energy that spreads to all that surrounds it. Cage free cat shelters create a wonderful positive energy for a community and contributes in many different ways, and Cats in Bloom does its part extremely well for the town of Bloomsburg.