All paws are on deck at the Brooklyn Cat Cafe

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn -- The cat homelessness crisis is at an all-time high in New York City. The Brooklyn Cat Cafe is looking to change that.

From cat comedy shows to 'kitten parties,' the Brooklyn Cat Cafe seeks to help NYC's homeless cat population and educate the local community through its interactive spaces, events and workshops.

Established by the Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition (BBWAC) in 2016 as a pop-up, the cafe now operates within a multi-story, historic venue, functioning as both a place to meet adoptable cats and as a support network for the city's widespread foster and rescue community.

Next door, the BBWAC also operates a rescue clinic offering low-cost medical services to both pet owners, and community rescuers.

At the cafe, "the space is really set up for the cats to have a lot of enrichment and places to go, as well as guests to come in and enjoy themselves," says Managing Director Sonja Chai.

For $12, guests can spend up to 30 minutes playing with, feeding and enjoying the company of the cafe's roster of adoptable cats. Their visits help fund the cafe and clinic, helping ensure all cats are properly cared for until they find their forever home.

Beyond its expansive main floor, the cafe also hosts an additional upstairs floor, which houses various cats in specialized rooms.

"When we moved upstairs, one of the goals was a kitten nursery," Chai says.

In addition to serving as a space to isolate kittens and nursing cats, the Kitten Room also hosts 'kitten parties,' offering opportunities for visitors to interact with, and help socialize, kittens.

Also upstairs is the FeLV+ Room, a space for cats with feline leukemia to thrive.

"Feline leukemia is a virus that cats get- it's not super contagious, but cats that are infected with it have a really compromised immune system and a really shortened lifespan," Chai explains.

Due to the virus spreading through continued contact between cats and infected cats' weakened immune systems, FeLV+ cats must be isolated from uninfected cats. Despite these circumstances, the cafe is committed to providing these cats with enriched, full lives, providing them a roomy space with lots of stimulation and plenty of opportunities for human visitors.

"We're able to provide them a homelike environment and a really special space to make sure that those cats are loved and appreciated all the time," Chai adds.

The Shy Cat Room houses the cafe's less social cats, offering them a quiet space to come out of their shell at their own pace.

Finally, the main upstairs space, nicknamed the 'isle of misfits,' is home to any cats who don't neatly fit into the cafe's other specialized rooms, ranging from 'fospice' (foster-hospice) cases to cats with special needs and beyond.

"They're kind of the cats that don't fit anywhere else. They are some of our favorite cats, partly because they're around so long and, also, they just have such strong personalities," Chai says.

Moving forward, the cafe is passionately committed to deepening its impact on the cat homelessness crisis within the city, as well as strengthening its community-oriented initiatives amidst its continued growth.

"I have a lot of internal things that I think about from an operational perspective," Chai says. "How do we run this place like an organization while still being able to help people?"

Looking to its decade-long tenure as the city's first non-profit cat cafe, it looks like the Brooklyn Cat Cafe has found the answer.

Click here to learn more about the Brooklyn Cat Cafe and Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition.