The Cat’s Closet — Restaurant in Bloomington

What is the point of making an appointment if you have to share the space with other people? I made an appointment a month in advance, thought I would be alone, enjoy the time with the cats. They say show up early. Why??? There was no point. I walked in and there was another couple in the main room. I don't want to socialize with people, so go to the back room. I was told there was 15 cats but I only had a chance to interact with 2 because the other two people were monopolizing the space, making me horribly uncomfortable. Then, when they finally left, I thought, finally. I can enjoy the experience. No. A woman walks in and takes over the space. I said, screw it. I am leaving. What is the point of making an appointment, paying in advance, only to have no one check my I.D. to verify I was there for an appointment. No. They just sent me in. What was worse was how loud the staff was. Three individuals talking so loudly I could hear them through the wall and I was on the back room while they were in the other side in the front. That loud! This is my first experience with a cat cafe and nothing about the experience was a cafe. I was on the verge of tears when I left. This was meant to be a birthday present to myself. I have been considering adopting a cat after losing both of mine several years ago. I am only now healing from that devastating loss and I thought, maybe this is a chance to meet a new friend. No. I was forced to hide in the back while another couple and a random woman got to enjoy themselves. Definitely not private experience. I hated this experience and am shocked there is only 5 star reviews. Again, stop offering time slots if you are just going to let random people walk in. There is no point and sets different expectations. I guess it's my fault for thinking an hour time slot would mean an hour by myself. Your time slot stuff online is a lie and should be taken down off your website. I had a miserable experience with loud staff that seemed to be a group of friends hanging out, not caring if the people in the other room didn't want to hear them constantly through the wall. There is no privacy, the time slot reservations are horribly misleading. Poorly run, not professional, and I will tell people to go somewhere else if they are curious about cat cafes. I would ask for my money back but I consider it a charity donation to care for the animals that to me felt to be suffering from malnutrition and sickly thin. I had scheduled an hour and left...

Visiting The Cat's Closet was such a treat! The business is split into two separate sections: a vintage clothing store and a cat lounge. You can browse the clothing selection for no charge (just like a typical shop), but to enter the cat lounge, a reservation is recommended and you'll need to pay a small fee.

Their vintage clothing is in great condition, wonderfully well-organized, and very reasonably priced! I was also pleasantly surprised by how much of a plus-sized selection there was. And there's a rack dedicated to items with cats on them! There are dressing rooms you can use to try things on as well, which is always appreciated.

The cat lounge was absolutely lovely! Since I went on a Tuesday it was only $2 to enter for 30 mins (every other day of the week its $7 for 30 mins). I was there at the end of the day and loved how part of the lounge was just lit by holiday lights. There's also an adorable little TV and a collection of 90s/2000s movies on VHS you can watch! All of that combined with the adorable decor throughout the lounge made for a really wonderful ambiance.

The cats themselves are very friendly and all adoptable through Bloomington Animal Care and Control! They are clearly very well taken care of and have a little private back room away from people they can can access via cat door. There lounge also didn't have any unpleasant odors, which is always nice! And there are little info sheets in the lounge where you can read about all the cats.

The owners were there when I visited and were both incredibly sweet! They were readily available and happy to answer any questions about the clothes or the cats.

It is worth noting that this isn't a cat café in the sense that they don't sell any café drinks. But there are plenty of other cafés in the area where you could grab something before or after visiting! (Morgenstern's is a personal favorite of mine on that side of town.)

Overall, I loved this place! I will definitely be back to visit several more times and look forward to catching one of their events...

The cat’s closet is a great business with amazing owners! They find unique and size-inclusive clothing that is priced fairly. Everything on the floor has been washed, which I find incredibly important when thrifting clothing, as many places don’t bother to do so!

I adopted a very beloved cat, Rolo (formerly Yinzer), from them in January 2024. The adoption process on their end was very professional (at that time it had to officially be done through the Bloomington animal shelter). Since adopting Rolo I’ve discovered he has some severe behavioral issues—mainly surrounding the litter-box. We are still working with our veterinary to help resolve this issue, but found that he has arthritis in his hips, which causes him to have pain when using the litter-box.

The owners of the cat’s closet still reach out to me to talk about Rolo and how he is doing physically and with my other cat. They care so much about these cats and making sure they end up with good, loving, families. I know many people would relinquish cats like Rolo because of these issues, but I am so glad I found him here to properly take care of him. He is an amazing cat who just needed some love and attention and I’m so grateful I was able to adopt him from...