The Connection

“Patriot Pawsabilities,” Northern Virginia’s first cat lounge, opened in Fairfax to eager customers waiting to hang out with 35 adoptable cats and kittens living cage-free in a 2,450 square-foot space until they find a home.

“I love it. It’s amazing,” said Bekka Fontanilla from Centreville on opening day.

Furnished with couches, study tables, café style chairs, and hammocks for the humans and catwalks and cubbies for the cats, Patriot Pawsabilities is a relaxed, sleek, and inviting place that allows customers to see the personality of cats. Honey, for example, is normally quiet, but at the cat lounge, can be seen often zipping around.

“We were always focused on dogs, and then this came up,” said Starr Averitt from Clifton at opening day.

Her son Bryce, 12, was excited to be there. “It’s absolutely adorable,” he said about the cat lounge.

The concept of the cat lounge is very much like the concept of cat cafés: a place to go to for a cat experience, whether someone is looking to adopt but can’t decide, or who misses hanging out with felines. The cat lounge is a location that allows customers to interact with a variety of cats and kittens; a supervised indoor pet rental, some say.

THE BRIGHTLY-LIT LOUNGE has a glass-enclosed room, referred to as the “fishbowl,” where the kittens zipped around and purred for attention as a line of customers quickly formed on opening day. In the center of the lounge is a floor-to-ceiling leafy wooden tree that allows cats to “go up it like it’s nobody’s business,” says owner Monique (Mo) Ryan, a retired Army veteran.

“I’m so thrilled by the response on our Facebook page. It’s so great,” she said.

The cat lounge works with two rescues, Fancy Cats and HART, that take care of the adoption applications and fees which go directly to the rescues (Ryan doesn’t receive any fees). The lounge requires an entry fee of $15 per hour, a fee that Ryan said is necessary to keep the lounge operating. All profits are donated to organizations that work to reduce feral cat populations.

Ryan said it took two years for her dream to become a reality, especially working with Virginia’s strict health regulations. Ryan isn’t allowed to serve customers food but they can bring food in from University Mall.

On a trip through West Virginia one day, Ryan said it was literally a sign on the side of the road that motivated her to pursue opening a cat café/lounge. It was a billboard advertising the opening of a cat adoption café in 2017.

“I was immediately drawn to the idea,” she said. The rest is history.

But cat cafes weren’t a new concept to Ryan. She first encountered them when she and her family were stationed in Daegu, South Korea where the booming industry first began. And animals were always a passion for her growing up.

“We were the house that everyone brought injured animals to,” she said. They had monkeys, ferrets, and chickens. One year, a big cat came injured on their doorstep.

She opened the cat lounge for various reasons, said Ryan, including her desire to help animals and wounded warriors. Ryan said she wants to help cats find good homes, help veterans heal from the wounds not always visible, and in the process, find some peace for herself. “That’s what I found here,” she said.

A Dutch immigrant who served in the U.S. Army for 20 years and now lives in Manassas with her husband and two children, Ryan moved from Helmond, Netherlands at the age of 22 to Colorado Springs, Colo. with her first husband, a college degree in Liberal Arts, and plenty of hopes and dreams. But her move to the U.S. wasn’t without challenges. She eventually divorced and lived with a friend for a while. With no family, job, or roof over her head in the U.S., Ryan soon joined the military.

“It was absolutely out of desperation,” she said. But Ryan, who learned English by watching shows like “Dallas” and “Dynasty” with Dutch subtitles and who speaks five languages including French, German, Italian, English, and Dutch, found a home and family in the military where she rose through the ranks.

After spending her military career jumping out of planes, Ryan retired in 2006 with a lot of head injuries, as well as injuries to her knees, back and neck. The pain took a toll on her body and psyche.

“Now I can’t run. I can’t lift anything. I can barely ride a stationary bike. I can’t stand for long periods of time without hurting. I can’t sit for long periods of time without hurting,” she said. “Having a normal job is challenging.”

Because of this, Ryan relates to veterans struggling to transition into civilian life. It’s why she wants to eventually start veterans outreach programs at the lounge. “Once you get out, nobody really understands where you’re coming from,” she says. “Soldiers get out without adequate medical care. Soldiers get out without any structure to catch them when they fall.

“I know it was [hard] for me and I didn’t have nearly as much a traumatic experience as most veterans did,” she said. “One of the reasons I did this cat lounge is because I was getting depressed… I wanted to find my identity again. Something that would get me off the couch, re-motivate me, something that was worthwhile.”

EVERY NOW AND THEN, Ryan’s cat “Able Whiskey,” named in honor of Sergeant First Class, Matt Kahler who was killed in 2008 in Afghanistan and “Bulldog 6,” named in honor of her friend Major Tom Bostick, killed on July 27, 2006, can be seen relaxing in the middle of room.

Ryan hopes for everyone passing through: “Be happy for a while and don’t worry about stuff,” she said.

Ryan offers 10 percent off to first responders, teachers, students, veterans and 65 and older. She is scheduling cat yoga and cat pilates, movie nights, painting classes, morning coffee with cats, and more.

There are some age restrictions. See the Facebook page for more information. The lounge is located at 10687 Braddock Rd. in University Mall across from George Mason University in Fairfax.

To make appointments, call 703-259-0174 and visit

www.facebook.com/Patriot-Pawsabilities-a-Cat-Lounge-498840403855968/ for available time slots.