Stray Bird

Newton: Did one of Ashton’s chickens escape her emporium? I had better round him up.

orange tabby cat and duckling toy

Newton: Where are you going, little chick?

orange tabby cat and duckling toy

Newton: Uh-oh. Are you okay, little chick? Chick?

orange tabby cat and duckling toy

Newton: Do you need me to give you first aid? Ashton is going to be mad if you are hurt.

orange tabby cat and duckling toy

Newton: Wait a minute. You don’t smell like a chick. You’re a duckling!

orange tabby cat and duckling toy

Newton: That means you aren’t part of the chicken emporium. You can be all mine!

orange tabby cat and duckling toy

Ashton: Hi, Newt! Is that my chicken?

Newton: No, it’s a duckling. You don’t have a duckling emporium, so I’m sure that duckling isn’t yours.

orange tabby cat and one-eyed brown tabby cat look at duckling toy

Ashton: I’m pretty sure Miss Connie meant that little bird for my emporium. Don’t mess with him any more, Newt!

Proactive Cat Healthcare Seminar at the Orlando Cat Cafe

Last week, I attended the second seminar in a series at the Orlando Cat Cafe. The topic of this one was proactive cat healthcare.

Proactive Cat Healthcare Seminar at Orlando Cat Cafe

Jodi Ziskin, the healthy pet coach spoke that evening, to an audience of humans and the 22 cats in the cafe.

Jodi Ziskin at Orlando Cat Cafe

She talked about how preventative healthcare means getting your cat to the vet, and she explained that cats are seeing veterinarians less frequently than they previously did.

Wild Cherry, adoptable cat at Orlando Cat Cafe

One of the important things that a vet can do to help you is by being your partner in understanding what is normal for your cat. A baseline bloodwork test performed before your cat becomes geriatric helps you and your vet detect changes as your kitty ages. That way, you know whether an unusual value in bloodwork in your senior cat is unusual or normal for your cat.

Patrick, adoptable cat at Orlando Cat Cafe

Similarly, Jodi advocates knowing your cat. Being aware of how often your cat normally urinates and defecates daily helps you notice when an issue arises. Being familiar with what your cat’s output smells like is useful, too. If what you find in the litter box is suddenly more pungent than usual, it can alert you to something going on with your kitty’s health.

Baby Gray adoptable kitten at Orlando Cat Cafe

Although her previous seminar was all about nutrition, Jodi recapped some of the high points, including reminding everyone that cats are obligate carnivores and that cats don’t need kibble. She says she cooks for her cats, but that there is plenty of canned food that helps provide the moisture that cats need to stay healthy.

Jolly Rancher, adoptable cat at Orlando Cat Cafe

While Jodi talked, the cats were doing cat things around the cafe. One irresistible gray kitten stole the show. I spent nearly the whole time playing with him instead of taking notes.

Baby Gray adoptable kitten at Orlando Cat Cafe

As you can see, he doesn’t feel at all guilty about playing in the noisy crinkle tunnel while Jodi was talking.

Baby Gray adoptable kitten at Orlando Cat Cafe

Loud crinkling kittens aside, it was an interesting talk, and I’m looking forward to the next lecture in the series, Think like a Cat, The Importance of Enrichment and Play, on May 18th.

All of the cats featured in today’s blog post are available for adoption from the South Lake Animal League at the Orlando Cat Cafe.

Not a Chicken

Ashton: It looks like there’s a new chicken to add to my emporium.

one-eyed brown tabby cat and chocolate chicken

Ashton: This doesn’t smell like right. This chicken is an impostor!

one-eyed brown tabby cat and chocolate chicken

Thank you, Miss Connie from Tales from the Foster Kittens for the chocolate chicken. The head peep really likes it so much Ashton was polite and didn’t take a bite.

Trends at Global Pet Expo 2017

I attended Global Pet Expo last week. This pet products trade show is huge, over 3,000 booths covering the space of about 6 football fields.

Global Pet Expo Hall

There were new products for everything from cats and dogs to fish and hamsters. Even chickens!

Most of the show signage and even attendee badges featured an image of a very smart-looking cat wearing glasses. I often complain that cats are second-class citizens in the pet product world, so it was fun to see everywhere throughout the conference center.

cat wearing glasses sign

Trends

At least year’s expo, there were lots of companies making the egg-shaped felted wool cat beds. This year, companies were taking it to a whole new level with creative shapes.

creative shapes felted wool cat beds

Not only are these cute, but many companies are sourcing them from interesting places, like Nepal, rather than making them in China.

cat-shaped felted wool cat beds

There seemed to be a lot more seasonal items for pets this year, especially beds.

pumpkin felted wool cat bed

There are always Christmas items at the expo, but this year there were a lot more autumn and Halloween-themed products, too.

Angry ghost bed

When cat beds aren’t seasonally-themed, there is a lot more effort being made to make them into an attractive part of your household decor. Maybe the days of brown and beige beds are behind us at last! Attractive beds mean you won’t hide them away, so that’s a big win for your cat have a private space in any room of the house.

Fish cat bed

Another big trend is cute stuff designed specifically to generate cute photos of your cat you can share on social media. Who wouldn’t want to tell all of Instagram that your cat lives in a pineapple under the sea?

novelty pet beds, pineapple, pizza, avocado

The category of items that people will buy because they will look cute on social media is especially strong in toys, with lots of novelty-shaped toys.

chicken and waffles cat toys

Where you used to find toys sold individually, these cute, themed toys are very often packaged in thematic sets of two.

Rubber duck and soap bar cat toys

Beds and toys weren’t the only things that seemed to be made for social sharing. These cat carriers, intended to be worn as backpacks, seem to be designed to be viral sensations, too.

catysmile backpack

Environmental consciousness continues to grow in the pet products industry. There has been a slow move for a while toward waste that recycles or breaks down in landfills. This year, several companies were being especially innovative about ways to approach environmental issues. One especially clever one turns the Asian carp, an invasive species, into dog and cat treats.

Asian carp treats

Another trend is luxury products. This seems to be a slowly growing market full of impressive bling, like this bed covered in sparkling crystals.

pink rhinestone bed

Other Sights

The Lucy Pet Foundation’s spay and neuter bus was on hand, and open for tours. This mobile clinic has performed over 16,000 spay and neuter surgeries for free for low income families and senior citizens.

Lucy Pets mobile spay and neuter clinic

Their feline mascot, Ricky the Rescue was also on hand, looking remarkably calm in the busy convention hall.

Ricky from Lucy Pets

Tiki Pets had adorable tiki animal decorations. While I’m not excited about their new kibble, I will be looking into their newer non-fish offerings in cans.

Tiki cat and dog

One way to make convention attendees stop at your booth is with kittens, and Precise Pet Products had kittens on hand from The Way Home, a local rescue organization. I liked hearing that not only was the rescue there with cats, the company was supporting them with a partnership to help feed their foster cats. Partnerships like that are so much harder for small rescues to get.

Orange kittens adoptable from The Way Home Inc

The Catit booth also featured kittens from the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando, many of them playing hard with the large display of toys and food dispensers. This little one was all worn out after romping with the other tabbies.

pago kitten