How To "Catify" Your Home

Ms. Bella has been pretty inventive around our home in making her own "Catification". She'll hide and let you seek her anywhere!

But if you have multiple kitties and want to enrich their environment (see the many benefits here), there's more than one way to modify your home to help your feline family members be more comfortable in an indoor environment.

First, you can take some tips from the catification lady herself, the fantastic Kate Benjamin, who teamed up with none other that Jackson Galaxy to write an entire book on the subject...aptly titled: Catification. What we particularly love about Kate and this book is that the focus is on contemporary and stylish designs that will please both your cat and you—after all, you humans are paying the rent!

You also might check out some veterinarian-based enrichment advice for your feline, that will help you learn the "whys" behind what you're doing and how it benefits the physical and mental health of your kitty. And here's a feline environmental enrichment checklist prepared by Dr. Tony Buffington, a world-renowned veterinary cat expert with over 35 years of feline research experience. You''ll recall that we had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Buffington a couple of years ago about his work and his interactive iTunes book and course called Cat Mastery.

Finally, we'd like to share this video again because we think it's phenomenal what these guys did to catify their home—and the fifteen or so cats that share their gorgeous abode are all rescues. Happy #Caturday!

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Scenes From BlogPaws 2014

Parental Unit is a happy/sad combo this morning: So very happy that she was able to attend this year's fantastic BlogPaws Conference in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada, but sad that's it's over—bummer! She wishes she could go back and visit with more of her blogging buddies and the cool brands and animal organizations that participated in the conference.

Yes, she heard inspiring keynotes and learned tons from the six individual workshops she attended (more detail on those in later posts), but what she enjoyed most was connecting in-person, or "nose-to-nose" as the BlogPaws folks say, with the amazing humans behind the blogs, and those who represented the animal organizations and brands at this year's conference.

       Here's just an initial smattering of BlogPaws 2014 Conference Highlights...

I'll start with what would have been my favorite spot—the dog park!

Moving right along...the Friday morning opening keynote with (from L-R), Tom Collins, co-founder of BlogPaws and moderator, Dino Dogan of Triberr, and Chloe DiVita of BlogPaws.  The super savvy business coach Lena West presented by video.

We're pleased to report that BlogPaws and many of it's speakers donated to local rescues and non-profit animal organizations.

At breakfast the first morning, Parental Unit helped out at one of the several tables reserved just for the many "Newbies" at this year's conference. If there were any questions, BlogPaws veterans like Parental Unit, were ready with answers!

              Here's one lucky kitty riding in her "Pink Catillac"!

And speaking of cats, here's the rockstar of the cat world, GloGirly (she won two blog awards!) and her cat, Waffles.

Another member of the broad pet blogging community, the world's largest rodent species. Parental Unit did not catch her name, but she drove the dogs wild!

The trio of lovely gals representing PetSmart Charities—thank you for your good deed and donations on behalf of companion animals!

The sign leading to the "Cat Style" Lounge—we'll do a separate post on this amazing curated space for cat products, and it's super cool curator and renowned "catification" lady, Kate Benjamin.

Another one of our favorite pet food and all natural pet product brands, "I and love and you". Remember our recent review and giveaway?

And here's a photo you'll all love—Parental Unit finally got to meet Sugar the Golden Retriever (Golden Woofs!) and her charming Parental Unit, Rosalyn!

Here's the fantastic Olivia, the social media manager for the ASPCA, with whom Parental Unit has worked on many important ASPCA campaigns—so cool to finally meet Olivia in person!

And last but certainly not least, here's Parental Unit on the red carpet with Diane and Rocco of "To Dog with Love".

More from BlogPaws 2014 coming soon...but while you're in the BlogPaws mood, there's an early bird special going on right now until midnight tonight (May 12, 2014) to purchase tickets for the hootin' and a hollerin' BlogPaws 2015 Conference in Nashville! Ticket prices will never be this low, so we suggest you sign up now!

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Cool Cats!

"Cat Lady" and blogger, Kate Benjamin, and one of her 11 kitties. Photo by John Burcham for The New York Times

Or at least these 11 cats have cool stuff! This article in today's Home Section of The New York Times, features Kate Benjamin, a super-successful blogger with a focus on sleek design...for the cat or cats in your life. And the felines in her life get some pretty cool stuff because she tests tons of these hip cat products and reviews them on her blog, now revamped into an "online magazine for design-conscious cat people," called Hauspanther.

Ms. Benjamin, who has both marketing and design experience, is now creating her own, really cool cat products that are for sale on her site. She's "positioning herself as a cat lady for a new generation...she has upended the old stereotype of the frumpy, middle-aged woman surrounded by cats," says The Times. She's even frequently collaborates with Jackson Galaxy: She's been a guest on his Animal Planet Show, "My Cat From Hell", and is currently working with him on a book about "catification".

But her popularity is not without some controversy. When she features a $400 cat bed, for instance, many comments tend to criticize spending that amount of money on a "designer" lounger, when we know how pleased a kitty can be with a free cardboard box. As one reader said: "Do you know how many shelter cats that would feed?"

 We say that the person who can afford a $400 cat bed can also donate that same amount to a cat shelter! Why not have well-designed cat toys and furniture around for your beloved felines? And not all good looking products are prohibitively expensive. For Ms. Benjamin, what it comes down to is good design. "I would like to see every cat in a happy, loving, forever home, and I want to keep them there through design." Bravo to you, Ms. Benjamin!

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