Feline Aficionada Attends Cat Writers Association Annual Conference 2011

PROFESSIONAL CAT SITTER GAINS EDGE IN FELINE CARE AND WRITING INDUSTRY AT CAT WRITERS ASSOCIATION (CWA) ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Feline Aficionada Tonia Evans of The Kitty’s Corner Cat Sitting Service, Participates in Premier Cat Industry Event.

Whitman, MA (December 5,2011) – Feline Aficionada Tonia Evans, joined industry professionals from across the country for the Cat Writers Association’s (CWA) Eighteenth Annual 2011 conference held recently in White-Plains, New York.

The two-day event offered a distinguished program of industry professionals, speakers and sponsors, networking opportunities and an awards ceremony showcasing the best in cat related work for the past year. The CWA awards approximately $12,000 in prizes and 52 CWA Muse Medallions to winners in categories ranging from magazine and newspaper articles, to e-books, video, DVD or TV production, radio, podcast production, and more -all focused on cats! I was excited to meet Susan Logan, Editor of Cat Fancy magazine, Jane Harrell, Associate Producer at Pet Finder.com,  Cathy Unruh host of Up Close a TV show on PBS Florida and Amy Sholai, writer, entertainer and all around purronality.

Editor/Agents

In addition, I signed up for Agent/Editor meetings, and over the course of two days I met with Stephanie Flanders (She’s also a fun lady to hang out with), Editor at Tom Doherty Associates; Diane West Editor with New York Tails magazine; Anne A. Simpkinson, Online Managing Editor with Guideposts; Sorche Elizabeth Fairbank, with Fairbank Literary; Ellen Price from my very own member organization, Pet Sitters International; and finally Wayne Barr, acquisition Manager at Barron’s Educational Series!

Catching up with old friends and making new acquaintances!

I was excited to see Jane Brunt, DVM from the CATalyst Council, she took home a Muse Award for the Video Production/DVD/TV category, for their Video Cat Carriers: Friends Not Foes.

Professional Development sessions covered cutting edge topics including: the use of Facebook, social media strategies for pet writers, WordPress for bloggers, and using The Cloud for Internet writers. Minda Zetlin, Vice President of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, presented‚ “When Bad Things Happen To Good Writers.” Zetlin discussed how to copyright and protect your work at copyright.gov. “This conference is a great way to gain an edge in the industry,” shared Tonia Evans, Feline Aficionada, and professional cat sitter, “It offered me the opportunity to network with fellow writers and cat business professionals, be introduced to industry agents and editors, all while staying focused on my niche- cats and feline care!”

 

I also caught up with Stephanie Harwin from Catsparella.com who I met at the Business of Pet Writers Conference and  Lorraine Treadwell, fellow cat writers who was kind enough to remind me about this wonderful event. Half way through the event I saw Deb Barnes, who just recently published one of the most beautifully illustrated books I’ve ever seen, called The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey. You have to check it out!

Another popular seminar, “Vetting Veterinary Sources” featured Lorie Huston, DVM, a veterinarian and free-lance author/blogger who specializes in pet health and pet care topics. She shared tips on finding qualified and reliable veterinary sources when writing kitty health related pieces.

The liveliest discussion occurred during Elizabeth Cohen, DVM’s session, “Medical Problems Can Involve Behavioral Problems” Cohen, a licensed and USDA-certified veterinarian practicing in New York, is also the WCBS news radio 880 pet reporter for “Healthy and Happy Pet” radio show, and the author of “Most of My Patients Wear Fur”, touched upon the topics of feline urinary box issues as related to illness, and the value of blood work in revealing diseases before a cat presents with symptoms! “Due to what I learned at the CWA conference, I feel extremely confident in sending a query of my work to two cat related magazines in the near future,” shared Evans,  ‘I’m that inspired!”

The Cat Writers Conference was the best writers conference I’ve ever attended, they made everyone feel welcome, offered excellent seminars, and I had a lot of fun- The Bag Swag was the best ever! Thank you to the Sponsors of the CWA 2011 Conference for that!

I also won a Sturdi Pet product for my cats that they immediately moved into when I arrived home.

 

Cat Chat October E-Newsletter

Haven’t received the latest Cat Chat E-newsletter, please click here to view it online.

 

Find Me In South Shore Living Magazine

Check out my AD in South Shore Living Magazine, I’m on page 73 opposite the Peppermint Martini Recipe, in the Nov/Dec issue! The magazine also has an awesome Holiday Calendar of events that covers November and December!

CATalyst Council Boston 2011

September was a busy month, and I received a huge honor by serving with the CATalyst Council’s president Jane Brunt at the CATalyst Council booth during the 2011 World Feline Veterinary Conference, in Boston at the Marriott Copley Place.The focus of the conference this year was Cardiovascular Disease in cats. Jane Brunt is one of of those sharp ladies in the industry who is not only a successful feline veterinarian with her own practice, but she is also the President of The CATalyst Council. She’s a mover and a shaker for cats -a women I look up to.

In early spring I contacted her to introduce myself, share a press kit about my career with the hope of someday working for her or doing something to help cats with the organization in the future. When she needed assistance that weekend in Boston, she personally called me early in the week to ask if I was available! I was so excited and honored to meet her in person, and to represent the organization at this event.

The CATalyst Council is a an wonderful organization, that is feline focused on changing the perception of cat care and welfare by offering campaigns to educate industry professionals, and cat parents to raise the level of care for cats and much more.

During the weekend I represented CATalyst Council, promoted their new DVD Cat Carriers: Friends Not Foes, along with sharing their Veterinary Resource Packets to assist veterinarians in having a feline friendly practices. I met a lot of people in the industry, and was able to get many new contacts for the organization’s newsletter “All About The Cat”, which is a wonderfully produced  newsletter with relevant information for cat owners, veterinary industry, media, editors and anyone interested in staying on top of what’s happening for cats! To get involved, or sign up for the email go to http://catalystcouncil.org/help/

New England Pet Expo 2011

In September I attended the New England Pet Expo at the Aleppo Shriners Auditorium. Amazing Pet Expos, a St. Louis based company, produced a professional event that attracted many excellent vendors and animal rescue groups from around the New England area. Their goal was to educate and inspire the New England Pet community. I picked up a lot of swag while visiting booths in search of anything related to cats. Here’s what I found!

Collar Me Chic

Collar Me Chic offered fancy felines unique and fun collars. These trendy collars are equipped with the break away release benefits cat parents love, while also offering sparkly fun, or the ability to personalize with rhinestones pendants or charms. Check them out online at: www.Collar-Me-Chic.com.

 

Off The Wall Cat Playsets

Off The Wall Cat Playsets had one of the coolest new products I’ve seen. And it’s made right here in Massachusetts, of high quality craftsmanship! This is a unique product that is completely adjustable and you can arrange the pieces any way you’d like. There are carpeted perches, houses and scratch pads. To find out more about this locally made item, go to http://www.offthewallcats.com.

 

 

Kitty Connection

The Kitty Connection, is a non-profit organization made up of volunteers who rescue domestic animals, primarily kittens and cats and prepare them for adoption. They also have a Cable TV show in the Medford area called The Pet Connection. Kitty Connection had a great booth with lots of available kittens for adoption-most were sleeping, but golly they were adorable. I also found a new cat book called Cats’ A.B.C. by Beverly Nichols! I was so excited to find a used cat book I didn’t have in my collection, it’s a good read. View Kitty Connection website:http://www.kittyconnection.net/

View Kitty Connection Pet Network Show

Stylish New Cat Beds and Crate Covers

My mother has been going through a creative season, making her own line of natural dog treats, and designing dog and cat beds and crate covers. She recently made a matching set for a friend who rescued a senior dog that was abandoned in an apartment for about a month without food and water.

You’re probably wondering why I am sharing the news about a dog bed and crate cover when I specialize in cats. The reason it’s so important to me is because I do not like using metal crates around cats anymore. Cats can climb in them and jump off and get their legs caught in between the metal pokes. My cat April jumped out of one and her leg got caught and she dangled there until I saw her about 15 minutes later. It dislocated her leg and she cried so bad I have never been able to get it out of my head -I still have nightmares about it to this day. It upset me so much that I vowed I would never have those crates in my home ever again.

For those families that do still use wire metal crates, adding a cover is a very good option, although it would not have prevented my cat April from getting her leg caught. You know how cats like to climb all over everything, having the crate covered is the best thing you can do in my opinion especially if you live with cats as well as your dog. In addition, doggies love to have their crates covered because it gives them the sense that they are snuggled in a small cave. Crate covers are also very pretty and can be made to accessorize with your home decor.

These fabrics can be made into a cat or dog bed, and matching crate cover. You can also customize your bed with whatever colors you’d like.

To order a crate cover, or dog or cat bed, contact Priscilla at Directly at 781-826-6883.

Kayaking Lake Massapoag on my Day Off!

It’s important for cat people to get out once and awhile and enjoy the sunshine just like our kitty’s do!

The summer seems like it snuck by in a flash, but scattered in between cat sitting services I’ve learned to make the most of my days off even if they come at weird times. A day or so after hurricane Irene was one of my most beautiful days of all the summer, purrfect temperature, and blue skies and I went kayaking in Sharon, Massachusetts on Lake Massapoag.

 

The townies clearly love their lake as it’s clean as I’ve ever seen a lake or pond before. The water temperature was fantastic and I was able to paddle for about three hours with a paddle buddy. What a nice day.

 

I will be attending the Cat Writers Conference In November

The international Cat Writers’ Association Inc. will hold its 18th Annual Conference in White Plains, NY on November 17-19, 2011 and I will be attending this year. The conference is open to anyone interested in pet writing and will feature two days of professional seminars with nationally known speakers. Read the complete Annual Conference Details and Registration Information. In addition, the White Plains New York Cat Show will be going on and the conference will be shuttling people back and forth so we can attend and see all the beautiful kitties! I am so excited.

This does mean that I will be unavailable to do cat sitting or special needs care services during this time. This is the weekend BEFORE thanksgiving and will not interfere with the  Holiday care service schedule.

 

 

 

 

Snuggling Away The Hours During Hurricane Irene

Last weekend was a crazy stressful time, wasn’t it? I mean I even downloaded a Channel 7 News weather App just for the “Up To Date Radar” so I could see when, and where and how bad the hurricane would be. All I could think about were my kitties, and of course the kitty babies of all my clients. Luckily, all my clients made it home in time to bunker down and spend the hurricane with their feline families -myself included. Although the rain let up on Sunday when the hurricane was expected to hit, the wind was amazing. There were many twigs and branches down in my yard, my neighbors fence fell down on three panels, and another neighbors tree fell down or a big branch fell in the street.Kind of exciting to see police, firemen, and DPW guys chopping away in the middle of the street.

And whahlah- we lost electricity for a couple of days. Good thing I went grocery shopping for the first time in months the night before and lost most of my perishable foods! The cats had their bottled spring water which we never needed, and were well stocked with wet food to keep us going for quite some time.

I ended up going to Hajars in Weymouth to see Jimmy Peters perform and decided it would be a great time to charge my phone too!

 

Over the course of three days I was cooking everything I had on the grille outside, and tried to get friends to come over and share what I had, but they were doing the same thing.

Sleeping in the “darkness” was a joy to me, and for the first time since buying my home four years ago, I was able to see the twinkles of the stars from my deck. It was awesome. The only thing I didn’t like was that without electricity, every intersection was a freak show free for all! I can see how a lack of order can quickly cause most people to turn into cave men!!! If we had had a serious catastrophe I truly believe people would be killing each other.

All in all, the weather was very nice following the hurricane and we had cool nights for sleeping with the windows open, and me and the kitty’s did quite well.

Books & Cats

Today I was inspired by Books & Cats after attending the Pembroke Library used books sale benefit. Therefore I’ve added two Youtube videos about Dewey The Library cat, to my www.youtube.com/felineaficionada channel today-Nothing much better than cats and books!

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