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!

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

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.

 

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.

Cat Chat March E-Newsletter Link

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Feline-Aficionada-s-Cat-Chat-E-Newsletter.html?soid=1101630309694&aid=kuOCv1O8u4w.

Orlando Florida Pet Products Expo

The Global Pet Products Expo is happening right now in Orlando Florida. The Feline Aficionada Team Associates arrived yesterday and they’ve been having a wonderful time so far-they also said the weather is fantastic!

They reported that there were thousands of people at the event and lots of educational seminars everyday and they saw the cutest most adorable Cat Car ever, a Smart Car with an exciting cat wrap! I totally want this cat car so I can drive around the South Shore area doing cat care and talks!

This morning, not only celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, they have attended the Thursday am networking breakfast. I’ve already received texts about networking opportunities, grants for Pets In Class programs, and more.

This afternoon the Feline Aficionada Team will be attending the Cat Retailing Workshop given by Jane Brunt the Executive Director of CATalyst Council. The workshop will share opportunities to grow the cat owner portion of a business and highlight important statistics, discuss perceptions about cats from: consumers’, pet retail employees’, welfare workers’ and veterinarians’ points of view. Most importantly, it will provide insight into growing this timely and yet-to-be tapped market. I wish I could be there to hear all the latest news and trends about cat movement!

For more information on the Global Pet Products Expo in Orlando go to Global Pet Expo online!

 

Cat Food Recall Alert!

Wellness Canned Cat Food Recall Information, Please read to find out more about the details and review the recall dates on your canned cat food to see if they are recalled. You can also read more online at Bella So Savvy, which includes an informative reader comment string.

 

Contacts:
Consumer Inquiries:       Media Inquiries:
(877) 227-9587        Claire Burke
Hunter PR
(212) 679-6600

WELLPET LLC VOLUNTARILY RECALLS
CERTAIN LOTS OF CANNED CAT FOOD
No Other Lots, Products or Dates Affected

Tewksbury, MA (February 28, 2011) – WellPet LLC announced today it has voluntarily recalled certain lots of
Wellness® canned cat food.

While recent laboratory testing found that most lots of Wellness canned cat food that were tested contain
sufficient amounts of thiamine (also known as Vitamin B1), some of the lots listed below might contain less
than adequate levels of thiamine.  However, out of an abundance of caution, WellPet has decided to recall all
of the lots listed below.

Cats fed only the affected lots for several weeks may be at risk for developing a thiamine deficiency. Thiamine
is essential for cats. Symptoms of deficiency displayed by an affected cat can be gastrointestinal or
neurological in nature. Early signs of thiamine deficiency may include decreased appetite, salivation, vomiting,
and weight loss.  In advanced cases, neurologic signs can develop, which may include ventriflexion (bending
towards the floor) of the neck, wobbly walking, circling, falling, and seizures. If your cat has consumed the
recalled lots and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.  If treated promptly, thiamine
deficiency is typically reversible.

The lots involved in this voluntary recall are:

Wellness Canned Cat (all flavors and sizes) with best by dates from 14APR 13 through 30SEP13;

Wellness Canned Cat Chicken & Herring (all sizes) with 10NOV13 or 17NOV13 best buy dates.

Consumers who still have cans of cat food from these lots should stop feeding them to their cats and call us at
(877) 227-9587 Monday through Friday, 9:00 am – 7:00 pm Eastern Time.  Consumers with further questions
should visit our website at www.wellnesspetfood.com or call us at this same number.

WellPet discovered the lower thiamine levels during independent testing conducted together with the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration in response to a single, isolated consumer complaint received by the FDA.
Although WellPet has received no other reports concerning thiamine in its products, WellPet has taken
additional steps with the manufacturer to ensure that this does not happen again.

“As a pet parent myself, I’m concerned for the health and welfare of all pets, and as a company we are
committed to delivering the most nutritious natural pet food,” said Tim Callahan, chief executive officer of

WellPet, the maker of Wellness products. “Even though the chance of a cat developing a thiamine deficiency is
extremely remote, we are voluntarily recalling all of these lots of our canned cat food as an extra precaution.”

Feline Aficionada Joins Pet Sitters International

FELINE AFICIONADA JOINS PET SITTERS INTERNATIONAL

Whitman, MA-Feline Aficionada Tonia Evans of The Kitty’s Corner has been accepted for membership in Pet Sitters International (PSI), an organization of more than 8,000 independent professional pet sitting services throughout the United States, Canada and abroad. Founded in 1994, PSI is the world’s largest educational association for professional pet sitters.

For cat owners, in-home cat sitting provides a unique alternative to boarding facilities—or relying on family or neighbors to check on pets.  Cat sitters come to the home daily and felines are able to keep their regular routines for meals, walks, medication and one-on-one care and attention.  Owners report that their cats experience less stress and adjust better to their owners’ absence when the cats remain in their normal environment.

PSI offers members access to bonding and liability insurance and educational resources such as PSI’s Accreditation Program and annual Quest convention.   According to PSI President Patti Moran, pet owners consider their ’fur children‘ part of the family and the demand for quality care continues to increase, “Our membership consists of trusted pet care professionals serving an average of 191 clients each and performing an estimated 17.4 million pet sitting engagements each year,” Moran said.

With membership in PSI, The Kitty’s Corner has reinforced its dedication to offering professional, quality services and increasing their knowledge of the pet care industry. Feline Aficonada Tonia Evans and The Kitty’s Corner are available for cat sitting for healthy, senior and special needs cats in the South Shore area of Massachusetts. Call 781-447-5489 for an appointment. For additional information about Pet Sitters International, visit www.petsit.com.

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