Good afternoon felinity assembled. For those coming in late you can catch up by starting here: Houston Cat Club Charity Cat Show (Series Intro).
Daddy said there was a lot to see in the rows of booths that hi-lighted cat-themed businesses.
Veterinary schools and hospitals as well as boarding and grooming facilities had booths.
Along with the usual cat-themed toys, trees and t-shirts there were things you might not expect.
He wandered around taking photos, picking up pamphlets and chatting with the humans manning the booths.
Here is some of what he encountered (Links can be found at the end):
Barbara Sacco, of Purr-fections, is a cat lady, and experienced bench and manufacturing jeweler, and she prides herself on the fact that no-one else does breed specific jewelry.
Yvette Brown, of Colors in Motion, will create a hand painted masterpiece of your pet simply based on a photograph. The various art galleries are fun to explore.
The cool thing about Hollywood Frame Gallery of Houston is that they are the exclusive Texas dealer for the works of several cat and dog-themed artists, and also sell work by other local and regional artists as well. The galleries on their website are fun to explore.
Shirley, of Shirley's Cat House, is a cat lady who opened up a store in Spring, TX, in 1999, but eventually closed it and apparently only sells online now; too bad as Daddy would have loved to visit the store.
Just exploring the plaques, signs, magnets, door hangers, buttons and bumper stickers on offer will entertain you no end. Daddy says it’s proof that such items CAN be found if you only know where to look.
Forget Johnny "Heisman" Manziel! He may be able to throw a football, but can he PURR?
There is something much better at Texas A & M! A couple of somethings, actually.
The Veterinary Medicine and Teaching Hospital of Texas A & M University, is part of a college with both large and small animal programs and has a more than 90 year history of educating leaders in veterinary medicine. The website has a Pet Talk blog with articles going back to 2007.
The college even offers guided tours by appointment to members of the public, an online virtual tour and a history page with some cool old photos.
The coolest thing though is the Stevenson Companion Animal Life-care Center: Established in 1993 it “provides the physical, emotional, and medical needs of companion animals whose owners are no longer able to provide that care.”
The Winn Feline Foundation, established in 1968, supports studies to improve cat health. Efforts they fund provide information that is used to treat cat diseases. Their website has a research library and an active blog.
The Pet Patrol calls itself a “people pet partnership”. It defines its mission as “to assist limited income elderly and those affected by chronic or life-threatening illnesses in the Houston area by helping our clients care for the pets with whom they share their lives.”
While the rules are that they can only help 2 animals in a family, and no pets under 9 mo. old, or critters that might pose health hazards, are eligible, the services provided are free to those families and individuals who qualify.
When it is our time to head off to Rainbow Bridge our humans often have difficult choices to make based on timing, and costs, and how to relinquish us to eternity in a proper and dignified way. Pets Last Wishes considers its mission to be “to support you and your family in making the best decision for your pet regarding euthanasia.” They specialize in assisting with in-home hospice care, in-home euthanasia, and aftercare, decisions.
Dr. Cornelius has eight years of experience in small animal internal medicine and surgery, including four years as an animal emergency doctor. She has 2 cats, a Facebook page for her business and enjoys blogging, even having been recognized by petwellness.com for her blogging. However, that particular blog, The Mind of a Cat Doctor, lasted only from Oct. 2006 to Feb. 2008 ( http://thecatvet.blogspot.com/ ).
Let me end by saying something about the last pair of images.
Daddy encountered a lady who got a collection of old books, newspapers and magazines, and resells pages from them after transferring images onto the pages.
Very cool!
NEXT UP = Daddy Kiril At Large: HCC Charity Cat Show 7 - Strutting Before the Judge
Websites referenced for this story:
1. Purr-fections: Breed specific jewelry - http://www.purr-fections.com/
2. Colors in Motion - http://www.yvettebrown.com/
3. Hollywood Frame Gallery - http://hollywoodframegallery.com
4. Shirley's Cat House - http://www.shirleyscathouse.com/
5. The Veterinary Medicine and Teaching Hospital of Texas A & M - http://vetmed.tamu.edu/
6. Stevenson Companion Animal Life-care Center - http://vetmed.tamu.edu/petcare
7. Winn Feline Foundation - http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/
8. The Pet Patrol - http://thepetpatrol.org/
9. Pets Last Wishes - http://lastwishes.com/
That was a BIG cat show! The ones my human has been to haven't had all these large vendors. I am especially impressed that Winn was there!
Posted by: Sparkle | February 09, 2013 at 09:46 PM
Interesting stuff. Where did you find those fancy cat trees? If they don't cost a small fortune (which they probably do) our Dad might be interested in getting one for us.
Posted by: Lee County Clowder | February 10, 2013 at 02:21 PM
Lee, those things are expensive, so though I have seen them at other events, in Southern California, as well, I've never bothered to ask more about them since they are out of my league.
I don't recall ever seeing them at Petco or Petsmart, but have seen them at an indi pet store or 2 in SoCal as well.
Posted by: Kiril Kundurazieff | February 10, 2013 at 03:39 PM