THE CAT HOUSE "INK"
May 2005
May 2005
Greetings My Subjects
My store has a lot of beautiful jewellery, scarves, music boxes, clocks, watches, throws, figurines, sun-catchers, journals, chimes, photo frames, stationery, socks and even some great t-shirts and night-shirts like my favourites and for $24, the price is right.
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| Despurrate Housewives of Whiskeria Lane | Yoga Pawsitions | The Cat Nap |
The Cochrane Humane Society
The animals (and staff!) are currently housed in a small, derelict house with an even smaller more derelict trailer alongside it. You can visit their website www.cochranehumane.ca to see photos of their current facility. THE CAT HOUSE has decided (at my insistence) to help raise funds to build a new shelter for the Cochrane Humane Society – which is halfway to their fundraising goal of 1.7 million dollars. We have set a goal of raising $25,000 to contribute to their building fund.Our inspiration came in the form of the other shop cat, Buddy Guy, who had been living with a feral colony of cats in Cochrane for several years before Henry and Joanne trapped him and gave him a new lease on life as a resident shop cat and my personal assistant. We took a photograph of Buddy in one of his many “outfits” and gave it a western theme as Cochrane was the home of one of the original cattle ranches in the province of Alberta.
We hope you like the resulting “WANTED” poster which we have printed on to nice sand coloured T-shirts as a fundraiser. All proceeds of the sale of the shirt go to the Cochrane Humane Society Building Fund. We hope you love the shirt …the more we sell, the quicker the new shelter will be built. Wouldn’t this make a great shirt to wear during Stampede – or any time here in Alberta during our Centennial year.
We are also collecting coins as well as Canadian Tire Money for the Cochrane Humane Society at our store. Every little bit helps.
Summer travel plans?
The great outdoors
Second Kittenhood
Honeysuckle
Feline Frolics
If in your spring cleaning you find that you have any towels, bedding, cat furniture, toys or care items that you no longer need please drop them off at THE CAT HOUSE as we have a donation closet to accept items for the MEOW Foundation. Check out their website www.meowfoundation.com to see their latest count on cats adopted out in the last few years – you will be amazed.
Are you ready for the Royal Visit?
They say the Queen is coming to town on May 25th 2005. I hope she has a good time, but if you don’t have tickets, stop by the store and see me, I have tiara too you know and you don’t have to pay for parking to come see me!
As a special Meowthers day gift to all "THE INK" subscribers, come in to the store and ask for your special "Royal Meowthers Day Magnet" of me as below!
PS. Didn't you know all female owners of cats are "Meowthers"? Neither did we, until we made it up today.
April 2005
April 2005
Cat Show
The Southern Alberta Calgary Cat Fanciers are holding a cat show on April 23rd and 24th 2005 at the Shouldice Arena on Home Road in Montgomery. The show will be open Saturday and Sunday from 9-5 and as usual there will be an admission charge. This will be the first show put on by this new group which is a combination of members from the Southern Alberta Cat Fanciers and the Calgary Cat Fanciers and it will be the first time the cat show will be held in this location and you're invited!
Please "Re-Lease" Me
The Cat House is coming up to our fifth anniversary in the Stadium Shopping Centre location and we are in the process of renegotiating our lease. It's hard to believe we've been here five years already - and in business for nearly fourteen years!
Spring Is Here
With the grass turning green and the buds opening on the trees we can safely say spring is here. Many of you will be doing gardening and landscaping projects so we feel this is an opportune time to remind you that The Cat House is always on the lookout for Honeysuckle wood to sell in the store. If you or anyone you know would like to have some honeysuckle trees cut back please give us a call. We will happily give you a gift certificate to The Cat House in exchange for some of that special wood that cats like oh-so-much.
Your Cats Know Spring is Here
Many of our customers are telling us stories of their cats behaviour changes in the springtime. It seems, like may of us, spring brings a renewal of energy in our pets and many cats are exhibiting a desire to be outside in the fresh air and sunshine. If you haven't seen it yet come into the store and check it out. We've included a picture so you can see some ways to help your cats enjoy the outdoors with you. We have been selling a lot of these affordable, collapsible, easily transportable enclosures. They even make strollers!
Cat Food Specials
Science Diet has very kindly provided us with a number of "Kitten Kits" to give out to customers getting a kitten for the very first time. Kits include several essential items for kittens as well as some Science Diet Kitten food samples. Quantities are limited so please call ahead to book your kit and please tell your friends about this.
Nutro continues to supply each of our customers a can of gourmet cat food each different calendar month that you come to The Cat House. Has your cat tried "Orleans seafood Jambalaya" yet?
Precise has a special offer at the moment. Any one who purchases five tins of 3Oz. Precise canned cat food and fills out the attached coupon will receive on the spot a FREE 6.6 pound bag of dry Precise cat food.
Royal Canin is offering a free metal canister with each purchase of 7 pounds or more of their dry cat food. Royal Canin is also hosting a special "Cat Day" at The Cat House on April 30th from noon to 4 PM. Visit us during those hours to receive a free toy for your kitty and coupons for Royal Canin food.
Whenever you purchase a dozen tins of any brand of canned cat food at The Cat House remember you will receive another FREE can. Also we'd like to remind you that many brands of cat food we sell have loyalty programs where you can receive a free bag of dry cat food, or a free tray of canned cat food after you have purchased a certain number of the same size product.
Cochrane Humane Society Fund-Raising For New Shelter
Our next newsletter will contain the details of a major fund-raising campaign we are undertaking for the Cochrane Humane Society to help them raise funds to build a much needed new shelter. In the meantime we are collecting coins for the shelter fund in a gigantic water bottle at the front of the store. We may not be able to raise a million dollars for them (actually their goal is almost two million) but we hope to raise a million pennies for them ($10,000.00). Additionally we have started collecting Canadian Tire money for them to help in their purchase of supplies need in their daily operations.
That's it for this issue of The Cat House Ink, we look forward to seeing you in the store!
Meow-Purr!
Buddy Guy
December 2004
What’s New?
The Cat House is full to the rafters (no exaggeration,) with wonderful new products for you and your cats. In case you have not been to the store lately, you can look forward to seeing the following improvements. Recently, we:
- added over 100 lineal feet of shelving for cat food;
- doubled our shelf space devoted to Christmas items, which during the year will be our place to present “what’s new” at The Cat House;
- built another 36 feet of shelving for beds, thereby tripling our space for cat beds;
- began displaying smaller scratching posts above the glass gift shelves which means room for an additional 20 scratching posts!
In The News!
We were also featured in local media several times this year:
- On April 26th, the Calgary Herald printed a feature article about our store on the front page of the business section summarizing our history since opening in 1991. The Cat House is fortunate to be in the 2% of start-up businesses that survive past their 10th anniversary, numerous small pet stores have closed their doors after the arrival of several of the “big box” retailers. (Thanks to you, our loyal customers, we haven’t!)
- This summer a two-page article was printed in the CAZA (Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Bulletin recommending that zookeepers contact The Cat House to obtain Honeysuckle wood as an enrichment activity for large cats in zoos. They also published a photo of a lion at the Bowmanville Zoo with a large honeysuckle log from our store.
- In July the camera crew for “The Pet Guys” came to film a demonstration of our new KittyWalk Pet Stroller with Lesley Anne inside, and a front worn knapsack/snuggly style cat carrier containing Buddy Guy. This segment aired in October on Global. Then in November, “The Pet Guys” returned to film an interview with a local vet technician about ways to keep indoor cats from getting bored. Lesley Anne put on a delightful performance playing with the laser light toy. Buddy Guy demonstrated a scratching post on cue and then sat in the Kittywalk™ outdoor enclosure to show how easy it is to contain your cat safely outdoors. We haven’t heard yet when this segment will be aired.
- In October, Shaw Cable came to The Cat House to video a story about Honeysuckle wood for cats. They aired the segment numerous times and many people came to the store as a result. Buddy Guy performed on cue for the camera and his good work resulted in hundreds of Calgary cats being introduced to the pleasures of Honeysuckle wood. (The interview can be seen on our website.)
- Lesley Anne and Buddy Guy were recently photographed with several recommended Christmas presents for cats by a photographer from the Calgary Sun. We were told that these photos will appear alongside an article in “Wag” magazine, an insert of the Sun, sometime in December.
You’re Invited!
We would like to extend an invitation to you to visit The Cat House as a lot has changed, and we keep adding more! We have had a lot more early Christmas shoppers this year. In the past, many people visited our store to purchase gifts for their cats at the end of their shopping list, but when they saw all the great new gift items for people they said that next year they were starting their shopping at The Cat House...and they have! We hope you will too.
Our Gift To You
To thank YOU, our valued customer, please ask for your coupon in the store, which will give you a total of $20 off your purchases, and a free $5 gift (details in store.) Again, we wish to thank you, and wish you a Merry Christmas!
Kudos & Thanks
Thanks to local artist Geoffrey Martin for the beautiful watercolour paintings of Lesley Anne and Buddy Guy, our shop cats. Be sure to check out his website to see more of his work: http://www.gpmartin.com
That’s It For Us For Now
Than you for reading and stay tuned for more exciting information and great promotions. Until next time!
On The Web
To view the Shaw Cable video clip on Honeysuckle wood just click on This Link
The Bottom Part
You are receiving this email because you either have filled out a customer information card at The Cat House or have signed up via our website. Please forward this email to a friend. Anyone who prints out this email and brings it to The Cat House will also receive our $25 gift.