Our Story
THE CAT HOUSE Story
Thank you for visiting.
THE CAT HOUSE INC first opened as a cat specialty retail store in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1991.
We are now an online with in-person shopping at select at local stores and vets.
Owned and operated by Joanne and Henry Wegiel, the old store was a unique blend of a pet shop for cats and a gift shop for cat people. For over 24 years we had Canada's largest selection of cat related merchandise and each week we received numerous shipments, adding new products almost daily.
We loved sharing our passion for cats and were renown for our customer service. THE CAT HOUSE was a fun, energetic and informative place. We still hear today from customers how much they miss the store.
Our history
THE CAT HOUSE INC opened on August 1, 1991 and expanded several times as our selection and clientele grew:
- 1991
– opened with just over 600 square feet - 1994
– mail order catalogue #1 - 200 items - 1995
– doubled our space and sent out mail order catalogue #2 – 400 items - 1996
– mail order catalogue #3 – 800 items - 2000
– relocated our business to a larger space, triple our original size - 2001
– started a small informational website - 2008 – opened a new honeysuckle processing workshop
- won 2 international cat toy awards in the pet industry
- 2015
– fire destroys THE CAT HOUSE INC retail location along with 5 other local businesses in the same complex – thankfully the shop cats were saved! - 2017
– created online store - 2018 – started providing wholesale products to cat rescues and select local stores and vets
- 2025: new and improved website