Pets have always been a part of my life. We had a couple of dogs throughout the years, but I’m hard-pressed to remember a time we didn’t have a cat in the house when I was growing up. There was Morris, who was named after the 9Lives cat food mascot. Whiskers was a playful one who loved rearranging my schoolwork. Chipper was my grandparents’ cat, and he tolerated only them. I can’t leave out Patches, our indoor/outdoor cat who taught me a very painful lesson when I was in seventh grade: Cats should be indoor only.
The cat trend continued when I moved to Maryville after college. A coworker at the newspaper I worked at had stumbled across a kitten, but he already had a full house so I took her in. She turned my life upside down, but we eventually found our groove for the most part. Mia was sassy, vindictive and loved a good cuddle. She passed in 2022 just shy of 17 years together, and I still miss her every day.
Learning curve
Mia was the first furry companion I’d had on my own, and as the years passed, I began taking a deep dive into the products we were using. The food she was eating. She developed kidney disease in her later years and required a special diet, which had me eyeballing her water intake and really looking at ingredients in the food or treats she was eating. I wanted to get her whatever she needed.
Growing up, our cats had bowls of water, not constantly running fountains. Things like that were new and unknown for me. What helped my family most was reading articles and looking at reviews. It helped us make informed decisions about what was best for Mia.
Thanks to the work we do at Orange Orchard, I have the opportunity as a pet industry public relations professional to help brands get the coverage that puts them in front of worried pet owners. I also get to work with amazing brands and franchises that offer healthy solutions for the three (!!) tabbies that we have now: Jack, Izzy and Myles.
The products you offer improve the lives of pets and give their owners peace of mind. Through media outreach and content creation, we can help you connect with an audience that wants to know more about you and your pet products. It’s an audience filled with people just like me, wanting to give their furry/scaly/feathery/slimy friends the best. Contact Orange Orchard at (865) 977-1973 or contact us online.