Who Are Pet Blog Readers?

In the couple of years since Mom started my blog, she has often wondered what to help me post about. She would love to just focus on me. After all, I'm quite a handsome kitty with the most adorable belly ever! That might get a little boring though. Also, I want to spread the word about shelter kitties since I used to be one myself. I like to encourage people to adopt, volunteer, donate, and otherwise help their local shelters.


Here's the deal. Is that what pet people want to read about? Can I just put that stuff out there and hope someone is looking for that kind of information? If not, do I need to give the people what they want and try to sneak in the stuff I want to say? Luckily, Mom got some answers to my questions at BlogPaws 2012 in Salt Lake City recently. (That's why I send her!)


Mom listened to a presentation from Trone Brand Energy by my favorite GREENIES girl, Amanda LeGaux. She shared information gathered in a survey conducted in May 2012 of both pet bloggers and pet owners. Here is some of what that survey revealed:

• 42% of pet owners spend over 30 minutes each week reading/researching pet related topics

The pet owner doing all that online research is generally:

• Female
• Age 40-49
• Married
• No children at home
• Employed at least part-time
• Has a household income of at least $50k
• Is tech savvy

This information probably doesn't surprise you too much. In fact, like Mom, you can probably see yourself in many of these stats.


But where is this pet owner looking for information?

• Books-55%
• Magazines-42%
• General News Websites-39%
• Newspapers-33%

AND

• Blogs-37%

Okay, we know that pet bloggers are important to pet owners. Now what? Now we need to know how to draw pet owners to our blogs with the information they desire. Look for that information in an upcoming post with more handy info from Trone!


Mom was compensated by Trone to help them spread the word about the information they gathered. Honestly, this was super-good info and Mom is happy to share it for free!

Tuna Juice!

Mom and Dad are going to the zoo today. In order to save money, they take a little picnic with them. Since Mom made tuna salad for the sandwiches, that means that I got the tuna juice!

I don't like most people food (which is probably a good thing since I have such a sensitive tummy) but I do enjoy tuna juice! I don't drink it all in one sitting, instead I drink a little bit then save the rest for later. (I do that with my Greenies treats sometimes too. I like to have a couple left to eat later.)

Having the tuna juice almost makes up for the fact that Mom and Dad are going to leave me by myself for a while today. Almost.

National Pet Dental Health Month

Here we are, the last day of February, which is National Pet Dental Health Month. You all know how I love my Greenies! The nice people at Greenies sent me a message about National Pet Dental Health Month, the American Animal Hospital Association's (AAHA) Helping Pets Fund and the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC). The VOHC is similar to the American Dental Association, but for pets. If you see their seal on a pet dental health product, you know it's been proven effective at breaking down plaque and tartar from your pet's teeth.

AAHA's Helping Pets Fund is a charitable organization that provides financial support for sick or injured pets who need veterinary care. Greenies and AAHA are teaming up to raise awareness about pet dental health and to raise money for the Helping Pets Fund. To help their effort, I want to tell you my dental health story.

I had a routine dental cleaning last year. Everything turned out fine with my pearly whites. Mom would occasionally brush my teeth, but I hated to have it done, so she didn't do it very often. I got my Feline Greenies dental treats every day, but that was about it as far as caring for my teeth.

Today I went in for another annual dental cleaning. Things didn't turn out quite as good as they did last year. The V-E-T had to pull five of my toofers!! Mom is feeling pretty bad that she didn't brush my teeth more often. Look at what I went through today:

First off, I was deprived of food all night long.

No matter how I begged this morning, Mom wouldn't feed me.

This is the last picture of my full smile.

Soon I was loaded up into the dreaded cat carrier.

When I finally made it home 11 hours later, I had a shaved patch on my leg where they stuck the medicine.

Please make sure your humans are taking care of your toofers! Have your regular dental cleanings, but look for products with the VOHC seal on them too!

A Gift From Greenies!

Check out what my pals over at Greenies sent me! A bag of Feline Greenies Dental treats and a very sweet note! I feel like a very lucky kitty to be friends with the Greenies people. Thank you Greenies!

GREENIES JointCare Wag & Walk 4 Life

Hey doggie friends! Have I got news for you! GREENIES JointCare is issuing a challenge to you and your humans. They have gotten together with veterinarian (don't stop reading, I'm sure he's a purrfectly nice person who just happens to be a V-E-T) and triathlete Dr. Ernie Ward to get Americans to go out and walk with their dogs. It's called the GREENIES JointCare Wag & Walk 4 Life.

Here's the challenge: Go to the GREENIES Facebook page at www.facebook.com/greenies and pledge to walk a certain distance with your human every week. Once all the pledges add up to 25,000 miles (the distance around the earth), GREENIES JointCare will begin monetary and in-kind donations to Freedom Service Dogs, based in Englewood, Colorado. The donations will support their training camp that places a service dog with a disabled veteran who needs a mobility partner. With Veterans Day having just passed, isn't this a good way to give back to those who have fought for our freedom?

In addition to helping out Freedom Service Dogs, you and your human will see personal benefits. For every 30 minutes of dog-walking, 120+ calories are burned-that is great this time of year when you won't be able to keep your human's hands out of the holiday goodies. Also, studies show that regular dog walking builds stronger bones, leaner muscles and healthier joints for both the human and the dog.

So get on over to the GREENIES Facebook page and pledge to get out there and walk! It will be good for you, your human and a veteran who needs the help of a service dog.