The ameowzing, well-respected, loved and award-winning Cat Fancy magazine started as a voice for all cats back in 1965 by Leslie Slawson Smith and his wife Elizabeth, laying the foundation for pet care magazines. As the world’s most widely-read cat magazine, Cat Fancy celebrated cats and their human fans with lots of expert cat information and cat entertainment — much of the cat advice ahead of its time. Cat Fancy was also a favorite with late-night television shows, making appearances on Saturday Night Live and the late-night talk shows, even up to today.
Constantly evolving along with its cat-loving readership, in 2015 the Cat Fancy brand joined with the popular cat website Catster. In 2004 Catster and its sister site, dog website Dogster, began as online communities for cats and dogs and the people who love them and then evolved into award-winning sources for all things feline and canine related. (The sites were created by Ted Rheingold and his longtime friend Steven Reading.) Cat Fancy and Catster combined to become even stronger. Today, Catster is the longest-running print publication for cat lovers, known for its helpful and hilarious love, care, humor and knowledge of all things feline. Catster magazine and its website is a resource for real cat owners who passionately argue the merits of catnip at dinner, have very real opinions on vet costs, and are willing to devote their time and financial resources to please the creatures that really run their households.
Catster is a cat magazine and cat website where cat lovers come together and get expert advice about cat behavior, cat health and cat news. Subscribe to our magazine at www.catster.com/subscribe.
Meet Our Editorial Staff
Melissa L. Kauffman — Executive Editor, Catster and Dogster
Covering the pet world for more than 25 years, Melissa L. Kauffman has been an editor/writer for a wide variety of pet magazines and websites from the small critters to parrots to cats and dogs. Her advisory team of rescued pets — dogs Tampa Bay and Justice and parrots Deacon and Pi-Pi — help keep her on top of the latest and greatest pet health research, training and products, anything to give keep them in the high life they are accustomed to. Follow Tampa and his crew on Instagram @tampa.bay.pup.report while Melissa can always be found working on the next issue of Catster and Dogster magazines at caster.com and dogster.com.
Annie Butler Shirreffs — Senior Editor, Catster and Dogster
Annie Butler Shirreffs has worked in the pet industry for 20 years and is currently the senior editor of Catster and Dogster magazines. A cat lover since she was a little girl, she has always had feline friends in her life. She and her husband share their Southern California home with their four cats, Agatha, Alastair, Jack and Mathilda, and an ever-changing clowder of foster kittens, all of whom enjoy being testers for cool, new products.
Meet Our Contributing Writers
Angie Bailey
Angie Bailey, an award-winning writer, podcaster, and humorist, is the author of Texts from Mittens and Whiskerslist: The Kitty Classifieds. She’s written cat humor for over a decade, and lives in Minneapolis with her fiancé and two cats — Phoebe, a sassy senior and Janet, a teenage kitty with tons of tortitude.
Angela Lutz
Angela Lutz is a writer and editor who has been fascinated by felines since childhood. She has more than a decade of experience writing about everything from health care and books to yoga and spicy food. She has written for Catster since 2012. Angela lives near Kansas City, Mo., with her husband, son and three cats.
Catherine Holm
Told that she is funny but doesn’t know it, accused of being an unintentional con artist by her husband, quiet, with frequent unannounced bursts into dancing liveliness, Cat Holm loves writing about, working for, and living with cats. She is the author of The Great Purr, the cat-themed memoir Driving with Cats: Ours for a Short Time, the creator of Ann Catanzaro cat fantasy story gift books, and the author of two short story collections. She loves to dance, be outside whenever possible, read, play with cats, make music, do and teach yoga, and write. Cat lives in the woods, which she loves as much as really dark chocolate, and gets regular inspiration shots along with her double espresso shots from the city.
Crystal Gibson
A child-sized Canadian expat in France who is fluent in French and sarcasm. Owned by a neurotic Doxie mix, a Garfield look-alike, and two needy Sphynx cats. An aspiring writer and pet photographer with a love of coffee and distaste for French administration, she can be found blogging over at Crystal Goes to Europe.
Denise LeBeau
Denise LeBeau is a writer, editor and photographer with almost 20 years of experience of creating content for animal-related issues, endeavors and events. She worked at Best Friends Animal Society for 12 years where she had two columns in the Best Friends Magazine, and held multiple content creation roles including web managing editor and outreach campaign editor. Denise has been an ongoing contributor to Catster since 2014, writing for the magazine and website. The self-professed poet laureate of the pet set is currently the manager of development for an animal welfare agency, where she works with a team to create content across media platforms. She lives in Hampton Bays with her two rescue Siamese mixes – Flipper and Slayer, and her LBD (little brown dog), Zephyrella.
Dr. Arnold Plotnick
Dr. Arnold Plotnick is the founder of Manhattan Cat Specialists, a feline-exclusive veterinary practice on Manhattan’s upper west side. He is also an author of The Original Cat Fancy Cat Bible. Dr. Plotnick is a frequent contributor to feline publications and websites, including his own blog, Cat Man Do. He lives in New York City with his cats, Mittens and Glitter.
Dr. Eric Barchas
Dr. Eric Barchas is a professional traveler who spends his spare time working as a full-time veterinarian; contributing to Dogster and Catster; walking, cooking, camping, and exploring the outdoors; skiing (when conditions permit); and reading Booker-shortlisted novels. In between trips Dr. Barchas lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Denise, and his canine pal, Buster. His main veterinary interests are emergency and critical care, wellness, pain management and promotion of the human-animal bond. Dr. Barchas has to Dogster and Catster since May 2005.
Elisa Jordan
Elisa Jordan is a Southern California freelance writer specializing in pets. She has a terrier, Gidget, and a cat, Izzy.
Elizabeth Vecsi
Writer Elizabeth Vecsi lives in the Hudson Valley with her five cats. Over the past two decades, she has been an editor and writer for The Whole Cat Journal, Cornell’s CatWatch and Tufts’ Catnip.
Ellyce Rothrock
Ellyce Rothrock spent half her life with Flea, a Maine Coon who lived to be 21 and is missed every single day. She’s currently seeking a feline friend to manage Fritz and Mina, her German Shepherd Dog rescues. She’s lucky enough to live her passion for pets as a 25-year member of the pet media industry.
Erica Dermer
Erica Dermer is a stay-at-home cat mom in Phoenix, AZ. As a former magazine editor, she now using her writing skills to blog at CeliacandtheBeast.com. She recently lost her photogenic tabby named Murphy, and currently lives with his sister, Mushu, the tortie.
Erika Sorocco
Erika Sorocco has been writing about cats for more than a decade; and rescuing animals since the age of 3 when she spotted a chipmunk drowning in her backyard kiddie pool. She currently shares her California home with one finicky feline (Gypsy), one crazy pup (Jake), and a collection of sweaters covered in cat hair.
Holly Tse
Holly Tse is a Green Cat Expert. She is the author of Make Your Own Cat Toys: Saving the Planet One Cat Toy at a Time and the creator of GreenLittleCat.com, the longest-running blog dedicated exclusively to greener living ideas for cats and cat lovers. Her book, blog, and articles have been featured on Oregon Live, The Daily Cat, AdoptaPet.com and Catster.com, as well as in magazines such as All You and Feline Wellness. Holly is a lifelong environmentalist who draws her inspiration from her cat, Furball, who has been living an eco-friendly lifestyle since he was adopted as a kitten. Holly’s mission is to green the planet one cat at a time by offering simple and fun advice for cat lovers all over the world.
Jackie Brown
Pet expert Jackie Brown has spent 20 years following her passion for animals as a writer and editor in the pet publishing industry. She is contributing writer for National Geographic’s Complete Guide to Pet Health, Behavior, and Happiness: The Veterinarian’s Approach to At-Home Animal Care (April 2019) and author of the book It’s Raining Cats and Dogs: Making Sense of Animal Phrases (Lumina Press, 2006). Jackie is a regular contributor to pet and veterinary industry media and is the former editor of numerous pet magazines, including Dog World, Natural Dog, Puppies 101, Kittens 101 and the Popular Cats Series. Prior to starting her career in publishing, Jackie spent eight years working in veterinary hospitals where she assisted veterinarians as they treated dogs, cats, rabbits, pocket pets, reptiles, birds and one memorable lion cub. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two sons and miniature poodle Jäger. Reach her at jackiebrownwriter.wordpress.com.
JaneA Kelley
JaneA is the webmaster and chief cat slave for Paws and Effect, an award-winning cat advice blog written by her cats, for cats and their people. She is a professional member of the Cat Writers’ Association, and has been a speaker at the BlogPaws and Cat Writers’ Association conferences. In addition to blogging about cats, JaneA writes contemporary urban fantasy, and whatever else strikes her fancy.
Kate Benjamin
Kate Benjamin has been writing about feline design since 2007 and is co-author with Jackson Galaxy of two New York Times best-selling books, Catification and Catify to Satisfy. Get more of Kate’s feline design tips at hauspanther.com.
Kellie B. Gormly
Kellie B. Gormly is a Pittsburgh-based journalist otherwise known as Mother Catresa to homeless kittens and cats. She blogs about her adventures in fostering at mothercatresaschronicle.blogspot.com.
Kim Campbell Thornton
Kim Campbell Thornton has written about cats and dogs for more than 30 years. She is the author of more than two dozen books and hundreds of articles on pet care, health and behavior.
Meghan Lodge
About Meghan Lodge: Fits the Aquarius definition to a fault, loves animals, and is always pushing for change. Loves ink, whether it’s in tattoos, books, or writing on that pretty sheet of blank paper. Proud parent of Toby (cat) and Axle (dog). I’m a former quiet nerd who’s turned bubbly animal-obsessed advocate.
Michael Leaverton
Stella, a Bengal, has a firm grip on her handler, freelance writer Michael Leaverton, whom she rescued from an alt weekly many meals ago. They live in San Diego.
Phillip Mlynar
Phillip Mlynar spends his days writing about cats, hip-hop and craft beer, often while being pestered by his rescue, a mackerel tabby named Mimosa. When he’s not musing on the feline form for Catster, you can find his music articles at Pitchfork, Vice, Bandcamp and Red Bull Music Academy, and his beer insights over at CraftBeer, VinePair and October. He’s won various awards at the Cat Writer’s Association Communication Contests, some of which are proudly on display at his local dive bar in New York City. Twitter: twitter.com/phillip_mlynar
Rita Reimers
Rita Reimers and Linda Hall are co-founders of The Cat Behavior Alliance, offering a unique Duo-Approach to cat behavior correction. Visit them at CatBehaviorAlliance.com for more information. You can also find Rita and Linda on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok @CatBehaviorAlliance.
Sandy Robins
Sandy Robins is an award-winning, multimedia pet lifestyle expert, author and pet industry personality. Her feline muses, Ziggy and Tory, like to disrupt the workflow by demanding games of fetch with wand toys and directing food operations in the kitchen. Learn more about Sandy at sandyrobinsonline.com.
Sassafras Lowrey
Sassafras Lowrey is an award-winning author whose novels have been honored by the American Library Association and the Lambda Literary Foundation. Sassafras is a Certified Trick Dog Instructor who shares her home and writing life with three dogs, two bossy senior cats and a formerly feral kitten. Learn more at sassafraslowrey.com.
Stacy Hackett
A lifelong cat owner, Stacy N. Hackett writes frequently about cats, cat breeds and a range of pet-related topics. The inspiration for her writing comes from her cats, Jack and Katie, and her Cocker Spaniel/Labrador Retriever mix, Maggie.
Steve Dale
Steve Dale is a certified animal behavior consultant who’s authored several books, including the e-book Good Cat, and has contributed to many, including The Cat: Clinical Medicine and Management, edited by Dr. Susan Little. He hosts two national radio shows and is heard on WGN Radio, Chicago, and seen on syndicated HouseSmartsTV.
Susan Logan-McCracken
Author and Editor Susan Logan-McCracken shares her home with her husband, Mark, and two red tabby domestic longhaired cats, Maddie and Sophie.
Tim Link
Tim Link is an author, writer, speaker, nationally syndicated radio host, president and CEO of Wagging Tales. Tim’s consulting practice helps pet owners build stronger relationships with their pets through communication with their animals. To date, Tim has helped thousands of pet owners worldwide and looks forward to helping many more. A percentage of Tim’s earnings are always donated to animal-focused charities in need. He is also the author of Wagging Tales: Every Animal Has a Tale and current radio host of Pet Life Radio’s Animal Writes show.
