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Speaker 1: This is Pet Life Radio. Let's Talk pets.

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Speaker 2: Hello feline friends, Welcome to cat Tude. I'm your show host,

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Michelle Burne. What a show I have for you today.

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Have you heard of a cat beat before? You're probably

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thinking what in the world. Yes, it's true cat Beret,

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So stay tuned. I have an amazing guest with me.

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We'll be right back.

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Speaker 3: You know the expression cats have nine lives? Well, what

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if you can give them one more? But give them ten?

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Movement is on a mission to help give cats an

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extra life. How with Spain and Neoter Spain or new

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your cat helps them live a longer, healthier life and

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it helps control free rolling cat populations too. Learn more

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about the benefits of spe and Neoter and meet Scooter

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the Neoter cat at Give them ten dot org. That's

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give them ten dot Org.

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Speaker 4: Let's talk pets on Petlife Radio dot com.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back everyone. I'd like to welcome Jemma Smith. She

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is the producer of cat Beret and also the host

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of Tails and Tassels podcast.

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Speaker 5: Welcome Gemma, Hi, thank you so much for having me.

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Speaker 2: I'm very excited to have you on. So before we

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talk about Catbaret, can you give us a little background

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about yourself.

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Speaker 6: Sure, So I originally went to college for theater and

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moved to New York City after words to pursue a

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career as an actor. But I got a day job

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at a veterinary clinic in Manhattan, and my love for animals,

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especially cats, grew from there.

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Speaker 2: And then where did you come up with a cat beret?

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And what is a cat beret?

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Speaker 6: Yes, a cat beret is a cat themed variety show

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or a cat themed cabaret, hence the play on words

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there with the title. So it's a variety show that

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features comedy, music, sometimes magic, and per lusque, or as

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we like to call it, per lusku. And it's all

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cat themed. However, we love to mix it up. We

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celebrate different holidays as well for per lusk.

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Speaker 2: So I had no idea what I would be looking

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at when cat beret, And of course I think of

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Mulan Rouge, and I thought, am I going to see

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like cats are naked anyways? Especially sphinx cats? So am

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I going to see cats? Am I going to see

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women half dressed with cats? I mean, I'm open minded, whatever,

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you know, But I had no idea. But it's really

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cute and you perform in them as well.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, so I host the show and I produce it

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and hire performers.

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Speaker 2: Also you're also a musician.

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Speaker 6: Well, yes, I do have music in the show. I

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sometimes play the trumpet in the show. I have tap danced,

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and like I mentioned before, so it's all cat themed.

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There's no real cats, although folks are welcome to buy

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a virtual ticket and sit at home with their cats

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and watch. But we love to mix it up with themes.

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So in October we celebrate Meo Lloween, so it's cat

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themed and Halloween themed stand up comedy, improv. We'll have

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like you mentioned, burlesque, which is, like you were saying,

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in your imagination, you're thinking of burlesque.

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Speaker 5: It is the art of strip tease.

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Speaker 6: You might see someone with a feather fan wearing cat ears,

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or it could be a cat on a ball of

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yarn or a black kitty doing burlesque. To everybody wants

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to be a cat, So we mix it up like

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Gallantine's as Next, we're gonna celebrate feline and friendship, so

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I'm encouraging everyone to bring their cat loving besties and

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some of the acts might be more friendship themed. With

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a feline twist.

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Speaker 2: So when you were thinking of this, why did you

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think it would work with cats? And do you think

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it would work with dogs as well?

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Speaker 6: It's interesting. So I used to live in Astoria, Queens.

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There's a great comedy club there called que Diastoria, and

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I was kind of going through a transition and like,

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do I want to pursue acting. I was working for

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an animal welfare organization by day at that point, and

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I just thought, how can I give back to the

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cat community.

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Speaker 5: I'm a bit of a cat lady.

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Speaker 6: I just have two cats, but I have love for

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all of them, and I thought what special that I

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could do to bring cat lovers together. And that's kind

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of how I got the idea for the Cat Beret.

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And it started small over six years ago at that

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comedy club in Queens, and we've grown.

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Speaker 5: Last year we.

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Speaker 6: Produced two shows at Caveat in Manhattan on the Lower

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East Side. Seats over one hundred people and we filled

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the theater. At the last show, tons of cat lovers,

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even tourists from Scotland came, folks who just saw the

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show on event bright. And we also have our regulars

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now that come back. Everyone gets free cat ears.

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Speaker 5: That's my gift.

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Speaker 6: I give out free cat ears to everyone, and it's

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become this real community. And I do think it could

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work for dog lovers too. I know there is I've

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seen like must Love Dogs comedy shows here around the city.

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I just realized that for me, this was the way

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that I could give back to the cat community especially,

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and it's been really a project of love.

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Speaker 2: Okay, it's so interesting and I get that giving back

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to cats. And there's something about cat lovers. There's just

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something about them, and there's something about cats. I think

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it's the mystique because I was thinking in my head, well,

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you know, you hear about cats being sexy, right books,

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you know you hear that. And I'm not saying cat

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burret has to be sexy, but BERLASKI thinks we're per

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lask You thinks sexy dogs you don't think of as sexy.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, that's interesting. I don't think.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's where my head goes. So, you know, just

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thinking about this, so right, I hear you. I've never

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heard of woman. I'm a gracious reader. I've never read

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oh she was in a dog like pose, But I've

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read he's maybe not even for men. He's in a dog,

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you know, because they think cats are female dogs are male,

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which makes no sense.

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Speaker 5: But totally yeah, I don't you beat cats are so elegant.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, they're like she was in a feline pose.

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She stretched like a cat. You eat that kind of stuff.

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You don't read. She's stretch like a dog or yng

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or whatever like a dog. So that's where I was going.

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So but yeah, I know there's groups and it's all

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about giving back to the cats. Have you ever, let's see,

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have you ever had live cats in your show?

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Speaker 6: Great question because one time time we actually did, back

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when we were at the comedy club in Queen's. One

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of my stand up or improv comedians, his cat is

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a special cat. It was harness trained and could walk

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on a leash and lived right nearby, like an apartment

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right next door, and so he got permission from the

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owner because he lived nearby to bring oh my gosh,

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I can't remember the kitty's name, was it Lionel maybe

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to bring this kitty on stage for a little improv

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scene with him, And of course the cat didn't do anything,

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but it was still hilarious because he was like acting

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things out with suggestions from the audience, but he did

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ask everyone in the audience to please hold their applause

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and stay quiet so that we could be respectful of

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his kitty who performed in the show.

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Speaker 5: So that was rather exciting.

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Speaker 2: That's so cute. I think it would be a challenge

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to have cats. I've seen cats on stage. I've seen

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cats that do you know, theatrics at shows, But I

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know for the most part, cats are independent, want to

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be by themselves, and they're not really performers.

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Speaker 6: Yes, I agree my two cats, they're most comfortable when

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they're at home around familiar surroundings. But I do want

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to mention I do partner with a nonprofit local rescue group,

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Rescue NYC, and we showcase they are adoptable cats in

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our pre show and intermission slideshow. So every show we

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showcase cats in need of homes, and many of those

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cats are at Coneco Cat Cafe, which is right across

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the street here in New York City from caveat our venue.

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So it's a really perfect and Conicco donates a couple

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pairs of entries to their cattery for part of our raffle.

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So we try to collaborate with local cat businesses to

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just spread the word about adoptable cats.

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Speaker 2: You know, I was going to get to that since

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you're such a cat lever, I was going to get

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to you whether you have you know anything about T

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and R, adopt and so forth, because that's a big thing.

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And there there's a lot of active rescues in New

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York City.

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Speaker 6: Absolutely, And when we were in Astoria, we also partnered

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with a story a cat rescue because we can't have

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those live cats. But I knew I wanted to do

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something to connect people with opportunities and just raise awareness.

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Speaker 2: So you had mentioned so you're in New York. Not

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all of us are. Some of us would like to be,

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but we're not. So it's my birth city. So I

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love New York. But you've mentioned you also have virtual tickets.

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How does that work?

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Speaker 6: Yes, I would love to share this with all of

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your Cataitude listeners. So we have shows quarterly and in

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addition to the in person tickets, we have virtual live

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stream tickets for just ten dollars. Folks can buy them

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through Caveats website and they're good for up to seven

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days after the show, so you could be at home

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wherever you are across the world watch it live with

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your kiddy cats by your side, and there is a

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little chat. I try to always call out the folks

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on the live stream to include them because it's important

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to me to foster the sense of like where a

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community of cat lovers. But you don't have to watch

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it live wherever you are, if it's not your time zone.

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You could watch it the next day or a few

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days from then. And I love it if people, you know,

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maybe take a selfie of them and their cat or

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a picture of their cat and tag us on Instagram

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at Cat Beret Show to say that they're watching it,

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so that I can, you know, reshare it and include

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them and make them feel like they're really part of

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the fun.

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Speaker 5: But they can watch the whole show from home.

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Speaker 2: Okay, And we're going to talk about a little bit

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a different topic in our second half, but before we go,

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with everything you've done in your show and living in

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the city you live in, which is kind of ahead

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of the game with a lot of things such as

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banning declining, But what would you like to see happen

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with cat Beret? And question two, what would you like

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to see in the cat community?

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Speaker 6: Great question, Well, with cat Beret. I'd like to continue

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growing our community of cat lovers. Perhaps this year I'm

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going to have four shows, packing the house, maybe even

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having some fun like meet up, happy hour events, like

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in between shows, like a little meet up, because we

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can't really bring our cats to like the cat park

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like dog folks, you know, they get to mingle and

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meet each other. But this is another way and something

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I'm also really excited about. I'm friends with Jenny Pearson.

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She's the founder of the Cat Museum of New York City.

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It's a proposed cat museum and it's a place not

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only to well I don't want to speak too much

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on it because it's her mission, but it's I'm seeing

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different events and things of this nature pop up where

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more cat lovers are coming together and also providing resources

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to the community.

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Speaker 5: For spain Nooter, there's a need for a.

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Speaker 6: Veterinary care in the city and all of the neighborhood

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cats shop now or release as you mentioned before. So

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just continuing to see different organizations grow and flourish and

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connect people with resources and connecting with one another, that's

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what I'd really like to continue to see.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely agree, and I think there's also with as much

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information that we have, you know, Thinternet and so forth,

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and podcasts and live streams and everything, I still think

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there is a lot of education that we had. Yes,

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so many misconceptions about things that I don't know. I

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learned things all the time. But we're going to take

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a short break and we'll be right back. Molly, here's

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your dinner. See that's not your food.

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Speaker 7: Don't let that happen to your precious cat. Elevate your

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cat's eating experience with the cat tree tray. The cat

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tree tray keeps your cat's food off the floor and

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conveniently located on the cat tree. It's the perfect way

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to eat. It's a beautiful wrought iron tray that easily

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attaches to your cat tree and keeps dogs and other

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critters out of your cat's dish. A musk from multi Pethouseholds.

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There's a six inch trade for large bowls and a

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four inch tray for smaller bulls. Perse your cat tree

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trade today. Go right now to cattreetray dot com. That's

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cattreetrade dot com. C A T t R E E

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d r A Y dot com.

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Speaker 4: Let's talk past it.

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Speaker 5: Let's radio hetline Radio.

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Speaker 8: Pet Live Radio dot Com.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back everyone. We're talking to Jenna Smith. She is

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the producer of cat Beret and the host of Tails

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and Tassels podcast, and she also has done some work

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and still does some work with kittens. Kitten season a

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little ahead of the game. Kitten season is not yet

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in New York. I live in the South, the Northern

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South as I call it, South Florida, so we kind

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of have kitten season year round, but it does peak.

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You know, it's April through October. What can you tell

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us about kittens?

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Speaker 5: Sure, well, you're absolutely right.

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Speaker 6: Kitten season is the time of year feline breeding season

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when shelters across the country are flooded with homeless and

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newborn cats and kittens I've adopted to myself are very special.

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As we all know, they're a very vulnerable animal population

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as well. So in addition to being you know, extremely

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extremely cute, when they're under eight weeks of age, they

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can be very vulnerable. They need assistants keeping themselves warm.

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Neon needle kittens need assistants learning to eat on their own,

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and so the biggest way folks can help kittens is

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really by fostering them. Maybe reaching out to a local organize.

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Speaker 2: I think people think kittens are so cute and everything,

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but you're right, there's an extreme amount of work involved.

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I'm sure you're probably familiar with Hannah Shaw kitten Lady.

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Speaker 5: Yes, you know what. I think. I saw her in

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an event one time.

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Speaker 2: I've had her on the show, and I've seen her.

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She has a lot on Instagram, and she does so

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much for kittens like newborn and kittens that are born

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with birth effects and all kinds of issues and literally

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sometimes feedings every couple of hours. So depending on how

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young the kittens are and if they're abandoned by the mother,

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there are a lot of work. But you said you

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adopted too, So in my very informal poll that I've

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had on gratitude with guests, I have heard that it's

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better to have two than one because then they could

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play with each other. You're a kitten expert. What do

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you think that?

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Speaker 6: You're absolutely right, But I didn't do it the correct

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way because guess what this is. When I was, you know,

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about over a decade ago, I was working at that

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veterinary clinic and I just adopted one at a time.

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But I adopted that second one because my first cat, Lione,

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was what we like to call in the shelter world

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a singleton. He needed another cat to help teach him

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his boundaries and learn how to be a cat and

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play with each other, as you mentioned, get that energy out.

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So I adopted my other cat, Luna, as a kitten

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not too long after. But you're absolutely right. Kittens do really,

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really well in pairs because they learn how to cat

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with one another. But if someone has a resident cat

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at home, you could also adopt a kitten and your

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resident cat that you already have can be a helper

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cat to that kitten and teach them how to cat.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that could be a whole other show, because sometimes

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introducing a kitten to the mix can be great or

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depends on the cat, Like Charlotte was not nice to Mollie,

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who is her sister from a different letter. This is

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from my crew. But Dennis, he's chill, he doesn't care.

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It was a little challenge and jackped shows on that

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in the past. But have you went into people asking

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that question.

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Speaker 6: Yes, you know people have asked that before. I honestly,

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even though I was working at a veterinary clinic me myself,

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someone told me. Some of our my coworkers were like,

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you really should adopt one of his littermates, and I

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was just like, oh, this is my first kitten.

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Speaker 5: One is enough.

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Speaker 6: But I learned the hard way. Even though he's wonderful,

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he's he's thriving as going into a senior kiddy years now.

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I think it is really best. I should have listened.

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Speaker 2: One of our show hosts had said, ones, kittens are

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like potato chips. You can't have only one, so you know,

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you think of them in pairs. What should people be

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aware of when they're adopting a kitten.

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Speaker 6: Well, I think folks should look at their you know, lifestyle,

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their apartment. The good thing about kittens is they don't

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take up a lot of space, right so even if

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you live in a big city or in a house

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in the suburbs, you know, they don't take up a

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lot of space at first. You could even get them

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used to your surroundings in a small room or even

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in New York City, we tell folks a bathroom at first,

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because for them, they're learning a new environment and it's

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going to take them some time to you know, get

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used to the smells, sounds and how it feels in

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their new home, so to go slow with them, let

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them settle in to this new environment. And you know,

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it's really great if you first bring them home to

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leave the carrier open with some bedding in it so

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they can go back in there as their safe space.

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And also it's a great idea to think about kitten

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proofing your home, so you know, getting down on their

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level and thinking what wires cords things could be a

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potential hazard to a kitten. And also lots of times

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folks should think about plants, house plants and.

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Speaker 5: Are they toxic? Are they not toxic? That's a big

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one as well.

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Speaker 2: You know what, those are great points, and I want

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people to also remember those little cute kittens become cats,

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and cats are still pretty small. Mine are a little

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on the bigger side. I had just had to show

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recently about putting them on a diet for New Years.

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But even if they're small, you know, sixteen pounds or whatever,

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they do grow to be cats. So keep that in mind.

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What about the type of where they're adopting, do you

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have any tips on where they should go or I

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mean I had had kittens born on my front step

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and I adopted out too, but I was careful and

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I vetted them. But you know, a lot of people

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will adopt from shelters. Should they be aware of some shelters,

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aware of some private individuals or doesn't really matter, I mean,

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except for safety of course.

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Speaker 6: Oh yes, yes, I love that you adopted from your

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doorstep and adopted them out. And I completely agree with

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what you say about Hey, these cute kittens also turn

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into amazing cats, so keep that in mind. I think folks,

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you know I always would recommend and adopting from a

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local shelter or rescue group. I think it's great to

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find out if they're a five one C three nonprofit.

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First learn a little bit, go to the website, look

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at their instagram, learn about their application process, or talk

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to your friends. You know, their shelters in every state

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across the country, so you can always ask a friend

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where'd you get your cat from. That's my personal recommendation,

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is checking and just doing a little Google search for

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your local rescue group.

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Speaker 2: Okay, and to my listeners, I promise I'm not going

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to do this every show, but this does fit. Please

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be aware when you're adopting that cute kitten kittens have claws.

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They need their claws. No decline is banned in New York,

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which is wonderful, it's not banned everywhere. But it's not

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just cutting their nails, it's cutting their knuckle. So be

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aware that if you have a leather couch and I

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know my Ctitude listeners, they're like, yeah, yeah, we get

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this scratch stuff, you know, and make sure you have

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scratchers and what they need. But even if that happens,

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just like any pet that you have in your home,

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things can get ruined. So keep that in mind before

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you take that kiddy home. The kittys go into it's

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forever home and then it gets returned to the shelter.

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Speaker 6: I completely agree with you declining. When I worked at

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a veterinary clinic, I didn't know a lot about it

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at the time. I had never been around a declaude

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cat or knew about it, and I had learned what

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it was just because we didn't do it there, and

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I was like, well, what is that? And so I

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learned more about it and it's so horrible. It is

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like cutting off their finger to their knuckle. So I

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agree with you completely.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. There was a great movie about it called and

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I just mentioned this in my prayer podcast, so it's

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in my mind listeners. So I just want to make

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00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,279
sure you get the message. It's called American cat, the good,

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00:21:53,319 --> 00:21:57,680
the bad, the cuddly, and it's just amazing and so informative.

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And there's a lot people are not aware of. A

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lot of people think it's just trimming a nail.

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Speaker 5: That's a great misconception to clear up.

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Speaker 2: Yes, exactly. Keep in mind that, I mean this didn't

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happen to me with my cats because they were all local.

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But one of my dogs, who's now in doggy Heaven,

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he was returned, so you know, to me, I think

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that's not the worst, of course, but it's up there

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with really crummy things to do to your little furbabe.

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Take it home and then decide, ah, it chewed my

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shoe or scratched something.

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Speaker 5: Going back, I agree with you.

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Speaker 6: It's so funny. I would like my cats what of

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our couch in the office. I'm like, yes, that little

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end is for you to scratch. I mean, I love

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them so much, you know, I just I get the scratchers.

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Speaker 5: I do all the things.

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Speaker 6: But if they want to scratch that one part of

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the couch, you know what I love them, let them live.

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Speaker 2: You know what, when I shop for my couch, I

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made sure was as pet proof as I could make it. Yes,

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certain material, you know, machine washable covers. Didn't spend a

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lot of money because I knew it was probably going

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to get ruined. You know, you have older you know

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ferb they have accidents or one end or the other.

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You know, things happen. So I like think most of

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us as pet parents, we especially with cat pet parents

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and their lovely clause, we just have it in mind

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that it's not the end of the world, right.

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Speaker 6: Yes, exactly, That's how I feel. And it's so good

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though for new cat parents to hear like things to

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think about, because you really can prep for becoming a

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00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,759
cat parent and do some things in advance to make

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it easy on you, end easier for your cat and

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set them up for success.

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Speaker 2: Right exactly. So right before we go, can you share

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00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,920
again where people can find your cat Beret.

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00:23:39,319 --> 00:23:43,799
Speaker 6: Absolutely, if people are on Instagram, I would love for.

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00:23:43,759 --> 00:23:46,839
Speaker 5: You to follow us at cat Beret Show.

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00:23:47,559 --> 00:23:51,960
Speaker 6: So like Cabaret, but cat Beret on Instagram Cat Beret

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00:23:52,039 --> 00:23:54,319
Show And if you want to check out tickets, the

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00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:56,160
link is in the bio there, or you could go

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00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:57,880
to caveat dot NYC.

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Speaker 2: People can find out more about you on your website

447
00:24:01,079 --> 00:24:01,440
as well.

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00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:03,640
Speaker 5: Yes, Jemma Smith dot net.

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Speaker 6: Everything about me is there as well, and I look

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forward to connecting with more CAT lovers well.

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Speaker 2: Jemma, thank you so much for coming on Catitude.

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Speaker 5: Thanks for having me. It's been a blast.

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Speaker 2: I hope you all enjoyed the show. Be sure to

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00:24:16,839 --> 00:24:19,880
check out cat Beret. You can find out more on

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00:24:20,039 --> 00:24:23,920
Gemma's website Jemmasmith dot net. I'd like to thank my

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00:24:24,039 --> 00:24:26,599
cat listeners. Thank you so much for listening to Katatude.

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00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:31,119
I appreciate your listenership and your loyalty. Thank you so much.

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00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:35,440
Anyone with interesting topics want to hear about certain things

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00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:40,000
on Catatude, shooting an email Michelle at petlife Radio dot com.

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00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,640
I answer all emails. I'd like to thank my cat

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00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:47,680
crew Mollie, Charlotte and Dennis, and thank my guest again.

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00:24:47,839 --> 00:24:50,880
Thank you Jemma for coming on Catitude, and of course

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00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:55,319
thank my producer, the amazing Mark Winter for working his

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00:24:55,599 --> 00:24:58,960
magic and making my podcast and guest no making my

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00:24:59,039 --> 00:25:03,839
podcast sound amazing. Now remember list the attitude have Catitude

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00:25:04,839 --> 00:25:09,880
Speaker 4: Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on petlifradio

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dot com