I love my two giant golden retrievers (Denali and Kenai). I’m definitely “a dog person” – I once had a cat named Tiny (who of course was huge) and when I got divorced from my first wife I offered to give her the left half or the right half (or the front, or the back – whatever she preferred.) While no animals were actually harmed in the divorce settlement, I’ve never had a cat since, although I’ve become more respectful of my cat friends and rarely pull their cats’ tails anymore. When Amy suggested we get a dog, I agreed as long as she was willing to take care of it. I don’t do vomit and shit very well, but these guys have definitely become two of my best friends.
So – when I had the chance to invest in Dogster, I did. Instinctively I understood the deep emotions that my dogs evoked in me and – based on Dogster’s traffic – I seemed to be on the “ambivalent” side of the equation. Besides – who wants to talk to other people – it’s way more fun to be part of a social network of dogs (or – if you prefer cats – Catster.)
Plenty of people have laughed at the company – often suggesting that Hamster is next up in the list of sites (I had a hamster – actually a guinea pig – once – it died while Amy was away and she made me put it in a tupperware container in the freezer so she could bury it when she got home from her trip.) I tried to explain how powerful the attraction of the site is a few times, but don’t try too hard because people either get it or they don’t. So – when my friend (and restaurant consultant) Laurie Aaronson told me that she’d become addicted to Catster, I encouraged her to “guest blog” about her experience.
I never thought that I’d have a blog, but after finding Caster, I have found my “inner blogger” in the form of a slightly portly kitty named Sammie. She likes to blog about her sedentary life as a house-cat. It’s been real fun, I’ve been surprised by the support of the Caster community and I’ve even found myself buying items on the site. Most importantly, Sammie was recently chosen as “Diary of the day” and because of her success, the search “Sammie Mendelson” now ranks first on Google Search! One question, though… Why can’t dogs and cats be friends? Dogster and Caster are mutual exclusive environments and while Sammie has made many feline friends, she’d like to branch out a bit.
Meow. Woof.