Give a Cat a Box: How Hide and Scratch Is Changing Shelter Life One Box at a Time

Dixie: 00:00:05

Welcome back everybody.

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Today I am joined by Carin from Hide

and Scratch, a company that's not only

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creating amazing products for cats, but

also finding meaningful ways to give back.

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We're gonna be talking about Give

a Cat a Box, program, how it helps

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cats in need, and the impact that

businesses can have when they make

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community support part of their

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mission.

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Carin,

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Thank you for coming on to talk about your

give back program and Hide and Scratch.

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Carin: Absolutely.

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Dixie: Tell me all about

yourself and how you got started

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first with Hide and Scratch.

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Carin: yeah.

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The Hide and Scratch story actually

i- it's an interesting one, and

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everybody's "Oh my gosh, how did you

come up with the idea for the product?"

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And the reality is I actually

didn't come up with it initially.

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This totally started out

as a side project for me.

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I was looking for a side business and

had been browsing online for different

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things that I could, maybe take over and

just play with on the side of things.

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And so on one of the online marketplaces

where you can actually buy existing

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businesses, Hide and Scratch was listed.

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And so it was actually a couple in

Indianapolis that had started it and

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for a couple of different reasons didn't

wanna continue with it, but I took

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it over from them in, back in 2020.

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So it was not my baby as my idea

initially, but I've been the

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one who's been, yeah, growing

it over the last five years.

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And honestly, it was perfect for me

because I hadn't been specifically

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looking for a cat-related business, but

I've always been an absolute cat lover.

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And so that kind of sealed the deal, or

made it that much more attractive just

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as something to kinda get involved with.

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So that's how Hide and

Scratch started out.

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And then really just over the years…

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I got involved with Mission Meow

as a charity partner, I wanna

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say three years ago is when I got

connected with Sally, and I think

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she's been on your show before.

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And Mission Meow is doing a whole

bunch of just phenomenal stuff.

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But it was really through them that I

started to get connected with more rescue

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organizations and just donating product

to them and hearing just how much the

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cats in the rescue organizations really

loved the Hide and Scratch product.

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And ultimately from the very beginning,

especially when I said if I've got this,

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if I have got a cat-related business, I

do really want this to have some sort of

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purpose to it to help all of the animals

out there and do something more than

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just being a product-based business."

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So over the years, I've been trying-

trying to figure out how can I get

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more boxes to more cats in care?

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And Mission Meow was

the first piece of it.

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But then it was a lot of pieces

that came together into how the

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Give a Cat a Box program came about.

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But let me pause there, so I

don't just totally ramble on here.

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, Dixie: As far as taking over

Hide and Scratch, how much of a

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cat lover were you before that?

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Carin: Oh my gosh, I've been

a cat person my whole life.

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Hide and Scratch didn't even have

a website when I took it over.

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But my about page on there, I think I

dug up some pictures of myself from when

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I was like six, seven, eight years old

of me and the kittens from the farm.

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Like when I was growing up, we had

cats from when I was very little.

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I still remember the very first cats

that we adopted, and I think I was

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probably six or seven, and my sister

was three years younger, and so we'd

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gone and gotten two barn cats from

this farm down the road that my dad

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was working at because he was a vet.

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And we'd had cats before that.

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So I had cats my whole life growing up

and just absolutely, yes, have loved them.

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Going away to college was the first

time I actually did not have a cat

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of my own and was very heartbroken

about this because I was like I

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can't have a cat in a college dorm.

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And so my mom had told me, she said as

soon as you get your first apartment,

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we'll go get you, the cat to have

in this next phase of your life."

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So yeah, I've been a cat person

my absolutely my whole life.

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Dixie: How many cats do you have now?

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Carin: So I don't have any right

now, at least not any permanent ones.

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I live vicariously through

everybody else's cats, and then I

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foster really as much as possible.

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I travel too much these days, and

it just wouldn't be fair to have one

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kind of full-time, although I was

very tempted to keep my last foster.

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I totally fell in love with him.

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So I have a rotating cast of cats

'cause I'm involved with the the rescue

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organization in my city, and they're

just constantly looking for foster homes

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while we find kitties permanent homes.

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But oh my gosh, it's so hard.

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It's so hard just to let them go

because I just wanna keep them all.

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Dixie: Yeah, but I understand that

with you traveling, and I always

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try to tell people that too.

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There's like a lot of people that

actually want cats but aren't

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in the position to have cats.

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So I'm always like hey, foster,"

because it's a temporary thing.

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You can have them for a couple

of weeks, a couple of months,

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basically however long you want,

and you're still making an impact.

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You get to enjoy cats or kittens, so

it's like a win-win for everybody.

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Carin: Exactly.

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Although it is also still heartbreaking

when you fall in love with them and

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you've got to say goodbye to them.

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I have shed tears with absolutely

every single foster cat I've had

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that has gone off to a new home.

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Dixie: It is sad.

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It is.

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But I guess like for me personally,

like I've been doing it for so long,

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and I know when I first started

doing it, it was really hard.

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But then- Yeah … when I was meeting

the people that were taking them and I

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was like, "Okay, I feel good about these

people taking my cats- And- Yeah, for sure

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So they go to such good homes, and a lot

of the rescues they really do their work.

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They make sure that

they go to a good home.

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And so I take a lot of-

Yeah … comfort in that.

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Carin: Yeah, for sure.

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That's what I, told myself

or tell myself each time.

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It's "Okay, I've had a big part in your

life," and yeah, actually especially if a

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cat's coming off the street, and that was

the case with this one kitten that I had,

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where we actually didn't quite realize

how old he was when we had caught him.

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He was at a construction site, and

just a lot of traffic around, and

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it was not gonna be a good spot.

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But he was slightly feral and

slightly older than we, we had

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realized when he came to stay with me.

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But I taught this cat how to

cat, and he, yeah, actually

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turned into a total cuddle bug.

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Still very wary of people 'cause

you're never gonna get that away.

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But that's where I was like,

"Oh, but you've gotten cuddly,

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and you're just so adorable, and

I absolutely wanna keep you."

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But he did go and is with a fantastic

family, and that's where I had to keep

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telling myself that, yes, he's gonna

be better off there as opposed to,

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okay, I could find a cat sitter to

come stay with him and whatnot, but he

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does deserve a permanent, stable home.

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So yeah, it's fun.

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Dixie: How old was this

kitten that you got?

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Carin: That one specifically, I think

we thought he was a couple of months

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old when we actually brought him in.

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They're really easy to tell how old

they are , when they're super young

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just because they're growing so fast

and then they kinda hit that stage, it's

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you could be between here and here."

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So yeah, it was absolutely a kitten and

actually even the first night I was just

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like, "Ooh this might not work out."

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But with a lot of patience and a

lot of, yes, a lot of patience , he

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learned how to enjoy things.

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Dixie: Yeah, that's what I was

wondering 'cause I know a lot of

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the times with the feral ones, if

you get 'em at a certain age, it's

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one week can make such a difference.

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And you can actually keep 'em for a

couple of months trying to tame 'em up

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and get 'em lovable, and it's possible,

but it does require like a lot of work.

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Carin: It's a lot of extra work.

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But we-- But I put it in.

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Although, oh my gosh, this cat

I still have, I could s-send

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you a photo or a video of it.

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He had the loudest purr I had ever heard

and that first night that he stayed with

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me he was definitely purring out of fear.

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But once I heard that I was like, "Oh

my gosh, you have the loudest purr.

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I have seriously never heard this before

and I was just like, "You know what?"

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I became determined once

I actually saw it too.

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I was like we can work with this."

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A l- a lot of TruMoo Paste and very

cautious yes, what do you call it?

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But yes, a lot of patience.

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We made a lot of progress there.

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But yeah, it's those, it's all these

kitties, they have, it's just they

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are so scared and that was part of

what-- actually hearing from a lot of

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the rescue orgs just about how much

comfort the Hide and Scratch boxes

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bring to them is what motivated me to

put together this whole program here.

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So there's a fun segue for you,

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Dixie: sure.

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Tell me about that.

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What is it about the boxes that

brings them comfort for people who

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aren't familiar with Hide and Scratch?

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Carin: That's what a lot of people look

at things and "Oh it's, cats and boxes.

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This is something the internet made up."

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And I still need to work on actually

a bigger article about this for my

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website, but like cats and boxes is

not something the internet made up.

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There's actually a lot of

scientific reasons behind why

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cats are so drawn to them.

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And a lot of it is just their

their natural instincts.

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Cats are both predators but

then they're also prey for

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other animals out in the wild.

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A lot of people might notice this, that,

cats, they, they'll be hiding for things

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and they'll jump out and pounce on stuff.

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That's just what they do.

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And the beauty of a cardboard box

or a box of any kind is that they

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can stay hidden, but they can also

see what's happening around them.

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So it's this best of both worlds of

they feel safe in it because they feel

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like they can stay hidden and not get

attacked, but they can still jump out

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and attack things when they decide to.

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So that's one piece of it.

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And then the other piece of it that

I don't think I realized until I was

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doing some more research here on this

was just that cats have much higher

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body temperatures than humans do.

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I think an average cat's body

temperature is 101, maybe 102 degrees.

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So one of the reasons why they're

always sitting in the sunshine or

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curling up in cozy places is to

help maintain that body temperature.

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And so that's another reason why

they really like boxes or those

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kind of tight, cozy locations is

because it helps them stay warm.

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So you put those two things together, and

then also just the fact that cats need

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scratching spaces to help just maintain

their claws or help wear them down.

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And cardboard's really attractive

to them for that reason.

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And you put all these th- three things

together, and that's what a hide and

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scratch box is it is that box that they

love with the scratcher inside of it.

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And then the bonus for the humans is it

doesn't look like a piece of garbage.

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It is actually a nicely designed

box to fit in your home.

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Dixie: When you took over Hide and

Scratch, was this the design that

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was already in place or did you

have any input into the designs?

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Carin: It was the design itself.

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And actually when I first saw it, that's

where I was like, "Wait, this is genius."

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And I think because I was a cat person

and actually one of my cats back--

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I remember when I went to college or

when we would take like little road

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trips or we'd have to go to the vet or

something like that, this cat actually

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loved sitting on a cardboard scratcher.

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Actually even in the house, they

would just, they would sleep

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on the cardboard scratcher.

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So there's other-- They

just, like cardboard.

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They actually like the smell of it.

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I think it was , that cat

was also just a little weird.

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But yeah, the design itself existed.

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And it was the shape of the

box and the size of the box.

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I haven't changed anything with that

other than I did introduce a new vertical

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scratching option just about a year ago.

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So it's actually still the base

box and then it's got a vertical

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scratching surface as well.

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So the design itself was done and the

two people who started things, they

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were cat lovers and they did a lot of

work in terms of figuring out what are

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the good dimensions for the box so it's

not too big and it's not too small.

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How high should the sides be so that

the cat feels covered versus still

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being able to see outside of it?

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So they did all of that and one of

the big things I did was actually

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just changing the colors of it

and just the color palette there.

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But yeah, the main product itself wa-

was set from the beginning and when I

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saw the first image of it, I was like,

"Oh yeah, this is genius," because my

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cat did love the scratcher and cats love

boxes and here this puts it together.

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I was like, "This is fantastic."

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Dixie: Yeah, definitely.

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It is the best of both

worlds for a cat, for sure.

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Carin: Yeah.

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Especially, so on the rescue side

of things, I'd mentioned I'd gotten

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involved with Mission Now a couple

years ago, and Sally was always

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asking or we had different rescues

getting grants and I think what UFO

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was actually a grant recipient, right?

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Dixie: Yes.

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Carin: At one point?

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Awesome.

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There was one organization that

had actually put together a new

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intake room for all of their, for

all the animals coming in so that

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they're not just sitting in cages.

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They actually put together

really nice cubbies and Sally

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had said, "Hey, wait, actually…

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I can totally see this, that each

one of these cubbies should have a

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hide and scratch box in it because

then the cat has their own space."

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So I think that was one of the first

big donations I did in terms of the

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product going specifically to a shelter

and then Mission Meow will actually

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always or usually has boxes for

sale at the events that they go to.

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But in talking with some other rescues,

I'd actually heard from them or they

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had told me they're like, "Oh, yes, our

cats love your boxes and we've actually

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got them on our Amazon wishlist."

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And I was like, "Oh, this is really cool."

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And, "Ooh, wait, I wish I could

figure out how to get more boxes

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to, to rescue organizations."

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And , I played with a couple of

different things like a couple

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different organizations I'll

just make a straight donation to.

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Had been chatting with some different

cat cafes that actually partner with

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rescues and I was like okay, can I

just-- should I give them boxes to

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display in or to have in their rooms so

that the cats can benefit from them?"

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And then, maybe put up a sign

about purchasing hide and scratch

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boxes as a marketing thing.

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But as I started to do that, I was like,

"Oof," yeah, I wish I could just give

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all these boxes away, but that's really

expensive to do and I am a one-person

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business and not making enough money

to unfortunately do all of that.

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I wish I could.

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But just in hearing things from the

rescues and especially when they told

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me that they were putting them on their

Amazon wishlist, I was like, okay, this is

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great because it means people wanna help

and that they're donating boxes to people.

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But as someone who has pretty much

built this entire business on Amazon

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initially and had to learn all of Amazon

from scratch when I first got involved

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with this, it blew my mind and I think

a lot of people don't realize like

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what the actual economics of things

are with Amazon in the background.

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And just what the fees are 'cause a

lot of people will say, "Oh, wait,

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you sell boxes for $20 a piece?

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Like you must be making all this money."

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And I'm always like, "Ooh, hold up here.

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H-h-hold up here."

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There's a lot behind the scenes,

but the biggest being that shipping

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an individual box costs almost $10.

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So like of that $20 sale, $10 goes to

Amazon to pay for the shipping of that

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box and then Amazon actually charges a

commission off of every sale that they do.

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So that right there is just okay, so

15% of that sale is going to Amazon

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versus creating benefit or value

to the rescue organization, or even

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it's not putting money in my pocket.

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And I was like, "Wait, I c-

could I come up with a way to

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actually make this work better?"

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And it was when I started selling

wholesale last year that it started

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to make sense to me and said

'cause I-- when I sell wholesale,

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I sell things by the case."

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And so Hide and Scratch boxes come 15 to

a case, and I can ship a case to somebody.

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It depends on how far it needs

to go, but, let's just call

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it $40, $50 to ship that case.

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So it's really only about $3 a box in

shipping costs to ship them all together

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versus $10 to ship them individually.

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And so that's where when I sell wholesale,

I can sell them at a very large discount

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so that a retailer can resell them and

actually still make money off of it.

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And I was like wait, I could do the

same thing maybe for the shelters

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: 00:14:30

or maybe give people the option to

donate a full case to the shelters."

292

: 00:14:34

And that's when everything

started to come together.

293

: 00:14:36

And I said wait a minute.

294

: 00:14:36

I can actually lay this out in a couple

of different options and just provide

295

: 00:14:40

lower prices than the retail prices

to pass on the shipping savings when

296

: 00:14:44

people wanna donate more than one."

297

: 00:14:45

So that's how this all came about.

298

: 00:14:47

Dixie: Yeah.

299

: 00:14:47

I know I received a box, I think

it was last week I got a box,

300

: 00:14:52

and it was totally unexpected.

301

: 00:14:54

I guess somebody just went on your

site and just scrolled down and

302

: 00:14:57

picked my name and then sent us a

box 'cause I had not posted anywhere.

303

: 00:15:03

I know the rescues, if you

sign up, you give them a link.

304

: 00:15:05

I signed up, but I had my link,

but I didn't share my link.

305

: 00:15:08

So it was quite a surprise

to get it in there and the…

306

: 00:15:11

the cats are loving the boxes.

307

: 00:15:13

We're actually hoping to take

them and put them in the adoption

308

: 00:15:16

center that we are using out of

the Petco that we adopt out of.

309

: 00:15:21

Just because the way that their

cages are set up, they just need

310

: 00:15:23

a little bit more enrichment.

311

: 00:15:25

And so I think , as long as they fit

in their kennels, I think that would

312

: 00:15:28

be a really good thing for them.

313

: 00:15:30

But it's a really great program

because the cats love it.

314

: 00:15:33

I was very surprised 'cause

I w- it was very unexpected.

315

: 00:15:38

Carin: That's amazing.

316

: 00:15:39

Although now you're making me think

I need to go check something 'cause

317

: 00:15:41

you're supposed to get an email when

somebody makes a donation to you.

318

: 00:15:44

So I might need to check on that bit.

319

: 00:15:45

Oh I did.

320

: 00:15:46

But that- I got, I did get the email.

321

: 00:15:48

So

322

: 00:15:48

Dixie: the

323

: 00:15:48

Carin: email was exciting.

324

: 00:15:50

Okay, good.

325

: 00:15:50

Okay?

326

: 00:15:51

Okay, good.

327

: 00:15:52

'Cause that was the other piece that

I left out here just as I was thinking

328

: 00:15:55

through okay, yeah, the Amazon Wish

List works, and I know a lot of

329

: 00:15:59

people use it, or, and a lot of rescue

organizations use it to help source

330

: 00:16:03

supplies and look, it makes things easy

because you can put together a shopping

331

: 00:16:07

list, and anybody can send you things.

332

: 00:16:08

But the wish list was, on Amazon,

was not really designed to be

333

: 00:16:11

a charitable donations vehicle.

334

: 00:16:14

It's really more for, people to have

a, "Here's my Christmas list, and

335

: 00:16:17

here's what I want you to buy you."

336

: 00:16:19

And that was the other piece that I

realized, and this gets back to the

337

: 00:16:21

email, and this is what made me just

think about this, is that when somebody

338

: 00:16:24

donates something off of an Amazon

wish list yeah, they can put a gift

339

: 00:16:27

receipt in there and put a note about

who it comes from, but there's no real

340

: 00:16:31

way for the organization to directly

thank that donor because you don't

341

: 00:16:35

get any contact information for them.

342

: 00:16:37

And the donor actually, if they make

a sizable donation, they might want a

343

: 00:16:40

tax receipt of some sort to be able to

de- claim the deduction on their taxes,

344

: 00:16:44

and so there's no two-way loop there.

345

: 00:16:46

And so that's was the other reason

why I said, "Hey, wait a minute, I

346

: 00:16:49

can actually build something better."

347

: 00:16:50

And I've always been pretty tech-savvy

and have built websites and whatnot, and

348

: 00:16:53

that's where I was like, you know what?

349

: 00:16:54

I can actually build a website that will

solve all of these things, where it'll

350

: 00:16:58

give, yes, the rescues like you guys the

ability just to sign up, and I wanted

351

: 00:17:02

to make it as easy as possible and then

make it as easy as possible for people

352

: 00:17:06

to, yes, send hide-and-scratch boxes and

toys to the cats who need them and then

353

: 00:17:10

build in that feedback loop so that you

actually can get that donor's information

354

: 00:17:15

if they've opted in to give it to you.

355

: 00:17:17

You can add them to your mailing list

so that you can keep them updated.

356

: 00:17:20

You can send them a personalized

thank you note if you want to.

357

: 00:17:22

And then they can also get a, a record

of the donations if they want it.

358

: 00:17:27

So that was my objective in

putting all of this together.

359

: 00:17:32

Dixie: Now let me ask you to backtrack

a little bit and tell me how you first

360

: 00:17:36

became involved with Mission Meow.

361

: 00:17:41

Carin: Everything with Hide and

Scratch has been and growing the

362

: 00:17:43

business overall has always been like,

"Ooh, I should do this," and then

363

: 00:17:46

it turns into something else, and

then it turns into something else.

364

: 00:17:49

This is actually just how

my life works in general.

365

: 00:17:51

But I think it was that at one point I

had reached out to a cat-based blog about

366

: 00:18:01

them maybe writing an article or if I sent

them a product, if they would do a review.

367

: 00:18:06

And I cannot think about who that is right

now, but I think they actually wrote a

368

: 00:18:09

really nice article about things, and

I just asked if there's anybody else I

369

: 00:18:12

should be introduced to, and I think they

were a Mission Meow partner, had been

370

: 00:18:16

involved with it, and they're like, "Oh,

yeah, we need to introduce you to Sally."

371

: 00:18:19

And kinda that's how that came about.

372

: 00:18:21

But it was also right at that time

where I was trying to figure out

373

: 00:18:23

okay, wait, how could I start doing

some regular donations, both on a

374

: 00:18:27

monetary and a f- and a product basis?

375

: 00:18:30

And was trying to figure out how to

set something up, and then the timing

376

: 00:18:32

was literally perfect because I was

like, "Okay, great, this-- I don't

377

: 00:18:35

need to build my whole own kind of

donations program or figuring out who

378

: 00:18:39

do I wanna send money to, et cetera."

379

: 00:18:41

The fact that I can get on board as

a business partner there, and they're

380

: 00:18:47

bringing everything together from

all the different business partners

381

: 00:18:49

and then their own fundraising was

just a fantastic way to, to meet

382

: 00:18:54

that objective without honestly

creating a whole bunch of work myself.

383

: 00:18:58

But then, look, I went and

created a whole new website,

384

: 00:19:00

so I do create work for myself.

385

: 00:19:01

But they're working in

tandem together now.

386

: 00:19:06

Dixie: Yeah.

387

: 00:19:06

It's really great to have businesses

like you supporting small rescues

388

: 00:19:12

through vehicles like Mission Meow

and in also with what you've designed

389

: 00:19:16

with the Give a Cat a Box, too.

390

: 00:19:18

Because y- as you mentioned, I was a

January grant recipient from Mission Meow,

391

: 00:19:24

and, it's just so meaningful to a small

rescue to be able to get funds to purchase

392

: 00:19:31

what you need to operate your rescue or

to take on a special project like what

393

: 00:19:36

we're doing as we were doing the ambulance

conversion into a spay/neuter clinic.

394

: 00:19:42

And, it just means so much and

it's so great to know that there's

395

: 00:19:45

so many businesses that are out

there supporting cat rescues.

396

: 00:19:51

Carin: It's everybody's

doing so much good.

397

: 00:19:53

But yeah, I also really love--

it was just a no-brainer to me.

398

: 00:19:55

Once I met Sally and got a better

understanding of what they're doing I

399

: 00:19:58

love how she's channeling the goodwill

from a lot of different businesses and

400

: 00:20:03

people into specific focused things where,

yeah, there's always so many expenses

401

: 00:20:09

for rescue organizations, and if you

get $50 here, $20 here, et cetera okay,

402

: 00:20:15

it goes to food and all these immediate

needs and it's near impossible to have

403

: 00:20:19

that build up to be enough to where you

can actually undertake a sizable project

404

: 00:20:22

like the things that the grants fund.

405

: 00:20:24

And so the fact that they're now enabling

organizations to do those types of things

406

: 00:20:27

is huge because, yeah, food and vet bills

are always the most pressing things.

407

: 00:20:32

And I guess that's also where I love

how the Give a Cat a Box program is

408

: 00:20:36

fitting in as well, where it the boxes

can really make a difference for cats and

409

: 00:20:42

just giving them a safe place and making

them feel a little bit more comfortable,

410

: 00:20:45

and you were talking about putting them

in the kennels at your adoption center.

411

: 00:20:49

One-- a couple different organizations

have said that they're loving the ability

412

: 00:20:53

to let the cats use them, and then when

the cats are adopted, they actually send

413

: 00:20:57

them home with that box so that they've

got something familiar with them that then

414

: 00:21:01

helps them make that transition because

the- they don't wanna reuse the boxes

415

: 00:21:05

for a different cat and there's no way to

fully sterilize it, that type of thing.

416

: 00:21:08

But being able to send it home,

it's okay, this cat has something

417

: 00:21:10

that they own and it goes with them.

418

: 00:21:13

And it's that type of products too

that I think it, it-- They're not the

419

: 00:21:18

must-haves in a shelter or rescue,

but they can make a huge difference

420

: 00:21:22

in the experience of the cat.

421

: 00:21:24

So being able to enable those types

of donations, like it just makes

422

: 00:21:28

me warm and fuzzy on the inside.

423

: 00:21:31

Dixie: Yeah.

424

: 00:21:31

And I love being able to find businesses

that have the same passions that I do.

425

: 00:21:38

It makes me really wanna support

like all the Mission Meow businesses.

426

: 00:21:42

It makes me wanna support them because

I know they're out there supporting the

427

: 00:21:45

same cause that I'm passionate about.

428

: 00:21:49

Carin: Yeah, it's an- another

fantastic benefit of things.

429

: 00:21:51

It's just kn- knowing that there's all

these other people out there doing similar

430

: 00:21:54

things and having similar objectives is…

431

: 00:21:57

it helps make those, the

harder days easier too

432

: 00:22:00

Dixie: So another thing that I

wanted to mention too in the the

433

: 00:22:03

box that I received we have some

434

: 00:22:06

silver vine sticks.

435

: 00:22:08

I was not familiar with silver vine

as far as what it does with cats.

436

: 00:22:14

I was familiar with catnip to

a lesser extent valerian, but

437

: 00:22:18

silver vine- … is new to me.

438

: 00:22:20

So when I got that, I was really surprised

when I was reading what silver vine was.

439

: 00:22:24

So for all the cat owners out there

and cat lovers, cat rescuers that

440

: 00:22:28

don't know what silver vine is, can

you tell us a little bit about that?

441

: 00:22:32

Carin: You are not alone.

442

: 00:22:33

And actually, the first event that I was

at where I was selling them and giving

443

: 00:22:36

them away as prizes, a lot of people

were like, "Wait, what's silver vine?"

444

: 00:22:39

I said, "Oh, I need to have

something that helps explain this."

445

: 00:22:42

It's similar to catnip, so it is a plant.

446

: 00:22:45

And yeah, it comes in stick form.

447

: 00:22:47

I think I have a picture.

448

: 00:22:47

It, it's a plant.

449

: 00:22:48

It's a bush.

450

: 00:22:49

But just like catnip, which is

an herb, and I think, some people

451

: 00:22:52

will have catnip tea on occasion

it's a plant, but it's got…

452

: 00:22:56

I don't wanna call them chemicals

in there 'cause they're not quite

453

: 00:22:58

chemicals, but it's got things in

it that are attractive to cats.

454

: 00:23:01

So just like catnip is an herb and it's

got there's like a scientific name for it.

455

: 00:23:06

This is getting a little bit

out of my depth, but it's just,

456

: 00:23:08

another type of plant and it

actually has more compounds in it.

457

: 00:23:11

I guess that's probably the better word.

458

: 00:23:13

More compounds in it that cats

react to than just catnip.

459

: 00:23:15

So catnip is a singular thing

and then silver vine actually

460

: 00:23:19

has, I wanna say eight different

compounds in it that cats react to.

461

: 00:23:24

So I guess just like you think about

catnip kind of being one type of drug,

462

: 00:23:28

this one has more types of drugs in it.

463

: 00:23:30

I don't wanna make the comparison

to drugs, but I don't know

464

: 00:23:31

what else better to use there.

465

: 00:23:33

But yeah it's something

that cats react to.

466

: 00:23:35

Cats are typically more reactive to

silver vine than they are to catnip.

467

: 00:23:38

Like a lot of people are like, "Oh,

my cat doesn't like catnip at all,"

468

: 00:23:41

and then they like the silver vine.

469

: 00:23:43

And that was actually the case that

kind of helped convince me to start

470

: 00:23:46

carrying these products is that

my mom's one cat, he is a chonk.

471

: 00:23:50

He is this giant tuxedo chonk that does

not get excited about hardly anything.

472

: 00:23:54

And so I had a whole range of like

sample toys that the supplier had

473

: 00:23:58

sent me and it was actually the

silver vine ball that Sparky decided

474

: 00:24:04

was the best thing in the world.

475

: 00:24:05

So you've got the sticks, so they're stick

form and then there's a little powder on

476

: 00:24:08

the outside of it that's actually ground

up leaves or it's a ground up part of

477

: 00:24:12

the plant that is even a little bit more

potent than just the sticks themselves.

478

: 00:24:16

And so cats will typically chew

on these or they'll just smell

479

: 00:24:19

them or rub up against them.

480

: 00:24:20

But then I've also got silver vine

balls and so the outside part of the

481

: 00:24:23

ball is made of the sticks, and then

inside is actually a catnip ball.

482

: 00:24:28

So you've got the best of both worlds

there, and Sparky just absolutely

483

: 00:24:30

loved this, and I was like, "Oh, okay.

484

: 00:24:33

I will be getting some of those."

485

: 00:24:35

So your order might have only had

yeah, the one in there, but for the

486

: 00:24:38

larger b- buckets of donations, if

it's multiple boxes it's got a mixture

487

: 00:24:43

of the both the silver vine sticks

and the silver vine balls in there.

488

: 00:24:47

Dixie: They were enjoying them

'cause I did test them out.

489

: 00:24:49

Carin: I love it.

490

: 00:24:50

Now you've got me thinking.

491

: 00:24:51

I saw somebody post a video

about it the other day.

492

: 00:24:53

I don't know if that was you or if

that was another rescue organization.

493

: 00:24:56

I've been, like, loving all the stuff

that's coming out on social media where

494

: 00:25:01

people are posting how much their cats

are loving things and the pictures of

495

: 00:25:04

things and just the amount of views

that things are starting to get.

496

: 00:25:06

So for a little program here that

launched really only four weeks

497

: 00:25:10

ago I'm super thrilled with how

well this has been going so far.

498

: 00:25:15

Dixie: Yeah, that's amazing.

499

: 00:25:16

It is amazing, especially like I said,

I didn't advertise my link or anything.

500

: 00:25:21

So somebody just went to your site and

just randomly picked my name and sent

501

: 00:25:25

me something and , it's amazing 'cause

it's like you said it on- for only being

502

: 00:25:30

around for four weeks that's pretty good.

503

: 00:25:34

Carin: Yeah, it might actually be five

or six at this point, but I think I

504

: 00:25:36

launched things informally, announced

them right at the end of April.

505

: 00:25:39

I can't believe we're in June already.

506

: 00:25:41

And my initial approach here was

that I did reach out to all the

507

: 00:25:45

Mission Meow grant recipients to

enroll them as a pre-enrollment

508

: 00:25:49

before I actually announced things.

509

: 00:25:51

And so I think I went live with 20, 22

or 24 organizations actively enrolled

510

: 00:25:58

and what's been super fantastic so far

is actually as I've been posting things

511

: 00:26:02

on social media you might have seen I

actually started just a week ago or so,

512

: 00:26:06

is actually doing a post whenever somebody

makes a donation just to thank them.

513

: 00:26:09

I'm actually going through and doing

welcome posts to all the organizations

514

: 00:26:12

that have been enrolled, so that

might have been another way that

515

: 00:26:15

somebody saw that you were enrolled

if you didn't post yourself.

516

: 00:26:17

I've been going through and doing that.

517

: 00:26:19

But just by people seeing things, I've

actually, I've grown to 32 partner

518

: 00:26:23

organizations already because I've

got a mechanism that other rescues, if

519

: 00:26:27

they're not already enrolled and they're

interested in signing up, there's a

520

: 00:26:30

form that they can fill out on the site.

521

: 00:26:32

I've organically added

to the list already.

522

: 00:26:35

And then my plan is I've actually got

a database or a long list of about

523

: 00:26:38

1,000 different rescue organizations

in the US that I'm gonna start

524

: 00:26:41

reaching out to myself and just

contacting them and saying, "Hey,

525

: 00:26:44

here this i- here, h- this exists.

526

: 00:26:46

I'd love to have you on board with it.

527

: 00:26:48

There's no cost to you," et cetera

along with just the easy instructions

528

: 00:26:51

like you got about how they can

become a part of the program.

529

: 00:26:54

Dixie: Thank you so much for doing that.

530

: 00:26:57

It's helping so many animals and bringing

so much more enrichment to cats' lives.

531

: 00:27:03

Carin: That was the goal.

532

: 00:27:05

And it just-- Yeah, I I can't tell you…

533

: 00:27:06

Yeah I said already, just watching

Instagram and whatnot and seeing

534

: 00:27:08

people post things, and when I do

a little dance every time I see

535

: 00:27:12

a donation order come through.

536

: 00:27:13

It just, I don't know.

537

: 00:27:15

It makes me feel good to be able to

do some good and help out the cats out

538

: 00:27:18

there and help support the people who

are doing the good helping the cats.

539

: 00:27:23

Dixie: Before we end the call, is there

any final message you would like to add?

540

: 00:27:28

Carin: I think people

probably got the gist here.

541

: 00:27:29

If people want to Give a Cat a Box,

the website is giveacatabox.com.

542

: 00:27:33

If there are organizations out there

that would like to be a part of the

543

: 00:27:37

program they can go to giveacatabox.com

544

: 00:27:39

and down at the bottom there's

a link to request to be listed.

545

: 00:27:41

It's just a super short form to fill out.

546

: 00:27:44

And I actually, I've got plans to

add in a form that somebody could

547

: 00:27:47

suggest an organization but I

haven't gotten that part done yet.

548

: 00:27:50

So if anybody knows an organization that,

that could benefit from this, send them

549

: 00:27:54

to the website and have them sign up.

550

: 00:27:56

But I guess I would end on just saying

that in the five weeks here that

551

: 00:27:59

things have been live, I included

this in my newsletter the other day

552

: 00:28:02

but I actually totaled things up and

as of the end of the month, there had

553

: 00:28:06

been over 150 boxes donated already.

554

: 00:28:11

So I think I had 30 or so

donations, so people, individuals

555

: 00:28:14

that had made donations.

556

: 00:28:16

Four or five of them had actually

donated a full case which I

557

: 00:28:19

was really surprised about.

558

: 00:28:20

I didn't know how many people would be

willing to make $150 donation but that

559

: 00:28:24

is the level at which I can ship things

by the case and the boxes are really only

560

: 00:28:28

$10 apiece at that level because I can

pass on all of that shipping savings.

561

: 00:28:34

But yeah, over 150 boxes donated

in just the first five weeks.

562

: 00:28:37

So I was like, "This is

absolutely fantastic."

563

: 00:28:39

So thank you to everybody who has

participated thus far, and I can't wait

564

: 00:28:42

to see just where this goes from here.

565

: 00:28:44

And I'm gonna be adding a bit to the

main site that has a running total of

566

: 00:28:48

how many boxes have been donated to date.

567

: 00:28:49

That's also on my to-do list.

568

: 00:28:52

Dixie: That's amazing.

569

: 00:28:53

And I loved hearing the Hide and

Scratch story and how you decided to

570

: 00:28:57

come up with the Give a Cat a Box,

and thank you again for joining me

571

: 00:29:02

today to tell me all about this.

572

: 00:29:04

Carin: Thank you for having me.

573

: 00:29:06

Can't wait to see what we can do.

574

: 00:29:07

And let's get you guys

some more boxes too.

575

: 00:29:10

Dixie: Yeah.

576

: 00:29:10

The kitties love 'em, so yeah, we

can always use some more boxes.

577

: 00:29:14

Carin: Fantastic.

578

: 00:29:15

We'll look forward to seeing

what's happening here.

579

: 00:29:17

Dixie: And Silver

580

: 00:29:18

Carin: Vine.

581

: 00:29:18

So thank you again for having me.

582

: 00:29:20

Thank you.

583

: 00:29:20

Yes and the Silver…

584

: 00:29:21

Oh, that's everybody else

can go check those out.

585

: 00:29:22

And everything, if people wanna

check out the boxes, I guess

586

: 00:29:24

I should do one last plug.

587

: 00:29:25

If they wanna check out the boxes

or the Silver Vine toys, those are

588

: 00:29:27

all available on hideandscratch.com

589

: 00:29:29

for your own purchase.

590

: 00:29:32

Dixie: Yeah.

591

: 00:29:32

And I'm gonna include your

links in the show notes too,

592

: 00:29:35

so people can go check you out.

593

: 00:29:36

Carin: Okay.

594

: 00:29:36

Dixie: And donate a box.

595

: 00:29:37

Carin: Awesome.

596

: 00:29:39

Awesome.

597

: 00:29:39

Thank you so much.