Catster Site News and Updates

Check out Kitai on the Today Show!

Bow Wow!

We just added Candy Corns and Spiders to go along with the Pumpkins, Bats, Black Cats and Ghosts and add to the Halloween fun!

Get them while they’re here. Once this weekend’s Halloween festivities wrap up, so will these Rosettes!

Wowzers! Tune in to the Today Show tomorrow and root for Kitai, a long-term Dogster member who is one of six finalists on the Today Show’s pet costume contest.

Kitai will be wearing his famous Cesar Millan costume. We’re barking mad for him!

Go Kitai Go!

In early October, we ran a survey of dog owners to find out how involved pets are in Halloween celebrations. The answer? A whopping 65% of dogs get included in the spooky festivities, and 40% of them get dressed up in costume. What could be cuter?

Below is just a sampling of the fun stats we collected. Get all the details in our Halloween Goes to the Dogs article, including this year’s most popular costumes.

* » 72% of those dressing up their dogs will be buying their outfits rather than making them at home.
* » 46% percent think the coolest costume of the year is Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.
* » 43% say their pets resent wearing costumes.

Happy Howloween!

We’ve got a lot of people entering the World’s Coolest Dog and Cat Show this year, so we thought we’d make it more interesting and make sure the best contestants make it to the finalists round.

Everyone can now earn up to 75 Zealies simply by voting, plus a chance to win a 7.2 Megapixel HP Photosmart R837 digital camera.

Here’s how it will work:

To be entered to win the camera, all you have to do is cast at least 1,000 votes. Everyone who does so will be entered to win the HP digital camera. The winner will be chosen at random.

Go to the Categories page to track how many votes you have cast.

Notes:
*All votes already cast will count towards your total.
*Voting totals are based on collective votes for both dogs and cats.
*Zealies will be distributed for all qualified voters a week after finalists are announced.
*Camera winner will be chosen from qualified voters and will be announced the day the winners are announced.
*Qualified voters means no funny stuff. ;> All votes must be legitimate and fair.

We have big news for our furrtastic DogsterPlus and Catster Plus members. Starting today, October 16, your monthly allotment of 25 Rosettes—those cute presents you can give to any pet on Dogster or Catster—will now be deposited in your account as 25 Zealies. Enjoy!

Zealies are more versatile than Rosettes, as they can be used to give away both Rosettes and Stars. Rosettes are special seasonal gifts, like our Halloween ghost, pumpkin, bat and black cat, while Stars last forever on a Pup Pal or Feline Friend’s page.

Speaking of gifts, get ready for the grand opening of our new Gift Shop! We’ve taken your suggestions for items you’ve been wanting to see, like birthday cakes, trophies and yummy treats, and you’ll now be able to purchase all of them in the shop. It’s coming very soon.

                    

Get ready for “Howloween” with our frightfully cute black cat, ghost, bat and pumpkin Rosettes. You can award these super-scary Rosettes to any pet on Dogster or Catster. They’re a fun and popular way of telling another dog or cat that you like him or her. When you give a Rosette, the small icon will appear on the page of the pet you are giving it to. You can also leave a short message as to why you are leaving the Rosette.

To get in on the fun, just grab some Zealies and get started. Spook all your friends!

We’re pawroud to announce that our annual online photo contest kicked off today. You can submit a photo of any dog or cat, and every valid entrant gets a door prize from our friends at photo site Shutterfly. Check out the complete list of fabulous prizes you can win, including memory books, pet food and DogsterPlus/Catster Plus memberships.

This year, our nine esteemed judges include Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan, Good Morning America vet Dr. Marty Becker, DVM, and even the Dogster Dog. They will select a winner from each category after you choose the finalists, and then you’ll pick one cat and one dog photo for Best in Show.

ver 27,000 photos were entered last year, and more than 1.2 million votes were cast to determine the 2006 winners. We expected this year’s contest to be even bigger. Start submitting your photos and voting for your favorites now!

Woofs and Meows. For all of you HTML/CSS/page customizing fans out there, have we got a treat for you!

Callie and PJ’s Mom has created an incredibly detailed and useful tutorial for creating customized frames for your Dogster and Catster pet pages.

From her instructions, “Ever since the cats at Catster and the dogs at Dogster have discovered they could change their backgrounds, add pictures and control the fonts, one area has eluded them; the frame around their profile.

The frames, as one friend put it, have now been conquered.”

Check out her beautiful pages for examples, and send her feline family some treats and loves for all the hard work she put into her well-written instructions. Thanks so much to Callie and PJ’s mom!