Best Bets For Pets

Listen to Episode #331 Now:

Transcript:

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Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: Let's talk pets.

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Michelle Fern: Hello, pet lovers, welcome to Best Bets for Pets.

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Michelle Fern: I'm your show host, Michelle Fern.

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Michelle Fern: So we've had a lot of products on Best Bets for Pets, and we don't have a lot of products for cats all the time.

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Michelle Fern: And today we're gonna talk about litter, but this is a special kind of litter, and it's really incredible, and it's different, and I think it's very coming of the moment, because it is very environmental friendly.

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Michelle Fern: But we're gonna talk to the founders, we'll be right back.

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Michelle Fern: Hey, Michelle Fern here, and you know, saving cats is near and dear to my heart.

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Michelle Fern: Did you know that there is an estimated 70 to 100 million free roaming cats in the United States?

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Michelle Fern: And without spay neuter, that number will keep growing.

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Michelle Fern: Not only does spay neuter mainly reduce the community cat population, but it also keeps cats healthier.

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Michelle Fern: Scooter, the neutered cat, is on a mission to give cats an extra life by making it hip to be sniffed.

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Michelle Fern: Visit his website, givethemten.org, to help pioneer a better world for cats.

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Michelle Fern: That's GiveThemten, spelled out, T-E-N, dot org.

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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets on petliferadio.com.

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Michelle Fern: Welcome back, everyone.

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Michelle Fern: I'd like to welcome Ashley Hejlik.

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Michelle Fern: She is the co-founder and CMO of SoyKitty, and I'd also like to welcome Lee Kaufman.

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Michelle Fern: He is the other co-founder of SoyKitty.

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Michelle Fern: Welcome, Ashley and Lee.

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Michelle Fern: I'm so excited to have you on.

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Ashley Hejlik: Thank you, Michelle.

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Ashley Hejlik: It's nice to be here.

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Lee Kaufman: Yeah, thanks for having us, Michelle.

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Michelle Fern: Okay, so first, we gotta always talk about the cats or whatever pets people have.

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Michelle Fern: So, I know, Ashley, because we talked before on Catitude about other stuff, because you're a big cat person and you have four.

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Ashley Hejlik: I do.

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Ashley Hejlik: Jackie, Joey, Vinnie and Veda.

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Ashley Hejlik: And they're all rescue kitties.

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Michelle Fern: The best kind.

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Michelle Fern: And Lee, what about you?

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Lee Kaufman: I have a couple of stories about cats.

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Lee Kaufman: I don't currently have any.

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Lee Kaufman: I have two dogs.

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Lee Kaufman: But there were two experiences where I lived with cats that sort of formed my understanding of them as very different than dogs and incredibly sweet animals.

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Lee Kaufman: I lived in Seattle for six years with two cats with a girlfriend at the time.

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Lee Kaufman: And my love of them came through her and through them kind of burrowing their way into my heart.

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Lee Kaufman: And then two years ago, I lived with a couple of cats in a beach town where they were the property cats, and I just happened to be living there.

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Lee Kaufman: So it was their house and I was their servant, serving them food and making sure that their environment was everything that they wanted.

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Michelle Fern: You know, I kind of think that's true regardless of with all, just about all cats.

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Michelle Fern: It's what is that expression?

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Michelle Fern: It's their world.

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Michelle Fern: We just live in it.

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Lee Kaufman: Yes.

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Ashley Hejlik: Right.

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Ashley Hejlik: Exactly.

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Michelle Fern: So yeah.

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Michelle Fern: Okay.

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Michelle Fern: So let's talk about, so you created this incredible product, this incredible litter called SoyKitty.

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Michelle Fern: What is it and why did you create it?

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Lee Kaufman: I'll take this first.

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Lee Kaufman: So every product has a bit of a life cycle in cat litter.

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Lee Kaufman: People don't know it started back in more like the 50s with Tidy Cat.

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Lee Kaufman: Prior to that, cats were really going outside, and people had sand or dirt outside, and they were mostly outside cats.

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Lee Kaufman: I think the people, as they started to move into cities and live in places where the cats were not outside on a regular basis, they needed to have a solution, and this gentleman created Tidy Cat, which is bentonite clay, and it kind of took over the world of cat litter.

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Lee Kaufman: We're kind of in a new chapter of cat litter, where people are realizing the environmental destruction that strip mining has and the difficulty of getting rid of anything like bentonite clay once it's been mined.

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Lee Kaufman: And so there's this upstart of a bunch of different companies trying to create cat litter with other carbohydrates that are eco-friendly and renewable.

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Lee Kaufman: And so we like soy, we believe it's a best in class product, but we're now competing and entering a space with a bunch of other companies who are trying to help to explain to consumers that the prior cat litters that have existed are actually really hard on the earth and not so great on cats.

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Lee Kaufman: And so we're both in a, we're in a research phase where people are curious, and we're also in an education phase where we're helping to teach people about what products are out there that are better than the ones that they've historically known to exist.

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Michelle Fern: Okay.

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Lee Kaufman: Yeah.

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Ashley Hejlik: So in a nutshell, SoyKitty is an eco-friendly, completely plant-based cat litter.

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Ashley Hejlik: It's made of renewable resources.

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Ashley Hejlik: So it's made from the by-products of making tofu and soy milk and two other plant-based products.

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Ashley Hejlik: And it's also biodegradable and compostable.

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Michelle Fern: I think that's great.

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Michelle Fern: And it's kind of like a whole plant, you know?

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Ashley Hejlik: Exactly.

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Michelle Fern: I don't eat certain things and I don't want to get into a whole thing.

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Michelle Fern: But you know, and they say, you know, farm to table.

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Michelle Fern: But we don't always talk about farm to table with plants using the whole plant, right?

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Michelle Fern: So it's a great use of the by-products of plants.

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Michelle Fern: Let's talk about, okay, so litter.

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Michelle Fern: As you were talking about this, Lee, I was thinking about litter and I thought, you know, even not that long ago, the 50s were not that long ago.

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Michelle Fern: A lot of cats were mousers.

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Michelle Fern: They had the working cats.

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Michelle Fern: So it makes sense they were outdoors.

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Michelle Fern: And then, you know, as we became more urbanized, they, you know, changed and cat litter was created.

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Michelle Fern: What about odor?

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Michelle Fern: You know, these days people are picky.

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Michelle Fern: They want a lot of things from litter.

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Michelle Fern: And the biggest thing is clumping and odor, because I think people can be flexible if you want to do, you know, we have to worry about the planet.

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Michelle Fern: There's so much going on with issues with climate and more.

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Michelle Fern: But even if you want to keep that in mind, also litter.

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Michelle Fern: So you want to be wary of odor.

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Michelle Fern: I think clumping, I consider that kind of a second.

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Michelle Fern: Odor is a bigger thing for me.

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Michelle Fern: What are your thoughts?

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Michelle Fern: How does SoyKitty do on odor and clumping?

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Lee Kaufman: Michelle, I think, well, I'll just add to it.

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Lee Kaufman: Clumping, I would also describe it as how absorbent it is.

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Lee Kaufman: How much does the cat litter weigh versus how much does it absorb in moisture?

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Lee Kaufman: And also for a lot of cat owners, does the moisture get to the bottom of the litter box before it actually clumps or not?

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Lee Kaufman: And sort of that aids or harms the ability for you to clean your litter box effectively.

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Lee Kaufman: So the formulation that we have is really, really absorbent.

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Lee Kaufman: 300, 400 percent of its weight in moisture.

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Lee Kaufman: And then there are some enzymatic properties of soy that tend to be really good at masking odors, particularly cat odors.

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Lee Kaufman: And so we think compared to a lot of the other, definitely compared to bentonite clay, but compared to some of the other more eco-friendly products, soy tends to be very good at the two major things that you described, which is absorbing moisture and masking odors.

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Ashley Hejlik: I can jump in from more of a usability standpoint.

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Ashley Hejlik: When we were initially thinking about creating this brand, I'm a crazy cat lady for cats, right?

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Ashley Hejlik: And so I wanted to think about what's most important for me, as well as other cat parents, when creating a litter, right?

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Ashley Hejlik: So like you mentioned, clumping ability or absorbency, the ability to mask or completely destroy odors instead of masking, how dusty it is, right?

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Ashley Hejlik: Especially because I have two cats that have very sensitive lungs and they have a little bit of respiratory issues.

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Ashley Hejlik: So I wanted to make sure that it was low with dust.

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Ashley Hejlik: And then the last thing would be the ability for whether the pellets actually track or not.

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Ashley Hejlik: I before was using clay litter and it tracked everywhere.

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Ashley Hejlik: My house was a complete disaster.

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Ashley Hejlik: There were clay based little pebbles all over my floor.

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Ashley Hejlik: And so I wanted to make sure that these pellets didn't track not nearly as much as a clay based litter.

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Ashley Hejlik: So those were the things we were looking for when creating and testing a cat litter.

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Michelle Fern: Talking about tracking, what about also some cat litter attaches to the cat's fur?

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Michelle Fern: Dennis is long hair and a lazy groomer, so he's brushed constantly, but he also has had litter stick to him.

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Ashley Hejlik: Yeah, so I too have longer furred cats.

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Ashley Hejlik: And I've run into a few issues historically with clay based litter getting stuck to their paws and to their little behinds.

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Ashley Hejlik: And I think a problem with that is actually how quickly or lack thereof, the clay litter actually absorbs the moisture.

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Ashley Hejlik: And so with our litter, it absorbs super quick.

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Ashley Hejlik: And so it clumps right away.

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Ashley Hejlik: And so it doesn't get stuck to their little paw pads, as well as their little behinds.

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Ashley Hejlik: Because I know that little issue, getting your scissors out and having to cut the little fur from their butts.

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Michelle Fern: Yeah, it's not pleasant for cat or cat parent.

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Michelle Fern: You mentioned allergies.

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Michelle Fern: I was going to talk about that later, but since we're talking about it now, why not?

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Michelle Fern: So you mentioned that it's low dust, which is really good for cats with, as you mentioned, your cats with lung issues.

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Michelle Fern: And I'm sorry to hear that.

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Michelle Fern: But you have also people with issues too, when certain cat litter is too dusty, and not people that are necessarily allergic to cats, but doing the litter is just, you know, not good.

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Michelle Fern: People with asthma or allergies themselves.

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Michelle Fern: Does SoyKitty help with that?

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Ashley Hejlik: Yeah, of course, 100%.

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Ashley Hejlik: Like we mentioned, our litter is almost completely dust free.

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Ashley Hejlik: And so if you've been a cat parent and you've ever used either clay or corn or wheat litters, some of the more dusty litters, and you've had to pour it or scoop it, you know the feeling of having that cloud of dust hit you in the face.

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Ashley Hejlik: Unfortunately, having to breathe that in unless you're wearing a face mask.

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Ashley Hejlik: Luckily for us and our litter formulation, like I said, it's 99% dust free, so you don't have to worry about that.

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Ashley Hejlik: So you don't have to worry about a cloud of dust hitting you in the face.

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Ashley Hejlik: So you shouldn't have issues or as many issues.

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Ashley Hejlik: If you have allergies or sensitive lungs or asthma.

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Ashley Hejlik: So it's good for both the cats with sensitive respiratory systems as well as the human.

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Michelle Fern: Okay, thanks.

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Michelle Fern: We're going to take a short break and we'll be right back.

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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets on PetLife Radio.

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Announcer: petliferadio.com.

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Michelle Fern: Welcome back, everyone.

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Michelle Fern: We're talking to the co-founders of SoyKitty, Ashley and Lee.

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Michelle Fern: So here's the million-dollar question.

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Michelle Fern: What makes SoyKitty different from a lot of the all-natural catletters?

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Michelle Fern: Because there's a lot out on the market.

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Michelle Fern: I've seen everything from corn, wood shaving, kind of, not wood, but like a byproduct of wood or something like that.

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Michelle Fern: A lot of corn.

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Michelle Fern: I think I've...

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Michelle Fern: weed, maybe a version of grass.

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Michelle Fern: I've had a lot of litters.

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Michelle Fern: I really like yours, but it's a little different than other all-natural litters.

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Michelle Fern: So what are the differences?

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Lee Kaufman: Ashley and I, I don't know if she mentioned to you before, but we came in third in a very large competition last year and won some funding from the Soy Board and the Yield Lab Institute.

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Lee Kaufman: And when we were there pitching the idea, we created a slide that showed all of the different comparisons between different cat litters in the eco-friendly cat space.

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Lee Kaufman: And each one, of course, has its benefits and its detriments.

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Lee Kaufman: And rather than go through each one of them, we landed on soy because we think it's sort of the best product in the space.

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Lee Kaufman: There are other ones.

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Lee Kaufman: Simple example would be that sawdust and wood in general is a known carcinogen in the state of California.

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Lee Kaufman: We know that inhaling sawdust is actually potentially cancer causing.

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Lee Kaufman: So every carbohydrate could be repurposed, like taking corn cobs and grinding them up and making it into a litter.

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Lee Kaufman: That doesn't make it a good litter.

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Lee Kaufman: That makes it look like litter.

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Lee Kaufman: And so what you want to do is look under the hood a little bit more into the performance of the litter, not just that it's litter.

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Lee Kaufman: It's very easy to buy bags that look like either pelletized or in sort of grains that cats could theoretically use.

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Lee Kaufman: But Ashley's been talking about whether it's healthy for cats or performs as a litter is another thing entirely.

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Lee Kaufman: So it took us a long time to arrive on soy being one incredibly eco-friendly, easy to dispose of.

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Lee Kaufman: Some people even flush it down the toilets if their cats are exclusively indoors.

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Lee Kaufman: But we haven't seen anything do as well as this.

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Lee Kaufman: And so it was our go-to when we decided to create a product last year.

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Michelle Fern: Thank you, and congrats.

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Michelle Fern: And we'll talk a little bit more about the toxins and flushable.

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Michelle Fern: That's my next question.

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Michelle Fern: But one thing, and I read a lot of information on your website.

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Michelle Fern: One thing that I found surprising is that it's pest resistant.

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Michelle Fern: I didn't realize or I've done a lot of litter research myself, and I didn't realize that I have to worry about litter being pest resistant.

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Michelle Fern: Yeah.

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Ashley Hejlik: So if you think about some of the other eco-friendly cat litters, so for example, corn or wheat, a lot of times pests actually see that as a source of food, whereas our product is we're using the by-product of tofu and soy milk, and pests don't actually think of that or see that as a source of food.

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Ashley Hejlik: And so we haven't had or experienced, nor have our customers experienced any issues with pests or rodent issues.

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Ashley Hejlik: And if you've done any research on cat litter, there's definitely been issues with, especially wheat and corn, with having little beetles or little bugs show up in the litter.

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Ashley Hejlik: So luckily for us, it doesn't seem to be a problem.

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Ashley Hejlik: So it's definitely a benefit not to have to deal with bugs.

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Michelle Fern: Well, and the other thing is a lot if you're the other all-natural, it does attract bugs or pests.

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Michelle Fern: That's not something they're going to communicate to the public.

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Ashley Hejlik: No, of course not.

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Michelle Fern: Like a little surprise.

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Michelle Fern: Guess what?

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Michelle Fern: I mean, I'm based in South Florida.

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Michelle Fern: Bugs are a way of life here.

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Michelle Fern: So, you know, this is just I've said it before on things that have come up.

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Michelle Fern: It doesn't matter if your house is the cleanest house you've ever seen anywhere in South Florida.

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Michelle Fern: It is so hot.

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Michelle Fern: I think in all the state of Florida, you're going to find a bug, but not in my litter.

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Michelle Fern: So let's talk about how to dispose of SoyKitty.

00:16:27.528 --> 00:16:36.528
Michelle Fern: Now, you mentioned if there's no, but let me see if I pronounced this right, toxoplasmosis, it is safe to flush.

00:16:36.528 --> 00:16:44.028
Ashley Hejlik: So we would always recommend checking with your local regulations and sanitation authorities before flushing.

00:16:44.628 --> 00:16:49.828
Ashley Hejlik: But it does dissolve when mixed with a substantial amount of water.

00:16:49.828 --> 00:16:55.408
Ashley Hejlik: So if it's all good with your regulations and it's not illegal, you definitely can.

00:16:55.408 --> 00:17:00.988
Ashley Hejlik: However, we do recommend composting the litter in a non-edible garden.

00:17:00.988 --> 00:17:13.808
Ashley Hejlik: So if you have a flower garden and you need some compost, some healthy fertilizer to make your flower garden beautiful, you can use the leftover litter in your garden as a compost.

00:17:14.048 --> 00:17:15.188
Michelle Fern: That's a great idea.

00:17:15.188 --> 00:17:25.228
Lee Kaufman: We can also, Michelle, talk a little bit about toxoplasmosis, because I think a lot of consumers are confused, and I think it's an idea that I don't think has enough clarity in the marketplace.

00:17:25.228 --> 00:17:33.888
Lee Kaufman: Cats that are outdoor hunters can encounter rodents or insects that maybe carry disease.

00:17:33.888 --> 00:17:45.168
Lee Kaufman: And so if a cat eats something that is diseased, it may be in its system for a period of time, and it may take a couple of weeks to a bit more to clear that toxoplasmosis.

00:17:45.168 --> 00:17:49.508
Lee Kaufman: And so the feces of those cats will be infected as well.

00:17:49.508 --> 00:17:57.068
Lee Kaufman: For people that live in Manhattan or San Francisco or LA, and their cats never go outside ever, that's not really an issue for them.

00:17:57.068 --> 00:18:08.268
Lee Kaufman: And so I think there's a real misunderstanding of the idea of it, that cat waste is not dangerous, especially if your cat is an indoor cat exclusively.

00:18:08.668 --> 00:18:15.928
Michelle Fern: But the thing with toxoplasmosis, this is really if whether or not you can flush the litter.

00:18:16.168 --> 00:18:20.948
Michelle Fern: And most of us, even though, Lee, you miss my city, but that's okay.

00:18:20.948 --> 00:18:37.028
Michelle Fern: But I've also, on my other show Catitude, we've talked a lot about indoor cats, outdoor cats, and there's such a strong propensity and focus for cats to be indoor only because of all the threats that are out there in the environment and diseases.

00:18:37.368 --> 00:18:39.928
Michelle Fern: I mean, here, it's way too hot for your cats.

00:18:39.928 --> 00:18:41.488
Michelle Fern: They have a catio and that's it.

00:18:41.488 --> 00:18:51.148
Michelle Fern: But most cats in the US, I believe, and you can correct me if I'm wrong because you probably have a better stat than I do, but most cats in the US, I believe, are indoor only.

00:18:51.148 --> 00:18:59.448
Michelle Fern: It's more common in Europe, especially England, from what I've leaned from guests over the years to be indoor, outdoor.

00:18:59.448 --> 00:19:07.348
Ashley Hejlik: I think if you are a cat owner, most Americans or people in North America will keep their cat indoors.

00:19:07.348 --> 00:19:13.668
Ashley Hejlik: But of course, you still have to worry about the feral cats, the wild cats that are out on the street.

00:19:14.368 --> 00:19:17.808
Ashley Hejlik: So it's hard to say exactly what percentage that is.

00:19:17.808 --> 00:19:28.268
Ashley Hejlik: But based off of some of the research I've read and communications I've had with our customers, the majority of them do keep their cats exclusively indoors.

00:19:28.268 --> 00:19:29.048
Michelle Fern: Which we like.

00:19:29.048 --> 00:19:30.228
Michelle Fern: It's much better.

00:19:30.228 --> 00:19:31.988
Michelle Fern: Okay, so we know cats are finicky.

00:19:32.328 --> 00:19:34.568
Michelle Fern: That's just part of their DNA.

00:19:34.568 --> 00:19:37.808
Michelle Fern: Are cats finicky about using SoyKitty?

00:19:37.808 --> 00:19:43.008
Michelle Fern: And what are some tips for transitioning your cat if your cat's a little fussy?

00:19:43.008 --> 00:19:56.268
Lee Kaufman: You know, as I get brought up to Speed by Ashley and to the cat world, I understand that cats maybe aren't so different from humans and that they need transitions and transition periods to get accustomed to new ideas.

00:19:56.268 --> 00:20:09.128
Lee Kaufman: They like our litter a lot, but somebody who's a little bit ambitious to make the litter change overnight might have problems because cats tend to need a bit of an adoption period.

00:20:09.128 --> 00:20:26.528
Lee Kaufman: So even on our bags, we have a transition cycle for the owners, which is starting to layer in some of our litter, maybe a quarter bit at a time, maybe the next week, half of the litter box, maybe three quarters, and maybe ultimately the full litter box over time, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks.

00:20:26.528 --> 00:20:39.528
Lee Kaufman: So the cats will naturally transition, but you don't want to make any sweeping changes in a cat's life too quickly because they are very independent and they like it their own way.

00:20:39.528 --> 00:20:43.068
Ashley Hejlik: Yeah, like Lee mentioned, slow and steady wins the race.

00:20:43.068 --> 00:20:50.668
Ashley Hejlik: We do send our new customers a transition guide to help our customers' cats make the transition.

00:20:50.668 --> 00:21:07.088
Ashley Hejlik: We always recommend a three to four week transitionary period, so the cats do get used to the texture, they get used to the smell, because it will be different than their original odor or original litter, and how that smells like and how that feels.

00:21:07.088 --> 00:21:09.228
Ashley Hejlik: So slow and steady wins the race.

00:21:09.228 --> 00:21:11.588
Ashley Hejlik: For tips, patience.

00:21:11.588 --> 00:21:15.008
Ashley Hejlik: I would also say, yeah, patience is the main thing.

00:21:15.008 --> 00:21:17.768
Ashley Hejlik: I would say be gentle with the cat.

00:21:17.768 --> 00:21:20.848
Ashley Hejlik: They're going through a transitionary period.

00:21:20.848 --> 00:21:25.168
Ashley Hejlik: If you get stressed about this transition, they will get stressed about the transition.

00:21:25.368 --> 00:21:28.208
Ashley Hejlik: So stay calm, stay level-headed.

00:21:28.208 --> 00:21:40.448
Ashley Hejlik: And yeah, in three to four weeks, as long as you've taken the proper steps to go through adjusting the amount of new litter with their old litter, your cat shouldn't have a problem at all.

00:21:40.448 --> 00:21:47.488
Ashley Hejlik: And who knows, I've talked to customers where they start adding in our new litter and the cat just jumps right in.

00:21:47.488 --> 00:21:52.948
Ashley Hejlik: So they tried to do the right thing and do the transitionary period and it was not needed.

00:21:53.128 --> 00:21:55.408
Ashley Hejlik: So it definitely depends on your cat.

00:21:55.408 --> 00:21:59.948
Ashley Hejlik: You as the cat owner know your cat best, so do what's best for them.

00:21:59.948 --> 00:22:00.768
Michelle Fern: Okay, thank you.

00:22:00.768 --> 00:22:06.048
Michelle Fern: And what about storage or, you know, multi-cat households?

00:22:06.048 --> 00:22:10.168
Michelle Fern: Are there any other special things to consider with regards to SoyKitty?

00:22:10.168 --> 00:22:16.268
Lee Kaufman: So we thought about this a lot, Michelle, in having our litter in a resealable bag.

00:22:16.268 --> 00:22:18.048
Lee Kaufman: Litter is naturally absorbent.

00:22:18.048 --> 00:22:27.308
Lee Kaufman: So if you were to have litter in Florida, which is incredibly humid, and you left it open, chances are it would start to absorb the ambient moisture.

00:22:27.308 --> 00:22:33.108
Lee Kaufman: And so litter in general does really well when it's stored in a cooler, drier place.

00:22:33.108 --> 00:22:46.848
Lee Kaufman: And so that was part of our thinking in the packaging that our litter bags are resealable, which keeps it perfectly dry until you need to use it, and has a shelf life of quite a long time, doesn't tend to degrade.

00:22:46.848 --> 00:22:51.468
Lee Kaufman: And the way we packaged it tends to keep it safe and stable for a very long time.

00:22:51.808 --> 00:23:00.888
Ashley Hejlik: The other thing I'll add is we set, we created the amount of litter in each bag to be enough to last one cat one month.

00:23:00.888 --> 00:23:08.808
Ashley Hejlik: And so the recommendation is if you have one cat, you should have at least one litter box and then one extra.

00:23:08.808 --> 00:23:18.708
Ashley Hejlik: So keep that in mind when if you decide to make a purchase with SoyKitty, our bag will last one cat, one litter box, one full month.

00:23:19.188 --> 00:23:19.628
Michelle Fern: Okay.

00:23:19.628 --> 00:23:22.868
Michelle Fern: And is there any particular challenge with multi cats?

00:23:22.868 --> 00:23:28.908
Michelle Fern: And I know that the litter box, cats, amount of cats equals amount of litter boxes plus one.

00:23:28.908 --> 00:23:30.388
Michelle Fern: So you have all that.

00:23:30.388 --> 00:23:36.588
Michelle Fern: Any challenge with some cats might transition sooner than others, but you have four.

00:23:36.588 --> 00:23:39.648
Michelle Fern: Some I know might take to it faster than others.

00:23:39.648 --> 00:23:47.148
Michelle Fern: I could tell you already, Dennis could care less, Molly will be a little bit interested, and Charlotte is misunderstood, so we could only hope.

00:23:47.748 --> 00:23:51.168
Michelle Fern: But you know how your cat's personalities are.

00:23:51.168 --> 00:24:02.848
Michelle Fern: What do you think, Ashley, any differences with SoyKitty as any other litter as far as multi-cats, some cats be in particular, or what about cats that are misunderstood?

00:24:02.848 --> 00:24:04.468
Michelle Fern: Is it an attraction?

00:24:04.468 --> 00:24:12.348
Ashley Hejlik: So I don't think it's really any different from any other litters in that regard if you have multi-cats.

00:24:12.348 --> 00:24:38.808
Ashley Hejlik: But in general, if you have multiple litter boxes and multiple cats, I would recommend keeping a litter box in different locations throughout the house, making sure that the locations are private, they're quiet in low action areas, and they're easy for your cats to get into, just so they have multiple options, because you don't want one litter box and the cats fighting to use the bathroom.

00:24:39.328 --> 00:24:41.228
Ashley Hejlik: That's how accidents happen.

00:24:41.228 --> 00:24:48.388
Ashley Hejlik: But in regard to any particularities for our litter, I don't think so.

00:24:48.388 --> 00:25:00.248
Ashley Hejlik: I think it's just knowing your cats, knowing cats' behavior and making sure they have plenty of clean litter boxes and multiple locations throughout the house that are safe for them.

00:25:00.248 --> 00:25:03.488
Michelle Fern: Yes, and for everyone listening, I do.

00:25:03.488 --> 00:25:09.268
Michelle Fern: Charlotte is special, and she was also a community cat for a while when we adopted her.

00:25:09.268 --> 00:25:15.708
Michelle Fern: So I think she just doesn't want to transition, even though she's been in the house for seven years now.

00:25:16.268 --> 00:25:18.968
Ashley Hejlik: So we all have that difficult cat.

00:25:18.968 --> 00:25:19.128
Lee Kaufman: Yes.

00:25:19.128 --> 00:25:22.848
Ashley Hejlik: I think if you have multiple cats, yeah, we all have that one.

00:25:22.848 --> 00:25:25.348
Michelle Fern: Yeah, it's just how it is.

00:25:25.348 --> 00:25:27.408
Michelle Fern: She needs maybe cat therapy.

00:25:27.408 --> 00:25:28.568
Michelle Fern: Who knows?

00:25:28.568 --> 00:25:41.428
Lee Kaufman: Michelle, I think I'd like to just say that there's a huge sea change happening in the pet space where pet owners are becoming more engaged and interested in the brands that they're buying for their pets.

00:25:41.428 --> 00:25:44.728
Lee Kaufman: They want to know about the founders sometimes.

00:25:45.228 --> 00:25:47.488
Lee Kaufman: They want to know the supply chain.

00:25:47.488 --> 00:25:49.008
Lee Kaufman: They want to know what they're giving.

00:25:49.008 --> 00:25:54.068
Lee Kaufman: Their pet is as healthy as what they're giving their kids or themselves.

00:25:54.068 --> 00:26:00.248
Lee Kaufman: And so the companies that are starting to crop up are really in an effort to serve these people.

00:26:00.248 --> 00:26:02.988
Lee Kaufman: And that's sort of the ethos of our company.

00:26:02.988 --> 00:26:18.908
Lee Kaufman: So our goal is to create a long-standing relationship and a connected one with our customers to show them a bit behind the scenes of the company so that they know who we are, how we tick, what we believe in, and that the products are in line with our values.

00:26:18.908 --> 00:26:30.768
Lee Kaufman: And so you're seeing this a lot in pets in general, that the pet owners are way more actively involved in what they're doing to support their pets than ever before.

00:26:30.768 --> 00:26:37.748
Lee Kaufman: And so we're trying to be a good citizen and a good player in that space, and we think we have a product.

00:26:37.748 --> 00:26:48.388
Lee Kaufman: We're sure we have a product that will serve the audience well, and we're trying to do our best to connect with the audience so that they feel like they have a friend and a partner in their process as well.

00:26:48.388 --> 00:26:49.168
Michelle Fern: Thank you for that.

00:26:49.168 --> 00:27:00.268
Michelle Fern: And you're correct, there's a lot more transparency than there ever has been with ingredients and more than food, food litter, treats, but other things as well.

00:27:00.268 --> 00:27:01.828
Lee Kaufman: And I'll add one more thing.

00:27:01.828 --> 00:27:06.568
Lee Kaufman: We're a very ambitious company, but we're being slow and pragmatic about our decisions.

00:27:06.568 --> 00:27:24.688
Lee Kaufman: So the next year hopefully is going to be a year where we continue to optimize formulation and even do some additional formulation in the US so that we have even more visibility into the supply chain and we bring the ingredients closer to the customers.

00:27:24.688 --> 00:27:30.208
Lee Kaufman: So we have a meeting next Friday with some beautiful partners that may be the right fit for us.

00:27:30.208 --> 00:27:41.588
Lee Kaufman: So we're continuing to expand the product line and like you said, adding visibility to the customers so that we just continue to show them exactly what we do and who we are all along the way.

00:27:41.588 --> 00:27:50.008
Ashley Hejlik: And just the last thing about that is I love my cats more than pretty much anything else on this whole planet.

00:27:50.008 --> 00:27:59.228
Ashley Hejlik: And so I'm keeping that in mind when we're creating new products, when we're optimizing our current litter formulation.

00:27:59.228 --> 00:28:07.268
Ashley Hejlik: I am using these products and if it's not good enough for my cats, we're not putting it on the market.

00:28:07.268 --> 00:28:12.908
Ashley Hejlik: So our products are made with love and with a cat's safety and health in mind.

00:28:12.908 --> 00:28:13.348
Michelle Fern: Thank you.

00:28:13.348 --> 00:28:15.068
Michelle Fern: And you also have a great website.

00:28:15.068 --> 00:28:18.288
Michelle Fern: Your frequently asked questions are very thorough.

00:28:18.288 --> 00:28:23.068
Michelle Fern: You are very explicit and just fantastic information.

00:28:23.068 --> 00:28:27.068
Michelle Fern: Let's talk about finally, where can people buy SoyKitty?

00:28:27.428 --> 00:28:27.728
Ashley Hejlik: Yeah.

00:28:27.728 --> 00:28:37.528
Ashley Hejlik: So if you go to soykitty.com, soykitty.com, you can actually purchase there.

00:28:37.528 --> 00:28:44.768
Ashley Hejlik: We offer a one-time purchase capability as well as a flexible subscription option.

00:28:44.768 --> 00:28:52.788
Ashley Hejlik: So if you want to create a subscription and get delivered every month or at a cadence of your choosing, we offer that as well.

00:28:52.788 --> 00:28:58.668
Michelle Fern: Well, I want to thank you so much for coming on Best Bets for Pets, and I wish you great success with SoyKitty.

00:28:58.668 --> 00:28:59.788
Ashley Hejlik: Thank you, Michelle.

00:28:59.788 --> 00:29:04.228
Lee Kaufman: Yeah, thanks, Michelle, for your support and for letting us in on this conversation.

00:29:04.228 --> 00:29:06.388
Michelle Fern: I hope everybody enjoyed this show.

00:29:06.448 --> 00:29:08.668
Michelle Fern: Please check out soykitty.com.

00:29:08.668 --> 00:29:10.348
Michelle Fern: It's a great letter.

00:29:10.348 --> 00:29:11.508
Michelle Fern: My crew loved it.

00:29:11.508 --> 00:29:16.108
Michelle Fern: I want to thank Dennis, Charlotte, and Molly for testing out SoyKitty.

00:29:16.108 --> 00:29:19.688
Michelle Fern: And I liked it that it was dust-free because I do have mild asthma.

00:29:19.688 --> 00:29:23.648
Michelle Fern: So anything that is dust-free is a plus in my book.

00:29:24.168 --> 00:29:27.468
Michelle Fern: I want to thank everybody that's listening to Best Bets for Pets.

00:29:27.468 --> 00:29:30.068
Michelle Fern: I so appreciate your loyalty.

00:29:30.068 --> 00:29:31.908
Michelle Fern: So thank you so much.

00:29:31.908 --> 00:29:37.708
Michelle Fern: I want to thank my guests, Ashley and Lee, for coming on Best Bets for Pets and telling us all about SoyKitty.

00:29:37.708 --> 00:29:42.048
Michelle Fern: And of course, the show wouldn't be the same without the magic of my producer, Mark Winter.

00:29:42.048 --> 00:29:52.408
Michelle Fern: So thank you so much, Mark, for working your magic as you do show after show and working so hard to edit all these shows and make them sound great for everyone listening.

00:29:52.608 --> 00:29:53.788
Michelle Fern: So thank you.

00:29:53.808 --> 00:29:59.368
Michelle Fern: And hey, remember, you never know what we're going to have next on Best Bets for Pets.

00:29:59.368 --> 00:30:05.368
Announcer: Let's Talk Pets, every week on demand, only on petliferadio.com.

 

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