Catsbury Park's Second Annual Cat Convention

Two crazy cat ladies. It runs in the family!

I recently went to the second annual Catsbury Park Cat Convention, which was held in Asbury Park, NJ and run by Catsbury Park Cat Cafe.

When I saw the advertisement last year I wasn't all that sure I wanted to go again.  I went to the first one they held last year and while I enjoyed it, it was absolutely packed and I think some things could have been done better. But it was their first convention and I don't think they expected the huge turnout they got. Ultimately I decided to go since it's was only $40.00 for both days and the proceeds go to charity.

The weather was warmer this time; however, it was very windy out by the water (the Asbury Park Convention Hall is on the boardwalk).  Unfortunately there was a fire at the Dunes Boardwalk Cafe while we were there. It started right before we arrived at the convention hall and burned all day. It was extinguished for a short time, but the high winds caused it to reignite. It was actually still smoldering the next morning. The Dunes is about a half mile or so away, but the air was pretty smokey both days. Luckily we didn't have to evacuate.

When we arrived on Friday we visited the Catsbury Park Cat Cafe on Friday afternoon. It's a vegan cafe. One side is the cafe and the other is the cat lounge where you can hang out with the cats, play with them, feed them treats, or eat your own vegan treats.  All the kitties are up for adoption. Last year I went on Saturday night after the convention and it was SO, so busy and the cats were either sleeping, hiding or cranky. This time they were mostly all awake, happy and ready to play. The added bonus was that my cousin and I were practically the only ones there so we got to hog the kitties.

Here's one of the Cafe residents. This was a playful Tuxedo kitty.
Actually, several of the cats were Tuxedos, some with white whiskers!

We then headed over to the convention hall for early wrist-banding and then off to dinner at the Americana Diner (great diner!). I’m so glad they did early wrist-banding this year. Last year was the first convention they held and I think the huge turnout was really unexpected and the lines were very long (it was actually at legal capacity a half hour after opening last year), so they wanted to streamline this year.

We decided to use Uber for the convention Saturday morning so we wouldn’t have to get there super early in order to get good parking. Knowing that it’s not a huge convention, and that there isn’t much on the boardwalk to do this time of year, I didn’t want to be hanging around for over two hours before the presentation at noon I wanted to attend. It worked out well. We got there around 11:30 am, the Uber was half price so it only cost about $5.00 (cheaper than parking!), and we didn't have to deal with parking. It was awesome being able to walk right in and not have to wait in line. We walked around the convention floor for a bit, then headed over to the Paramount Theater to see “From Stray to Space: How Klaus became an Astrocat,” which was presented by Klaus’s dad, Mick. I was hoping Klaus would be there like he was last year, but he was hanging out at the hotel; he’s now 19 and Mick didn’t want to stress him out. (If you want to check out their Facebook page, click here:  https://www.facebook.com/TheKlausCat/. There are also some super cute videos here: You tube) I really enjoyed the presentation. Mick talked a lot about Oskar (now deceased) and Klaus's lives, as well as their efforts in helping bring books and resources to blind children. I teared up when he talked about Oskar's passing, which happened last year two months before the last convention.

The next presentation I wanted to see–Hannah Shaw, the Kitten Lady–wasn’t until 5:00 pm so we had quite a bit of time to kill. We shopped the convention hall, went up to the adoption lounge to look at the kitties (no, I didn’t adopt one!!), had appetizers at the Robinson Ale House, and shopped around the little mall that houses the convention hall. I ALMOST got a tattoo (Neptune Tattoo was there), but I chickened out at the last minute. I’ve never wanted a tattoo or even cared for them, but they had some really minimalist designs and I was thinking I’d be OK with one on my ankle or maybe my shoulder. (Plus I’m a crazy cat lady so why not advertise it and be proud of it?) I was thinking of this one below, but just a black outline with no coloring. Maybe next time!

I really enjoyed Hannah Shaw’s presentation, "All Things Kitten and Community Cats."  She showed some really cute videos of her neonatal kittens, a TNR (trap-neuter-return) project she worked on, as well as some other videos. She talked a lot about neonatal kittens and community cats (ferals) and how they’re the most at-risk cat population and how people can help. Lots of useful information. (Here's a link to her website, which has links to her different social media pages: http://www.kittenlady.org/follow.)

Sunday we did two celebrity cat meet and greets: Lil Bub, and Stache and Teddy (yes, I’m a geek and a crazy cat lady!). Most of the meet and greets were held at the Asbury Hotel. We made sure to get there at least 30-45 minutes before the meet and greets started since lines form early. I also wanted to try and get towards the front of the line so the cats wouldn't be cranky or tired. We got right into see Stache and Teddy due to the way they divided up the waiting area. We just happened to be on the side where people weren’t waiting and they told the Stache and Teddy attendees to wait there. Lil Bub, on the other hand, we waited about an hour, maybe a little more, since it started at the same time as Stache and Teddy, which meant we were nearly at the end of the line. But it was worth it. She’s adorable! Tiny and so mellow. (There was a young woman in front of us and she was saying that she was so excited to meet Lil Bub that she felt like she was going to faint! Mike, Lil Bub's owner, told her to calm herself since Bub was starting to pick up on her excitement. The woman ahead of her was talking about how she balled her eyes out last year when she met Bub for the first time, and that they had to tell her to calm down and get hold of herself before approaching Bub. I mean, I love cats and wanted to meet Bub, but I don’t put it quite on the same level as meeting Def Leppard. Although it was close!)

Me and Lil Bub.

Me with Bub and her "dude", Mike, as he's called. LOL

Me with Teddy (left) and Stache (right). Unfortunately I didn't get to sit with them this year.

Teddy and Stache. They're so cute, soft and well-behaved!

Before heading home I made my obligatory trip to Wegman’s to get some goodies (there’s no Wegman’s in my state so I go when I’m near one) and then we were on the road.

It was a good convention. I was so happy it wasn’t jam-packed like last year; however, there was the fire at the Dunes Boardwalk Cafe a half mile away, so perhaps the combo of the smokey air and the fact that the huge turnout last year soured some people (and that people didn’t actually read the website last year to know that it’s not a cat SHOW, it’s a CONVENTION) is what kept attendance down a bit. There were lots of great vendors. I got some artwork, cat toys, a door stop, and Lil Bub leggings and a mug (courtesy of my cousin). Got some yummy vegan treats, too. My only complaint this time around is that they seemed to go the opposite direction in terms of the presentations they had this year. Last year they had lots of them on both days, with generally two or three running concurrently. This year it seemed there weren’t many at all on Saturday, which is when most people attend the convention. Most were on Sunday when people would typically head home, as well as all the meet and greets being on Sunday, too. Although they added I think one or two on Saturday because Sunday sold out. And since the convention hall isn’t huge, and neither is the mall outside, it was hard to fill four hours in between the two presentations.

Here are some of the goodies I grabbed. I forgot to take pics of the cat toys and they're already scattered around the house. I got two catnip kickers and four wool mice. They didn't seem to have the free tote bags this time around; however, we didn't get there at opening time so they may have had them and run out by the time we got there.

Artwork is by Leeza Hernandez, http://www.leezaworks.com/

Artwork is by Leeza Hernandez, http://www.leezaworks.com/

My handmade door stop. Purple, of course!

I haven't decided if I'll put this on my desk at work or keep it at home.

My cousin got these for me. Crazy, aren't they?? This isn't me! It's from Lil Bub's online store. I actually had to send them back and get a bigger size since they run small. The store rep was very friendly and accommodating. I didn't even have to send the leggings or receipt back before they sent out a replacement pair! They just took my word for it! I also got a Lil Bub tea mug, but it's at work already.