Fido is a brown, black and white tabby cat that pounced into his owner's life about 10 years ago. Taking their friends advice, Fido and his mom created Fido the Cat: the cutest cat toys you've ever seen!

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Can you tell me a little about you?

Coming from a graphics background, there was definitely a learning curve to the sewing world.

Creating cat toys is time consuming and so is getting the creative juices flowing. An idea may spark while I am walking in an antique store, or just going to the supermarket. Most of the inspirations come from my muse, Fido. I saw an ad for donuts and I bet Fido never had a really delicious chocolate donut, so I decided to create one just for him with extra catnip seasoning.

When I get an idea, the first thing I go for is my box of eco-felt materials. I quickly sew the idea together, just enough to see if the idea works. If it looks right, I make a clean version choosing the right colors and fabrics and give it to Fido to play/test with. Fido’s role is to test each stage of the development. If the design doesn’t fly with him, I go back to the drawing board.

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Why you decided you to create your company?

Ten years ago, a brown, black, and white tabby cat popped into my life. He was persistent in deciding to stay with me, so I adopted him. He didn’t want his name changed, so Fido it is. Fido and I were playing one day. He wasn’t too enthusiastic with the toys we were playing with. I had a few scraps of fabric left from a project and on an impulse I made him a simple fish filled with catnip. I couldn’t believe how excited he was. Just for fun, I made cat toys in shapes of sushi rolls for our friends as gifts for the holidays. I did the whole bit, create the label and packaging. I was surprised to hear how much everyone liked the gifts. Mostly they told me, I should start my own business, so here I am.

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What was your greatest challenges?

After Fido’s passing in January 2013, my first thoughts were to finish up the last few designs concept that Fido approved and close the design doors. When I shared this news, I was surprised as to how many people have asked me not to stop creating and to continue with Fido the Cat. Our friends Sammi, Zoe and their mom have stepped up to volunteer to be the team to help test future cat toy concepts. So it's with that spirit that I continue to focus on Fido the Cat.

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What are your plans for the future?

 Fido the Cat is still young and small. I would like to see the cat toys in main street boutiques. I am thrilled the cat toys reached Canada, Norway, Singapore and United Kingdom in the first year. I currently ship worldwide. I hope to reach more countries very soon.

My greatest reward is when I receive pictures sent by the owners showing how much their kitties are enjoying their cat toys.

You can follow Fido the cat's news on Yummypets, and order their amazing toys on their website! And don't forget to like their Facebook page!

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