Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stefanie Röder. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Stefanie, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I always have been creative and into art and crafts. It wasn’t until my mom’s cat, Muffin, was diagnosed with FIP that I started making my own cat toys.

Let me take you into the story of Muffin:
She was diagnosed with neurological FIP around May 2021. FIP is a fatal disease amongst cats, with no legal cure or prevention. The only treatment available, is one on the black market which costs thousands of euros.
Our total costs, excluding vet costs was over €2200 for the treatment alone. Which we could never afford.

We did it all. We put together candy packages that we could sell, we made tons of surprise boxes that we could sell, and ofcourse I started making my own cat toys to sell. All of the money made from everything that sold went directly to Muffin’s treatment.
I never hold a crochet hook in my life, but my neighbour showed me the basics so I was able to make catnip mice as a cat toy. They were so popular.
I made them until the end of her treatment and ever after that, when Muffin was declared ‘cured’, people kept asking for cat toys.
So that’s how Catly was born and how we expanded.

Stefanie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As I mentioned before, I started this small business to raise money for the treatment of my mom’s cat, who had FIP.

I’m currently 26 with a blooming business and couldn’t be more proud of that. But let’s be honest, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my costumers. The returning, but also the new costumers. Each and every one of them makes my business into what it is today.

Regular pet shops lack the amount of fun and themed cat toys. You always see a bunch of cute dog toys, but not a lot of cat toys. So that’s where we come in – we just make them ourselves! So that any owner and cat around the globe can have that fun, themed and handmade cat toy they’ve been looking for.
Most store bought cat toys lack the amount of catnip in them as well, as for ours, we always use fresh catnip with a string smell. That way we always know it’s a winner for the kitties!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Making people and cats around the globe happy.

I always ask my costumers to give me feedback-
If they like it, if the cats like it, if it’s strong enough, if it’s exactly what they wanted, etc.
And it warms my heart every time when they send me pictures and videos of their cats having a good time with our toys.

Just the cats having fun, being crazy and rolling around with our toys is exactly what we do what we do. And why I love what I do.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think it’s wanting everything to be perfect. I will never sell a toy that isn’t 100% the way I want it to be.

There is a lot of trial and error when doing this, so when I do have a specific thing in mind, I just go ahead and make it. But that doesn’t always mean it comes out the way I want it to be, and if it’s not – it will never be sold.

I want my costumers to have the best toys possible, quality wise and looks wise.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/catlytoys
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/catlytoys

Image Credits
@teddy_and_smudge @misterjynx_themainecoon @catlytoys