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They could be
called the Odd Trio: a burned-out TV writer, a utility contractor,
and a stray cat with an attitude. They merged their talents and
skills to create Fe-Lines, Inc., a company with an innovative
line of products designed to make life less complicated for cats
and their owners.
For 25 years,
Bonnie Pemberton acted, wrote screenplays, and did radio voice-overs,
mostly on the West Coast. But the combination of competition, stress,
and reaching her mid 40's made her ask, "Is this really what I want
to do when I grow up?"
Pemberton packed
up two cats headed home to Texas. During the three-day drive, she
wished had a collapsible cat carrier that could fold flat when not
in use. Once in Texas, she found carriers that could be disassembled
by removing bolts, but she wanted something much easier to fold.
Pemberton's long-time friend and closet inventor, Frank Wolfe came
to her rescue. It took more than a year, but he came up the Kitty
Kabby, a plastic carrier that can hold a 35 lb. animal and can
be flattened to a height of 1 ½". No assembly is required.
Necessity proved
to be the mother of other Pemberton inventions and the opening of
Fe-Lines, Inc., in January 1996. Her stubborn cat, Buddy's
insistence on scratching her sofa sparked Pemberton to come up with
Sticky Paws, a product designed to repel scratching cats.
"My couch looked like it exploded", she said with a laugh. "It was
embarrassing". Pemberton, who is opposed to declawing cats, tried
attaching plastic wrap and aluminum foil to her couch, but neither
dissuaded Buddy.
Wolfe learned
that cats don't like sticky things, and set out to find an adhesive
substance that was nontoxic and would not damage fabric. After two
months, he came up with water-soluble, specially formulated adhesive
strips. "The cat touches it once and can't stand the stickines,"
Pemberton explained. "It never touches it again. It was magical.
If they moved to another spot, I put some there."
Wolfe and Pemberton
also came up with Sticky Paws for Plants, a product that
repels cats from plants. Because it worked on the indomitable, Buddy,
they figured they had a hit on their hands. "All of my cats are
using the scratching post for the first time. Everybody gets to
keep their toes, and everyone gets to keep their furniture".
In October,
Pemberton and Wolfe officially launched their product line to the
public at the Backer Pet Products Show, a major pet-trade
exhibition in Chicago, and a month later at the Cat Fanciers
Association Invitational Cat Show in Anaheim, CA. Since October,
more that 3,000 units of Sticky Paws have been sold with
one reported complaint, according to Wolfe.
A Dallas factory
manufactures Sticky Paws and Sticky Paws for Plants.
A Fort Worth corrugated box factory stamps out the plastic for the
Kitty Kabby, and Wolfe, who is retired, assembles the kabbies. Ann
Rollow, owner of Cats Unlimited in Bedford, said several
customers have returned to say how pleased they were with Sticky
Paws. "It's just common sense that it would work", Rollow said.
"No cat wants to touch sticky stuff. This is the best, easiest,
and least expensive alternative to declawing".
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