Read time: 2.5 mins
Our favourite time of the week, we sat down with our good pal Chantal for a Saturday morning coffee to find out everything about her and her cat pal Riku. Chantal is one of our colleagues at Republic HQ, but has betrayed the feline kind by working for the dog team over at tails.com – just kidding, we (cats included) still love you! Let’s get into it.
So we kind of gave the game away, but tell us a little bit more about what you do for work over on the dog side of the office?
I’m a Social Media Manager at tails.com – which means I get to spend a fair bit of time around animals and looking at pictures of animals – it really is the highlight of my day! I’ve mostly always worked in marketing, starting out in social media after my degree and post-graduate in journalism which taught me invaluable skills, and worked my way up to where I am now. I’m a big fan of learning, and the ever-changing world of marketing certainly keeps me on my toes!
Despite the business of dogs 9-5, are you a cat person deep down?
Yes! I’m a big animal person in general, but I grew up with two cats, one of them sleeping on my bed every night, and to me a home doesn’t feel complete without a little furry bundle of chaos. I never understand how people don’t love cats. They’re hilarious. They can be soft and loving and warm, but also knock something over and scare themselves, or just stare at you as you eat your dinner and not even try to subtly steal it – it’s their world, we’re just living in it.
How many cats do you have now and what’s their story?
I always wanted a cat of my own, but was waiting for the right time. When that finally came around I started looking for rescue cats – we’d had a rescue when I was younger and she was so sweet, I wanted to help another cat in need. It took my boyfriend and I a few months to find the one. We found a small charity who usually rehomed dogs but they had discovered some abandoned kittens. We applied, went through some questions and then were told we’d been successful. I was SO excited. When it came to choosing a kitten, Riku had some moustache type markings and a spark in her eye which really drew us to her. She made the journey over from Romania with her siblings and we were so happy to finally have her home. When we let her out of the cat carrier she couldn’t decide who she wanted to sit on or get attention from, so she kept running back and forth between the two of us. It was the cutest thing ever, so loving from the get go! I was working from home at the time, so I was able to keep her company, play with her and stop her climbing the curtains! She even used to come curl up on my lap as I was working, which I just loved. She’s very vocal so we have some great back and forth chats. She’s now 2 and a half and still pretty chaotic but it definitely keeps us entertained.
Quite the character, you must have some cute nicknames for her?
Little one. Tiny Bean. Noisy one. Tiny mush. Tiny floof. The floof. Trouble maker. Guardian of the stairs. Shadow spawn. “Oi you”. Queen of chaos.
What does a typical Saturday morning routine look like in your house?
Usually it kicks off with Riku waking me up – either for snuggle time or jumping on me and attacking my feet. Then it’s onto the cleaning, which Riku supervises wholeheartedly, watching the hoover’s progress from above. Then she’ll help with making the bed by attacking the sheets or climbing into the duvet cover. After that we have a little downtime before lunch for a little cuddle and nap together. Basically, I get a few things done, but my time mostly revolves around Riku!
If you had £5 to spend on anything over the weekend to treat yourself, what would you buy and why?
If it’s for me – cinnamon roll and a hot chocolate. They’re my favourite and feel like such a treat! For Riku – a cat wand toy. She just loves chasing them around and jumping around, but does have a habit of overusing them until they break, so we have to have stand-bys available!
Do you have an anthem that’s your Saturday vibe?
I usually listen to a podcast when I’m cleaning on a Saturday morning as it’s a bit longer and lasts the whole time I’m scrubbing away, so I don’t have to worry about shuffling songs. I tend to swap podcasts, but some of my favourites are No Such Thing As A Fish, Off Menu and The Super-Massive Podcast.
What’s the coolest cat person thing you own?
Probably a Pusheen jumper. It’s comfy but also outwardly proclaims me as the cat-obsessed person I am!
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