CatCon has been taking place in Pasadena, California, since 2015 and has welcomed over 100,000 participants. Their mission is “to spread joy and goodness to cats and the people who love them.”
It was the creation of Susan Michals, a previous television producer and journalist. The idea came to her when she hosted a cat art show in Los Angeles, and more than 4,000 people came to see it.
"It was young, it was hip, it was trendy. It was hungry for information about cats and things for cat people. So I thought, you know what I need to do? I need to go broader. And that's how CatCon was born," Michals told LAist.
When their doors first opened, they didn’t expect such a flow of people. Around 700 people were waiting in a line that stretched around the block. The bathrooms quickly became jammed by traffic, and the cat adoption area was blocked with benches to limit the number of people. Thankfully, their no-pet policy ensured that no pets were crushed or injured by the crowds of people.
Since then, they’ve grown tremendously. From 2015 to 2023, they went from 63 to 200 exhibitors that bring a combination of products for cats and people each year. It now holds the title of being the biggest event solely dedicated to our feline friends.
Their core values include informing and educating people through entertaining and outside-the-box activities, supporting shelters locally and nationwide, and vigorously promoting the “adopt, don’t shop” mindset. They are further trying to debunk the negative cat lady perception and prove that having a cat can be hip and stylish.
During last year’s event, they found new homes for over 160 kittens through Best Friends Animal Society. The 130,000-square-foot convention center hosted an abundance of cat-themed products featuring the latest litterbox technology and towers.
Booths of kitty art were also very popular among vendors. They were full of paintings, pillows, totes, and sculptures capturing these feline beauties in almost every material and medium possible. One of the highlights was the "Karma is a Cat Art Show" exhibition, which displayed Taylor Swift’s best moments with cats.
