Shelly Berman, owner of Woodsprite downtown, with Freyja. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

        P.J. the tabby might be hiding in a box of bird seed. Fat cats Hamilton and Judy are often asleep on a store shelf that's been converted to miniature bunk beds. Service just isn't what it used to be.

        If you were expecting a little unconditional love with your valve job or your pewter candlesticks, you might have to wait your turn. The four-legged staffers at Just Saab in Fairfield, Hebron Hardware in Hebron and Intuitive, downtown, could have other things to do.

        But, like the dozens of other cats that have become regulars at dozens of other retail stores in the Tristate, they bring a lot of value to the businesses when they're there.

        Pet ownership — and pet esteem — is on the rise. U.S. households with pets have increased from 56 percent to 61 percent in the last 10 years, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

PET POWER

In a recent survey of spokespeople for more than 100 U.S. companies that allow pets in the workplace:   • 100 percent said pets relax employees.   • 73 percent said pets promote a more productive work environment.   • 73 percent said pets promote a more creative work environment.   • 27 percent reported a reduction in absenteeism.   Source: American Pet Products Manufacturers Association

        More than 31.2 million households have more than 74.8 million cats,according to the American Pet Association (APA). As a measure of esteem, the APA reported that more than 65 million dogs and cats get christmas presents.

        “They're my furry children,” laughs Shelly Berman, owner of Woodsprite, a downtown novelty shop that's home to Puck and Freyja. “When people want to buy them, I tell them, "I'll sell you my cats if you'll sell me your child.'

        “People like to come in here to see the cats a couple of times a week — for stress relief. Then they come back at the end of the week and buy things,” Ms. Berman says.

        Lotus Wittkopf, who runs Intuitive, a gifts-and-accessories store on the same block, keeps two cats, too.

        “I have customers who come in just to get a cat fix,” she says. “Others see them and never come back. Some people just are afraid of cats.”

        And “some people are turned off by allergies and so forth,” says Albert Mikula, general manager at Just Saab in Madisonville, where employees cared for a cat for 15 years.

OTHER PET PLACES

Some other local spots where you might find animals helping to please Tristate customers:   • College Hill Pet Clinic   • Contemporary Galleries, downtown   • Dickens Book Shop, Lebanon   • Doll Clinic, Covington   • Durham Recreation Center   • Gardens Alive, Lawrenceburg   • God Save the Queen, downtown   • Leisgang Country & Garden Store, Bridgetown   • Nicholson's Antiques, O'Bryonville   • Reliable, downtown   • Strasse Haus, Covington

        Clint, was named for actor Clint Eastwood because “he was one rough cat,” died two months ago.

        “He was a landmark here,” Mr. Mikula says. “One customer painted a portrait of him, and it's still hanging in the waiting area.”

        Already, Mr. Mikula and his co-workers have a replacement kitten, a stray that wandered into a better life on Oct. 12..

        The compassion for animals is similar at the company's other store, in Fairfield, where an abandoned car (a Saab) was converted to a comfortable winter cat house for strays. Just Saab also keeps four dogs.

        “They set a tone for the place,” says Just Saab owner Robin Horstmeyer. “Ninety-nine, point nine-nine percent of the customers love them.”

        “We say her job is PR (public relations),” jokes Frank Herold, who owns Hebron Hardware with his wife, Margaret. He is speaking of P.J., the Herolds' gray tabby that “comes to work most every day.”

        “Like everybody else, some days, she doesn't want to get up.” And so, being a cat, she doesn't.

        Judy, one of the two cats at Intuitive, sometimes gets up at the most inappropriate time.

        “I've had customers who thought she was fake,” Ms. Wittkopf says, “They'll walk up to her, and then she moves and purrs.

        “I've had people scream in the store.”

How about a fish?
        If you're not a cat or dog person, consider a swimmer instead.

        The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, always willing to sell more fish food and submersible houses, is promoting Take a Fish to Work Day, Wednesday.

        As part of the campaign, the association, a trade group of more than 600 companies, will distribute goldfish, starter supplies and information that morning at New York's Empire State Building and Chicago's James R. Thompson Center.

        All of which could be very good news for the cats that hang out in stores and offices.

        For more information, call the association at (203) 532-0000 or go to www.appma.org and click on the carp with a briefcase.

        Source: American Pet Products Manufacturers Association

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