Our story
About Mittenwell
An independent cat care site, written by a small team of cat people who wanted the kind of clear, calm advice we wished we had found when we started.
How it started
Mittenwell began with a small, suspicious tortoiseshell called Pip. Maren Holloway adopted her from a shelter in 2018, a few weeks after moving into her first apartment on her own. Pip spent her first four days behind the washing machine, and Maren spent them reading every cat article she could find.
The trouble was that half of it contradicted the other half. One page said to leave a new cat alone; another said to handle her constantly. Some advice was out of date, a lot of it was written mainly to sell something, and very little of it said clearly when a problem needed a veterinarian. Maren started keeping her own notes instead: what her vet told her, what the shelter staff suggested, and what the published guidance from veterinary organizations actually said.
A few years and several foster kittens later, friends were asking for those notes so often that she tidied them up and put them online. That became Mittenwell in 2021. The name is a nod to Pip's white front paws, and to the idea that a cat's wellbeing is mostly built from small, ordinary things done well.
Pip is now a senior cat with firm opinions about breakfast. She no longer hides behind the washing machine.
Who we are
We are deliberately small. Everything on the site is written, checked and updated by the two of us, with occasional help from friends who foster for local rescues.
Maren Holloway
Founder and writer
Maren has volunteered with cat rescues and fostered kittens for years, from bottle babies to shy adults who needed a quiet place to learn that people are all right. She writes most of our care guides and still answers most of the email.
Tobias Fenn
Editor
Tobias spent more than a decade as a newspaper copy editor before joining Mittenwell. He edits every guide for accuracy and clarity, writes many of the breed profiles, and shares his home with two elderly cats who supervise his work closely.
Neither of us is a veterinarian or veterinary nurse, and we will never pretend otherwise. You will not find a "vet approved" badge on this site.
How we write our guides
Our job is to take the best available guidance on cat care and make it easy to use at home. In practice that means:
- We start from mainstream veterinary guidance. We read the guidelines and owner information published by veterinary and feline welfare organizations, such as the American Association of Feline Practitioners, the International Society of Feline Medicine and International Cat Care, the American Animal Hospital Association, university veterinary schools and animal poison control services. Where experts disagree, we say so.
- We do not invent numbers. If we cannot point to a reliable source for a figure, we leave it out rather than guess.
- We tell you when to call a vet. Every health-related guide includes the signs that mean your cat needs professional help, and we try to be unambiguous about emergencies.
- We keep guides up to date. Each guide shows the date it was last updated, and we review our main guides at least once a year, or sooner when guidance changes.
- We correct mistakes openly. If you find an error, please tell us. We fix factual errors as soon as we have checked them.
Independence
Mittenwell is independent. We are not owned by a pet food company, a pet retailer or an insurer, we do not accept payment to feature products or breeders, and we do not use affiliate links. When we mention a type of product, it is because we think it is useful, not because someone paid us to.
What Mittenwell is not
Our guides are general information about healthy household cats. They cannot replace an examination by a veterinarian who knows your cat. If your cat is unwell, injured or has eaten something it should not have, please contact your veterinarian or an emergency animal hospital rather than searching online. In the US, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, (888) 426-4435, and Pet Poison Helpline, (855) 764-7661, are available around the clock for suspected poisonings; both may charge a fee.
Get in touch
We love hearing from readers, whether it is a correction, a question for a future guide or a photo of your cat. Use our contact form or email hello@mittenwell.com. If you would like a friendly email every other Sunday, you can sign up for the Mittenwell Letter.