Tomcat Boutique is a family-run business. All items are made by one craftswoman who is supervised by 4 rescued felines.

Hello! My name is Jan Raffaele, and my passion has always been cats. I have a particular fondness for ferals and strays, though I must admit I’ve never met a cat I didn’t like! Cats are pure elegance – they really can’t be improved upon.

 

During my childhood, we moved often, my father always searching for greener pastures. I vividly remember one place we lived, in a rented, dilapidated house, but next to a wonderful barn that housed 6 or 7 wild kittens. It became my goal that summer, to tame those wild kittens and everyday I worked at getting closer and closer to them. I used milk and food as welcoming gifts to lure them, then advanced to make-shift toys (leaves, sticks) to keep their attention. By the time we moved, I was able to touch their noses and steal an occasional pat on the head! Who knows what further progress would have been made had we stayed?

 

I lived mostly in rural areas through my toddler and teenage years, and the idea of making a career helping animals was unheard of; this unmet need – helping homeless animals - persisted for many years. Though there were many career diversions throughout my adulthood, cats have always been close to my heart and part of my life.  It was in the late 1980’s when finally my life and career took a new turn, and I was able to switch from volunteering to help animals to full-time paid work as a director of animal shelters. Wow! … to be with cats everyday, and to help find new, permanent homes for abused and formerly unwanted cats and dogs was indeed a dream come true.

 

Most recently my energies have focused on two fronts.  The first is in the wild – saving feral cats in rural areas.  Learn more about the plight of feral cats. Over the past few months, I have been humanely trapping cats at a service plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and transporting them to a spay/neuter clinic in Pittsburgh for sterilization and then returning them to their only-known home at the PA Turnpike service plaza. This process – trap/neuter/return, or TNR, for short – is rapidly gaining a foothold in many communities throughout the U.S. It is my hope that the inhumane and traditional method of trapping and euthanizing feral cats will soon end.

 

The second front centers on making products for all those wonderful cat lovers, like me, to enjoy!  Catnip toys, cat beds, catnip catnaps, cat bandannas, you name it. This new web page is my way of bringing these unique products to you. All that I offer has been hand-crafted and sewn by me. I’m always looking to develop new products and most certainly welcome your ideas: email@tomcatboutique.com. 

 

At the hub of this enterprise is the acquisition of cat fabrics.  Not just any cat fabric, but only those I feel portray the wonders of catdom! To this end I have searched far and wide and have traveled throughout the country “cat fabric shopping.” As a result, I am extremely pleased to say that I have managed to accumulate a rather impressive collection in the order of 750 different cat fabrics. Each one is more whimsical than the next! You’ll be able to see a moderate selection of my fabric collection as you make fabric choices for items in the Celebrity Cat Gift Bag. If you wish, bookmark www.tomcatboutique.com so you can check back often to see new selections.

 

So, Welcome to Tomcat Boutique!  If you love cats even half as much as I do, this site should be just right for you! Hope you enjoy browsing through it and if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me!

 

Happy cating!! 
Jan Raffaele