What is it with the chain pet stores...

... I just visited the new Petco here in Portland... over on Glisan... I was glad because it's SO much closer to me than the others... the grand opening isn't for another week and a half, but most retail stores do a 'soft open' to get all the kinks out and get new people comfy with the workings of the store... so I head over there because JJ and Jack aren't taking to the Nature's Recipe as gung-ho as I would like, so I picked up some of the other food to mix in with it... they love that stuff...

here's my beef: the cat section, despite being a new and 'larger' store, is still small... they actually have less cat furniture than the other, 'smaller' store. Sheesh.

Any ideas on a good local store that has a better selection of general stuff for cats? It's like they're all biased to prefer dogs... I know dogs are bigger, but hey... cats are awesome, too. They certainly deserve an equal amount of space... though if it were up to me, I'd make the cat section bigger... but hey, I'm biased too...

For Portland folk... gee, is the town more dogs on the east side and cats on the west? Right now I'm on the east side... but may eventually move to the west side... but I'm staying put for a while...

Just grumbling....

Amanda

I don't think most stores stock a lot of cat trees anymore. Nowadays most people buy cat trees online, since the prices are much better. Cat trees are also difficult to stock.

I know in Texas they get dusty in stores quickly and they start to absorb the odors of the animals. It only takes one bratty kid to ruin a $200 piece of cat furniture.

I know... I'll probably end up buying online... the movers finally arrived Sunday, so all my boxes are stacked up in the dining area [I don't have a table andchairs, so it's the best place]... i was doing dishes this morning and looked up to find them both sitting on boxes taller than me and watching me wash the dishes... Now I KNOW I need a tree.... They love being up there...

I guess I just figured they'd have a better selection of toys and everything overall... and they didn't. It's certainly a nice clean store, but it didn't impress me THAT much. I'll probably still go down to the Petsmart for toys... not like they NEED any more toys... God knows they have a ton. But this one just didn't have a lot of choices... which was pretty pathetic... IMHO. But hey... they wanna cater to dog people... fine... as long as they keep my foods in stock and fresh [the pack of cans i picked up at the other one are a little older... the food has lost some moisture... all the cans are like that... grrr...] I'll keep going there. it's a lot closer... and with my clunky van, I need all the close places I can get!!

Amanda

This might not be much help, but I like the cat selection in Petsmart more than Petco. There is a new Petsmart over in Gresham on Eastman Pkwy, south of Division. When I had access to a Petsmart, I fed my cats Authority.

I'm all over the place for cat stuff...mostly a local chain here (Pet Supplies Plus). They seem to be better priced than the other chains.

When you were in Petco, did they have the high-fashion cat stuff? I forget what it was called, but ours has this upscale section for the cats and its totally silly. Their clothing section for cats included rain coats with little hoods. I cracked up! I couldn't stop laughing.

There's a Petco, a Pet Smart and a Pet Club here in Mountain View, California, and they all have an excellent cat range. The new Pet Smart has a massive range of food - every brand you can think of, and lots of toys and treats as well as a cat adoption centre through the local cat rescue group.

The Pet Club is the cheapest, and has huge bags of cat food and litter and a good range of everything else you can imagine, but isn't as "pretty" a store as the Pet Smart - it looks a bit too warehousey.

The Petco probably has the smallest range, but is still comprehensive enough.

I prefer the petsmart to the petco. It seems to be better priced, easier to get around, and I guess I'm just used to it. We have another big store- pet supplies plus, but it's not in a area that I go to a lot. I don't usually pick up kitty litter there though.. usually I buy that at the grocery store in bulk when it goes on sale.

Overall, if I have to choose between Petco and Petsmart, I would much rather deal with Petsmart.. but the foods I give them [I mix two dry foods...] are only at Petco... I just like to go get everything at once... not go hunting... like when I buy litter and food, I'll pick up a new toy...

I saw Pet Supplies Plus back in the Chicago area... never saw one downtown where I was. I just checked their website, they're only in the midwest and east... shame... they had a cat tree I fell in love with... and was affordable too... it had the thick branches for posts, instead of the straight posts... nice and natural for scratching... the ones at Petsmart tend to be all carpet [bad Petsmart... you need sisal ones]. Maybe I can convince my friend Mark to get it for me and bring it out here when him and his wife visit in a couple months... heh heh heh... I doubt I could get them to do it... but I was with them when I saw it, and they know how much I was drooling over that thing....

Maybe one of the non-chain shops here has it... or something similar... all IL know is that once these boxes are gone, I'm gonna be on the receiving end of some filthy stares... they've now had a nice taste of high places... and they probably won't leave me alone until i satisfy them...

Amanda