Televised this week is the UK's new Ikea advert announcing the launch of the new season catalogue.
Ikea's promotional department emailed Cat Planet some weeks ago asking for our help to find cat owners willing to allow their cats to be used in a film they were recording, they received an overwhelming response taking up many applicants on their offer.
The finished advert is slick and professional with many beautiful cats and kittens featured in an Ikea store.
Youtube is also running the filming of the filming which paints a much different picture of a chaotic time filled with many cats and kittens jumping over screens put in place to contain them and cats becoming stuck behind partitions requiring a hole to be sawn through it to retrieve an elusive cat who at the last minute chose to evade capture by climbing back out!
Both the finished advert and film of the recording can be seen by clicking the links below.
I could watch that advert all day I didnt see any cat stressed and I think the owners were very brave to have their cats give us so much pleasure, whats the matter with you people call yourselves cat lovers, I don't think so otherwise you would be happy that our cats are getting the publicity they well deserve. I also am a long established breeder, and if I could have, I would have.
I have just read all of the comments above regarding the Ikea advert, I would like to say that none of the cats were under any stress wot so ever!! On set there were 3 on duty vets that were with the cats AT ALL TIMES!! Hundreds of pounds was spent on insuring every set was cat proof and there were no dangers to the cats. We had a holding area where the cats had every variety of cat food, cat milk, toys, bedding, heating and over 10 helpers including owners to give round the clock attention to the cats. Any cat that found the ordeal to much was removed from the set and put into a quiet holding area or taken home!! I dont think this experiance is any different to CAT SHOW where there are still over 300 hundred cats in tiny pens in one room,getting removed from there unfamiliar pen by strangers, prodding them about!!! It is pathetic and all of the breeders making these horrid comments just prove to me that cat breeders are nasty jealous individuals, and there only issues are JEALOUSLY!!! If you feel so strongly about the Ikea advert complain the RSPCA and have Ikea sued for misconduct of cruelty to animals, i think you will find that you will all be laughed at!!!!!!
As a cat lover and breeder I was horrified to see cats being thrown on shot. I would not have been at all interested in putting my cats through this ordeal and certainly would not want to put my name to it.
I agree that although all the cats are well looked after by their breeders, it is a mistake to use them in such a fashion. Cats are naturally curious and there seemed to be little thought put into stopping them getting stuck in awkward places and trapped. Having so many cats from different households as well would mean a lot of different smells and cause territorial problems. For this reason I was actually appalled to see cats which are obviously kittens ie less than a year old involved. I am sure that most cat owners know that it does not take much to stress out cats as they are sensitive creatures and the damage, once done, can take ages to undo if it can be undone at all.
As a breeeder I can't imagine my cat's in such a stressful situation. I'm sorry but it's hard to believe that warehouse is a safe place for a 100 cats wondering about. Place that these cats don't know, full of wobbly furnitures. It's not possible to have 100 cats running loose, under control. It was very dagerous and irresponsible!
Sorry but as a long established Cat breeder i would not put my cats or expect any body else's through that,I have been on outside broadcasts and studio sets and know what go's on, and a film crew and it's producers are only interested in there final shot/results that's there job, I would have wanted more input in what happens as to make sure the welfare of any cats comes first, as i know how easy it is to get bad publicity.
I was approached by and agent, that my cats have worked for before, to supply 2 Sphynx and 10 Ragdolls, for this ad'. This ended up as 7 Sphynx and 46 Ragdolls on set.
We were shooting for 3 nights, with all the cats and I resting during the day, in hotel near by.
It was wonderfull to work with my Dear friends Jay, Andy and their cats too. Between us we were now in excess of 70 cats. Some of the cats were trained cats, they are the ones that were more Moggie in appearance. However it was these cats that got into 'scrapes' and would climb off and out of set.
Despite being a stressful operation the time spent filming was amazing. Having all 'that' fun with you cats, to see how they reacted and responded in accordance with this new setting.
True to form they were all so well behaved and their lovely natures shone through.
My scariest moment was to let Phat Paws Professor Plumb in the wear-house but as he is a Mummy's boy he went from A to B without faultier, for his treats and cuddles.
You cant see and they dont explain about the vet being there. Each cat has an extensive vetting in and documents have to be produced. Each cat is also watched by a vet when filmed and is vetted out too. The cats had runners there and their own security. The production companies did not miss a trick in making sure the cats were all looked after like the film stars that they truly are.
Its a point of note that sometimes there were 5 film crews filming the cts, thus there could have been upto 50people surrounding them at any time. So the cats did so well and kind off ignored the spot-light and just did what cats do.
Would just like to say what a fabulous idea and I`m sure all owners are very proud of their babies, sorry I never did it myself . Well done to all involved
Cat News 
What a lovely advert. It makes me smile every time I see it...