Our Fun Day at the 2015 Purina Better With Pets Summit #BetterWithPets

I told y’all the other day that we were headed to New York. Yep, this redneck girl got a chance to visit the Big Apple for the 2015 Purina Better With Pets Summit! Most of you humans already know that EVERYTHING is better with us pets, right? So, you know we had a pawsome trip! We got to see lots of interesting things and hear some amazing panel discussions. You know it had to be amazing cause the spotlight was on us pets WOOF!

It was a fun day of interesting panel discussions and getting to see all kinds of things. 

The Purina Summit of 2015 was about exploring an evolving relationship between people and pets and how such relationships change human lives AND the lives of pets.

Before I get my Lady to tell you about all the happenings, I got to tell you that I was so excited to meet one of my dog friends – Tuna Melts My Heart!

Y’all in the pet world know he’s a star right?

About made this country girl tongue-tied!

I finally came to my senses and got my speaking voice back.

Then, I asked him for a pic and he struck a special pose just for me!

I about swooned y’all! He sure is a sweet guy!

There were other pup friends there too.

We met this cute little chihuahua.

Little Bit was so jealous when she found out!

My chihuahua friend sure had some big brown eyes!

Heck, my eyes probably were big too just taking in all the fun sights and events of the Better With Pets summit!

There were lots of interesting things to listen to and see.

I better go round up my Lady to tell you about them!

Here’s my Lady to fill you in on the happenings at the Purina Better With Pets Summit

Molly is so silly! But, she is right! The summit was an amazing discussion from different panels and experts in the pet world. 

We witnessed a close look at the dynamic and the relationship between people, and specifically cats, from the panel represented by well-known animal behaviorists.

The first panel at the Summit examined how Millennials are changing the relationship between pet owners and cats. 

Purina revealed results at the summit from a recent survey that showed that nearly half of the 1,000 millennials surveyed own a cat. And, that 88 percent of cat owners consider themselves similar to their pets.

The second panel provided an in-depth look at pets’ environments and the impact they may have on their stress levels.

This discussion provided very helpful insights into what stressors are out there in the world that affect our pets’ health and well-being.

One of the panel’s members, Christina Ha, who co-founded the Meow Parlour in New York, shared her invaluable insights into animal interaction when people allow that to happen.

The Meow Parlour specializes in rescuing and fostering cats who are then offered for adoption.

The success of the roaming environment and animal interaction in it has produced a high success rate of pet adoptions.

The third panel focused on the benefits of raising pets and kids together and how it brings unique benefits that extend beyond a typical human-animal bond.

One of the interesting conversations held at the Purina Summit was about the abundant contributions pets make to the livelihood of children in different settings: from school curricula to shelter programs for homeless and abused youth.

All the panel experts shared their expertise and examples of how dramatically easier it was to get children into the regular lifestream when introducing pets into their daily lives.

The Purina Summit allowed its members to explore many sides pet’s life.

There were products and foods on display created for the better emotional and physical well-being of our pets.

We also were able to witness an active cat lounge where we interacted with the cats and saw them in a free-will environment.

This section of the summit alone truly made the stress and tiredness go away!

The Purina Summit has elevated the Purina company in my eyes.

The programs Purina supports, finances, and the scientific community it brings together to explore issues in pets and animals, in general, are just a fraction of issues Purina deals with on different levels.

Purina also announced at the summit that it will donate $50,000 to The Frank Attla Youth Program. This program benefits at-risk students in Rural Alaska.

Their story exemplifies how our lives are truly Better With Pets!

More on this program later in another post, as this program touched my heart!

This donation is just a part of Purina’s broader support of more than 900 pet welfare organizations each year.

Purina also invests in research and development of quality foods and treats for pets.

They understand that your pet’s food contributes to their overall wellness.

I love that Nestlé Purina PetCare promotes responsible pet care, community involvement, and the positive bond between people and their pets. 

Bringing people and pets closer together makes the world a much more beautiful place to live in.

I enjoyed the educational summit to the max.

It allowed me to reevaluate my points of view on pet health and interaction.

It opened new horizons of what’s going on in the scientific world for pets.

The invaluable benefits I received from the summit allowed me to come back to my wonderful pets with a newfound emotional charge and better understanding!