Dogs may be considered man’s best friend, but as one insurance company will attest: cats take the title of man’s best coworker.
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In fact, pet insurance provider Petplan is such a fan of inviting feline friends to join the workplace that it declared June 25 “Take Your Cat to Work Day.” The holiday is intentionally scheduled on June 25 to rival “Take Your Dog to Work Day,” which falls one day later.
“Cats already act like the boss of our homes and families; the next natural step is to give them their rightful place at the conference table,” said co-founder and co-CEO Natasha Ashton. “And their rightful place is on it.”
PetPlan has been hosting “Take Your Cat to Work Day” for years, and finds that the furry companions bring a sense of lightheartedness and fun to the office. In fact, the annual holiday has been such a demonstrable success that the insurer has appointed the first Friday of every month as “Feline Fur-st Fridays.”
“We feel that if people in the office are happy and engaged, they’ll communicate that out to the policyholders,” said Natasha Ashton. “So having cats in the workplace has always been a bit of no-brainer for us.”
She recommends other insurance companies follow suit, but suggests the following precautions to cat-proof the office first:
- Inform all employees about the cats’ impending arrival, and stress the need for everyone to promptly close all doors when exiting a room.
- Survey the office for any exposed electrical cords or wires since “cats love to play with things like that.”
- Advising cat parents to outfit their kitty friends with bell-adorned collars, so others can hear when they’re approaching and avoid stepping on them.
- Recommending that owners bring in their cats’ favorite toys, as well as a beloved blanket, bed and litter box. “A can of air freshener is usually appreciated by your colleagues, too,” co-founder and co-CEO Chris Ashton remarked.
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The company also welcomes other pets to its offices on separate days, including dogs, guinea pigs, snakes and Bullet – a turtle who
wanders around with a smiley face balloon floating above his shell at human eye level to notify others of his movement.
While the original intention of this pet-friendly initiative was jovial, PetPlan does hope that the buzz it’s created helps to reiterate the importance of pet insurance, a coverage it feels is increasing in demand.
“We’re seeing rapid growth in the marketplace,” said Chris Ashton. “In England, close to 30% of all cats and dogs are insured. Here, it’s less than 1%, but it’s growing quickly.”
PetPlan offers policies to such organizations as Lego, Build-A-Bear and Travelocity, who recognize the value of pet insurance as a benefit for employees. It also foresees opportunities for individual brokers, however.
“A lot of insurance brokers now offer it because they offer homeowners and auto insurance, and they like to offer this as an additional benefit for another family member,” said Chris Ashton.
