Cat Named Carrot Interview and Giveaway
Cat Named Carrot.
by Robert Hudson
We spoke with author Erin Merryn about the story of her cat Carrot in her new book. You have a chance here to win a copy of the book! Please also see our review.
The Mission
This story and journey centers around a woman on a mission to promote child safety, and the relationship between her family and two cats that has been shared across the internet community.
“Bailey and Carrot are helping me reach an audience I would never have reached with my message had it not been for the cats. I am convinced God keeps putting these cats in my life to continue to share my mission with the world to protect kids.
A video I posted in July 2018 went viral of my daughter reading to the cat who is just loving on her while she reads, then two weeks later another video went viral even more of her singing to the cat and the cat expression or just loving her singing you are my sunshine. Suddenly I went from a few thousand followers to 25,000. When Bailey died he was at 75,000 followers and six months after he passed he had 200,000 followers.
I wasn’t planning on creating an account for Carrot. I figured she would be like a typical house cat and not allow the girls to do the things Bailey did but within 48 hours I was stunned to discover we had another no ordinary cat.
Cat Named Carrot- Inspiration
She was letting the girls push her in strollers, toddler cars, pretend to do her nails, dress her up, even spa day with actual cucumbers on her eyes. I had to film it so people believed me. It was crazy. You can see and read about it in the book. Suddenly I discovered I needed to make Carrot her own IG account. “
Carrot’s social media following exploded and now has close to 300,000 followers on Instagram.
When i asked how Bailey came into her life, she replied, “I found him in my college town when I was a freshmen at a pet store. I fell in love immediately and snuck him into my dorm and the rest is history I got caught after a week and brought him home to my parents who cared for him until I got an apartment at college”
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Why do you think people were drawn to Bailey?
“Because he had the greatest personality. He didn’t act like a cat. There was the soul of a human in that cat. You wouldn’t believe it unless you saw the videos. “
Bailey died of kidney failure at age 14. Six months later they adopted Carrot.
How did you come up with the name Carrot?
“Moments after surprising my girls with Carrot I said what should we name her and my then 5 year old shouts “Carrot.” I laughed and it stuck. “
What role do you think pets play in a child’s development? “I think every child should have a pet growing up. It can help teach kids responsibility, respect, and instill in them if you learn to respect and love an animal this way you should do the same for people. ” Erin taught her children to always be gentle, “to do nice touch, be gentle, and even take her hand show her how to nicely pet the cat.”
“Carrot is super sweet with the girls and so laid back. Most chill cat ever just like Bailey. However, she does have her feisty side and she will attack when she is in that mood. The crazy thing is she gets that way with me. She will bite me and not the girls. It’s like she knows she has to be gentle with them. She just loves the attention she gets and has the loudest purr that seems to never turn off. “
Conclusion
Erin’s two books, Bailey No Ordinary Cat and Diary of a Cat Named Carrot, promote teaching children the love of animals, family values, and Faith. What is next for Erin and her family? “I am not sure where the future will take us but possibly another book, more sweet adventures with these girls and Carrot. I do want to get the girls to start volunteering with me at the shelter we adopted Carrot from. We have plans to make that happen soon. “
For more information, please visit http://www.erinslaw.org, or connect with her on Twitter at @erinmerryn; on Facebook at The Cat Named Carrot; on Instagram at the_cat_named_carrot; and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrHXnwcgGzuGRJqdtlUMk1A.
Would you like a free copy of Diary of a Cat Named Carrot? Enter this drawing! There are multiple ways to enter to better your chances!
