When I left to go the conference I had a half full suitcase. I’d like to say that it was because of a well thought out plan but in fact the light is burned out in the room where the suitcase is and I grabbed the first one I felt. But I realized that having lots of room was a good thing because I bring back lots of loot from conferences.

I’m an experienced conference looter so I’m very picky. I only take things that I will probably use. I don’t pick up paper unless I’m very interested in the product. Since I don’t buy for a clinic I only take paper on things that I might want for my personal use. Even with my strict guidelines here’s what ended up filling my suitcase to the brim.

Loot

It is mostly cat food samples, dog treats, and bird food. Sadly no horse samples were available. Most of the dog stuff I’ll end up giving to clients because Snowball is too picky for treats. The cats will like theirs. In fact Riley was seen staring in amazement at the open suitcase and tentatively touching things with his paw before just sitting back again in wonder. I have the same response at fabric stores and Whole Foods. But the best thing I got is for Ozzie. I’m a bit afraid that he will be so overcome with joy that he will have a heart attack from the excitement. Ozzie’s favorite foods on earth are popcorn and Nutri-Berries. Nutri-Berries are a bird treat with a nutritious center covered with a variety of seeds. He gets 2 a day. He gets excited about this. Now Nutri-Berries as come up with a new treat that combines popcorn into the berries. He will be beside himself.

The other thing I found that I like is Nature’s Variety food. This is a line of foods based on the principles of raw food diets. They have frozen raw food, canned foods, and kibble. Since a recurrent theme of the lectures I went to was to get cats on more canned foods to increase their water intake (hoping to help urinary tract health) and the husband feeds them canned snacks anyway, I think I’ll get a combination of raw food and some cans.

Now I need to start cleaning up the house and getting everything back in order before I go back to work tomorrow.