Meet Kathy Blumenstock

05/08/2009

As a child, Kathy planned to work with animals, as a jockey or veterinarian. She was sidetracked by a writing career, reporting sports, news and features for newspapers, magazines and TV. But no matter what the story, Kathy always schemed to get animals into the mix, from asking athletes their pets' names to writing about an exhibition of model horses for Sports Illustrated.

Covering a horse show for the Washington Post, Kathy encountered Cass Ole, who played the "Black Stallion" in the movies. "He actually had to be dyed for the part because he had white forefeet and a white spot on his forehead," she says. "I thought this was a scoop. My editors thought I was crazy."

At NBC News, her story on thoroughbred trainer Woody Stephens won a National Headliners Award -- and featured numerous candid shots of dogs, cats, goats, chickens and "every other stable pet at Belmont Race Track." Kathy's highlight at Entertainment Tonight was doing a report from Graceland. "Forget the Elvis anniversary story. I was more excited to meet his aging palomino, Rising Sun."

Kathy often wrote about Animal Planet programs for the Washington Post's "TV Week." Her coverage of the annual Puppy Bowl, A Panda Is Born and Meerkat Manor were among her favorite stories. "My lament was always that I needed more space," she says. "For last summer's Puppy Games, I attended the taping and had tons of fun collecting inside info. I could have written a book. Unfortunately, I only had 300 words!"

 When she's not writing, Kathy's hobbies include running -- she still hopes to complete a marathon "if they change the definition of marathon to six miles" -- reading mysteries (favorite authors include her friend Lisa Scottoline, whose thrillers always include golden retrievers, corgis and cats), and knitting stylish sweaters, purses and other goodies. "Now I'm on a sock-knitting kick, but for some reason my cats won't even consider wearing argyle knee-highs."

  A native of New Jersey, Kathy is a graduate of Seton Hall University and a longtime vegetarian, whose fashion sense dictates that "no outfit is complete without a touch of pet hair."

Kathy is also the author of Cat Scratchings, Animal Planet’s newest blog. Kathy is the cat lover's sherpa to the latest feline 411 and cat culture, and proudly owned by her cats Starli (pictured left) and Shamrock. These two "consult-cats" will lend a paw to coverage of cat news. Starli has weighed in on Animal Planet's programs as a guest blogger for The Mole. Her hobbies include spying on the birds and water conservation, as she examines faucets in every sink or tub to report drips. Shamrock, who makes a humming sound like an alpaca when she is happy, can imitate a kangaroo with her high-level leaps, and plays soccer with her toys. Both Starli and Shamrock are in training for the Cat Olympics, Long Nap Division.

Comments

[Kay and Jerry]

The author appears to be an interesting, talented lady who loves animals. We do too, so we will be looking forward to many more excellent articles from her.

[Ricki West]

What a great Blog! i love having animals as part of my everyday life too. Kathy's skillful writing makes this site one of my favorites!!

[Harley44Rider]

We like and enjoy people who like animals. Ms. Blumenstock's writing shows that she knows her subjects well.

[Angie Best]

How funny! Anyone who would choose a horse over Elvis is A-#1 in this family's book. Elvis is very cool, but horses are wonderful. An excellent intro to what looks like will be a great blogspot!

[Evergreen]

Really like Kathy's style of writing and her compassion for animals. Keep em coming.

[Evergreen]

You go girl!

[Cooper]

Awesome work Kathy!!! Your blog makes me want to watch the shows to see what it is all about.

Keep up the good reporting.

Cooper from NJ

[Peggy Fox]

Hey KB!

I love your blog. You have to come meet Brownie, our shepherd-chow mix. She totally scammed me this am... holding her paw like it was injured. I took her off the leash and was about to carry her... then she took off chasing a bunny! It took two milkbones and 30 minutes to get her to come to mommy.
Hope you're having as much fun!
Peggy

[Gemini Dream]

I followed Kathy Blumenstock when she wrote for the Washington Post, and consider her to be an experienced, exceptionally talented journalist. I was thrilled to find her writing for AP. She still has IT (and always will)! Excellent choice, AP. Kathy, keep on blogging!

[Wendee Holtcamp]

I have a friend with about 8 cats who had a plaque that said no outfit complete without cat hair - love it! :)

[Wendee Holtcamp]

Kathy do you have a Twitter account?

[Sheila Stockton]

A terrific bio about a really gifted and talented writer! One of the most important attributes here, is the genuine compassion and caring for animals that always comes through the words. The saying goes: it is nice to be important, but it is important to be nice. As animal lovers, we appreciate someone with Kathy's gifts all the more, since her words speak for all of us.

[Nichole Benfield]

She sounds very wonderful. It seems that her and I just can't help but put animals in our life everyday of our lives. I only wish she could come and meet my Blondie Girl, a Shiba Inu, that was adopted two years ago. Blondie loves to watch Dogs 101 with me, but it seems that her breed is missing in the show. Keep up the good work Kathy and may animals bless you everyday.

[world at war dvd]

she is an inspiration. i love animals as well.

[leanspa]

i love kathy's writing style. i'm not that smart, but i can understand and appreciate her points of view.

[dermatal]

I followed Kathy Blumenstock when she wrote for the Washington Post

[leanspa]

Kathy awesome blog! I love your show girl!

[no3 maxpump]

View Kathy Blumenstock's professional profile on LinkedIn. some great stuff about here there

[illumibrite]

She's such a sweetheart. Helping animals is a great deed.

[radialabs cream]

where is kathy writing now? i can't find any news about her recent whereabouts on the net

[radialabs]

kathy still writes about animals, but i read somewhere that she's writing for a local newspaper

[rejuv]

great stuff. i recommend looking up some of her old writings, especially of the Animal Planet. she had a unique perspective

[american]

this is a great blog. keep up the good work

[rickagun]

I really enjoy your blog and never miss your writings.

Please use your pull to get more episodes of Dairen Simpson catching predators for conservation. He is the first real person in a while.

[skinny fiber]

I love reading your blogs. Keep us up to date.