About the magazine
The team behind the magazine
Katdootje is a family business from Middelburg in the Netherlands that has sold to cat lovers online since 2020. We make the magazine with the same care: finding out what you and your cat really need, and writing it down honestly.
By the Katdootje editorial team · Updated
2020
Our own online shop for cats and cat lovers since March 2020
1,400+
Products in the shop, for cats and for the people who love them
9.9
Average score out of 10 from more than 1,500 customer reviews on WebwinkelKeur
231
Articles in the magazine, in Dutch, English and German
Who we are
From a gift shop in Middelburg to an online cat shop
Katdootje began in a gift shop in the centre of Middelburg, in a building called the Groote Catte. Francisca van Keulen made a few cats for the front of the building. Passers-by photographed them every day, and customers asked whether they were for sale. Katdootje grew out of that question. In March 2020 it became an online shop of its own.
Francisca still runs the shop herself. She chooses the products herself and packs the orders. Her son Jorian makes the magazine, together with an AI editorial team that writes to fixed rules, and looks after the technical side. Jorian lives with Flip, a grey European Shorthair. Much of what you read in these guides, from scratching posts to water fountains, he sees with Flip every day.
Today Katdootje is a family business with more than 1,400 products, and cat lovers have bought thousands of them. Orders still often go out wrapped in cat paper, with a small extra inside.
A shop teaches you things no product description ever will.
What the shop teaches us
We see what happens after you click order
When you buy, pack and send cat supplies every day, you hear the questions people ask before they choose. Which size turns out to be just too small. What gets sent back, and why.
For products we sell ourselves, such as beds, toys, food bowls and water fountains, the sizes and materials come from our own shop. For products we do not sell, such as GPS trackers, clippers and cat flaps, we say so. There we rely on specifications, independent tests and the experience of other owners. How that works for each type of product is explained in How we assess products.
What we write about
231 articles, including 22 English buying guides
From the first litter tray to the right food for a kitten. The buying guides help you choose, and the other articles help you understand and care for your cat. These are the biggest topics in English.
How we make the magazine
Four fixed steps for every article
Research
We start with the questions readers really ask, the way they type them into Google. Then we gather the facts: specifications from the manufacturer, experiences of owners from reviews and forums, and independent tests such as those by Which?, when they exist.
Writing
The articles are written by an AI editorial team, working to a fixed brief with strict rules. Every article starts with the answer. A buying guide names a handful of available products, each with a clear reason, pros and cons. We never write up experiences we do not have.
Checking
A second AI editor reads every new piece as a copy editor. It checks the facts, whether the products are available and whether the text follows the rules. Then, every time the magazine is updated, scripts check every page: do all internal links work, and is every affiliate link marked as sponsored. Jorian spot-checks the work himself.
Updating
When we write a guide, we check that each product exists on Amazon and can be delivered to a UK address. After that we check every week whether it is still available. If it is not, it leaves the guide and the editors look for an available replacement that does the same job. Amazon prices change all the time, so our product cards show no price. The date next to Updated only changes when the text itself changes.
How we assess products and which ones earn a place in a guide is explained in detail in How we assess products and How we choose.
Independence and affiliate links
Free to read, open about what we earn
The magazine is free. We earn money through affiliate links. If you buy something through a link in an article, the shop pays Katdootje a small commission. You pay nothing extra.
We work with Amazon Associates for the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States, with the bol affiliate programme for our Dutch articles, and with the affiliate network Awin. As an Amazon Associate, Katdootje earns from qualifying purchases.
- A commission never decides the choice. Which product goes into a guide, and in which place, is decided by the editors using the criteria in How we choose.
- A place in a guide is not for sale. Manufacturers and shops cannot pay to be mentioned.
- You can see it straight away. Every article with affiliate links says so at the top, and every affiliate link is marked as sponsored for search engines.
- We sell things ourselves too. If we recommend a product from our own shop, we say so. It has to pass the same test as any other product.
Health and the vet
When in doubt, the vet comes first
Articles about health first set out when to see a vet, and when it is urgent. The explanation comes after that. We take medical information from reliable sources such as International Cat Care, the Cornell Feline Health Center, the PDSA and Cats Protection. We do not give doses. For those, follow the package leaflet or your vet.
An article in this magazine never replaces a visit to the vet. If you are worried about your cat's health, call your own practice.
Mistakes and corrections
Spotted something that is wrong? We would like to hear about it
We do our best to get everything right. Still, a mistake can creep into an article, or a product can change after we wrote about it. Email info@katdootje.nl and include the link to the article.
We look into it and correct the text if you are right. If that changes the advice, the article gets a new date next to Updated.
A question, a tip or spotted a mistake?
Email or call us. If it is about an article, include the link and we will check it straight away.