cat con got greedy look at the prices greed greed greed greed greed greed greed greedy read more

Man, CatCon at the Pasadena Convention Center was disappointing. It's $50 per ticket, and you still need to pay for parking, which is hard to find if you don't come early. There is no food court here, and there are no chairs or tables to sit and rest. Every vendor who gave freebies had a line, and some were very long and not worth the wait. There was a fair amount of vendors/name brands and a ton of small businesses selling their products. Honestly, I think I was mainly upset at the fact that tickets cost so much and there wasn't much to see. They only took up two halls that you can pretty much walk through in less than two hours. There were guest speakers to fill in the time, but again, $50 is a lot for what you get. The Humane Society was there with a lot of kitten adoptions, and their line to get in was long. It was also a bummer to see that many vendors did not have an actual cat at their booths. Many of them used stuffed animal to represent a cat using their products/furniture. I get that having actual cats would create more work for them to keep an eye on, but this is a cat convention after all... I would have liked to see more live cats. Overall, I tried it and probably won't ever come back. read more

CatCon - This was a cool product from Pidan. They had special pricing just for CatCon. 8/3/2025 - Pet Adoption Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Last time my nieces were in town, they read about CatCon and insisted it be a fun LA activity we do, lol! Well, it was quite disappointing actually on a number of levels and I love me some furry everythings but CatCon is not the vibe. As mentioned, we all donned our cute little ears and drove out to Pasadena with our $42 per adult tickets and we had 3 adults plus two kiddos (free admission under 12). We arrived then had to pay an additional $12 at the parking garage. Upon arrival at the 10am opening, we then waited in the General Admission line for about 90 minutes in 90+ non-shaded, non-expected so people were going down around me from heat stroke without water & air, Pasadena sun. Listen, all this is part of a Con right? Such is the life of an attendee! BUT~this was not a Con at all. Had the payoff of spending $150 to wait in such torrential conditions been worth it as it as at a proper Con, I wouldn't rate it so low! And mind you, the two stars is just because----cats. But this was no proper Con -I don't know what this was but it had nothing at all worth paying an admission price to enter. Once inside the venue, there were just shops and additional paid meet & greet with internet cats then adoptions. But what's crazy even with only those minimal things - I couldn't attempt to buy anything or see anything as the line for seeing any cats was another wait once already inside. Lines for EVERYthing not just meet and greets, it was truly bizzare. It was so packed with nowhere to go and nowhere to squeeze through and absolutely nothing to do, anxiety inducing after standing for 90 minutes in 90 degree weather to be packed in like that with nowhere to sit. This can't be called a real Convention at all - it's so bare minimum with no talks, discussions, panels, like nothing free without a wait included in the expensive ticket price. Like literally nothing if you did not wait for at least 30 minutes which makes no sense at all! We had a Cat Festival back on Chicago that ate and CatCon in Pasadena surely does not. read more

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Had SO much fun!! But was also extremely tired by the second day lol (8/2-3/2025) My 200th Yelp review! The Pasadena Convention Center is HUGE and CatCon took up all the spaces there. The line to get in was ridiculously long, wrapped around the block, zig zagging in the back. Make sure to get there two hours before they start or just go closer to noon when the line dies down. There were an overwhelming number of vendors, mostly products with cats on them for people but also some with products for cats. Some lines were extremely long especially the ones for spinning wheels for freebies. Some of the major sponsors were super generous with the freebies which makes sense why the lines were so long, so make sure to get there early otherwise they run out towards the end too. There was also a workshop space with lectures from different speakers, specialists. I didn't end up attending these. The lines for the meet and greets were also very long especially closet to the start time of the meets. They have a limit so again, make sure to line up early if you really want to see the cats. On the first day, I didn't know where all the kittens were and then I later found out that their section was curtained off with black.m curtains and the line to get in was not directly connected to the entrance (I was so confused as to why I didn't see any cats by the end of the day lol). There is so much to see in terms of the vendors. It can definitely take two whole days to experience a bit of everything. In fact, two days is not even sufficient if you also want to attend all the workshops. You really just have to pick and choose what you want to see most. Bring cash if you want to save on taxes with some of the vendors. Most of them take tap and some also take Venmo or Zelle. Most important tip would be to set a budget before going and stick to it lol Room for improvement: I wish there were more booths with cat products and more cats to interact with. The line: could also be managed better. Although it was suuuuper crowded and crazy long lines, I can't wait to go back next year! read more

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Do you like cats enough to make your way to Pasadena, maybe get a hotel to rest overnight, and wake up early to line up an hour to get into the event? If you don't want to line up at all, then show up around 2pm you can walk right in, no wait to enter It's a ton of booths for cat merch. For cats, for humans. Catnip toys, scratching posts, litter, cat food, clothing. Australian firefighters had a station autographing their 2026 cat calendar and to take a photo with you. $25 per calendar. They were kind, handsome, and friendly. Lots of muscles and strong arms. Approve! Many stands gave freebies and some hosted spin the wheel to see what you get (stickers, dry food, magnets, tshirt, hat). Sport your CAT clothes! prepare for Lots and lots of lines. Depends on time of day but my experience: -getting into the building was 1 hour -The Churu line was 1 - 1.5 hours -the adoption area line was 30 mins -various smaller booth lines: 15 mins -food line for typical convention fast food 30 minutes (also wish there were more food options) read more

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Cat Con, sounds amazing and like Disneyland for cat lovers. I brought my entire family here. It's during the hot months of the year, so if you melt like I do, be prepared to bring fans with you and a charger if you're going to use that fan all day. I learned my lesson. It was freaking hot. I wish they would change this event to the colder months. Cat Con tickets were about $50 but I am not absolutely positive of the price since my hubby was the one who purchased them. It took us forever to find parking, AND it wasn't free. Then we had to walk to the building which is fine and dandy, but I was dying from the heat. Plan to arrive early so you can avoid long lines in the scorching temps. We got stuck outside under full sun just trying to get in. Event planners need to put up some shade cause, Geez Louise! HOT. This convention has a lot of people stuff, from clothes, to deco, literally has a lot of little things and for cats too of course, but not as much items for the kitties themselves which I find to be a bit odd. There were long lines everywhere. It was very crowded. Uncomfortably crowded when we were there and difficult to maneuver through a sea of people especially with kids. The vendors were super nice though and very eager to talk to you and share their products and talent. It's not a very big convention and you can easily finish in a couple hours or maybe even less if you just breeze through everything. There were plenty of stands that gave away free Items but really, it's just more junk that will collect at home. The Pasadena Humane Society, was there with cats for adoption. The line was very long to get in, so we left my hubby there until it was our turn. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with our experience. Everyone in our party was slightly disappointed. You come to Cat Con and expect to see some live cats besides the ones up for adoption. Celebrity cats are not accessible without paying an extra fee. Fine. I have paid a lot less, driven a lot closer to home and got to see animals and interact with them without having to pay so much money. So it was a bit of a turn off. Cat Con, for us, is not going to be an annual event like The OC Fair would be. Maybe something every few years, If even that. It was definitely not what I expected out of a convention and I felt like we overpaid. After a couple hours there, we were starving but couldn't find food, so we had to leave the building. We didn't even want to go back and deal with the crowd anymore so we headed home after lunch. Maybe eating before the convention is a better idea. read more

I guess the previous review I left for CatCon went to a different address for some reason or it was closed since I feel like I definitely reviewed it in the past. Oh well. I've been going since 2022 and I felt like it was better those years than more recently, but that's subjective since I have become less of a cat person (reptiles rule) and it was sorta after the big panini so there were less people out in general. However, with the most recent con, they have expanded to the other end of the exhibit hall (if you're familiar with the Pasadena Convention Center, it's the carpeted area). The first year there were so many easily grabbable freebies, I had entire floor spreads with goods from Cat Con. Additionally when we went, my boyfriend adopted his little guy, Raddy, so we got even more goodies with that too. However, the most recent year, the prices have increased, lines have become much more insufferably long, freebies run out or require some ridiculously long game or social media interaction that is tedious. Panels are still at a stage and there are some cat celebrity meet and greets, but again, long lines. Definitely less free cat goods, but my cat is so picky, this was not that much of a deterring factor for me. Learning about what goods my bearded dragon can also share is pretty cool though. I managed to get some free plushies this year which is nice. read more

I'm not sure what people were expecting but I was here for cats and cat accessories, which is exactly what I found. My only complaint was that there were not enough handmade clothes for actual cats. More clothes for people with unfortunately more polyester than cotton blends. I showed up after lunch on a Sunday. Found free parking near the venue, no lines to get in and it was comfortably crowded. AC worked well with nice staff and people too. The only thing I missed out on was the Delectables stand that ran out of free samples by 2pm! Darn. I had to carry my free heavy tote bag of other food and toy samples home in disappointment. My cats will suffer for my incompetence. The sample lines looked long but only took 5-10 minutes of waiting. Definitely recommend bringing those convenient collapsible stools. AC worked great and lots of nice people to talk to and get cat food recommendations. No lines for merch or food. I did see that the Pasadena Humane Cat Society have a very long line but just go to a local shelter after the event? You don't have to adopt a cat at Cat Con.... Saw some celebrity cats too which is fun. Had a great time but I wouldn't go every year unless there were new corporate brands I'd like samples from. My cats are quite picky so the new samples help a lot. read more

Here I am for a second year and I still stand by everything I said including that complainers just stay home. There is literally nothing negative about this event. They keep everything moving smoothly. Wristbands and bags are given out while waiting so it's very quick once the line starts moving. They did run out before they got to use but since most everyone in front of us has theirs getting ours inside was quick and easy. I love that the staff outside and inside for many of the vendors monitors the line at almost every point. There was only one place I swear someone cut in front of us but there isn't many people who even try and the staff is helpful with that if they try or don't see the line. I will be back next year for sure read more

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I'm not sure why there are so many negative reviews. My sister and I attended Cat Con for the first time last year in 2022. We found it to be a lot of fun our first time around :D ! Then we decided to return again for the second year in a row this past weekend. The only puzzling thing we found was that the previous Cat Con 2022 was held in October. Then less than a year later, Cat Con 2023 was held this past weekend from 8/5-8/6. This time, we purchased basic weekend pass tickets (for Sat and Sun entry) through Goldstar for 50% off. This was significantly cheaper than purchasing tickets through the Cat Con website for the one day (on just a Sunday) that we purchased last year. So although tickets in general for Cat Con are not cheap through their official website, there are still ways you can find cheaper tickets as long as discount ticket vendors like Goldstar are willing to participate. The major highlights of Cat Con are the Adoption Village (which is best to visit in the morning right when Cat Con starts because the kittens are most wide awake, alert and playful), and the interesting talks or workshops throughout the day at the Kitty Coliseum. We attended 2 talks given by veterinarians who provided advice on what to look for regarding cat health. We also attended talks on how to identify cat breeds. There was even a cat trivia workshop on Sunday for anyone in the audience to try to win prizes (like water bottles, beach towels) :D ! We personally found the workshops to be either extremely educational and/or fun :D! Everyone who hosted or who was a panelist was a very dynamic speaker and was open to questions :) ! There were even panelists who came from afar to Pasadena with their cats and provided tips on how to prepare and travel with cats domestically or internationally ;) ! For sure, there are small business owners and vendors who rented booths to sell their products, from cat toys to food, water-filtering systems, technological litter boxes, etc. Some attendees expressed in their reviews annoyance that these items were being sold. But for the most part, I think most Con events or fairs usually involve small business owners who sell their products in person. I don't see anything wrong with that. Besides these in-person opportunities to sell, they can only sell online on platforms such as Etsy, Instagram, etc. Some people also mentioned that it was practically impossible to buy toys and other merch. It was definitely much more crowded this past Sat compared to Sun. However, my sister and I didn't have any trouble eventually getting to the booths that we wanted to get to. Although it was pretty crowded on Sat compared to Sun, it's not impossible to get to the booths you want to get to. The bulk of the long lines were for the "Meet & Greet" for cats who are Instagram stars or celebrities. The event is pretty well-organized. We also felt that all of the employees or volunteers who worked this past weekend were pretty friendly and courteous :) ! We didn't encounter anyone who was rude or unfriendly. After doing the weekend pass this time, I don't think you really need 2 days for the Cat Con. One day is sufficient. But overall, the bulk of the major workshops seem to be on Sat versus Sun. read more

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Catcon is a huge waste of money so buyer beware. You will endure long lines, get no freebies and likely see only 2-3 booths and no kitties. What a waste of time and energy. They really need to cap the amount of people there because it's just not enjoyable for anyone really with the crowd surging. read more

Over crowded and there were way too many vendors!!! I was expecting to see a variety of cats! Such a waste of time and money!!!

I attended last year's Catcom and had a VIP pass. I thought it would be worth it to skip the lines however there wasn't a line at all when I got there first thing at 10:00 a.m. I had a lot of fun last year there were these hot Australian firefighters selling calendars with cute kittens there was a couple of internet celebrities that were doing tarot card readings with cat Tarot cards that was fun... I thought to myself I shouldn't have bought the VIP package because it totally wasn't worth it. The swag bag that you got with it had a couple of bubble gum machine type toys in it and a useless water bottle because it had the small opening where you can't clean it. So this year I thought well I certainly don't need to buy the VIP again. I went with my roommate and it was a complete shit show we are never going back. The line at 11 was well over an hour long with no shade and 92° weather. I get heat stroke and so does my roommate there was no water anywhere thank God I brought some water and an umbrella to wait in this horrendous line. I didn't understand what the breakdown in the system was. Once you got inside it was so overcrowded you couldn't even get towards the vendors. Who were selling a lot of overpriced cat crap. A little teeny cute trinket box for $75? No thanks. There wasn't a single fun activity to do and if there was I couldn't tell because I couldn't see anything through the thickness of the crowd. They don't have any food there so don't rely on anything like that and there's apparently no fountains or water anywhere in the Pasadena convention center which ought to be illegal. we were dying of thirst and having heat stroke and we asked the security where we could get some water they pointed to two empty Alhambra type containers I said they're empty can somebody replace them and they said I can't leave I don't know. I did wait to see Merlin the cat which she doesn't let you touch him it's just very frustrating I wanted to pet him he's such a cute little fluff and I wanted to meet Lily Rose but that line was too crazy and we just were so thirsty dehydrated and ready to pass out we had to leave so I took a picture of him through the curtain. We were so frustrated we eventually left and went and had Starbucks at the mall across the way and went to dim sum and said fck it we're never coming back. I'm glad I rented a car and drove up from San Diego for two and a half hours to get to this mess and the tickets were cheap either $50 each to get into that shit show was not worth it at all I will never do that again. read more

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Where do I even start?!? Massive lines to get in, which was to be expected. What I didn't expect was for the organizers to be completely unprepared for the amount of attendees combined with the extreme weather that comes with hosting an event in LA in the summer. Unbearably hot, with no shade coverage and an endless line. After 1hr, you finally gain entrance, only to be met with craft fair type vendors selling cat-themed items, as opposed at vendors selling items for cats. Don't get me wrong, there are vendors for cat items, but we're talking 70/30 in favor of cat knickknacks. Will not be returning. read more

This event is way oversold and there is a massive line that wraps multiple times around the building. The event organizers are too greedy and should sell enough tickets that the venue can accommodate the purchasers. If you want to see or adopt cats, got to the Pasadena Humane. read more

Way too many people! You can't enjoy it at all, because everyone is coughing or bumping into you. I had a better time going home and getting in bed with my cats. Horrible. Not vert many samples either because all the thousands of people took them all before I got there. I won't be back next year. I will have my own cat con and cuddle with my cats and order a vegan pizza. We will Netflix and Kitten. The reason why I prefer cats, is so I don't have to be in a crowd of over 2 thousand people hitting, shoving and being rude. At least have food and beer so I can tolerate the humans after a good buzz. 0 stars I felt like it was virtual browsing for cat stuff on Amazon. Nothing fun - just a bunch of people trying to sell stuff you or your cat don't want or need. They should call it a cat items home show sales booths- not cat con. This even should be illegal for the amount of people under one building. Torture. Awful!!! read more

The line to get in was over an hour - in the heat. Then, when you finally get in, there is nothing to do except look around at people selling you cat-themed merchandise. The experience is like what would happen if you browsed "cat accessories" on Amazon and then swiped through your options in real life along with about 2 thousand other people bumping into you while you browse. This would be bad even if the event were free... but IT COST OVER $50 per person. $53.14 (plus a $3.14 fee)! For what? The opportunity to spend money on things you could buy elsewhere? So weird. The number of cats I saw was literally 0. If you want to see an actual cat you must wait in a line to "meet and greet" a "famous cat." However, that was only possible every hour and a half or so, and the line for that was expected to take over an hour - all to see 1 cat. If you like cats it is better to spend money and go to a cat cafe. You can see and pet cats and your $ goes toward helping them - not enriching people. Or you could go to a cat show where you can see and learn about cats. Cat Con should emphasize the "Con" part because I feel like I was conned into spending a lot of money for the opportunity to buy cat earrings and litter in a crowd. 100% the opposite of what I was expecting and there was nothing redeeming about the experience. If I save even 1 person the money I wasted at the event I will feel good knowing that I rescued someone from wasting their money and their day. read more

I am sitting outside of CatCon right now. It's 1:44pm. We got here at 10AM. We didn't enter the convention center until Noon, because that is how long the line was. It wrapped around the convention center and into turn aisles in the back of the convention center. Black, hot AF asphalt. No easy ups, no misters. Just us and the sun. For TWO hours. The paramedics were called to take 2 people away. I am not sure why... I can only assume heat exhaustion. This event was oversold. There were way too many people to really enjoy the vendors. Honestly, do not recommend.​​ read more

So 2018 marked our first ever CatCon experience. We went to the Saturday show only, arriving at around 10 a.m. The line wrapped all the way around the building past Starbucks to the back of the convention center. McDreamee (my husband) and I brought our two little girls. While I was excited to receive a few sample treats and canned food in addition to stickers and button pins, this once a year event fell a little flat. First off, tickets even through Gold Star were a bit pricey in my opinion. It was $17.50 per adult not including fees. Parking would have been an issue if I hadn't researched it beforehand because places filled up quickly. We parked in the Paseo Colorado Parking garage for $7.50. Knowing that the Meet & Greet sessions with the cat-lebrities and their humans costed extra plus this was our first time, we passed on such festivities. However, I personally was excited Sir Thomas Trueheart, Klaus, & Lil BUB all made appearances. I was hoping to see more ailurophiles dressed in head to toe feline regalia for the event. It wasn't as crazy as I anticipated. Of course, I will most likely attend again next year if I'm in the area simply because if you're a cat lover too then that's at least one thing we can agree on... 2018 Yelp challenge #166 read more

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The ticket price increases each year, however, the quality of the vendors drastically went down

2017 was my first CatCon and was fortunate enough to win my two passes in an Instagram contest. My mom and I arrived at 10am when the doors opened to General Admission. I also made sure to check quotes through the "Best Parking" app, so I knew I would park on Green and Euclid in a Paseo Colorado lot. There were no traffic lineups and I had my pick of parking! Even after three hours, I paid the full $9 which wasn't bad considering the convenience! My mom and I decided the hit the Vendor halls first which was 95% merchandise. Crafty items such as cat tees, totes, earrings and general feline paraphernalia were available from mom n pop shops online. My favorites were TeeTurtle, Meowingtons, #catsofinstagram and Emily the Strange. Surprisingly, there weren't a lot of big name vendors from the pet world aside from Frontline, a sponsor. We had hoped to look at more live cats and what we found were the pet adoptions off to the side of a Hall. The Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA set up "home" environments with furniture to replicate living rooms and bedrooms for potential cat parents to meet and greet the kitties. We could see this as "an audience" through the glass partitions that were set up. It was a nice touch. And nice to see a lineup as well! All the while, panels were held in the Auditorium but the line for the Kitten Lady in the morning was super long & didn't make it (yes, I'm a fan). That was free. My mom and I lined up early for the Real Men Love Cats panel featuring Lil Bub(!!!!!), actor Gilles Marini, Chris Poole and Jonathan Zurbel which was also free. It was great to see everyone up close and I was impressed that Gilles was the only panelist who impromptu came offstage to the audience afterwards, allowing anyone to meet and greet with him! The other meet and greets were sold out with a fee for admission. All in all, I'd only recommend CatCon as a half day event to people watch, adopt a cat, shop and see some interesting panels. Not worth more than the $15 minimum fee. There was a Starbucks on-site but no food. That could be found across the way at Paseo Colorado. But there was plenty of seating for weary feet inside the Halls! read more

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Absolutely not worth paying for. This is more like a market selling cheesy cat accessories. Most of the booths are the same, selling the same stuff. If you wanted to see a real cat you had to wait in line for over an hour. We won't go again. read more

LONG lines in 98 degree weather. Hardly any parking available. Too crowded inside Won't do this again

PAW-SOME! A place where all cat lovers can unite and gather! Ive gone 2 years straight (2017 and 2018, and plan on going in this year in 2019. Not sure why the reviews are so low, but I had a great time and the convention brought so much awareness. Met awesome cat lovers, discovered new products for my cats that I would have never known about if I had not gone, played with kittens and cats that I wish I could have taken home with me, supported a great cause as some of the ticket purchase went to the Ian Somerhalder Foundation Charity which works to educate people and collaborates with other organizations in conservation and environmental projects around the globe. Also stumbled upon talented artists who were selling items from artwork to merch and much more! People with negative reviews about the price need to understand that the ticket purchase might not be justifiable to them, however they need to realize that a portion of the ticket goes to charity and that the creators of catcon need to pay to rent the convention out (without that there would be no catcon!). If ticket prices are too pricey then I suggest waiting they provide promo codes from time to time on social media prior to the event. Also each year they sell discounted tickets on other platforms. read more

CatCon - Pet Adoption Near Me - Pasadena, California

First impression: 1 star. This is terrible for a casual attendee. Came in on a lark to check it out. Tickets are $50 day of and they had already run out of bags at noon. The lines are terrible : 30 min to 1 hour to see the cats or get free samples. It's incredibly hot as the air isn't working well. Total rip off. I do not like cats enough to put up with this. Reason I added an extra star. I think this would definitely be worth it if you came early and wanted to adopt a kitten. I think adoption is $50 total, and the kittens are already sterilized and vaccinated. read more

Long lines in 98 degree weather barely any shade and will Stang in line for at least 1.5 HR to 2 HR. People passing out in lines because of the heat. I definitely won't recommend it! And won't be coming back. Inside it is just a bunch of stalls selling stuff that could be easily bought from Amazon. read more

Waste of time and money. Waited over an hour in scorching heat to get in and there were nothing but booths selling cat merch. You'd have to wait another 2 hours to pet a single cat. It was like watching one cat commercial after another every 5 ft. Spent 15 min inside and left. NOT FUN FOR KIDS EITHER! God I wish I could get my money back for this infomercial incarnate. read more

2022 CATCON the virtual ticket was slightly usable in the app until the sound failed and the images were reversed. But the promotion of use in any browser was false. There was simply no streaming feature outside the app this year. i received a refund and never was able to view or hear any of the workshop offerings . I did recieve an overwhelming amount of vendor advertising in the app however. I was really disappointed as I hoped to make contacts for cat adoption and learn about clicker training. read more

Cat con was not cheap to enter. You have to stand in a very long hot line to get inside. The conversation center room is very small and packed with so many vendors that you can hardly walk thru so much pushing and shoving. Want to buy something? Good luck getting to look at a booth or buy a toy for your cat. Never again will I waste my money on cat con. And yes I am a crazy cat lady I work as a vet tech and cats are my favorite thing so can con was a huge disappointment and waste of my hard earned pay. read more

There are no words to even describe how mad I was after visiting this absurd, absolutely ridiculous place, rude personnel and supervisor at the ticket booth who took a defiant attitude and rudely responded to me that there was no refund if I did not want to proceed to that so called cat exhibition. They had a bunch of 30 kittens all looking the same (these people have no idea what real cat exhibition is!) there and you have to spend 25-30 minutes in HUGE line to see them. When you have a child with autism (nobody cared in my case) who can't stand still and wait in line, this whole thing becomes even more ridiculous. I went back to the cashier after we spent there 10 minutes before we even saw any cats, I asked for a refund, said I was not interested and this was not what I expected to see. They refused to process a refund since guess why? All sales were final. Seriously? $96 for standing in line for 30 minutes inside to see a bunch of vendors selling tshirts and 30 kitties? Wow! I would like to get a refund of my money! Your exhibition is a huge scam! read more

CatCon - Another line, no cats, line to take a picture, a line to see a bunch of kittens for $100 of standing in line. - Pet Adoption Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Total waste of money. Paid a fortune to be in a crowd of people with venders selling mostly stickers, arts and crafts, and litter boxes. Stay away. It's a scam. Unfortunately, I took the day off work and drive an hour to Pasadena to endure this. read more

2015 YELP 100 CHALLENGE - 055/100 Ok, so now that I've actually attended CatConLA, here's my review :) I was pretty excited when I found out the very first CatCon was going to be hosted in LA. I am a crazy cat lady and have grown up having cats my entire life (at one point during my childhood my family owned 6 cats). Now that I'm living on my own, I have my own cat and plan on getting at least one more in the future! :) This convention made me realize I am not the only one who is crazy for cats. In fact, there are MANY people who are just like me, or even more obsessed! :P I was really happy to see that I wasn't the only one who wore cat-themed clothing at the convention! So many people wearing shirts, pants, dresses, etc. with cats on them, and some people even dressed up like cats! It was amazing. The event was hosted at the Reef just south of DTLA. It was my first time going to this venue, and there were several parking lots surrounding the building that had flat rates. I parked in the lot right in front of the building and it was a $10 rate. I WISH somebody or some sign would have told me that you pay for parking when you exit... I was confused because there were no signs (to my knowledge) saying you park when you exit, and there were a bunch of people at the payment kiosk who were paying right after they parked so I just followed them. I ended up paying for parking twice because of this...so don't make the same mistake I did! Parking was $10/flat rate. I got there about 20 min before the event started on Saturday morning 9am, and there was already a decent line forming around the building. GET THERE EARLY because the line got reeeeally long after doors opened. Also, I suggest buying your tickets online instead of there so they don't sell out! It was a 2-day convention, but I only went on Saturday. People from all over the world travelled to LA just for this weekend! They had a set schedule of all of the events/speakers/meet & greets happening during the day. Some you needed a special ticket to get into, others were just first come first serve. Famous cats like Lil BUB and Pudge had their own meet & greets that were an extra cost. My boyfriend and I sat in on one of the sessions to see Mayim Bialik, aka: Amy Farrah Fowler from Big Bang Theory! She had a meet & greet at the Petsmart Charities booth and I was SO EXCITED I got to meet her and even got an autographed headshot! Jack McBrayer from 30 Rock was there on Sunday with Lil BUB! If you weren't sitting in on one of the sessions, they had over 100 different cat-related vendors each with their own booth set up everything cat-related you could think of - cat toys, cat food, cat furniture, cat costumes, cat carriers, and fun things for cat owners too like cat-themed pieces of art, stuffed animals (PUSHEEN!), cat-themed clothing, etc. It was great. I think the vendors were my favorite part of the convention. I spent several hundred dollars on misc. cat souvenirs...heh. They also had cat and kitten adoptions which was so awesome! I found out that after the 2-day convention, 73 CATS WERE ADOPTED! That makes me so happy! A few suggestions for future CatCons: 1) Lack of food/drink was a problem. There was one booth that offered coffee, but other than that, there was no food inside. They had food trucks parked outside in the parking lot...but that was it. I was starving by the time I left and it was awful. BRING SNACKS if they end up not having food again next year. 2) More famous cats would be awesome. Maybe Grumpy Cat? Hamilton the Hipster Cat? Nala?! More cat-lover celebs like Mayim Bialik and Jack McBrayer would be great too! 3) More clarity on the parking situation as I mentioned above. 4) Meetup prices for the famous cats was pretty outrageous. $100 to meet a famous cat was kinda steep IMO. 5) I didn't think most of the panels/sessions sounded that interesting. I only went to one because I wanted to meet Mayim Bialik. 6) I was disappointed in several of the vendors/exhibitors that didn't have what I was looking to purchase. After the list of vendors was announced, I literally checked out every single one online to see what they sold and plan out what I wanted to buy from them. Turns out a lot of them didn't even bring the items I wanted to purchase from them and I was disappointed! Several of them explained that they weren't given much space in their booth so they only brought what they could probably sell...which I know isn't their fault, but was pretty disappointing. I still somehow managed to spend a lot...I just didn't walk out of there with what I wanted! 7) Bigger room for cat adoptions. The room they had all the cats/kittens up for adoption in was really cramped and it was very hard navigating around all of the people surrounding all of the cages. Perhaps a bigger space would be a lot better! Overall, LOVED my experience at the first annual CatCon! CAN'T WAIT TO GO FOR YEARS TO COME! :D read more

I attended CatconLA last year and was hoping it would be just as fun but was a little disappointed because they didn't fix a lot of the flaws that were there last year. First of all, it was so hard to move between the floors and there weren't enough maps around to navigate. There was no advertisement about the cat escape room and I wish I knew about it before hand so that I could have made reservations. It should have been larger. I also watched the Furrocious fashion show and it was horrible. First of all, there was no fashion element in it. It essentially was "who is wearing the tackiest cat themed clothing". Half the crowd left within a few minutes of the contestants going up on stage. I felt so bad for them.... Pro was that it was much larger than last year. There's also free street parking if you don't mind walking 5 minutes to save you $10. read more

CatCon - Half the crowd left after a few minutes. Poor planning. - Pet Adoption Near Me - Pasadena, California

I have been a fan of Catcon since its inception and it has only gotten better over the years. Catcon offers experiential events, informative and fun guest lectures, cat fashion shows, adoption, celeb cats, a host of curated amazing unique vendors and donates a ton of money towards cat causes. I will go every year until I'm an old cat lady. Thank you Catcon, I seriously look forward to your show every year. read more

What a disappointment. I bought my tickets in April (4 months before) because I was that excited and I literally had a countdown on my phone, requested the whole day off from work & even told my cat that I was going to come home with new stuff for her. Wow. There was like 4 booths for ACTUAL cat supplies and the rest were t-shirts, bags, accessories and even phone accessories. Those are pretty fun, don't get my wrong but I was expecting something TOTALLY different. The walk ways between the booths were so tiny, I had to scoot by people. Awful. It was an experience I needed to experience though because now I know not to waste my money. read more

This will be our third year attending and believe me when I say we REALLY look forward to it. We even use a countdown app as soon as we know the dates. The first year we found out about CatCon was on FB. It sounded amazing. We only went on Sunday as my son wanted to meet his favorite author. We got to The Reef early and a line formed quickly. He also wanted a Lil Bub plushie and the gal behind told us how crowded it was the day before and they couldn't see a lot due to the crowds and that the Lil Bub sold out. We were determined to have fun and fun we had! We bought his plushie as soon as we walked in. We shopped, we went to meet his favorite author, and meet so many cool people. It wasn't that crowded either. The second year it was at The Reef again, however this time it was on two floors. The one floor was more commercial and the other floor was all artists and small businesses. This time we did both days. We had so much fun. It was crowded! We couldn't believe how popular it had got in such a short amount of time. There were some glitches however we focus on the positive. We had even more fun than the first year. We made even more friends and had fun shopping. It's like kitty heaven. We can't wait to go this year to Pasadena - I know it'll be bigger and better. I have even more reasons that make me love this show but I've rambled on enough. read more

CatCon - This is year one and year two. So many photo ops. So dress to impress. - Pet Adoption Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Funday,it's good,yet the cats are only few,I was thinking I can see a lot cute cats,but I got some new feeling from this convention read more

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This thing is a joke. It's super small with enough booths to entertain you about 3 minutes. I waited in line for an hour then stayed about 5 minutes and left. Awful. Terrible. Horrendous. These people should be ashamed of themselves read more

This year I was excited to return to catcon and purchase all kinds of goodies for my kitty cat. As I walked and walked and walked around the entire convention center, they hardly had anything for cats. They only had trinkets for human, and looked more like an arts and crafts for cat people lovers, than it being for CATS. What a disappointment, how do I get my money back. read more

CatCon will be bigger and better than ever in 2017 in a NEW venue, The Pasadena Convention Center! read more

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