Is Belle bound for big time?

Is Belle bound for big time?
Kathleen Carey, Of the Times Staff
06/13/2006

She has beguiling eyes and a thick coat of dark hair. She makes her home in Springfield and is breathtakingly beautiful. Starting today, Belle will be one of the star's of entertainment's most recent foray into reality television as she is encouraged to lick herself clean, eat to her heart's content and relieve herself in front of a barrage of Web cams, all in an attempt to be America's next executive.

The "Apprentice"?

Not quite. Try "The Meow Mix House."

Belle and her nine co-habitants from across the country are shelter cats whose digs have been upgraded to a specially designed home on Madison Avenue, right down the street from Saks Fifth Avenue and St. Patricks Cathedral, in New York City. The dining table, for instance, is a glass-topped aquarium, complete with fish swimming below. The faucet has water running from it continuously and there will be as much Meow Mix as they want.

Beginning today through June 23, these cats can be seen on www.meowmixhouse.com 24 hours a day. Viewers will be encouraged to vote for their favorite feline and each day, the cat with the fewest votes will be evicted from the Manhattan house, only to be sent to a new permanent adopted home.

The cats will have unseen supervision at all times during their stay by veterinary and Meow Mix staff.

Similar to the "Today" set, the house can be viewed from the outside walkways so the public is welcome to visit at 425 Madison Ave.

The final cat will work for the Meow Mix Company as feline vice president of research and development and will taste test new Meow Mix products.

Highlights from their stay as well as scripted moments involving the cats will be crafted into 10 three-minute episodes to be aired on "Animal Planet" beginning next Friday.

Keith Fernbach of Grand Central Marketing said shelter cats were chosen this month because of its designation as "Adopt-A-Shelter Cat" month.

Fernbach's company is producing the show with Meow Mix Company and its advertising agency, MMB.

Belle comes from the Pet Adoption and Lifecare Society (PALS) in Springfield.

"The one characteristic we wanted for all the cats was they could get along with each other and that they are fun and playful," Fernbach said.

Two years ago, Pat Ferrucci, secretary of PALS, had worked with Meow Mix at its Gold Medal Games in Manayunk. So when they were looking for shelter cats for Meow House, they contacted her.

Ferrucci picked three cats, and Belle stood out.

"She was female and she's beautiful," Ferrucci said. "She has a big, bushy tail. Her face is just so cute."

Originally known as Abby, her stage name Belle was adopted to geographically link her to Philadelphia, in honor of two of the city's icons, the Liberty Bell and Patti LaBelle, Ferrucci said.

Belle first came to PALS as a 1-year-old stray from a bus depot in Delaware County.

Ferrucci said Belle's trip to New York went well and her transition into the Meow Mix went fantastic. Her favorite, apparently, was the fish dining table.

"Belle went nuts," Ferrucci laughed. "She wanted to get into that aquarium so bad."

Also, it would seem the Springfield kitty has an advantage over her competition.

"Of (all) the cats, she was the prettiest," Ferrucci said. "If (voters) vote with their gut, she would be the contender."

"(Meow Mix is) always trying to do fun things with cats," said Fernbach. "With cats, they're so personality driven."

To vote for Belle, visit www.meowmixhouse.com between Tuesday, June 13 and Friday, June 23. To adopt a cat from P.A.L.S., please call (610) 586-PALS or send an e-mail to palspetadopt@yahoo.com.