Recently, the world mourned the passing of Grumpy Cat, aka Tardar Sauce, whose permanent grouchy face caused by a feline form of dwarfism turned her into a celebrity.

Grumpy Cat boasted 2.7 million followers on Instagram and even came to Australia as part of a worldwide tour.

She died aged seven in her mother’s arms on Tuesday May 14, 2019.

 

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Some days are grumpier than others…

A post shared by Grumpy Cat (@realgrumpycat) on May 17, 2019 at 2:01am PDT

Tabatha Bundesen (Grumpy Cat’s owner) has never given away how much her beloved feline made money wise, but it’s estimated she had a net worth of $100 million.

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, has appeared in numerous TV advertisements, has sold 500,0000 copies of a book, and has starred in a feature film.

Not bad for a cat.

Treat your ears to a deep dive into the world of pet influencing. Post continues after podcast.

‘Influencer’ is a job title we’re getting more and more used to as the years go on, but have you ever spared a thought for the niche world of pet influencing?

Well, perhaps you should. For the sake of your pooch/cat/rat/bird.

Because Grumpy Cat is not the only one who’s been making her owner super rich.

“I have cats in the six figure range,” pet manager and CEO of Pets on Q, Colleen Wilson, told The Quicky. 

“We work with everyone from Mercedes Benz, Home Depot, we have done a major makeup campaign with some of our cats,” said Wilson of some of her client’s achievements.

Wilson saw a gap in the market. Owners with fabulous pets and huge social media followings who were doing work for brands for free.

“I started to reach out to a couple of them and say ‘Hey, you’re being taken advantage of’. It was very side job for a long time, and it eventually took off.

“Some of our influencers started growing from 100,000 to millions of followers. We just kind of facilitated and helped them along the way,” she explained.

One of Wilson’s most popular clients is a cat called Coby.

He has 1.5 million followers on Instagram, and his fans are obsessed with his white fur and striking blue eyes that feature the perfect ‘eyeliner’ naturally.

“It’s so crazy but we’ve had four makeup brands reach out to us wanting him to be the ambassador for their new eyeliner. He’s been on billboards in Brazil. If I walk over to Macey’s he’s on a cosmetics marketing banner there,” Wilson told The Quicky.

“You’d think all we’d do is pet food, but it’s really not,” she added. “We have at least 15 CBD oil campaigns going at any given time. It’s nuts.”

 

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Throwback to when I passed my first eye exam. I read the letters T R E A T in the bottom row. Easiest test ever. #tbt

A post shared by Coby The Cat (@cobythecat) on May 2, 2019 at 3:58am PDT

So how much money could you potentially be making?

Forbes reporter Stephan Rabimov broke down the figures for The Quicky: “If someone has 100,000 followers, you could expect $1600 per post. If that number of followers is half a million you’re looking at a price point of 5 to $7000 per post.

“For those with over a million, you’re looking at $10,000 or as far as millions of dollars.”

Rabimov says it’s pets like Grumpy Cat that take their online popularity into the real world that see the real big bucks.

“If you remember the late designer Karl Lagerfield, he left a cat behind and that cat has its own Instagram account.

“But because the cat was an inspiration for various products he designed, it had contracts as high as $3 million,” he explained.

“If these influencers are successful at taking their image outside the social media world, and bringing that to the physical world, they could be demanding much higher profit,” he reiterated.

For those looking for some inspiration to get your pet insta-famous, here are Rabimov’s top picks to follow.

Pumpkin the raccoon:

 

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????”Got enough blueberries Pumps? ????”NEVER!” #flashbackfriday to when Pumps went on that health kick. ????”Ahem… mama please let the record show it lasted 3 whole days!” ????”More like 3 minutes!” ????”RUDE!”

A post shared by Pumpkin The Raccoon (@pumpkintheraccoon) on Jun 22, 2018 at 6:02am PDT

Hamlet the piggy:

 

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Cool kid ????

A post shared by Hamlet (@hamlet_the_piggy) on Feb 26, 2019 at 1:54pm PST

Loki the wolfdog:

 

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Days long past yet so close to my heart. _ Years ago, I had never seen a dog in a hammock, but I thought it might be a funny photo. I even googled it to see other photos of what it might look like. _ Then this moment came after a long day of work. I wasn’t feeling particularly “inspired” or “creative”. I was honestly just tired but wanted to see if I could grab this photo I had in my head. I lifted up Loaks and put him in. Took a few photos with my @gopro and posted one. _ Long story short, it set us on a trajectory of me being able to quit my job because I was told I couldn’t bring Loki to the office anymore. _ I recently did a podcast with the @thestokecast homies about it all. Have a listen if you want to hear me ramble about work, life, and a low key hustle. The link is in my bio.

A post shared by Loki the Wolfdog (@loki) on May 2, 2019 at 9:02am PDT

Mr Pokey the hedgehog:

 

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GAME OF THORNS – The true heir of the iron throne ????⚔️???????? #got #gameofthrones

A post shared by Herbee the Hedgehog (@mr.pokee) on May 19, 2019 at 8:30am PDT

It’s time for a change of career we think.