NiLaMi’s’ Handmade Cat Items

suki
Apr 2, 2023
3 min read

Niki Lauda

NiLaMi’s is the brand name of Wendy’s handmade (knitted and other textile made) items for your cat which can be personalized. The name is derived from the two cats and one dog that Wendy took care of before she became cat pawrent of cat Puss.

In 1997 Wendy, living in the city of Deventer, The Netherlands, was offered a kitten which she named Nicky. A year later she took another kitten in, and she named him Lauda. Putting those two names together, you get Nicky Lauda.

This name was an intentional reference to the late Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (1949-2019) the Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He became a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in 1975, 1977 and 1984. Lauda is the only driver in Formula One history to have been champion for both Ferrari and McLaren, two of the sport's allegedly most successful constructors.

Small Business

In 2002 Wendy’s boyfriend (now husband) gave her a Jack Russell puppy and they named him Mikey. In the intervening period, she tried to set up a small business for herself. This went well, slowly and steady by trial and error.

However, the moment Lauda got bladder stones around the age of eight in 2006, Wendy and her husband dedicated all their love and attention to take care of him. It meant a setback too for Wendy’s own small business plans. Eventually, Lauda’s bladder problems got under control with the help of special cat food. Wendy and her husband have kept this up for six years.

Mikey, the only dog sofar featured by CatSwoppr ;-)

Grieving Lauda’s Loss

In October 2012, fate struck and Wendy and her husband had to let Lauda go. It was a bitter pill for Lauda’s ‘wife’ Nicky, since they were inseparable. Also Mikey was sad, as he lost a playtime sparring buddy. In the days that followed after the passing away of Lauda, Wendy noticed that Nicky could not cope with her grief, even though Mikey was trying incredibly hard to comfort Nicky.

Nicky’s and Mikey’s Passing Away

Wendy had been searching the internet to find solutions easing the pain of Nicky. She stumbled upon valerian drops available at drugstores and health food stores. Miraculously, the drops helped Nicky pull through her grieving period. But unfortunately, she also deteriorated physically. By April 2014, they also had to let go of her. At that point, they only had Mikey left. Soon he was not doing well either. He had lived his life till May 2015.

The Birth of NiLaMi’s

After processing all the grief about the loss of Lauda, Nicky and Mikey, Wendy had in mind to resume her small business. Though a name for her commercial dealings was missing. Inspired by her late furry companions, she came up with name NiLaMi’s. She combined the first two letters of the two cats Nicky and Lauda and the dog Mikey together. Thus was born NiLaMi’s.

In July 2018, cat Puss came into Wendy’s life. She wanted also to include him in her plans and she drew him with pencil on paper for NiLaMi’s’ logo.

Cat Model Puss

Finally, Wendy has got her small business on track again. Her handmade items can be personalized for your cat. Puss is her top model. He is always wearing the bow ties, necklaces and knitted collars made by Wendy.

Actually, cat Pippa, who we have written about regarding her two recipes Pollo con le Olive and Pollo al Limoncello, is a friend of Puss, and she wears NiLaMi’s handmade bow ties too.

You can DM Wendy for wishes and prizes of her cat items.