We've crowned the LucyBalu CATMODEL 2024!

For the fourth year running, our Munich start-up LucyBalu held the "Cat Model Contest". With even more challenges for the participants, this social media contest, which ran over several months, was quite something! Today, on World Cat Day, we're finally announcing the winner.

To celebrate the winner - right on time for World Cat Day - LucyBalu is now also launching its Catweek! HERE you'll find discounts of up to 25% on selected products.

• The voting process

More than 4,000 entries reached us. Cats of every shape, colour and breed were put forward as possible cover models. We were simply overwhelmed by the fantastic response. Every cat model who collected more than 100 likes for their photo made it through to the next round.

• The recall

To apply for the teams in the auditions, participants had to complete a video task. The winners of this round then made it into the team auditions.

• The team auditions

Then the auditions began - all participants could apply to the team of their choice through a photo challenge. After completing the challenge, participants were selected by Team @sinascolorcats, Team @ajat_, Team @foto.maedchen or Team @cosimo_savannahcat.

• The community vote

In the community vote, 8 cats were then chosen from the top 30 for the home shoot and 8 cats for the live shoot on 22-23 July at wStudio in Munich. As a "wild card", the applicant who generated the most sign-ups in phase 2 secured a spot in the final directly, which is why there were 9 live-shoot candidates in total.
Several thousand people took part here. We were overwhelmed.

So, after just two months, countless posts and many rounds of voting from over 4,000 candidates, we arrived at our 17 finalists.

• The final

With 17 finalists, the big day finally arrived on 29-21 August 2024!

While 8 cats struck their best poses in the comfort of their own homes, another 9 finalists came to join us in Munich. HERE we introduce the 17 house tigers.
Both animal and human wellbeing was well taken care of.

• The finalists from the live shoot

In Munich, Milo - @the.gentle.bengal.bros, Suri - @Caroskittycats, Lucy - @Curlycri, Klausi - @monseurklaus, Luna - @silverlion.luna, Smoky - @smoky_und_sky, brothers Lexus and Fanta - @surfincoco and Lola - @lola_on_the_peak walked through the door one after another, ready to give their all for the title. The photos of the 9 cats in the order mentioned:

We were able to take beautiful and unique photos with every single one of the cats.

The photos of the "stay-at-homes" - Charly - @charlyderkater, Fluffy - @honeyandfluffy_ragdollcats, Gnocchi - @gnocchi.thekitten, Akira - @just.ari_akira, BamBam Balu - @kittensafehouse, Zulli - @leascatdiary, Yuki - @yukiandkovu and Nela - @michu.nela turned out just as wonderful, really bringing out each cat's individual character.

The photos of the 8 cats in the order mentioned:

At LucyBalu, we'd love to declare every one of the 17 (and honestly, all the others too) a winner - and to us, they truly are!

The winner - our LucyBalu Catmodel 2024

The vote for Cat Model 2024, who graced the cover of the October issue of „Geliebte Katze“, went to ZULLI!!! 🥳

A little backstory on Zulli, told to us by his owner after the win:

"Zulli is estimated to be 2 years old (estimate from the shelter, 03/2022, though the exact date is sadly unknown 😢). He's almost certainly from a Turkish Angora litter - there's no indication of any other breed mixed in, since his white coat and two different eye colours are quite typical traits. Because of this, though, he sadly also has the handicap of being deaf. 🥹 He was found here in Berlin living on the street, where nobody knew if he'd make it, as he'd picked up a number of illnesses. So I do assume he was abandoned here in Germany (I don't think he was born on the street, but that's just a guess 😊)"

We're so happy we got to share Zulli's story, and we thank all the other fluffy participants too - we're already looking forward to next year! 🐈💕