Minnesota entrepreneur has scientific approach to a better cat toy

In the basement of a ranch-style home in St. Louis Park, Allison Zank is hard at work in her laboratory.

Oils are being heated in a water bath. Botanical substances are awaiting extractions and infusions. There's a white board diagramming the molecular makeup of pheromonal compounds such as actinidine and civetone.

Elsewhere in the house, a product tester named Cabbage is awaiting the results. Cabbage is a cat. Zank is trying to create a better cat toy.

The 49-year-old entrepreneur is a research chemist and microbiology expert who has had jobs working for a biodiesel company and a personal care products manufacturer.

But after a layoff, she started her own company in 2023 called Minou Le-Mew. Under the brand name Feline Grove, it creates "handcrafted, small‑batch botanical cat toys" and "wellness solutions" for discerning users like Cabbage.

Cabbage, Zank's tuxedo cat, weighs 35 pounds.

"He's like a turkey," she said. But his girth has meant he has trouble grooming.

"He can't reach. His little head can't reach," Zank said.

To help him out, Zank created a product called Fluff Potion Number 9, a $24 no-comb avocado and olive oil-based mat detangler and remover. It's full of calming extracts advertised as being gentle on the skin, healthy for the fur and good for the gut microbiome.

There's also Asterisk Wipes, $30 for a packet of 30, which are essentially baby wipes for cats. Intended to clean, deodorize and refresh "your cat's most sensitive spot," the grooming wipes are infused with a mixture of mineral oil, aloe vera and witch hazel.

Witch hazel is a soothing antibacterial plant-based substance also sometimes prescribed for human butts.

"They're very much like Tucks wipes," Zank said of her Asterisk Wipes. "It's a great skin chemical."

Then there's her line of cat toys that are infused with a product Zank developed called Miracle Nip, a "gourmet catnip alternative."

There's catnip in Miracle Nip, but the proprietary blend also includes a range of "designer herbal molecules" from silvervine, dandelion, honeysuckle, valerian, lemongrass, licorice root and more.

"I study the plants that intrigue cats in some way," Zank said. "I'm going to be starting some studies on cilantro."

She captures the botanical compounds using a French fragrance extraction process called enfleurage, which has been long used for perfume production.

Her line of Chunkle toys, which range from $15 to $24, are made with a crocheted yarn body in colors cats can see.

She said the crocheted covering is more durable and harder to unravel than a knit covering.

"I had to learn to crochet," she said. "It really holds up. A cat can beat the tar out of it."

 The toys are also weighted to simulate a prey animal.

"It weighs the same as an average dead chipmunk," she said of one of her toys. "I had to google that one."

The toys look like cartoon versions of birds, frogs, mice and other cats. But Zank also has offered limited-edition toys that depict Japanese sushi or Greek gods.

"I design them all," she said.

She said that so far she's sold more than 1,000 toys that have been handcrafted by herself or local contract crocheters that Zank hires to help out.

Zank also sells a kit including yarn, plastic eyes, Miracle Nip, crochet hook and instructions if you want to craft your own toy hamster.

Because her toys are made locally, she said she's able to maintain good quality control and so far hasn't been affected by tariffs. She's arranging to source her catnip from a Wisconsin farmer.

Zank sells her toys online and at local farmers markets, craft markets and pop-up shops.

"We have a fussy cat who's not very interested in toys and he absolutely loves his Chunkles," said Kim Walter, a customer from Santa Fe, N.M.

Jill Yarberry, a Grand Rapids, Mich., resident, said Zank's toys have been popular with her three finicky cats, including one who is normally a "serious stoic who doesn't have time for playing."

"The worm is probably their favorite," she said.

"I believe my products are different," Zank said. "They very carefully consider feline psychology."