Hello, I'm Starr Vipi, and I'm so excited to create this NEW Famous Cats & Dogs of Science 2.0 series with you! These real life, paradoxical, hypothetical, and celestial furry friends are some of my favorites from my past series. I've updated these designs to honor the impact these animals have had on not only medicine, science, and history, but also... pop-culture?

The first Famous Cats of Science project launched almost 5 years ago, so it's time for 2.0 designs! I'm so excited to breathe some new life into this popular project.

Special effect stickers are included for Backerkit backers who pledge for pins, an exclusive freebie! These stickers will feature effects including lenticular, glow in the dark, and holographic finish. Just interested in growing your sticker collection, sticker only tiers are also available.

Exclusive for Backerkit:

  Cat person? Dog person? Science person? If you ever wanted an enamel pin to show off your love for fluffy cuties and genetic modification, life-saving medicine, innovations in animal accessibility, astronomy, or theoretical physics-- look no further! 

In an experiment with the goal of protecting humans and cats from AIDS and FIV, scientists also created glow in the dark cats. The effect is from a florescent protein found in jellyfish, and a version of this gene along with another that blocks FIV are expressed in the cat's lymphoid organs. Some of the cats involved were orange and would glow green, this pin does the same.

PIN DETAILS:  Silver metal hard enamel pin featuring glow in the dark (orange glows green)
42mm /1.7in with 2 pin posts 

 PIN DETAILS:  Silver metal featuring recessed & screen printed stars, translucent glow in the dark (blue glows blue)
42mm /1.7in with 2 pin posts  

The inspiration behind Nikola Tesla's fascination with electricity was his black cat, Mačak. One evening, Tesla stroked Mačak's back and his hand produced a shower of sparks. This piqued Tesla's curiosity and he asked himself, "what is electricity?" Later in his life, he recounted the event in a letter:  "In the dusk of the evening as I stroked Mačak's back, I saw a miracle which made me speechless with amazement. Mačak's back was a sheet of light, and my hand produced a shower of crackling sparks loud enough to be heard all over the house ... My mother seemed charmed — 'Stop playing with the cat,' she said. 'He might start a fire.' But I was thinking abstractly. Is Nature a gigantic cat? If so, who strokes its back?... I cannot exaggerate the effect of this marvelous night on my childish imagination. Day after day I have asked myself, what is electricity?" 

  PIN DETAILS:  Silver metal hard enamel pin featuring screen print
42mm /1.7in with 2 pin posts  

After Oscar lost his back paws in an accident, "Super Vet" Noel Fitzpatrick operated on the cat and gave him prosthetics. The cutting edge operation saved Oscar's life and once he recovered he could run and jump like a typical cat could. The technology involved now acts as a model for human amputees.

  PIN DETAILS:  Silver metal hard enamel pin
52mm /2in with 2 pin posts   

Nicolas Copernicus would often sprawl across papers on Hubble's desk in his study, and when he did, the astronomer would say, "he's helping me" and the cat would let out a low purr. Hubble so loved his cat he and his wife would refer to their own home as "Nicolas' Estate".

  PIN DETAILS:  Gold metal hard enamel pin
58mm /2.3in with 2 pin posts  

This pin has two options: Fierce & Focused:

PIN DETAILS: Silver metal featuring recessed skull & screen printed cat features, translucent glow in the dark (white glows green) 
52mm /2in with 2 pin posts  

PIN DETAILS: Silver metal featuring recessed skull & screen printed cat features, translucent glow in the dark (white glows green) 
52mm /2in with 2 pin posts 

Togo led his team running 264 of the 674 miles of The  Great Race of Mercy in 1925. In white out conditions Togo was able to  guide his team through a blizzard that even his musher, Leonhard  Seppala, could not see through. At one point in the serum run, Togo lead  his team across the frozen Norton Sound where the ice was unstable and  cracked while they ran. Togo would be upstaged by the 13 dog team that  ran the last 55 miles to arrive in Nome with the serum, led by Balto.  Later that same year a bronze statue was erected in New York Central Park, supposedly of Balto, however the dog's name does not appear on the plaque.

PIN DETAILS:  Silver metal hard enamel pin featuring screen print
64mm /2.5in with 2 pin posts  

PIN DETAILS:  Silver metal hard enamel pin featuring screen print
57mm /2.25in with 2 pin posts 

First stretch goal UNLOCKED, Laika & Felicette! These pins are a collaboration between myself and Atomic Pixies. Check out their Pintopia 2 campaign, The Atomic Tarot HERE. Atomic Pixies and I love science and the history of it, so these designs are based on their tragic and inspiring stories. These pins are available individually or as a discounted set of 2!

Félicette was originally born a stray cat in France with no name. She was trained with 13 other cats through many trials, some the same as what humans go through, in preparation for space travel. She orbited Earth in her ship for nearly an hour and a half, and she experienced five minutes of weightlessness. Once the launch was a success, and the cat returned, she was named Félicette.

PIN DETAILS:  Silver metal hard enamel pin featuring recessed metal
38mm /1.5in with 2 pin posts  

Laika is one of the most well known animals to have traveled to space. Born a stray in Moscow, she went through space training and was the first animal to orbit the Earth. Sadly, she did not survive her trip aboard Sputnik 2. Laika's sacrifice paved the way for safe space travel.

PIN DETAILS:  Silver metal hard enamel pin featuring recessed metal
38mm /1.5in with 2 pin posts   

The second stretch goal UNLOCKED, Smoky & Robot! These pins are available as individual pledges for any pin tier or as individual add-ons.

"No. 1 Dog Hero", "Yorkie Doodle Dandy", and Corporal Good Girl Smoky was the first ever therapy dog. After she was found in New Guinea by an American soldier in WWII, Smoky flew 12 rescue and photo reconnaissance missions before retiring state-side. She was  a member of the 5th Air Force's 26th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron for 18 months, and learned over 200 hand signals while she was in service. She even ran a communication wire through a 70 foot long pipe to an Air Force base after the previous line was damaged beyond repair. She learned so many tricks she entertained troops as well as assisting in their recovery, giving her the title of "Champion Mascot in the Southwest Pacific Area." 

PIN DETAILS:  Gold metal hard enamel pin featuring recessed metal and screen print
38mm /1.5in with 2 pin posts   

Sometimes you chase a rabbit and end up making one of the greatest historical discoveries, which is just second nature when you're Robot! In 1940 Robot took off after something while walking with his owner Marcel Ravidot in the Dordogne region of France. Ravidot chased him and found the hole had actually led to The Lascaux Cave. This cave features over 600 paintings and 1500 engravings and is estimated to be 17,000 years old. The subjects of the cave include common animals that would have existed in the area at the time, such as bison, rhinoceros, and lions; but also mythical animals!

PIN DETAILS:  Rose Gold metal hard enamel pin featuring recessed metal and screen print
52mm /2in with 2 pin posts  

Third and final stretch goal UNLOCKED, Felicia & Antler Mouse! These pins are available as individual pledges for any pin tier or as individual add-ons.

She's fuzzy, she's long, she's running through a particle accelerator; it's Felicia the Fermilab Ferret! In the 1970's small tech wasn't as prevalent as it is today, so scientists had to get creative when they suspected some scrap metal shavings in an accelerator tube were causing the equipment to shut down. These tubes were about as wide as a tennis ball and ran in sections of over 300 feet in length! To resolve the issue, they would give Felicia a small harness to allow her to pull a magnet through the tube from end to end, collecting any small shavings on the way. She was beloved by the staff of Fermilab, doted on and rewarded with treats for her work and trips to their homes to stay for the night. Lovingly referred to as the "Magnetic Ferret" Felicia retired after just over a dozen runs.

PIN DETAILS:  Gold metal hard enamel pin featuring recessed metal and screen print
38mm /1.5in with 2 pin posts    

PIN DETAILS:  Gold metal hard enamel pin featuring recessed metal
52mm /2in with 2 pin posts   

5" Schrodinger's Cat Lenticular Sticker: Changes image based on angle it is viewed from.  Get this sticker FREE when you are one of the backers in the first 24 hours of the campaign!  Also available as a separate add-on. 

4" Radium Death Sticker: Glow in the dark. Get this sticker FREE when you pledge to this campaign and Atomic Pixies' Atomic Tarot! Also available as a separate add-on.

2-3" Stickers featuring glow in the dark, shatter holo, metallic, and holographic effects. Get these stickers FREE when you pledge for the matching design pin. Additional sticker only tier is also available to pledge or add-on.

Welcome to Pintopia — a celebration of creativity and collaboration from a diverse group of artists collectively running enamel pin crowdfunding projects from March 28th - April 18th.

Freebie Cross-Collaboration Pins — All 125+ Pintopia creators have paired up with a fellow participant to create two unique pin designs together. If BOTH projects reach their initial funding goal, backers who support BOTH will get the TWO [2] cross-collab pins for FREE! One from each creator. The more pairs of Pintopia creators you support, the more free pins you will earn ✨

14 days to receive funds & begin production - May 3rd

2-3 months for all pins to go through production and shipping to me in USA - July/August

7-14 days for quality control/packing - Mid August

Rewards shipping to you! - Late August

Please be aware, shipping will be calculated and collected after the campaign ends!

USA: $5-6 USD

International: $10-20+ USD

Not all of the original 1.0 pins have sold out or were selected for redesign, these past designs are available as discounted add-ons for this campaign. These pins may get a redesign in the future, but the 1.0 versions are limited edition and once they are sold out they are gone FOREVER!

CC (short for Carbon Copy or Copy Cat) was the first cloned pet. Though she had genes identical to Rainbow, the cat she was cloned from, CC was unique in her own ways. The experiment proved that even with identical genes, the look and behavior of the original and copy will vary. CC did not look like Rainbow, as cat coat patterns develop in the womb and are not related directly to their genes.

Hard Enamel Pin 
Screen Printed Details 
Silver Metal 
46mm 2 Posts 

Naki'o was the first dog to ever have four prosthetic limbs. Abandoned as a puppy in the winter, Naki'o was rescued from a frozen puddle. He survived, but his paws and tip of his tail were lost to frostbite. His prosthetics allowed him to walk, run, and jump.

Hard Enamel Pin 
Gold Metal 
60mm with 2 pin posts 

Mary Leakey was a brilliant archaeologist who discovered many significant human and ape fossils, as well as rock paintings. Their dalmatians would be present at the Leakey family's dig sites to warn them if any wildlife got too close. The skull is of one of her discoveries: Paranthropus Boisei, an extinct relative to the Homo Genus.

Hard Enamel Pin 
Black Nickel Metal 
64mm with 2 pin posts  

Erwin Schrodinger's daughter speaks of the family dog and how Burshies' calming presence comforted the family through the trying times of World War II. Though he may be most famous for his feline thought experiment, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist actually had a dog!

Hard Enamel Pin 
Gold Metal 
45mm with 2 pin posts 
Glow in the dark 

After the first World War, Dr. Gerhard Stalling began looking into dogs assisting soldiers who had been blinded, and in 1916 he would open the first guide dog school. The next major school would open in Posdam, where 12 dogs graduated each month. Dorothy Eustis, an American dog breeder and trainer, wrote an article about the school which was published in the US. When a blind man named Morris Frank heard about the article, he reached out to Dorothy to help bring the guide dogs school to the US. Dorothy would train Buddy, then teach Morris to work with him. With their success, Dorothy founded The Seeing Eye in 1929, the first USA school for guide dogs.

Buddy: Color 
Hard Enamel Pin 
Gold Metal 
64mm with 2 pin posts 
Screen printed details

Buddy: Blanks 
Gold or silver metal 
64mm with 2 pin posts 
Comes with braille card

Though her existence is not proven, Diamond is believed to have started the fire in Newton's study. This fire burned much of his research, likely delaying Newton's most famous breakthrough by years. It is said, after the incident, Newton took the little dog in his arms, lamenting her mischief.

Hard Enamel Pin 
Gold Metal 
45mm with 2 pin posts 
Glitter flames 

Therapy Dogs are trained to comfort and calm people. They are found in schools, hospitals, retirement homes, and in households across the world. These dogs are not covered by the ADA or FHA, they are given access to private and public areas per individual location policies. Therapy dogs do go through specific training to ensure they can do their job without distractions or over-stimulation. Unlike some other service dogs, therapy dogs do not need to be bred for specific behaviors and any dog can be evaluated to become a therapy dog.

Mobility Dogs, sometimes also Brace Dogs, assist people who need stabilization, coordination, help up after a fall, or other general movement. These dogs are also trained to assists with tasks around the house, such as opening doors or cupboards, turning on or off lights, picking up dropped objects, and retrieving objects. Brace and Mobility Support Dogs (BMSDs) are specialized and highly trained service animals. They are partnered with their humans based on that person's needs and the dog's size, strength and specialty training. On occasion, the dog will be trained in the emergency tasks, including barking to alert any people around of a health emergency. In some cases, the dog will also try to fetch a person to follow them to assist their human.

Hearing Dogs are a more recent service dog type. In the 70's, a woman reached out to her community to see if she could find a dog which could alert her to sounds as her previous dog had done naturally. A local dog trainer trained six local shelter dogs to do just that, and fulfilled the woman's request. In 1976 The Hearing Ear Program was headquartered in Colorado with the American Humane Association. Shelter dogs are trained to this day to be hearing dogs for people across North America.

Hard Enamel Pin
Silver Metal
45mm with 2 pin posts
Screen printed details

Ruppy, named for their genetic traits as a "ruby" "puppy", had a red fluorescent protein in her cells. This causes Ruppy to glow red, subtly yet noticeably in her white or hairless areas, in normal lighting. Transgenetic studies in dogs and other animals allow scientists to better understand disease in similar mammals. Ruppy went on to have puppies of her own, which inherited her glow.

Hard Enamel Pin 
Silver Metal 
32mm with 2 pin posts 
Glow in the dark 

"The dog is very smart, He fells sorry for me because I receive so much mail; that's why he tries to bite the mailman." Chico Marx was a special member of Einstein's family, the wirey fox terrier was beloved by the genius. Other pets in the Einstein family included a parrot as well as a cat named Tiger, who Einstein thought may have been depressed.

Hard Enamel Pin 
Gold Metal 
40mm 2 Posts 

Marjorie was the dog in which scientists Banting & Best isolated insulin. In the design is the empirical formula for insulin lispro, which is also insulin for humans. (C257H383N65O77S6)

Hard Enamel Pin 
Silver Metal 
45mm 2 Posts 

Trained by Dr. John Pilley in a memory study, Chaser would learn individual nouns had specific names. She could also learn new objects by the process of inferential reasoning by exclusion. This means if she were shown one new toy surrounded by toys she already knew the names of, someone could ask for "New Toy Name"and Chaser would determine, as that toy was not any of the other toys she knew the name of, it must be the new toy.

Hard Enamel Pin 
Silver Metal 
70mm with 3 pin posts 
Screen printed details