Credit For Kitties"Hey," you mutter, "who bought $500 worth of catnip?"

With pets quickly joining the ranks of civilized society, whynot give them a little spending power? That was the reasoningbehind "credit cards" for pets, offered by Jay Bloom, 33,chairman and CEO of Pet Assure Inc., a pet health-careorganization. Along with wife and Pet Assure president CarolynFarkas, 34, Bloom introduced the Action for Animals Master-Card,which, in addition to its credit-card functions, offers savingswith a network of veterinary providers and dealers, and 25 percentsavings on veterinary care in the plan. "We're kind oflike an HMO for pets," says Bloom.

Bloom has championed the cause of pets before. A formerfinancial officer at Chase Manhattan Bank, he began the Dover, NewJersey-based Pet Assure in 1996, after his dog underwent $3,000 hipsurgery, and his then insurance company denied the bill. It calledthe ailment a "hereditary and genetic condition," andwhen Bloom looked at the policy's fine print, he found themajority of pet problems weren't covered. "They hadpre-existing condition clauses and age limitations," he says."Pet insurance at the time was woefully inadequate." Healso uncovered a huge market: According to the American PetProducts Manufacturers Association, pet owners spend $23 billionper year on their animals.

Four years later, Bloom says his latest effort-theMasterCard-has garnered a tremendous response. Some insurancecompanies are now building Pet Assure cards into their networkprovider bases.