Seeking a Fellow Cat Lover? Tabby Has You Covered

Niche dating apps aren't new, but they have been getting a major boost in the past few years. Apps like Tinder may give you a wide pool of potential suitors, but wouldn't it just be easier if you could connect with someone with a shared interest, like, say, your love of cats? Lucky for you, thanks to the dating app Tabby, you can now do exactly that!

Tabby's founders, Leigh Isaacson D’Angelo and Casey Isaacson, are heading to Shark Tank to bring their cat person dating app to a larger audience, but just how is Tabby doing today?

Tabby was the brainchild of sisters Leigh and Casey, but it was actually developed by Emberly Digital, a software development company founded by brothers Cameron and Collin Versluis. But this isn't the first time that the sisters have teamed up with Emberly. Nor is it the first time that they've developed a niche dating app.

In 2008, Leigh and Casey launched Dig with Emberly. If watching Tabby debut on Shark Tank made you ask, "Hey, what about dog people?" then you should know that there's already an app for that. Like Tabby is trying to be the cat person's dating app, Dig is the definitive app for dog lovers.

Both apps allow users to create profiles for themselves and their furry pals, as well as swipe on fellow animal lovers' profiles and set up playdates (and other dates). Except that Tabby acknowledges that dating with a cat is different from dating with a dog.

“You’ve got dog-friendly locations and restaurants and bars and other things that are easier for dog people to go out and meet each other, like dog parks,” Leigh said in an interview with SheKnows. “We wanted to create a space online where cats are in their element, at home, and people can interact with each other in the perfect way to find their match.”

Tabby launched on International Cat Day (Aug. 8) in 2020 and is available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. On the Google Play Store alone, the app has been downloaded now over 10,000 times, which means that there's already a growing community of cat lovers to meet there.

As of 2021, Tabby and Dig have both been working to better their security measures, a frequent issue on dating apps. As of July, the apps have partnered with RealMe, which allows members to learn more about their matches with a single click. Users will be able to learn greater details about who they're really talking to, including their potential beau's criminal and court records.

To learn more about Tabby and to see how Leigh and Casey fare on Shark Tank, tune in on Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.