Wait…So what is Catch A Pen?

That’s a great question, and it involves a short story about olive oil, father and son banter, and a little science. I suppose some introductions are in order first. I’m Dean Daniels, co-founder and co-owner of Catch A Pen Supplements, showpig breeder, and an undergraduate in Food Animal Science at the University of Florida. However, I was none of those things in the summer of 2020, during which I was far too busy showing pigs.

COVID was a word people worried about, and because of this, my future wife, Emily, and I were some of the only ones who had shown hogs for the summer jackpots at the school barn. Due to this newfound freedom and lack of supervision, as well as the most important character of the story that is soon to be introduced, I began experimenting with feed techniques and ingredients, but specifically with one: olive oil. My Duroc gilt at the time was built like a Golden Age bodybuilder, with ripped top, huge chest floor, and muscle everywhere. However, there were two main problems. The first is obvious: she’s a gilt that needs to be built like a lady, not like Arnold. The second was a horrible case of dry, flaky skin that no amount of conditioners, topical sprays, or Main and Tail soap could fix. Here is where the hero comes in, which in this case was my father, Dr. Rik Daniels.

Dean (left), Dr. Daniels (right)

Dr. Daniels received his D.V.M. from the University of Florida and, along with my mother, Dr. Cynthia Daniels, opened an equine practice in sunny Zephyrhills more than 25 years ago. When I started showing pigs, he joined the American Association of Swine Veterinarians and began researching everything related to swine nutrition, health, and physiology. So, when he came up to me with a bottle of olive oil from our kitchen and said, “Take out whatever fat supplement you are using, and try a couple of ounces of this per feeding.”, I listened.

Anyone care to guess the result? My old man was correct. Not only did she put fat on properly, but almost as if by magic, her flaky dry skin disappeared, her coat improved, and she began gaining weight better than any pig I had owned. In the next two seasons, more and more of my staple supplements, touted by others as solutions to any problem an animal might have, left my shelves and were replaced by blends, mixes, and other inventions from the mind of Dr. Daniels. The scales fell from my eyes, and I began to see that supplementation had to have grounding in research and physiology to make sense, and we both delved deep into the mountains of literature available. Finally, on a hot Florida winter day in 2022, after listening to a judge speak, the last puzzle piece fell into place, and the name, used by judges, show moms, and stock kids across the country, became our new company’s name, “CATCH A PEN.”

We got to work, and that work resulted in products that are science-backed, vet-formulated, and above all, products that we will put our name behind. Catch A Pen, which started as a pipedream from a horse vet, a stubborn gilt, and a jug of olive oil, is a company that prioritizes giving our customers confidence that our products aren’t based on anecdotes, old wives tales or marketing tricks but on the strongest research available, reviewed and compiled by a vet with over 30 years in animal health.

Now that you know who we are, where we came from, and what we do, you might as well stick around. I will be posting articles several times a month on topics ranging from industry practices, pig biology, swine research, and anything else that I find worth sharing and discussing. The next article will be on how pigs contend with heat stress, how it affects them, and what you can do to help them stay cool at the level of their physiology. Until next time, head to our shop page and see our amazing product lineup with the research to back it!

God bless,

Dean Daniels

Catch A Pen Supplements