Tag Archives: review

Cardboard Cat Homes Review

Last week I was contacted by someone from Cardboard Cat Homes and asked if I would do a review. He told me I could have my cat’s name printed on the box, which I thought was pretty cool. I asked if he could squeeze three names on the box and his reply was that he would send me three boxes. I couldn’t argue with that. To be clear, I did get the boxes at no cost to me but I was not compensated in any other way. The opinions written here are my own and that of my cats.

When the box arrived on Thursday Frankie was immediately interested.

When I opened the box I saw there was catnip in it which I thought explained his interest but he seemed to ignore the catnip packages.

I decided to put one together and save the other two for Friday and Saturday. That way there would be renewed excitement. The first one I opened was the Cat Condo. That one had Frankie’s name on it which was great for reasons you will see later. I read the directions on it but I am terrible with assembly directions and my mind just glazed over.

I thought the picture was clear but some of the pieces were hard to identify. At first I thought maybe stamping numbers on the pieces would be helpful but then I realized that I could easily figure it out from the picture alone so that is what I did and found it to be really easy to put together.

Of course, everyone was interested in what I was doing.

When it was done, Frankie had to test the sturdiness of it.

It met with his approval so I decided to put a towel on the top and inside to see what happened.

Suddenly Frankie had a new favorite place to hang out and Floki liked it too.

Then Chris discovered how great it was.

I was busy Friday and did not put the second cat house together that day but Frankie continued to enjoy hanging out on top of his cat condo. The workout bench was his favorite place to nap but he completely forgot about that.

He still liked it on Saturday.

Saturday is when I put the next cat house together. This one was called “Kitty House” and is probably the best looking one. It was a little more complicated than the first but still fairly simple.

This one had Floki’s name on it and coincidently it was he who was most interested at first.

Floki’s interest waned but once I was finished, Frankie became interested.

Unlike Frankie’s condo, this one has two doors. What it does not have is enough room on the roof for a cat to nap. I guess it would depend on whether you cat likes to sleep inside or outside.

Sunday I put together Chris’s “Cat Castle.” It is fitting that one has his name on it because Chris thinks he is king around here.

I only got it halfway put together when Chris decided to get inside of it. That made assembly more difficult.

I managed to get it mostly put together but Chris’s twenty pound heft was pushing against the side and it was too difficult to finish snapping it together, so I just decided to wait for him to get out.

There was a bit of a cat fight while I waited. Apparently Chris was defending his castle.

Eventually he got out and I was able to finish construction before he got back in again.

I think Chris is too heavy and he is pushing the sides out. I suppose it doesn’t matter since it seems to be holding together. I just hope he doesn’t try to jump on top of it while it is apart like it is here. He has not yet tried to get on top of any of the houses so I don’t know how well they would handle a twenty pound cat. They do seem perfectly capable of handling a twelve pound cat though.

As I write this post Frankie is still enjoying hanging out on his condo where his association has no code of decency.

If these cat homes interest you check out their webpage at https://cardboardcathomes.com/

So what do you think? Is this something your cat might like?

Update: I forgot to mention that the company also donates to pet shelters. Here is a line from their website: To give back to our feline community we work closely with shelters, aiming to donate supplies and goodies to at least one shelter for every five orders we receive.

Topeakmart Cat Tree Review

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I was contacted by a company called Topeakmart to do a review of one of their cat trees. I missed it at the time but noticed it as I was cleaning my inbox. Normally I ignore unsolicited review requests but after checking out their website I thought their products looked appealing. In addition, we brought a couple of cat perches to our West Virginia home so I thought the cats would appreciate another one.

I was allowed to choose which product I wanted to review so I decided on the 51″ Cat Tree Condo. I could have gone with the 79″ Cat Tree Condo but I didn’t want to be greedy. Plus, I liked the 51″ tree because it had a ladder that I thought would be perfect for Chris. He is getting up there in age (and weight) and that ladder will probably be a big help in allowing him to get on it, especially in the future when he is even older and hopefully not heavier.

I should mention that I did get this cat tree for free in exchange for an honest review. They did not try to influence my review in any way but they did offer my readers a 15% discount (use code: chris15). If you choose to take advantage of the discount, I will not be compensated.

The cat tree arrived on Monday and I was surprised by how efficiently the box was packed. It was like stuffing 25 people in a phone booth.

I pulled out the instructions first to see what kind of project lay ahead of me. You may remember me writing a couple of months ago about putting a bed frame together as well as a desk for my wife. Both items were unbelievably complicated and I didn’t want another one of those. This one didn’t look too bad. I was disappointed at first that it was only illustrations and no written description but it seemed pretty straightforward.

I set up my GoPro camera and I put a clock in view to record how long the assembly process was, although it was difficult to see the clock in the final video. I set the video for two frames per second and got to work. As you can see, it went pretty well but I was delayed a bit by Frankie who had to get inside one of the pieces I was assembling. I also separated the screws at the beginning but still managed to get them mixed up and used the wrong screw on two separate occasions. I also screwed one of the posts into the wrong hole but that was because I jumped ahead without reading the directions.

It took me about 40 minutes to assemble the cat tree. I probably wasted about ten minutes with my careless mistakes and with stopping to deal with Frankie or take pictures. I estimate that a normal person without distractions could put it together in 30 minutes or less. If you have already seen it done, like in the video, perhaps twenty minutes is reasonable.

Frankie was the first to investigate the cat tree. As soon as I started putting it together he had to check it out.

Floki was next.

Frankie was also first to get on it when it was finished.

He seemed to like the cubby and ended up taking a nap there.

Later, Frankie checked out the upper part of the cat tree.

I’m not sure why but the cats seemed to think that this is a one at a time cat tree. As soon as Frankie got down Floki got up on it.

He had to check out every nook and cranny to make sure it met with his approval.

Chris was sleeping in his cat bed when I finished but as soon as he woke up he had to check it out too. I was in the kitchen making dinner so I did not see Chris take over the tree from Floki but I hope it was a peaceful transfer.

I left and came back a little later and Chris had moved to the bottom.

It seems a waste of a good cat tree to hang out at the very bottom but perhaps he was just enjoying the velvety softness of the carpet. It is amazingly soft compared to the carpet on our other cat tree.

So far they have not yet discovered the hammock that hangs near the bottom or the toy that hangs from the top perch but that just means more surprises for them in the future.

Overall I think this is a great cat tree that is well made and a practical design. It has one downside that I can see. The upper two posts are adequate for an average-sized cat but maybe not for a heavy cat like Chris. Of course, Chris would probably not attempt to jump up there, so I don’t see it as an issue. They have a blog post on their website called “4 Best Cat Trees for Large Cats in 2021 from Topeakmart” which I probably should have read before choosing a cat tree, but I think the one I picked is still a good choice for our cats.

Tell me you think? Would your cat’s enjoy a cat tree like this?

Our 1000th Post

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This is it. The big one zero zero zero. I never thought I would make it this far. Of course, it took me over seven years. Other blogs that I read accomplished that in far less time but, at the same time, many more blogs stopped far short of 1000 posts or seven years so I do feel like I have accomplished something.

The main thing that has kept my blog posts to less that three a week, besides my job, is that I have never participated in any regular blog hops. Not because I think there is anything wrong with them, but because I don’t want to make any commitments that I can’t keep. I do a Photo Friday every week and sometimes I feel rushed to do that. I am an absent-minded, fly by the seat of my pants kind of guy and I just don’t do well with schedules or things that require organization.

I thought I would share some of the stats from my last 1000 posts. Actually, it would be from my last 998 posts since I am writing this Thursday evening.

Total words written: 202990

Average number of words per post: 203

Followers: WordPress (608), Email(25), Facebook (2586), Twitter (956), Instagram (133). YouTube (104), I don’t have information on other blog readers.

Best day: February 14, 2017. WordPress does not give the total number of views for some reason. I posted this post for Valentine’s day. I didn’t think this post was anything out of the ordinary and am not sure why it was so popular. I suppose it is also possible that another previous post was being viewed that day but WordPress does not give that information either.

Most viewed post: “Are Ginger Cats Friendlier?” This was published August 9, 2013 and has 14,318 views.

Second Most Viewed Post: “Feral Cat Ear Notching” published September 21, 2014. It has 6684 views.

The following are posts that I personally think are best for one reason or another.

Best Bad Cat Chris story: “The Great Escape,” posted June 19, 2012.

Best Adventure Story: Surviving Hurricane Irma With Cats – Part One and Part Two.

Best Example of Chris’s “Badness”: Bad Cat Chris Versus Spray Bottle published August 14, 2012.

Best Review Post: Kitty Kick Stix Review published August 22, 2017. I’m not saying this is the best product, although it is good, but the cats did their best to be cute and funny.

Most Useful Post: Basic Photography for Bloggers Published July 16, 2018. This is probably not useful to everyone but I think people unfamiliar with photography should read this.

Cutest Photo: This was a tough choice considering I have about 2500 photos, many of which are very cute. I chose this one of Frankie because it is the first one I think of when I think of cute cat photos. This photo was used in the post “Photo Friday: Under the Dresser” published on August 8, 2014.

Best Group Photo: This was taken on May 7, 2010 while we were still in Myrtle Beach. Alex is on the top and Tigger and Abbey were enjoying the second shelf together until Chris joined them. The photo was included in the post “What Goes Around, Comes Around” published on November 28, 2012.

Funniest Photo: This photo was taken April 4, 2010 and was used on the post “Everybody Loves Chris” published June 26, 2012.

Best All-Around Photo: I think this photo of Chris jumping down from a high window is my favorite for many reasons, not the least of which is perfect timing. This was included in “Chris’s Springboard” published January 1, 2013.

What do you think? Do you have a favorite post or photo that you can remember?

NomNomNow’s Microbiome Test Kit

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Recently I saw on the blog “Cat Chat with Caren and Cody” a post about a microbiome testing kit called “Insights” from the company NomNomNow. You may remember I reviewed their cat food which I thought was a healthier option than commercial canned food. I commented on the blog that I thought the Microbiome test was a useful idea and was then contacted by NomNomNow about doing an honest review in exchange for test kits.

I really did think it was a very useful test and I would like to find one for humans too. I have been learning about natural health for over a decade and I have learned that your microbiome is the core of good health. If your microbiome is healthy, you are healthy and vise versa.

In case you haven’t heard the term before, your microbiome is the collection of organisms that inhabit humans and animals alike. These organisms, which include bacteria, fungi and viruses, perform vital functions in our bodies. In humans, these organisms actually outnumber the total number of human cells in the body. Probably their most important contribution is that they help us to digest our food and assimilate the nutrients from that food. If you don’t have a good balance of beneficial bacteria in your gut, you won’t be able to process food properly. This can not only lead to loss of essential vitamins and minerals but the undigested food can get into the blood and be treated like a foreign invader, causing inflammation and a host of health issues. This can also lead to overweight as excess toxins that can’t be processed by the liver are stored in fat cells.

So you can see why knowing the state of your pets gut health can allow you to make informed decisions about what you can do next to improve your pets overall health. You could also provide this information to your vet but I don’t know how well veterinarians are trained in understanding gut health. Human doctors that prescribe antibiotics with reckless abandon don’t seem to have a clue. Antibiotics kill both the bad and good bacteria and they are often the main culprit in throwing the microbiome out of whack. Often, a general probiotic can help but knowing the exact state of your pet’s microbiome can help you, and hopefully your informed vet, formulate a specific treatment plan. You can then retest to see how it is working. If you want more information, there are several articals on the NomNomNow website that you can read here.

Our kits arrived on Wednesday and the cats were interested in it before I even opened the box.

Floki and Frankie inspect the box from NomNomNow

Frankie didn’t even give me a chance to remove the contents.

The box included three tests kits and a couple of samples of food. This was probably why they were so interested in the unopened box.

NomNomNow Microbiome testing kits and treats

Once I removed the contents Chris became very interested in the box.

He tried very hard to dig his way through. Perhaps he thought the treat factory was on the other side.

The treat samples that were in the box were labeled “Chicken, Nothing Else” and “Beef, Nothing Else.” I opened the chicken and dumped it out for our cats to try. It was basically chicken jerkey and Chris was very interested, which was surprising considering Chris is missing eight teeth. The pieces, I thought, were too big and I decided to break them up after I already put them out. Floki was also interested but Frankie seem only mildly interested, almost indifferent. I guess you can’t please everyone. Perhaps he would have been more interested if Floki wasn’t there stealing his food.

The next morning I saw a large piece of partially chewed jerky on the floor, which was surprising because I thought I broke up all the pieces and I thought they finished eating them all. I walked into the Florida room and found another large piece of jerky next to a ripped up bag. I guess I forgot to put the beef jerky treats away.

Now I have to get poop samples to send in. This has proved to be difficult with three cats. I can’t just pull a sample out of the litter box because I need to know which cat left it. So far, after almost three days, I have not witnessed a cat pooping. Once I get a sample I will write about what needs to be done to prepare the sample and send it in.

Friskies Pull ‘n Play with Substitute Treats

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I wrote about the Friskies Pull n Play toy a few years ago (read post here) but that toy disappeared not long after that post and I recently bought a new one. This time I skipped the included treats and put in treats that I consider to be much healthier. I realize that that toy is like a computer printer, sold with the intent of making big money on the refills, so Purina will not be happy with me.

The Pull ‘n Play comes with Friskies Party Mix, which is a favorite of many cats, and some kind of string-like treat, which most cats don’t care too much about. Both treats, in my opinion, are not healthy options so instead I filled the toy with Instinct Raw Boost Mixers. This is a freeze-dried, raw cat food that I believe is a much healthier option than most commercial treats out there and our cats love them. They also love a similar freeze-dried, raw cat food called Stella and Chewy’s, which has the advantage of coming in larger sizes that are cheaper per ounce but the morsels tend to be too big and flakey for use in this toy.

There is one drawback to substituting the treats; They don’t fall out as easily as the intended treats, but that may not always be a bad thing. My plan is to fill it up before going away on vacation. I tend to worry that something may happen to the cat sitter and having a treat dispenser might just help a little if they don’t get fed. If I will use it for entertainment then I might want to make the hole a little bigger. Perhaps with a file or large drill I can increase the hole size just a little and all will be right with the world.

Here is a video of my first attempt. Of course Chris dominates the toy just like he did with the catnip.

What do you think? Have you tried this toy? Have you tried Instinct or Stella and Chewey’s?

Rawz Dry Cat Food

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As you may know, I tend to switch our cats’ dry food quite frequently. Part of the reason is that I don’t believe the conventional wisdom that changing their diet is a bad thing. I think variety is good. I also would like to get them off dry food completely but since Chris is stubborn and eats very little of the wet food I give him I need to have some dry food available. Since I don’t believe any dry food is good for cats, I have a hard time settling on a particular brand. That being said, I did find one that seems to be at the top of the list for quality dry foods.

A few weeks ago I was at our local natural pet food store and asked the clerk what she thought was the best quality dry cat food. She had two suggestions. The first I have forgotten but the second, and the one I decided to get, was a brand called Rawz. I decided to get it because it is less processed than most brands, it contains no rendered proteins, such as chicken meal, and because 100% of profits are donated to charity. I think the last one was a deciding factor.

I bought the chicken and turkey recipe for cats and all three of our boys seem to love it.

I still plan to buy other brands or other flavors of this brand so our cats won’t get bored with the same food but I think I have found something that I can keep coming back to.

I was not compensated in any way for this post.

Camera Review – Canon EOS Rebel SL2

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I originally thought that doing a camera review on a cat blog is a bad idea but then I realized that my blog is just as much of a photo blog as it is cat blog and I am sure there are many other pet bloggers that are interested in photography.

My birthday is coming up in a couple of days and I am a hard person to buy for so my wife put it in my hands to find I gift that I would be happy with. So I decided it was time for a new DSLR camera. The camera that I had been using is a Canon EOS Rebel T1i. I got it for Christmas in 2009 and the way that technology advances it should be a dinosaur but, surprisingly, at 15.1 megapixels, it still takes better photos than any smart phone being sold today. Nevertheless, I think I could benefit from an upgrade.

I did somewhat upgrade my camera a couple of years ago. I bought a Canon EOS M1. It is a small, mirrorless, 18-megapixel camera that is not a DSLR but it does have interchangeable lenses. I like it because it takes excellent photos and because it is small, lightweight and much easier to carry around. I don’t like it because it takes way too long to focus. That is fine most of the time but try to get a cat to hold still for more than a second while the camera is focusing. There are several upgrades to the M series that probably corrected that problem and thought about upgrading that camera instead but chose the DSLR instead because it is more obsolete.

I looked around for a long time. I wanted a camera that was at least 24 megapixels but was also reasonably priced. I also wanted a Canon because I have lenses for it and because I have liked Canons since my dad gave me his Canon F1 in 1987.

It came down to the Canon EOS Rebel SL2 or the Canon EOS Rebel T7i. Both cameras had similar features and the T7i had some slight advantages but the SL2 was a bit smaller and lighter, which is helpful when you have to carry it around for a long time. It was also almost $200 less expensive which was a big plus for me.

I ordered the camera on Amazon and paid about $600 for it. The Rebel line is made for amateurs and is significantly less expensive than the pro version without much, if any, loss of picture quality. I think the main difference is in how rugged the camera is built but this will be my third Rebel since 2005 and I never once had a problem with any of the cameras.

It arrived Monday, too soon for my birthday but my wife didn’t care if I opened it, so I did.

Naturally, I wanted to test it out so I spied Frankie lying on the floor.

I always set the camera to shoot RAW + Jpeg. This takes up more room but allows me to view all my photos easily and the RAW format gives me more options when editing the photos. I want to say that I then erase any RAW file that I know Is not top quality to save room but I usually forget that step or I am rushed and don’t bother doing it. I didn’t look at the settings until after I took the above photo but it came set up for just Jpeg so I had to change it later.

The camera comes with several options for scene selections and other things but I won’t review those because I don’t use them. I use one of four settings:

Program Auto Exposure – This sets the aperture and shutter speed automatically.
Shutter Priority – Lets the Photographer select the shutter speed and the camera does the rest.
Aperture Priority – This is like shutter priority except it is the aperture that is set by the Photographer.
Manual – All settings are set by the Photographer.

My first Canon Rebel, the XT, was a fine camera but changing a setting was a laborious task. You had to fumble through various menus until you found what you were looking for. This camera has the main settings laid out on an easy to use touchscreen. In addition, the screen can be pulled out for viewing from different angles and then turned for protection when not in use.

I have had no opportunity to take this outside for a real-world test but I did take several photos of the cats. I was very impressed with how quickly it focused. There was no noticeable lag time between pushing the shutter release and hearing the sound of the mirror flipping up to take the photo. I’m sure it wasn’t instantaneous but it was fast. I also took several photos very quickly and had to wait for the camera to write them to the SD card. I was using a cheap, slow, memory card and was glad the camera had a large enough cache to accommodate it.

The photo below was taken in the morning before the sun came up so it was relatively low light. I had it set to fully programmable and it used a shutter speed of 1/13th of a second. Typically, I don’t like going below 1/30th of a second when hand holding a camera but, thanks to image stabilization, this photo is pretty sharp.

And thanks to the 24-megapixel sensor, I can zoom in on the eyes with much clarity.

The fast focus also allows me to capture Chris while he is rolling around. It would have been pure luck to get this photo with my M1.

Another great feature is the Canon app that allows you to control the camera with your phone. The app lets you see what the camera sees and you can change settings or take the shot remotely. This is useful for group photos or maybe even for catching your pets being naughty.

Here is the photo of Floki that I took remotely.

The app has a couple of other features that I find even more useful. Since the camera does not have GPS, it can take GPS information from your phone and include it in your photos. It also allows you to download photos to your phone so you don’t have to wait until you get home to share your photos on social media.

I plan on taking this camera with me when we go away for my birthday. We are going to the east coast of Florida to visit my wife’s father. We booked a hotel on the beach and we hope to see nesting sea turtles. If we do, I can’t use a flash or other form of light to photograph them and since they only lay their eggs at night it could be a challenge.

What do you think? Do any pet bloggers use a DSLR for your photos? Would anyone be interested in a blog post on basic photography?

NomNomNow Cat Food Review

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A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Caren from Cat Chat with Caren and Cody. The folks at NomNomNow were looking for recommendations for a couple of bloggers that could review their premium cat food in exchange for some food. She thought I would be good for some reason. I don’t know why but I appreciate the confidence.

I told her I didn’t want to do it. I tend to be too honest and I didn’t want to be disappointed and have to give a bad review after getting free food. I did reconsider after reviewing their website and the ingredient list and committed only to talk to their rep.

So a few days later I spoke with Kevin. He was very nice and talked about the veterinary nutritionist that formulated the recipes and about how the food is made fresh and shipped overnight to your door. In addition, the quantity of food is based on the current weight of your pet and the ideal weight that you want your pet to be. I got the impression that it was a small operation staffed by people who really care about the health of my pets so I decided to give them a try.

I told Kevin about my cats and gave him the information about their weights. There is a pretty cool tool on their website that does the math and figures out portion size. If you have more than one pet the packages are numbered so you can tell which one is for which pet. They also sell food for dogs so you could probably order both at the same time but I am not sure about that.

As of now, they have five recipes for dogs and two for cats. I chose the
“Chicken Chow-Meow” because all my cats love chicken and I didn’t want to take a chance with the uncertainty of the “Flavorful Fish Feast.”

It should be noted that the way I feed my cats doesn’t fall into their carefully calculated meal plan. I usually give our cats one 5.5 ounces can of cat food and follow that 10 to 30 minutes later with about the same amount of homemade raw food. They seem to like the variety and I like them to have a variety. My feeling is that I can replace the canned food portion with the NomNomNow food.

I think the cost is similar to that of a high quality canned food but the ingredients are better. I compared their ingredients with that from a can of Earthborn Holistic Chicken Catcciatori, the canned food that is most common in our house.

Earthborn Holistic Chicken Catcciatori:

Chicken Broth, Chicken, Potatoes, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, Tricalcium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Magnesium Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Iron Proteinate, Niacin, Vitamin A Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Biotin.

NomNomNow Chicken Chow-Meow:

Chicken thigh, chicken breast, chicken liver, carrot, asparagus, spinach, cantaloupe, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, salt, citric acid (natural preservative), taurine, choline bitartrate, zinc gluconate, ferrous sulfate, vitamin E supplement, copper gluconate, manganese gluconate, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), selenium yeast, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin B12 supplement, cholecalciferol (source of vitamin D3), sodium iodide.

Since ingredients always start with the largest ingredient and end with the smallest, it is the first few that are most important. That being said, some chemicals can be unhealthy in small amounts so they should all be considered.

In the Earthborn food, the first five ingredients are Chicken Broth, Chicken, Potatoes, Sunflower Oil and Natural Flavors. Chicken broth is okay but I never saw a broth as the first ingredient before. I don’t consider potatoes to be a very healthy food for humans and less so for cats but it is number three on the list. Sunflower oil is not considered a healthy oil. Number five is “natural flavors.” When you see this on the list, be wary. A natural flavor starts out natural before being sent to Dr. Frankenstein’s lab. Considering that Earthborn is a premium cat food, I don’t even want to know what is in Cat Chow.

The NomNomNow Chicken Chow-Meow has Chicken thigh, chicken breast, chicken liver, carrots and asparagus for the first five ingredients. It isn’t until the eighth ingredient that I found something I didn’t recognize, dicalcium phosphate. I looked that up and it is a calcium supplement, which is necessary because there are no bones in this formula.

20180613_172836a

The food arrived the other day while I was at work and my wife opened the box and put the food in the refrigerator. I saw the empty box so I knew it was here but I didn’t have time to do anything with it because our cats are trained to expect food as soon as I get home and any delay results in a meow-fest. So I gave them a can of food and then took a shower.

When I got out of the shower I grabbed three bags of the food and placed them in warm water for a few minutes before scooping it onto their plates. I didn’t see any directions so I just winged it. I took a video of this so that the cats could do the review for me.

They all seemed to like it. Even Chris who I struggle with to get to eat wet food. Floki especially liked it but Chris and Frankie stopped before they finished. That was probably because I gave them too much. It didn’t look like there was much food in the bags but once I scooped it onto their plates I could see it was way too much considering they already ate some canned food.

Also included with the order was a flavor packet and a container of beef broth.

I saw the beef broth in the fridge but didn’t know what it was for until later when I found the instructions and the card with the flavor attached. Both are to help finicky eaters. I moved them to my desk to take the above photo and returned the broth to the fridge but left the flavor pack on the desk. You can guess what happened. The next morning I saw Frankie licking the desk. It was still too dark to see what he was licking but I felt something gritty so I turned a light on and saw this the torn up flavor packet on the floor.

Also included in the order was a sample of chicken jerky.

It was well received by our boys but our carnivores can be like little babies sometimes. I needed to break them up into smaller pieces to make it easier to eat.

We also received a sample of the Flavorful Fish Feast which our boys gobbled up.

As of now, it looks like I found a great replacement for our canned food but I still plan on also feeding them the homemade raw food as well. I think if I were to give any advice to the company I would recommend grinding the vegetables into smaller pieces so it is more difficult for the cats to avoid.

What do you think? Is this something you would be willing to try? If you are interested, click here for their website and more information. They have a special offer that gives you 50% off your first order. I am not compensated in any way for this post except for the food I already received.

Art of Paws Heated Pet Mat Review

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I recently got an email from Art of Paws asking if I would give an honest review of their Heated Pet Mat in exchange for the product. I was reluctant at first because our weather was warm but I figured it was the first half of February so there were probably a few cold days ahead. I was wrong. I received the product a few days ago and opened it yesterday after checking the 10-day forecast. It showed mostly highs in the 80s and lows in the 60s.

Since I had no option to wait for a cold day I opened it yesterday afternoon and plugged it into the outlet inside the sofa armrest and waited. I might have encouraged the boys a bit by calling them and holding it up. Floki was the first to check it out.

Then he was distracted by Chris and Frankie who discovered the box it came in.

I put it on the floor and soon after they all realized they couldn’t fit in the box, Chris discovered the mat.

He liked it immediately and soon plopped himself down on top of it. Art of Paws Heated Pet Mat

I became involved in other things and stopped paying attention but when I looked again, Chris was gone and Floki was lying on it.

Later, my wife sat down because we were about to watch a tv show together. She noticed the plug had become a bit hot so she unplugged it. Since the outlet is located inside of the sofa armrest where no air is allowed to circulate, I made a mental note not to plug it in there again.

When I was ready to sit down, Chris was back on the mat again. This time it wasn’t plugged in but he didn’t care. He remained on that mat until we got up to go to bed.

I plugged the mat in again this morning and felt the plug after some time. It was warm, but not hot so I don’t think that is an issue.

I also tried to interest Frankie in the mat this morning but he was a bit wound up at the time and couldn’t be bothered with it.

I was impressed with the quality. It seems to be put together quite nicely and the zipper opens very smoothly so the cover can be removed for washing.

It also has a long, six and a half foot cord, of which more than four and a half feet are covered in a bite-proof wrapping.

It has a fairly thick pad and it measures 23 inches by 17 inches, which I think is large enough for a medium size dog or two cats if they like to snuggle. It also uses only 10 watts of electricity and has a three-year guarantee.

It is not as warm as I expected. I don’t have a thermometer but I would guess it is somewhere between room temperature and a heating pad on low. Perhaps 90 degrees Fahrenheit. At first, I thought that was bad but then realized that a heating pad is for temporary use and shouldn’t be used for more than 20 minutes. At this lower temperature, I would guess that it could be used much longer or indefinitely. I picture a bunch of scientists in lab coats over at Art of Paws trying to figure out the perfect temperature. For more information about this product, you can visit https://artofpaws.com/products/heated-pet-mat

One last note. As I was writing this post I plugged the mat in and left it on the floor. After I uploaded the photos I got up to get a drink of water and saw this:

I think when the hot weather is here to stay I will remove the heating element and let them use it as a regular mat until next winter. I think it is nice that I have that option. What do you think?

Our Prize Arrived

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A few weeks ago The Island Cats’ blog had a review and giveaway of some Petmate products designed by Jackson Galaxy, the star of the Animal Planet show, “My Cat From Hell.”

To my surprise, we were lucky enough to win. I got to choose between the “Comfy Clamshell Bed” and “The Vault Marinator,” which is used to freshen up catnip toys. I thought the clamshell bed would be a great addition to our house so I chose that.

It was waiting at the door when I got home from work the other day The box was way bigger than expected, which was fine because . . . well, we have cats.

Once I opened the box and took out the clamshell bed, the cats were torn between investigating the bed and the empty box.

The bed seems to be of a high quality and the fabric is very soft. Chris especially likes it, as you can see from the video.

open clamshell bed A pull of the strings easily turns it into a clamshell. closed clamshell bed

The bad thing about that is there is only room for one.

That means someone has to wait, whether they want to not.

Floki and Chris were the most interested but Chris was the first to use it for what it was meant for, to lie in. Of course, he had to make some biscuits before doing that.

Floki was more interested in the strings.

I didn’t know this at the time but there is a pocket to put the strings to keep them from becoming toys, possibly dangerous toys.

I ended up putting the bed in its open position on our coffee table. Frankie, Floki and Puck mostly ignore it but Chris loves it. I see him on it often. He is on it as I write this.