Happy National Cat Day! #chewyinfluencer

Happy National Cat Day!

If there is one thing Theodore Trex wants to get to celebrate, it is wet food. He loves wet or canned foods so much, and it is great, because they are good for him! Feeding exclusively dry food can be dehydrating to cats in particular, because they are so picky about their water. For male cats, this can contribute to problems like urine crystals.

I still feed some dry food, because it is just so easy. And I like putting it into his food dispensing toys so he gets some activity and stimulation during the day when I'm off at work. But we try to have at least one meal per day as wet food.

For October, Chewy.com sent us Pristine grain free cat food, in pouches, for Theodore Trex to try out.

Pristine grain free wet food

Theo is really enjoying this food, and excitedly mews at me as I open the pouch and pour it into a bowl for him. He is excited enough that he has grabbed the bowl and yanked and spilled it when I go to set it down for him. Silly boy. He always licks the bowl clean, and seems to really enjoy this food.

Chunks with gravy

I like that this food has a great list of quality ingredients, and is a healthy addition to my cat's diet. The pouches are reasonably convenient, which is nice. I normally pour some hot water into the pouch and shake a little to get any clinging bits out- and adding extra water for Theo doesn't hurt.

How does your cat want to celebrate?

Saturday Caturday: Cat Litter Review

Cats mean litter boxes. We love our cats, and hate their litter boxes. For years I've been using natural compressed wood pellets in the litter box rather than more conventional litters, but when I was given the chance to review a new scent of Fresh Step from Chewy.com, I decided to give it a try. I figured it would give me a chance to see if I switching back to conventional litter is a good idea, or if I should stick with what we've been doing.

We were sent this cat litter in exchange for our honest review. We were not compensated in any other way.

Theodore Trex is open to modeling gigs in the future

The litter we tried out is Fresh Step extreme odor control with Febreze freshness in the Hawaiian Aloha scent. When I first opened our Chewy box I could actually smell the litter. The scent is light and flowery without being heavy or overwhelming. The scent is a little too much when first pouring the litter into the box, and for the first hour or two. After that it starts to dissipate a bit. My cat explored the new litter pretty much immediately and ended up smelling like Hawaiian Aloha for a few hours, but that only happens with new litter. Each time I add a little more to his box, again, the scent is strong for a few hours, but mellows out after that.

This litter clumps really well and is super easy to clean the litter box. Something that I don't like about the pellets we've been using for years is that while you can scoop out solids, the liquids stay in the box until you clean it out (liquids cause the pellets to come apart into shavings, so you can scoop it out a little, but not much), making you need to dump the entire box more regularly. I have not smelled a single gross smell from this litter box the entire time we've been using the Fresh Step, even when cleaning. This litter is more dusty than the compressed pellets, but not as dusty as I remember from other classic cat litters.

The big downside for me of the Fresh Step is that it must be thrown in the trash. We recently moved and don't have traditional trash pick up at our new place. Things like dog poop and the cat litter box (when using the pellets made out of compressed wood shavings) can go into a large barrel for a specific kind of compost such as used when making humanure (look it up, it is fascinating and gross all at once, and probably the way of the future). Clumping litters can't be used with this kind of set up, though, so while we have been testing out this litter for review I have been needing to throw away the scoopings and the litter and bring it into town for disposal. Because of this, I think we'll be sticking with the pellets we have been using long term. However, I am absolutely saving the rest of the box of this litter to use while traveling, because I think it is a better choice for when in smaller spaces together or in hotel rooms.

Rachael Ray Nutrish Cat Food

This month, we tried out Rachael Ray's Indoor Complete cat food.

Theodore Trex sometimes feels left out when we've done a number of reviews with the dogs but nothing cat related. So this month, Chewy sent us some cat food to try out. (We were sent this food for free in exchange for our honest review. We were not compensated in any other way, and we are entirely responsible for the content of this review.)

Rachael Ray Nutrish Indoor Complete cat food has small little pieces. They are all the same size and shape, but come in a few different colors. Reading through the ingredients, I really like that Chicken and Chicken Meal are the first two ingredients. However, I don't love that the next four ingredients after that are corn, lentils, peas, and more corn. I generally try to stay away from corn and wheat in the foods I feed, at least partially because Koira seems to have somewhat of an allergy to it, so it is easier to simply not have any in the house. I do prefer that protein in food comes from meat sources rather than vegetable or grain sources where possible as well.

Despite my meh feelings about the ingredients, Theodore Trex appeared to enjoy the food quite a bit. I put it in his food dispensing toy both to get some better chances at cute photos and because it keeps him from scarfing his entire food allotment for the day in about two seconds. That measuring cup in the second picture, above, is how much food he gets per day. He is on the chubby side again after the inactive winter, so we are especially strict with his food. (This toy holds about half of his daily food.)

So, overall, I would say that if you have a picky cat and want to get a food that is higher quality than the cheapest bottom shelf cat food, this is a good option. I think it was something that smells like the junkier foods. But it has some really decent ingredients along with the grain ingredients I don't care for, which makes it a big step above a lot of cat foods. That said, I don't think it will become a regular part of Theo's diet, just because I don't like to have foods in the house that will give Koira hives (not that she should be eating cat food, of course, but you never know with her).

WW: A Day in the Life

Napping with family



Hiking with friends

WW: Chillin'

Theodore Trex chillin' in the winter sun

Happy 4th Gotcha Day

On this day, 4 years ago, I brought home a little, funny looking kitten. Theodore Trex is a munchkin, meaning his legs are shorter than they would be on a normal cat. I drove up to a petco where a friend worked after she shared pictures with me, because I thought I had to get him.

Here are some pictures from his first year here.

BW Sunday: Cat Faces

Mid sneeze, or mid yawn? Which do you think I caught Theo in the middle of?

Wordless Wednesday: Ptera and Theo in the Morning

Taking over the bed once I'm up

Realizing something is up

Wrestling time. May not look like it, but Theo is just as into playing as Ptera is.

Chewy Review: Kong Cat Wobbler

Koira eats out of a Kong Wobbler often when she has kibble. I love that it makes meal time last, gives her some entertainment, and makes her active for a little while. Some days, when I am super busy, or sick, feeding her out of the Wobbler makes me feel less like a horrible pet parent for not taking her out for actual play or walk time. And she just loves the Wobbler, so often gets it even when walks and playtime do happen.

All of that to say that when Chewy.com offered me the opportunity to try out the Kong Cat Wobbler, I was pretty excited. Theodore is a bit of a pig when it comes to eating. I normally put his food into a food puzzle bowl (the same purple ones I use for the dogs) where he has to fish it out with his foot, one kibble at a time, or put the food just scattered inside a cardboard box, so he can't just chow down on food in a bowl.

The tail on the top of the Cat Wobbler was an immediate hit when the toy was empty, and Theodore Trex basically fell in love with it. Unfortunately, when I stuck food in it, he lost all interest in the tail completely and just tried to push his nose or paw through the hole to get the food. I found the base of the Cat Wobbler to be really heavy, and it seemed like rather than tip over, it scooted when Theo messed with it. He ended up getting frustrated and walking away. So ultimately it didn't work great for him, though I am sure there are cats who absolutely love it.

But, since I had this new toy, I figured I would try it with Ptera. She has never been able to figure out the Kong Wobbler we have, but I thought the tail on the top might be tempting. And I was right. With a little encouragement, she figured out how to hold onto the tail in her mouth and paw the toy so that it would spin and release some food. Rinse, repeat. The tail did end up falling off after about 20 minutes of Ptera using it, but it is not exactly designed for jack russells to use, and I doubt your average cat would cause that much damage to it. Bonus though, Ptera learned how to use the Kong Wobbler by interacting with the Cat Wobbler like this. Which means that both Koira and Ptera can get Wobbler meals and entertain themselves for a little while.

Ultimately, I think this is a good toy. It might be too heavy for small cats, or cats who give up easily. But I found it to be great for teaching a puppy how to play with a food toy that she previously was totally baffled by. I was a little surprised when I got it and the Cat Wobbler was the same size as the Kong Wobbler for dogs that I already had (I have the smaller of the two dog sizes). And I plan on repairing the tail and seeing if I can teach Theo how to use it with a little more time, because I think he really would like it if he figured it out. And at less than $8 right now, I figure it is worth trying out.

Caturday

Theodore Trex wanted to make an appearance on the blog. He crashed out outdoor Stella and Chewy's photoshoot earlier this week.

Wordless Wednesday: Full Lap

I'm told that Ptera looks much larger in pictures than in person. This picture of her and Theodore Trex laying in my lap together might give a better idea of her size. Plus, totally adorable.

And don't forget to enter my giveaway! Ends tonight! You can win a $75 gift card to Vision Bedding, and get pretty much anything you want.

Caturday

Happy Caturday!

This month, Chewy.com sent us an awesome product, or should I say products, to review. Temptations has come out with an interactive treat dispensing toy called the Snacky Mouse just for cats. (The Snacky Mouse is on sale for $5.95 right now.) To review the treat dispenser, we were also sent a bag of the new flavor of Temptations Mixups Catnip treats (on sale for $3.89) as well.

So I set up, took the pictures of the products in the package, then opened up both to set up a photo of just the mouse dispenser. And Theodore Trex apparently heard the bag of treats being opened and knew it was meant for him, because he invited himself into the photoshoot.

That is quite literally the photo of his first sniff of this treat dispenser.

A couple more sniffs, then he added in a gentle nudge. Because cats, when in doubt, head bump. Or at least my cat does.

And then he seriously got the hang of it. He figured out that the more he bumped it, the more treats fell out.

I think it is fairly obvious from the pictures that he not only got the hang of the treat dispenser pretty quickly, but that he also enjoyed the treats.

The little mouse dispenser has three holes in it, on all sides of the mouse. The treats can come out of any of the holes, making things a little random.

You can see here how Theo nudged the mousie out of the way to eat a treat he had knocked out, and a treat is coming out of one of the back holes as well.

After spending a good bit of time just nudging the mousie around with his nose and head, the level of treats got lower, and things got a little harder.

Theodore quickly figured out that adding in some paw action made things pick back up and provided plenty of treats.

Overall, both this toy and these treats were big hits. I may start even feeding Theodore Trex his normal kibbles out of this dispenser to give him more of a workout, and just add some treats in it when I need him out of my way for a little bit. The treats work great in the dispenser, but obviously are best used as treats in addition to normal feeding.

You can grab this treat dispenser and these treats on Chewy.com. Since orders over $49 ship for free, and ship quickly, it is super simple to just add these onto your normal order of cat or dog food and treats.


Join our Caturday blog hop.

Happy Caturday

Happy Caturday from Theodore Trex.

Black and White Sunday: Mirror Cat

Theodore Trex

After my "oops" post on Monday, I had requests for more cat pictures. I haven't shared any updates on Theodore Trex lately. He is full grown now, over a year old. His front legs are still short and stubby, though not so obviously. I am relatively sure that he is a munchkin mixed with a domestic shorthair, giving him slightly longer legs than a standard munchkin- much in the same way that Pallo has longer legs than a standard corgi.

I must say, he has turned into quite the handsome adult cat. I love his stripes and his golden eyes.

His whiskers are so absurdly long that I actually trim them for him. You can tell from the pictures that I don't trim them super short- but seriously, his whiskers stick out three or four times as much as a normal cat's whiskers! If I don't keep them trimmed, he twitches his whiskers against my face or neck while I am sleeping giving me dreams of being crawled on by bugs and waking me up with the twitchiness.

Theo is also a total lover. He isn't a demanding cat, which I like. He is perfectly content to lay in your lap and doesn't constantly knock his head into your hands to get pets. He is just content with the attention you choose to give to him. But when you do pet him and give him attention, he basks in it.

He may be the youngest member of this family, and not have been with us even a year yet, but he sure is a great addition to our home.