One of the things I cherish the most in my e-mail inbox is the daily Cat Age Tip of the Week newsletter. (Click the link to find out how to sign up!)
In today’s tip, we’re reminded how important it is to keep out cats toys and playthings safe.
Here’s the daily tip:
Whether your cat prefers expensive store-bought toys or items found around the house, take care to keep your cavorting cat safe.
To prevent choking, avoid toys with parts that can become detached during play. Bring out the pounce in your pet with safe choices such as a ping-pong ball or a catnip mouse. Playtime with string or yarn should be carefully supervised to prevent your cat from accidentally swallowing it. Finally, secure free-standing kitty condos and cat towers to the floor or wall to keep them from toppling over.
Great advice! I’d also add the following:
Decorative ribbon that’s used for gifts is very enticing to pets. It’s fun to play a great game of tug and catch with them using the bright ribbon. However, this kind shreds pretty easily and could be a real choking hazard to an animal. Last year, Alexa found a strand beneath the Christmas tree and took off for the back of the house. It was as though she knew she had something I didn’t want her to have! I followed to get the ribbon to throw away and, in that little span of time, she had one end down her throat. This year I didn’t even buy this type of rolled ribbon for our presents. I subscribe to the theory of “better unbelievably safe than unbelievably sorry.”
Inspect toys just as you would inspect them for a child. Think of each conceivable possibility – will this small piece come off…. can that get wrapped around her/his neck… that sort of thing.
I love the tip above about securing their towers and condos to the wall. Just because you don’t think it could possibly topple over doesn’t mean it won’t. I never in a gazillion years believed Alexa would be able to turn an ironing board over on herself, but she sure managed. (Yes, as a matter of fact, she does have to be watched like a toddler!) In fact, we have bamboo shelves in the kitchen that she occasionally likes to climb, I need my husband to anchor them to the wall. Our little girl is more of a busy body than Prissy ever was. Prissy rarely climbed anything beyond the couch or the nearest bed. Alexa’s convinced she’s part mountain lion.
Watch out for newspaper left lying around. If your cat is as inquisitive or playful as Alexa (Heaven help you), they probably like to attack the paper and see how fast they can shred it. Little pieces of newspaper can get stuck on the back of the cat’s tongue and become a choking hazard quickly.
While we’re talking about chocking hazards, watch out for the green grass that’s popular in Easter baskets. Like the ribbon and paper, it can become dangerous very fast. Be sure it’s out of your little one’s way.
I guess that’s all of the tips I can think of for now… at least until Alexa gets into something else! If you have any to add, please do so in the comments.
Click the following link for a wonderful article: 10 Ways to Make Your Cat Younger. Oy. I’m almost certain Alexa has no waist definition. I mean, I know she has a waist… somewhere…. She’s all over the other 9 though. She just needs to eat a little less… Maybe cut back to just 1 lunch instead of 3…
Three of our outside babies are currently huddled together in a nice big, round basket that’s lined with bedding and a baby blanket. Since Ming Li had kittens, I think we need a second basket or cat bed outside. I’m flipping over the Atmosphere Bamboo Pet Bed with Cushion above but it looks too gorgeous to put outside. I’m thinking it should stay inside with Alexa… then I can move one of her favorite beds outside for the little ones.
The last thing I’d need would be to order this beauty, set it up outside for my little kittens and have a possum or raccoon ransack it. Both of these adorable animals (who are frequent guests in our yard) love to ransack and I know they’d look at this fancy pants bed as their Waterloo!
From the Website:
A unique piece of furniture bed specifically designed for cats. The spherical shape of this elegant bed ergonomically contours the natural curled sleeping position of the cat. The luxurious golden striped overfilled cushion provides a comforting resting and sleeping area for any feline. Trendy chocolate stain and the spherically arranged bamboo strips complements one another making this bed a wonderful piece of modern pet furniture. Bed is made of environmental friendly bamboo and wood; Cushion cover is made of cotton/polyester blend, with 100% polyester filling; machine washable.
Bamboo is an Eco-Friendly material, easily renewable and requiring very little water to grow, making it a great choice for any home!
This item ships directly from the manufacturer. Product usually arrives in 4-10 business days, depending on destination, including order processing and shipping.
I’ve been pricing cat trees for our inside girl, Alexa. Our outside girls and boys have plenty of trees, barns, logs, lofts, etc. to climb on, but I know Alexa would love a cat tree placed near a window.
Since she broke her leg last year, I’ve been extra cautious about her climbing on just anything, so safety is top on my list… as it should be on everyone’s.
I found a great article a few minutes ago about building your own cat tree and thought I’d share it with you. Click the link and get your tools ready! What a wonderful way to make sure that your cat furniture is well made and safe.
Alexa picked up a cute little habit from Prissy – wanting her water to come from the faucet. She’ll perch on one of the bathroom sinks and wait for someone to come along and run her personal little water fountain for her.
I was searching online for a cat window perch earlier when I came across this Hagen CatIt Fresh & Clear Small Drinking Fountain for Cats. How perfect! I think all cats really prefer fresh, moving water and this fountain gives our pampered babies just what they want.
Product Description:
CatIt Fresh & Clear Small Drinking Fountain for CatsProvide an indoor source of moving water that will encourage your pet to drink more with the CatIt Fresh & Clear Small Drinking Fountain. The large water-to-air surface area maximizes oxygenation for fresher, better tasting water. Water is cooled and aerated by the re-circulating system while the multi-stage filtration consisting of a dual-sided foam and activated carbon filter rids your pet’s water of debris and impurities. Also suitable for small dogs.
I think we can categorize this as a MUST HAVE for pampered pets!
I think I need about a dozen of these. The weather’s already cooling off and our outside babies would love nothing more than their own personal heated little beds. Even Alexa, who rules from within the house would love a Thermal Pet Bed. Can you say COZY?!?!
Older cats would especially benefit from a warm and cozy bed like this. Their little, tiny frail bones would think they were in paradise.
From the Website:
Keep your best friend warm and cozy! Plush polyester pet beds are thermal insulated, so your pet stays warm or cool and always comfortable. Stain-resistant material protects from little “accidents.” Fun paw print design reverses to solid tan. Two sizes for small to medium dogs or cats. Machine wash, line dry.
Click through the image or the link to read more – your baby would love one of these!
It has always amazed me how a cat can fall asleep just about anywhere and in any position. Not long ago, I had a beautiful, colorful porcelain salsa and chips set out on the counter. I had my back turned, getting together my tortilla chips and salsa ingredients. When I turned back around, Alexa had filled the tortilla bowl with something else: Herself! I guess she thought that was the most exotic and lovely cat bed we’d ever given to her… so special that it was placed on the kitchen counter for everyone to enjoy.
The cat art print above is called Sleeping Soundly and it’s too cute for its own good.
I have gleefully spent a lot of money on cat beds and cat furniture. But get this, Alexa has found a favorite place to sleep that most definitely didn’t come from Pet Smart. She has fallen in love with a beautiful large, round, colorful salsa bowl. It’s one of those big bright bowls that come with a smaller dish to go in the middle – for salsa.
Well, that was the plan, before Miss Alexa decided that it was the coolest bed any cat could ask for.
I came into the kitchen one afternoon to find her on one of the shelves, curled up in the salsa bowl her new bed. As soon as she left it, I placed one of her baby blankets (Yes. Baby Blankets. Don’t judge the pampered pet OR the one who does the enabling!) inside.
She now considers this to be the bed of her dreams – um, literally.
I’m wondering if she’d consider the Pet Beds Merry Products Atmosphere Round Cat Bed to be a fitting alternative. Fingers crossed. I just might get my killer salsa bowl back in time for the World Series.
This is an old post from the old blog. I’m moving a lot of these posts to this blog, so that I can delete the dinosaur. Precious Prissy was still alive when I wrote this post, so it’s pretty bittersweet to read it. It’s always good to remember her, but I’ll always miss her beautiful little face and graceful, dainty, perfectly delightful disposition. She was so laid back – such a contrast to Miss Alexa!
This particular post actually had over 20 comments, which I’m not moving here, although they were great. I think it was split – about half of the commentators gave thumbs up to this cat food, while half said their cats didn’t seem to care for it.
What experience have you had with this brand? At the time, I hadn’t given Fancy Feast to my cats before, but since then, Alexa has fallen flat out in love with it.
Disney (a name that brings a smile to just about every face, including mine) has jumped, mouse ears first, into the $75 billion global pet care industry ($36 billion in the U.S., alone) with lines of products for cats, dogs, fish, and hamsters. I believe they started with an Old Yeller line of dog food products.
I really first took notice when I saw their Aristocats Cat Food on the shelves at Kroger. Our babies love to try new goodies, so I bought one of each flavor. (On a side note, the cans are perfectly adorable, with scenes from the movie on the side.) This was, honestly, one of the only brands of cat food that our cats, unanimously, loved. Whiskas and Aristocats now stand as the only two “wet food” varieties that result in extremely happy cats and over-licked cat dishes around our house, inside and out.
Prissy and Bo will absolutely eat anything you set in front of them. As though she was determined to prove it, the other day an olive fell off of my pizza and Prissy ate it before I could pick it up. Then she wanted more but I just couldn’t feel good about myself feeding olives to a cat.
Svenn and Alexa are pickier than Bo and Prissy. Usually, he only likes dry food (and only some brands, at that), but he threw himself into the Aristocats cat food. They’ve all requested that I grab more cans on my next Kroger trip. I’m a soft touch, so OF COURSE I’ll do just that!
Apparently, Disney is also planning to launch a line of cat products from the movie “That Darn Cat.” My test panel is looking forward to it.
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