conscious living, health and happiness for cats and their humans
Back by popular demand! I’m excited to announce that our 2014 Conscious Cat Wall Calendar is now available for purchase!
Last year’s calendar was a huge success, and we think this year’s calendar is even better. Allegra and Ruby helped me pick out the photos, and they made sure that they received equal representation!
Tortie lovers, to my knowledge, this is the only calendar on the market that exclusively features tortoiseshell cats.Continue Reading
“Each time I’ve lost a cat, I’ve gained something in my life—made decisions about my career, begun working in a new medium or style, found new friends. Perhaps the trauma of the loss caused me to see things from a new perspective, or it was a gift of gratitude from the cat I’d lost,” says animal artist and writer Bernadette E. Kazmarski.
She had determined years ago to design animal sympathy cards as most of the cards she’d received for her losses were not animal-specific, but wanted to make sure she had enough experience and perspective so she wouldn’t design something she’d later feel was incomplete or immature. One cat’s passing in 2009 gave her the space to follow through. As a fine artist as well as a commercial artist designing these cards was second nature. Continue Reading
I’m always on the lookout for good interactive cat toys. They’re such a great way to keep your cats stimulated both mentally and physically, and they allow both you and your cats to get in on the fun. Since cats tend to get bored with the same old toys, it’s a good idea to have a variety on hand.
I was thrilled when Natalie Koukouli, the founder of Design 4 Paws, offered to send me a couple of her unique creations so Allegra and Ruby could test them. We received the Sofa Rod and the Ribbon and Circles toys, pictured below.Continue Reading
My entire house is carpeted (with the exception of the kitchen and bathrooms.) The carpet in my living room, hallway, and upstairs bedrooms is off white. And it’s the original carpet, so it’s almost 40 years old. Between the home’s original owners and me, my carpets have dealt with a total of seven cats so far. Nobody who walks into my house believes me that the carpet is that old.
I vacuum weekly, and for the first 20+ years that I’ve lived in this house, I’ve had my carpets professionally cleaned. I discontinued the professional cleanings a few years ago. Between Buckley’s heart disease, and Amber getting older, I didn’t want to stress them out by having to lock them into a bathroom for the time it would take to get the whole house cleaned. Allegra hates being locked up so much that she actually starts trying to dig her way out from under the door, and Ruby is terrified of the sound of the vacuum cleaner, so professional cleanings weren’t going to be happening any time soon at my house.Continue Reading
Interactive toys are a great way to keep your cats stimulated both mentally and physically, and a great way for both you and your cats to get in on the fun. One of Allegra and Ruby’s favorites is the DaBird – of all their wand toys, this is the one they most frequently want to play with.
We were delighted when Pets Can Play sent us two of their new Bird Catcher PRO toys, along with two 5-packs of their Super Guinea Fowl Feather Refills. I was pretty sure Allegra and Ruby were going to love these toys, but I was also curious how they would compare to the original DaBird.
The Bird Catcher PRO has slightly thicker and stronger pole than the original. It has a nice padded section at the end, Continue Reading
Most cats don’t like closed doors. This is certainly true at our house. The only time I close a door is when we have a service person come, and I need to keep Allegra and Ruby safely out of the way. Unfortunately, Allegra in particular gets so stressed when she’s locked up, she starts to frantically claw at the carpet near the door to “dig” her way out of the closed room. As a result, the carpet near the doorway in the guest bedroom, where I tend to close the girls in when it’s necessary for their safety, is quite frayed, and ripped up at the edge.
The CarPET Scratch Stopper™ is a heavy duty floor mat, similar to the ones you can get to put under a rolling chair in a carpeted office. The mat is cut to fit under a doorContinue Reading
When you share your life with cats, cat hair is a fact of life – and one that most of us embrace proudly. But it also means that most of us are constantly on the lookout for products that help us combat cat hair, whether it’s on clothes, bedding or furniture.
I was intrigued when a Conscious Cat reader told me about the Chom Chom Roller, and asked the company to send me one to review.
The ChomChom Roller is an internationally patented device that is said to pick up deeply embedded hair and fragments in sofas, carpets, car seats, beds, curtains and more. According to the manufacturer, moving the ChomChom Roller back and forth creates an electrostatic charge that attracts the hairs to the roller. Continue Reading
Allegra and Ruby haven’t looked forward to a product review as much as they have to this one in a long time. They’ve been dreaming of owning one of these castles for almost a year, so when MyThreeCats.com offered to send us one, we jumped at the chance!
This artistic, colorful cardboard tower has multiple levels for climbing and perching. It is made of heavy-duty cardboard and supported by metal bars for added strength and stability, but yet, it’s lightweight enough to move from room to room fairly easily. It is designed to support cats weighing up to 25 lbs. Please note that this is the total weight it supports, so two cats weighing a combined 25 lbs. could occupy the castle.
Even though I’m pretty sure the girls can’t read, they seemed to know the big box was for them. Continue Reading
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I was very excited when I first heard about Through a Cat’s Ear, which combines music and sound therapy techniques, specifically designed for feline anxiety. This is not just simple relaxation music.
Composer, music producer and sound researcher Joshua Leeds has been studying psychoacoustics—the effect of music and sound on human beings—since 1986. In 2003, concert pianist Lisa Spector inquired about adapting human sound therapy for dogs. Leeds began research into canine acoustic environments, which led to the release of the acclaimed audio series Through a Dog’s Ear. Through tonal and tempo selections, and simplification of solo piano music, Lisa and Joshua discovered effective solutions for many canine anxiety issues.
Since the 2008 release of Through a Dog’s Ear music, requests for music specially designed for catsContinue Reading
When MyThreeCats.com asked whether we’d like to review the SmartCat Ultiate Scratching Post, I jumped at the chance. Allegra and Ruby love sisal scratchers, and I was impressed with the description of this particular scratching post:
We know cats love cardboard, and we know cats love Hauspanther toys, so I was pretty sure that Allegra and Ruby would love the new line of eco-friendly toys. Hauspanther released their popular Stacks and Atomic Flyer toys in a cardboard version, and surprised us by sending a set to Allegra and Ruby for testing.
The toys were an instant hit. The cardboard makes the toys nice and lightweight, which makes them fly across the floor easily. Allegra had a hard time deciding which toy to play with first!
The new Eco Stacks, shown in the photo at the top of the post, were Ruby’s favorite. Continue Reading