Products

November 28, 2012

Review: Music My Pet: soothing classical music for cats

When Tom Nazziola, the creator of Music My Pet, contacted me about reviewing some of the music he created specifically for animals to provide comfort and soothe anxiety, I was intrigued.

Nazziola’s music, ranging from film music to choral and orchestral pieces, has been performed around the world, as well as broadcast nationally and internationally on radio and television. But what really grabbed my attention was that Tom served as one of the principal performers for Disney’s award-winning Baby Einstein CDs and DVDs for more than 10 years. These CD’s and DVD’s are designed to enlighten and entertain children of all ages. “I’ve always been fascinated by the effects of music on people,” says Tom, “and I was curious as to how classical music in particular affects pets – especially those that suffer from anxiety.”

Studies have shown that pets respond favorably to classical music Continue Reading

November 23, 2012

The Conscious Cat 2012 Holiday Gift Guide

Products| 6 Comments

Welcome to The Conscious Cat 2012 Holiday Gift Guide – your one stop shopping solution for all the cats and cat lovers on your holiday gift list!

Check out these wonderful products from some of our favorite companies. Many of these products have Allegra and Ruby’s paw stamp of approval. You’ll be sure to find something to delight every kitty and every cat lover in your life. And by buying these products, you’ll not only get some really wonderful gifts, you’ll also support small businesses, most of them run out of the owners’ homes.

The Kittyblock

The Kittyblock is a fabulous cat scratcher designed by Paul Roberts. It is made from corrugated cardboard and a starch-based adhesive. Weighing in at 8 pounds, the blocks are nice and sturdy. The blocks offer endless options of creating a fun jungle gym for your cats: stack them, build a tunnel, or create a stairway. The Kittyblock is a big hit with Allegra and Ruby. For more information and to purchase, visit MyKittyblock.com.

NVR Miss LitterboxContinue Reading

November 22, 2012

Review and giveaway: Classy Cat Dishes

Giveaways, Products| 97 Comments

As far as product reviews go, reviewing the Classy Cat Dish was quite possibly one of Allegra and Ruby’s favorite projects. I used treats for the photo shoot, and it took several rounds to get some really good shots, so the two of them made out quite well!

I love everything about this food dish. For starters, it’s really pretty. My photos don’t do the soft marbled pink justice. The dish is shallow and wide, which makes it a perfect dish for cats, who don’t like it when their whiskers bump against the edge of a food bowl.

Allegra and Ruby give the Classy Cat Dish four paws up. They call it the “magic treat dish.”Continue Reading

November 21, 2012

Exclusive discount on Neko Flies toys

Products| 16 Comments

Allegra and Ruby love their Neko Flies toys. So does feline behaviorist Jackson Galaxy, the star of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell, which will return with all new episodes in February. “Nekoflies are great,” says Jackson. “The different attachments make for variety in your play therapy routine, and that keeps things exciting for your cat.”

Allegra and Ruby recently reviewed some of Neko Flies’ newest attachments (Allegra is shown with the Kitticatterfly above) and gave them four paws up. These toys come out almost every day at our house, and the girls never seem to get bored with them.Continue Reading

November 15, 2012

Review and giveaway: CatAmazing puzzle toy for cats

Giveaways, Products| 72 Comments

The new CatAmazing puzzle toy is a super fun toy for intelligent kitties. This sturdy cardboard toy is incredibly well designed. The clever insert creates hard to reach areas that cats can access through different shaped openings on the outside, making it much more challenging (and fun) for kitty than other puzzle toys. The insert creates three levels of increasing difficulty, using colors that cats see best.

Allegra and Ruby were pretty impatient with me while I put the toy together. Yes, it does require some assembly, but Continue Reading

November 1, 2012

Giveaway: Cattystacks designer cat climbers

Giveaways, Products| 107 Comments

The tagline for Cattystacks’ modular cat climbers is simple: “Because cats love boxes.” The designers of these cubes, made from industrial strength corrugated cardboard, took this concept a little further and created these esthetically pleasing boxes that come in a rainbow of fun colors.

I purchased three of these stacks for Allegra and Ruby a couple of years ago, and they still provide daily fun for both of them. Whether it’s climbing, hiding, stalking, or using them as an elevated vantage point to view the world, the girls use these stacks almost every day.

Assembly is super easyContinue Reading

October 18, 2012

Giveaway: cat supplements from Pet Naturals of Vermont

Giveaways, Products| 40 Comments

I’m a big believer in supplements for both cats and humans. You should see my kitchen counter: between my supplements (I didn’t earn the name “supplement queen” from my friends for no reason!) and Allegra and Ruby’s supplements, there’s not much space left for anything else. And I’m only half kidding.

I rarely accept supplements or food for review unless it’s something I’ve already thoroughly researched and/or tried. I won’t use Allegra and Ruby as product testers for products whose claims I can’t verify. Full disclosure: I have not used Pet Naturals of Vermont’s products, but based on what I’ve read about the company, and the ingredients listed for their products, these look like good products to me. I was particularly impressed to find out that Dr. Roger Kendall, Pet Naturals® vice president of research and development, and Dale Metz, Pet Naturals® CEO, are founding members of the National Animal Supplements Council. The NASC seal guarantees that pet supplements meet guidelines for quality, integrity and truth in labeling.Continue Reading

October 17, 2012

Allegra and Ruby: the more scratchers, the better

Products| 13 Comments

I don’t know whether Allegra and Ruby hold the record for most scratchers owned by two cats, but we must be close. It’s getting pretty crowded in our kitty playroom! Our latest addition is the X-Tetra Scratch Lounge and the Karma Scratch Log from Karma Products.

The X-Tetra Scratch Lounge is a unique design. The girls seem to like it more as a kitty jungle gym than a scratcher. They love chasing each other around it and jumping up and down on it. Allegra demonstrates how to stalk:

However, the Karma Scratch Log is getting a lot of use as a scratcher. This by-product of the X-Tetra Lounge is a nice, sturdy floor scratcher. Allegra shows off her famous scratching technique (with a little help from Ruby – well, sort of) in the video below:Continue Reading

October 16, 2012

2013 Conscious Cat Wall Calendar

Products| 6 Comments

It’s here! Allegra, Ruby and I are excited to announce that the 2013 Conscious Cat Wall Calendar is now avaible for purchase!

Last year’s calendar was a huge success, and we think this year’s calendar is even better. Allegra and Ruby definitely think so, because unlike last year, when we also featured photos of Amber and Buckley, this year’s calendar is only featuring Allegra and Ruby!

Tortie lovers, to my knowledge, this is the only calendar on the market that exclusively features tortoiseshell cats!

Here is a preview of some of the pages:Continue Reading

October 3, 2012

Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Bites make raw feeding easier than ever

Feline Nutrition, Products| 54 Comments

I rarely accept foods for review, unless it’s something I’ve already thoroughly researched and/or tried. I won’t use Allegra and Ruby as product testers for diets whose claims I can’t verify.

Nature’s Variety is a brand I’ve been feeding for several years, in both the raw and canned varieties. They made my – very small – list of recommended brands (the list is small because I’m extremely picky about what I feed my cats). When they asked me whether I’d like to try their new Raw Bites product, I readily agreed, much to Allegra and Ruby’s delight. They wish my food review policy wasn’t quite so stringent…

Nature’s Variety frozen Raw Bites, are, as the name implies, bite size frozen raw pieces that thaw quickly. They’re formulated just like their other frozen diets, available in nugget and patty form, with 95% meat, organs, and raw ground bone. The remaining 5% Continue Reading

September 27, 2012

Allegra and Ruby give new Neko Flies toys four paws up

Products| 20 Comments

Allegra and Ruby were super excited to test three new attachments for the popular Neko Flies interactive toy. Neko Flies is a perennial favorite at our house.

Nekochan Enterprises, Inc., a company specializing in the development, manufacturing, and distribution of unique, high quality pet products, was started by Ellen Tsuyuki, a multiple cat owner, because she was dissatisfied with toys available in the cat toy marketplace. Ellen decided to create a toy that would measure up to her and her cats’ particular needs. Ellen named the company after her mother’s Abyssynian cat Nekochan (“neko” means cat in Japanese, “chan” is a term of endearment). The Neko Flies attachments mimic critters cats might encounter in the wild. For someone like me, who is not fond of creepy crawlies, the likeness is almost a bit eerie at times!

The three newest attachments will be available late October/early November. We received the Kattipede, which looks like a green and red centipede, complete with wiggly legs, the Kiticatterfly, a butterfly with beautiful shiny irridescent wings, and the Foxifur Kittenator, which resembles a very furry mouse.

As you can see from this action shot of Allegra playing with the Kiticatterfly, the toys were a big hit.Continue Reading