Category: All Posts

Stella & Chewy’s, Treats and More

I’ve been wanting to write about this company since my husband brought me some samples from PepCom Tots & Tails a few weeks ago. Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t get a chance to write about them sooner, because the more I use their products, the more I like them!

The company is named after the owner’s two dogs, as she was inspired to find the best nutrition to keep them healthy and happy. I love that the products are all made in the U.S.A., and they are processed in a way that helps to minimize bacteria and keep the foods safe.

Ingredients are all responsibly sourced in the U.S. and include high quality ingredients from farmers and ranchers, grass-fed, cage-free, some wild-caught, and some farm-raised.

They offer a wide variety of frozen, freeze-dried, kibbles, wet food, treats and supplements. I’ve had a chance to check out two of their products, Wild Weenies Duck treats, and one of the Meal Mixers.

As you can see above, the Wild Weenies look like little hot dogs. They are freeze-dried and raw. They smell good, and contain 97% poultry and organs. They are grain-free. I was a bit shocked when I looked at the package and saw only four ingredients!

Cali will do anything for these treats! I keep the bag on my desk, and if I even move the bag, she is there, sitting and staring at me as she wills the treats out of the bag. One of Cali’s big faults is that she loves to bark. If she hears anyone come in the house, close a door, etc. she’s barking. With these treats, I show her the bag and tell her to “quiet” and she waits patiently for her treat. She’s stubborn, and the “Quiet” command doesn’t always work, but it definitely works better when these treats are involved.

Meal Mixers are the other product I’ve been sampling, and they are great! I will definitely be purchasing more of these when my bag runs out. Like the Weenies, the are freeze-dried and grain-free. The idea of this product is to mix it with your regular kibble to add a healthy boost of raw food nutrients to your pet’s diet. They are also supposed to entice your pet to eat, and they definitely do that for Cali.

I take Cali’s regular kibble, add 3-4 of these little chunks and break them up. The chunks are great in that they stay together well and don’t fall apart in the bag, but they are soft enough to break up easily in my fingers when I want to crush them. I add a little bit of water, swirl the bowl, and my picky-eater dives right in.

While these are called “Meal Mixers” they are, according to the package, a complete and balanced meal if you chose to just use this without added kibble.

I’m really impressed with the quality and palatability of these products and look forward to checking out other products in their line. Next time I’m at my local pet store, I’m going to look for their frozen patties and morsels, which they make for dogs and cats. I’d also like to try their “broth topper.” I’ll be sure to post an update when I get a chance to try the other products.

Check them out at: www.StellaAndChewys.com. Some of their products are only available in store due to the perishable nature, so check out the website for locations near you.

Fall Hike

Cali is ready!

It was absolutely gorgeous out yesterday. I was settling in for a morning of chores, but Cali looked up at me with her big brown eyes, and I knew there were more important things to do.

I put her orange safety vest on her, Safety first! We headed out to a local trail. It was a perfect Fall day, the weather was crisp, but not cold, and the leaves were beautiful.

The reflection of the leaves on the water was so pretty.

Cali seemed to be in a mood to behave herself, so I let her off leash. She proved me right and did a great job.  She stayed right by my side.

She got a bit excited when a family with a dog crossed our path, so I scooped her up and we walked by. Later, some ladies crossed by, and they wanted to say “Hello” to Cali, so I let her go, and she gave them kisses without jumping up, good girl!

As we were finishing up our walk, an older couple crossed by and I could tell they weren’t happy that Cali was off leash. I called her over to me and told her to stay, and she hung out right by my side without bothering the couple. We finished up our walk and headed back to the car.

I came home and still managed to get Hector’s cage cleaned up, cleaned cat boxes, and did some laundry,  but I’m so glad I took the time to breathe in some fresh air, stretch my legs, and give my furry friend a chance to do the same.

Enjoy your free time!

 

My Dilemma

The Female

 

A few years ago we adopted two cats from a shelter. My son fell in love with the gorgeous, long-haired male cat, but he was part of a bonded pair and had to be adopted with his female friend.

We had a gut feeling that we shouldn’t add two cats at one time because of Logan, our older female cat., but we thought we would give it a try. The female cat was pretty awful. She hated people, and loved cables. She had a nervous habit of eating cables, and in our technology-filled home, this was a disaster! I lost count of how many phone and watch charging cables we had to replace.

The male cat was gorgeous!

He was a big giant of a cat, and we all loved him, but he was a bully.  He chased our Logan, and also the female cat he was supposed to be bonded with.

For almost a year, we tried to get the three cats to get along. We didn’t need them to be best friends, but we did need them to stop fighting. Eventually, Logan got so nervous that she started urinating all over the house. We worked with a vet, we medicated, we used hormone scent diffusers and special collars. Nothing seemed to help. As much as we hated to admit defeat, we talked to the shelter where we got the cats, and we brought them back. It was awful. I felt better when I called the next day to check on them and they had already been adopted again!

Since then, my son and I have been desperately wanting another long haired cat. We rescued a kitten that we were told was a Maine Coon Mix. Puck is an awesome cat, but he’s short haired and only 7 lbs.  We don’t think there is a whole lot of Maine Coon there.

We love our Puck, but we are still searching for our long haired cat.  I’ve been watching rescues for quite awhile, and I never seem to be able to find a long haired male kitten. We’d really like a Maine Coon with their dog-like personalities, and there are some in rescues, but not kittens. With our cranky older lady, Logan, we are afraid to add any more adult cats to the mix, and she seems to get along best with male cats.

I started looking to breeders. Maine Coon kittens are even hard to find from breeders! Many that I spoke with have all the kittens in a litter reserved before they are even born!

The Dilemma – Eventually, I found a breeder that has two male kittens that will be available in a few weeks.  What to do?!?!? In some ways, I hate the thought of buying a cat from a breeder, but I also don’t think we can find the right fit at a rescue this time. I know there will be more rescue pets in my future, and there have been plenty in the past, maybe we buy a kitten? What would you do?

Rescue Story

The Many Faces of Cali

It’s always more fun to have a post with pictures, so even though this isn’t a post about Cali, I’ve got some older pictures of her from my daughter, that I thought I’d share.

Life has been busy as usual, and I hadn’t had time to catch up with my friend Stacy until a few days ago.  She is an amazingly big-hearted animal lover and I hope she won’t mind if I share a short version of her latest adventure.

Stacy took a trip to New Orleans, and while there she spotted a tiny black kitten alone on the streets. Twenty-four hours later, kitten was still there. Being the animal lover that she is, she took the kitten back to her hotel to get it some food and water. She thought about taking it to a shelter, but realized that a plain looking black kitten might not have very good chances of being adopted.

Next idea, she decides to bring it home with her and take it to a No-Kill shelter at home.  She buys a carrier, pays the airline fees, and brings the tiny kitten home, yes, home. Of course once the kitten made that journey with her, there was no way she was going to bring it to a shelter.  Lucky kitten!  Thank you Stacy for being her hero!

 

What’s Hector D. Byrd Up to Now?

We often call our cat, Puck, Pucky-Boo-Boo, or even just Boo-Boo. I have no idea where it came from, but it stuck. Right at this moment, my beautiful grey parrot is marching around on the floor calling “Hector Boo Boo, Hector Boo Boo” She must be jealous or something, we have never called her “Hector Boo-Boo!”

She’s very proud of herself, when I laughed at her, she started laughing too! Of course soon after she headed back to her box construction, well destuction project.

Adopt don’t Shop and More…

This article by Dr. Jeff Young, DVM is fascinating. So much interesting information about the overpopulation problems we have here in the United States. While “Adopt Don’t Shop” is a great idea, it isn’t enough. Dr. Young explains why the most important thing we can do to stop pet overpopulation is to spay/neuter, and to educate owners.

What do you think? Do you spay or neuter all your pets? Do you adopt a homeless pet, or do you shop at a Pet Store or breeder? The spay and neuter rates in the U.S. do seem to be improving, but not enough.