Tag: #petmomma

It’s here! Pretty Litter, and the New Fountain

My new CatLink Pro arrived yesterday. First impression? It’s BIG! The footprint is probably only 6″ bigger than a “regular” litter box, but it’s tall. Set up was a little finicky. We had to play with it a little to get it on our Wifi, but it wasn’t that bad. I read that any type of clumping litter works in it, but I don’t think the OXO Cat litter that I prefer is going to work out. It seems a little too light weight. The box is supposed to say when the litter is full, but ours kept saying it needed more litter. Eventually I realized I had over filled it, had to empty out some litter, reset it, and eventually we got it set up properly.  I think a clay-based scooping litter will work better, and I plan to try that.

It has only been set up for one night. So far the cats haven’t used it. Bean is curious and stuck his head in, but that’s about it so far. I may spray a little catnip spray in there to encourage them.  I’ll keep you all posted.

In other news, I’ve been using Pretty Litter for about a month. It definitely different than the traditional clumping litters I have been using.

I like how lightweight it is. Easy to fill and dump the box.

I’m not sure how well the “health monitoring” really works. My litter was just brown/yellow all month, so I guess that means regular healthy cats which is great. I don’t think my cats have any health problems, and nothing showed up with the litter, so I can’t tell you how well the health monitoring works or not, but I like the idea of it.

The cats took to it right away. We went from OXO Cat wood clumping litter to the Pretty Litter in one box. The cats had no hesitation in using it at all. They actually seemed to prefer it. I’ve got two boxes upstairs and tried the Pretty Litter in one box. While they continued to use both boxes, the Pretty Litter box definitely had more frequent visits.

As far as tracking, I do think it tracks less than regular litter, but I think part of that is because it is such tiny grains so it isn’t as noticeable. It did track some for me, but definitely less than my regular clumping litter. There was a little worry about my wood floors. The tiny grains of litter feel really gritty, and I’m not sure if they would actually scratch the floor or not, but I was careful to sweep it up and not find out.

Martin and Bean enjoy hanging out on the new rug

Odor control is good. It dries out the poop quickly so the smell doesn’t last. I definitely noticed when the litter box needed to be changed. Urine should get mixed in when you scoop the poop. Those urine spots dry out when they are mixed in with the litter again.

Pretty Litter lasts like they say it does. I have to say that I was impressed the litter went a full month before I felt like I had to change it. I was using it in one of my four boxes, so I wasn’t sure how long it would last. There wasn’t any doubt when it was time to change the litter box. The Pretty Litter was no longer white, it was yellow, and it started to smell. The urine spots no longer mixed in and they started sticking to the bottom of the box. 

Positives – it definitely makes the box easier to clean than regular clumping litter. I only had to scoop the poop, and the litter is small, so I didn’t have to shake out the litter scoop forever. I can honestly say it probably took me less than half the time to clean this box versus regular clumping litter. Other positives, good odor control, less tracking, easy to maintain the box. Another positive is that the cats took to it right away. No transition stress. It’s also lightweight and easy to refill and dump the litter box.

Negatives – it’s gritty. I worry about it scratching wood floors. And my only other negative was the price. Two cats the cost is $44 per month. You can’t buy it on Amazon, and it seems like the only way to buy it is with a recurring subscription.

My take? Overall I like it. If I only had one or two cats, I’d probably keep using it. For me with four cats it isn’t economical. I do have a couple of bags left, so I’ll keep using it in one box, but I can’t use it in my new automatic box because it doesn’t clump. Anyone else tried it? What did you think? Leave me a comment and let me know.

I finally found a pet fountain that I LOVE! Review soon…

 

I bit the bullet!

It’s probably pretty obvious that I’ve been obsessing about cat litter and litter boxes for the last several months. With four cats in the house, I feel like I spend half my life scooping boxes and sweeping up litter.

After doing a lot of research on automatic boxes, Litter Robot often comes up at the top of the reviews, but they are expensive! Another brand that I’ve seen come up near the top of many review lists is the CatLink Pro. I’ve been keeping an eye on it, because it looks and sounds like it is very similar to the Litter Robot, but a bit less pricey. Today they sent me a Halloween offer I couldn’t refuse. I ordered the CatLink Pro!

If it works out, I’ll probably want/need a 2nd one, but even cutting my litter scooping in half would be huge! Of course I’ll be posting a review, or maybe even more than one as the cats and I acclimate to it. Wish me luck!

Upcoming Reviews

Happy Fall! The leaves are turning here in New England and it is so pretty out!

Lots of stuff coming up here on PetMomma soon!

I received my first shipment of Pretty Litter. I filled one of our four boxes with it yesterday. I didn’t bother doing a half and half kind of thing with our old litter because we have so many boxes. If the cats are hesitant to try it, they can use one of the other boxes, but within minutes of me putting it back, Martin (my son’s cat) had already tried it out.

This morning, it wasn’t tracked all over yet, so either they aren’t using it, or it really doesn’t track much. It’s very different than anything I’ve tried before.

I’ll be posting a full review in a week or two when the cats have really had a chance to check it out.

I’ll have another review coming soon… as you may know from reading here, I’m obsessed with pet fountains. I really think they encourage my pets to drink, and they have become mandatory around here.

This unit will be set up here soon and I’ll be posting the review. Curious to see how it compares to my current Pet Safe brand ceramic fountain.

Does anyone use a Pet Camera? New product to me, but I’ll be trying it out around here soon and of course posting a review when I get a feel for it. Puck and Bean are very curious to see if it will dispense cat treats as well as dog treats!

Happy Fall! Check back soon for the new reviews!

Fair season

Does anyone else have a love/hate relationship with fairs? I love to go, but I always end up in tears at some point! Every year, I try to plan a family fair day, and I always look forward to it. We try to explore fairs that we haven’t been to before, or sometimes we revisit an old favorite. The food, the rides, the sights and smells, I love it all.

But what about the animals? Walking through the barns, seeing all the cows, horses, sheep, llamas, bunnies, I absolutely love it, right up until I see the sign that the prize winning pig was sold to Hannaford, (a grocery chain). I grew up riding horses, but never lived on a farm. I know it is a different life style, and I know people depend on their animals for food and income. I’m not currently a vegetarian, although I have gone through years of giving up meat.

Ox

The cows have such sweet faces!

The day before we were at the fair, two twin baby lambs were born at the fair. They were so tiny and precious!

While we were looking at the new babies, a full grown sheep behind me nuzzled my back. I turned around to pat him, and he pushed into my hand and snuggled his head up to me. He raised his chin so I could give him some good scratches, so sweet and affectionate! When I stopped patting him, he bumped me with his nose to get my attention again.

We visited the horse barns. While I love and enjoy seeing the horses and can’t imagine going to the fair and not seeing them. It also makes me a little sad because it makes me miss riding and being around them. The smell of horses will always hold a special place in my heart.

We made our way around the fair through all the barns, but I hadn’t seen any bunnies! For a few years now I’ve had an obsession about angora bunnies. We found them, there were 8-10 at the fair, so pretty! I knit, and I’ve always thought it would be cool to have an Alpaca, or sheep that I could shear and go through the whole process of making my own yarn, but having a sheep requires more space and different zoning than our current home. Almost anyone can have pet bunnies! I spent a lot of time with a very kind woman who explained to me all about the angora bunnies, taking care of them, how she combs and shaves them for the wool. I can’t believe I didn’t take any pictures of them! There were a couple of white ones that I learned were ready to be combed/shaved. They looked huge, but when I touched them I realized it was all fluff. The woman told me the bunnies only weighed about 7 lbs and it was all the wool that made them look so big. If the husband wasn’t with me, I just might have come home with a bunny!

There wouldn’t have been any regrets if I had come home with a bunny, but I have to admit the house is pretty full right now. Four cats is a lot. The litter boxes are still making me crazy, the mess, the smell, the upkeep, yuck. Good thing I love and enjoy the cats! I almost gave in and bought a litter robot a couple of weeks ago, but I’m honestly not sure it will solve the problem. 

The fair we went to had harness racing. I’ve never been a fan of racing. I’ve read too many stories about the rough handling of race horses. I hate that Thoroughbreds are started under saddle so young. We happened to be walking sort of near the track when a race was happening, so we watched for a second, but I had to turn around and leave. The poor horses all look so panicked. 

So many conflicting emotions, the joy I felt scratching that sheep’s neck, and seeing those newborn baby lambs. The sadness I felt seeing the pigs that were sold to a grocery chain, and watching the harness horses run for their lives.

Even with the fleeting moments of sadness, I loved the fair. Maybe they are a good reminder of where food comes from for those of us who don’t see it all the time? Maybe they help promote better treatment of all animals?

One of these days, an angora bunny or two is definitely on my wish list! I really like the idea of having a pet with a purpose and being able to make my own angora yarn. Anyone else have a love/hate relationship with fairs?

 

Super Quick Review – Sift Ease

I’ve been searching local pet stores and of course Amazon lately in my quest for the perfect litter box. During one of my Amazon searches, I came across the SiftEase.

Seems like a really interesting product. You don’t need to use any special litter box, but in theory, it should help save time scooping.

Here’s the idea, a big scooping tray, with a bin underneath so that you just pick up your litter box and pour the litter through the sifter. The sifter catches the clumps (clumping litter obviously required) and you throw them away. The bin underneath catches the clean litter and you can just pour that back in the box.

Here’s the giant sifter. It sits on top of the grey bin shown in the first photo. I have to say that I really like the idea of this product. I’ve tried litter boxes with built in sifting devices and I’ve never had much luck with them.

Unfortunately, this product just didn’t work for me. First of all, dumping a litter box into the strainer/sifter is much harder than it seems. I tried to be careful, but litter spilled onto the floor. While I tried to scrape clumps loose in the pan before I dumped it, there were still clumps in the box after I dumped it into the sifter.

Puck had to check it out

Next problem, the holes in the sifter didn’t let all the litter through. Maybe that’s my fault, and I’m sure there are other types of litter that might work better than the OxoCat litter that I prefer, but I have enough issues with litter boxes right now, and I’m not changing my litter.

So I have a sifter full of dirty cat litter. I tried shaking it, but it only helped a little. I had to get my litter scoop and push the litter around in the sifter until I could get most of the clean litter through the slats and dump the clumps. I ended up wasting a lot of litter between the spills on the floor, and the litter that was thrown out because it didn’t sift well.

Finally removed the sifter from the base and dumped the litter back into the box. Time to sweep up the giant mess  before I was done. All this hassle, and I only cleaned one box. Four more to go? I don’t think so.

Once I finished sweeping, I cleaned out the SiftEase and folded it back up. I put it back in the box, and told Amazon to come pick it up. This is not a product for me. As much as I hate scooping. This product didn’t save me any time or hassle at all.

I’m going to continue my dreams of having a LitterRobot. There have been many times I’ve been tempted to just spend the money and try one out, but I know I would need at least two of them, and I’m not convinced it would work out for my big Maine Coon, or whichever cat likes to use two boxes to take care of business. I have heard they have a 90 day money back guarantee, so maybe I’ll give it a try one of these days. The joys of cat ownership do not include litter boxes!

September is Responsible Dog Ownership Month – ZuluTails Info

I’m not sure I’ve heard of “Responsible Dog Owner Month” before, but apparently that is what September is now. What do you think makes a responsible dog owner?

To me, it’s making sure your dog has everything it needs including food, water, exercise, proper vet care, training, and attention. Did I miss anything?

I received an article from ZuluTails, that I planned to skim and file, but it’s actually an interesting product. It’s a company that helps track your pet if they are lost. This one is only $19.99 per year for the first pet, with discounts for multiple pets. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

Many people have microchipped their pets these days, which is great, but you need a vet or shelter to read the microchip. Data can also be hard to update with a microchip service, so pet parents may move and forget that their pet’s chip lists an old address.

ZuluTails provides a collar or tag with a code called  UPI – Universal Pet Identifier. Their embroidered collar has the ZuluTails website and the unique UPI for your pet. The tags come with the same information as the collar, but they also add a QR code that can be scanned with a phone if someone finds your pet.

If your pet is lost and someone finds it, they just go to the website and type in your pets UPI, or scan the QR code, and they can enter their contact info so that you are alerted they have your pet and then you can contact each other to get the pet home safely.

The thing I like about this system is there aren’t delays with getting vets, police, or shelters involved. It seems like this system would help get a lost pet back to its owners really quickly.

Here’s some more information directly from ZuluTails:

   

We have moved beyond the electronic age and now live in the virtual realm- and the pet industry is no exception. It’s crucial that we covet our personal and private information (PII) since perpetrators, phishing tactics and automated exploitations are always lurking, taking advantage of situations when we are distracted and motivated by emotion to care for our loved ones and our pets. 

Health, safety and security are a top priority when it comes to owning a pet, and innovative company ZuluTails is revolutionizing the industry and celebrating responsible dog (and pet) ownership!

Cyber Security Expert, U.S. Navy Veteran and Founder of ZuluTails™(An official “Software As A Service” company and Pet Insight’s 2022 Vanguard Award for Best ID Tag) Pamela Fusco is on a mission to offer solutions for pet safety and owner security! 

“The American Humane Association estimates over 10 million dogs and cats are lost in the U.S. alone each year, of which 85% of dogs and 98% of cats without an ID are NOT reunited with their families. Safety, security and privacy are essential when it comes to owning a pet”, says Fusco. 

As a cybersecurity professional and a Cryptologist, Pamela’s expertise spans globally; leading special operations for national intelligence, advising U.S. White House and Fortune 500 corporations. She was imminently qualified to create ZuluTails, the newest disruptor in the Pet market that has changed the playing field with the first Smart Pet ID and technology that instantly and securely connects you with your pet. Unlike microchips, ZuluTails offers 24-hour perPETual global on-demand access, granting you the flexibility to update and modify your information and your pet’s without having to depend on any third parties or call centers.

What do you think makes a responsible dog/pet owner?  Do you use a pet tag to ID your pet and help if it is lost? 

All Around the World

 

May has been a super busy month around here. I’ve traveled to the other side of the country, and hit several different countries as well. Traveling always reminds me how small the world really is, and how similar people are. We all want the same things, happiness, comfort, and peace. We all love our families (and pets!)

I was away from my pets quite a bit in May. Thankfully I have great pet sitters for everyone, so even though I get very nervous leaving them, they are all happy and content. Everyone needs extra attention now that we are back home, especially the cats!

Hector gave me a scare this trip. I got a text from my sitter that she had tried to fly and landed badly. She was favoring one foot, and the sitter wasn’t sure what to do. I told him to leave her in her cage and keep an eye on her. I’d seen this happen before and she was fine after a short time and thankfully the same thing happened this time, but I was very happy to get home a couple of days later to check on her.  

Cali loves to play dress up!

Going through my full mailbox when I got home, I found an email about a free 30 day perfect pet class. It’s by Zak George, a trainer I had watched before. I dug into it a little bit and it does seem to be totally free. It is affiliated with Pupford so there is some advertising to wade through, but it hasn’t been bad so far. Cali is 9 years old, definitely to a puppy, but she does have some annoying habits. I thought it might be fun to give it a try and share my results here. My goals would be simply to get Cali listening better. For example, she knows to come when call, but sometimes just ignores me, not a safe habit. She also barks, a lot, and if I could lessen that, it would make her a much nicer resident. If nothing else, a month of training will be a good refresher for both of us.

 

Sh*t Show – or My Pooper Scooper Review!

 

 

No one enjoys dealing with poop. It’s just part of life, and dog owners know it’s just something you have to deal with.

I’ve tried to teach Cali to poop in the woods, but apparently that’s just for bears, and she’s not into it. She likes a nice patch of grass, usually right in a path where we want to walk around in our yard.

So I scoop the poop, because poop happens.  I’ve been using a connected scooper thing that I guess I should have taken a picture of, because I’m not finding pictures online. My old one was pretty beat up and dirty so I thought I’d spare everyone the pictures. It was just two wooden handles attached to a rake and a flat scoop. You separate the handles, use the rake to push the poop unto the flat part, then you can hold it closed with one hand and bring it to wherever you need to dump it.

I just bought this scooper set  to try something a little different. I thought having two pieces might be a nice change, and I really like it. Instead of fighting to make sure the pieces line up properly to scoop like I used to have to do with the old one, now I just put down the little scoop part and use the rake to push the poop into the scoop and carry it off to be dumped.

Cali is little, so she doesn’t make giant poops. I’m not sure this little set would work all that well for a Great Dane, but for a little Morkie it works great. I can even pick up a couple of piles at once with it.

The surface is non-stick or lovely slick coating that rinses clean very easily. The rake part clips to the scoop part so they are easy to store together. Another bonus is that the scoop part has a flat bottom, so it sits nicely near the wall.

The unit went together easily. Each part was well marked and they just screw together. I saw some reviews that people said the parts kept coming unscrewed, but I’ve used mine about a dozen times now, and haven’t had any problems.

I can’t say that this new scooper has made me enjoy cleaning up the yard, but on a nice Spring day when the sun is out, it definitely isn’t the worst chore.

Always Be Prepared

The Boys Looking for Trouble

Bean and Puck have been super busy lately. Not sure if they are sensing a change in the weather or what, but there is lots of running, climbing, pouncing, and wrestling. Bean has become obsessed with watching hockey. We worry he is going to take down the TV one of these days!

Go Bruins!

The other pets are doing well. Cali had her spring Cytopoint injection last week, and is feeling so much better! The Dragon is eating everything in sight!

“Pretty Birdie”

Hector is doing great. She’s been very vocal lately and often whistles back and forth with me in the afternoon. Sometimes it is distracting trying to get work done, but I wouldn’t change a thing!

Clipping Hector’s nails shouldn’t be that big of a deal. She’s really good about being held in a towel. I don’t have to trim her nails all that often as she does wear them down on her different perch surfaces, but it has been time to cut them for a couple of weeks. I’ve been putting it off because I need help. I can towel her, but I need a second person to actually clip her nails. We had some time this weekend, so I convinced the husband to help me.

Everything was going well. We got the first foot done in no time. Hector was calm, even making her cute little psss, psss, psss sound, like she is whispering a secret. We got to the second foot and Hector was curling it up tight, so we had to separate out her toes. Second to last nail accidentally got cut too short, ugh. It wasn’t too bad, so we clipped the last nail, and I got some cornstarch.

It seemed like the bleeding was stopping, so I kept holding her and talking to her, I started rubbing her head. Well, silly me, she had a bunch of new pin feathers coming in, and I guess I rubbed one the wrong way, now her head was bleeding!

Thankfully, I’ve read that the best way to stop a pin feather from bleeding is simply to pull it out, and this was a super tiny feather on her head. I was able to grab it with tweezers and pull it out and the bleeding stopped immediately. One problem solved!

Of course during all that, her short nail started bleeding again. Every time I thought I had it stopped, Hector would decide she was done being held, she’d try to get away, and the nail would start bleeding again.

My husband went to look for a Styptic pencil, but we couldn’t find it anywhere so he headed to the drugstore. I’m busy trying to keep poor Hector calm. I brought her outside because she loves to hear the outdoor birds, and that worked for a few minutes. As long as she was still, the nail was fine, but as soon as she struggled it started bleeding again.

Drugstore number one didn’t seem to know what a Styptic pencil was! Off to store number two!

I had the idea of making a cornstarch paste with some water and kind of encasing her nail in the paste. It seemed to be working. By the time Dave headed towards the second store, the bleeding had been stopped for awhile and I was feeling better about not having to rush to the emergency vet. I didn’t want to take a chance on putting her back in her cage and messing with her toe until the Styptic pencil was in sight. I continued to hold her, offered her some water, took her outside again as a distraction. 

She seemed to be doing well, so I finally put a towel in the kitchen sink and let her stand on her foot. Success! No more bleeding. I offered some of her favorite snacks while she was hanging out in the sink, but she wasn’t interested in any of them.

Hector was NOT happy about being in the sink. After a few minutes, I didn’t want to stress her out anymore, so I put her back on her cage. She was pissed at me, and made some of her nasty loud coach-whistle sounds, but she seemed OK. I checked on her constantly over the course of the afternoon, and by dinner time she seemed totally over it. She was holding up that one foot at first, I’m sure that nail was a little sore, so she got lots of extra nuts and even two banana chunks to distract her. Today she is acting totally normally, other than not wanting me to pick her up, I can’t say I blame her.

Although I can trim Hector’s nails at home, next time I’ll leave it to her vet. Birds are so delicate, and we were very lucky yesterday.  I’m thankful that I’m not a panicky kind of person so I was able to stay calm and take care of her, but next time I’m going to trust in the professionals so if anything does happen, she is already in the right place to get help. It’s also a good idea to take her to the vet for regular check ups, so I can just do both at once.

We also have a brand new Styptic pencil in the medicine cabinet that will hopefully be handy and easy to find nice time we need it!

Hector bowing her head to show me she doesn’t want to be picked up!