I know a lot of you have cats, and some of you have recently adopted cats... so I wanted to share some of our fool proof kitty toys, foods, and trouble-solving methods, etc.! If any of you have been reading here a long time, things like litter boxes, etc.* can be a challenge with multiple/difficult cats, and it's good to hear tips from other cat owners! I hope that this helps other cat moms out there! If you don't have cats, this won't be very interesting... sorry!. hehe :)
We feed our cats Blue Buffalo and they love it. I like that it doesn't contain any weird ingredients, or anything cats wouldn't eat on their own. We decided that the price was worth it for the ingredients, and it's easy to find coupons and sales for pet food! Here is what we buy most frequently!
Freedom Grain Free Dry Food (for indoor cats) - the wilderness kind was a bit too rich for them, they love this kind! This is their primary food.
Salmon Pate (Wet Food) - we just give them a spoonful each night when we have dinner. They only eat it squished down in the bowl. Is that normal?! LOL
Salmon Wilderness Treats - for Duchess, she looooves these wilderness treats.
Salmon Kitty Yums (Healthy Treats) - for Scalawag who does not like the wilderness treats, but will chase these across the room. :)
They do like other flavors, but tend to like Salmon and Trout most. :)
Food Tips:
-We noticed that Scali and Duchess like different treats, so we throw Scal's across the room, and then give Duchess hers to keep them separated. It's a fun game for him, and it doesn't scare her off.
-In addition to squishing the wet food down into the bowls, when it's time to open a new can, we save two days' worth of "old" food for Scali, and give Duchess "new" food. He won't eat the new stuff. Such a weirdo!
-We purchased a rolling pet food tub to pour the dry food into. Best. Decision. Ever. We have one like this, and we keep it in our pantry.
Right now we have two boxes, one with a lid and an opening, another that is completely open. We put each in different rooms so that way our cats have less issues bothering each other while they are in the box. #rude We use pine litter, and we LOVE it. I have heard so many awful things about clumping/scented/chemical litters and cancer, etc. that we decided to go with pine. We love it!
Open Box
Lidded Box
Pine Litter - we get the one without clumping/scents
Aura Cacia Lavender Oil for deodorizing spray (see "recipe" below in tips)
Litter Tips:
-Spray the pine litter with a mist of water from a spray bottle when you replace the entire box's contents of litter. That way it's not too hard/sharp on their little paws.
-Also, sweep often!
-Make a quick eco deodorizing room spray by filling an empty spray bottle (I use my old toner one! #reuse ) almost full with warm water, then add about 20 drops of lavender essential oil. Give it a shake and use as needed. It helps with kitty smells tremendously! I've been using this essential oil for years and I LOVE it.
A lot of people think that cats don't need toys, they just want to sleep and eat... but cats love toys, and they are super playful! They also tend to have better behavior the more they've been playing. However... toys are hit or miss. These are our cats' absolute favorites!!
The Cat Dancer - this toy is $2.99, buy like 4 of them. They're the simplest thing, but they love them so much! The metal wire and fun little paper rolls make them bug-like in movement and color. I am so surprised that our cardboard rolls are still intact after several years of use!! I know this doesn't *LOOK* cool, but I can promise you it's the coolest thing, the cats go crazy for it.
Da Bird - They go nuts for this one, I think it's the fishing-rod-like flexibility of the pole! I love that when the "bird" is looking sad, you can swap just the feather piece. I feel so wasteful throwing out the plastic one-piece items! DO NOT LEAVE THIS UNATTENDED! It will be in pieces!
Catit Circuit - This little track and ball kit is genius. You assemble the track, and the cats can chase the ball around (see, hear, touch it) and it seems reactive, because it's inside of the track. You can pull apart the track and put it into new shapes and designs (great husband toy! :P ) BE CAREFUL NOT TO PINCH YOUR FINGERS.. OUCH! We put this away and get it back out every now and then and they love it. Some friends have also tried this one with a lot of success!
Tunnels - Tunnels can be hit or miss, we love ones that are spring loaded! Scali just loves them. We sometimes make tiny obstacle courses across the living room. We have one from this brand (another color) and we just love it. It's holding up very well!
The Ripple Rug - we got this as a gift from my in-laws and the cats just love it. It's legitimately two sheets of thin carpet (the top one has velcro and holes in it). You can ripple up the top piece and the cats can form little tunnels. Ours love to play in it, and also when we hide toys in it or put a feather toy through it for them to chase or find. My only complaints about this one (because they love it SO SO SO SO SO SO SO much!) is that after a while the top layer of carpet loses some of it's stiffness, so it's more floppy, my cats don't like that quite as much. Also, it's kind of big... but it can be rolled up when company comes over.
Chewbacca "Mouse" - you guys... Scali is one of those cats that carries around babies... and you can throw them across the room and he'll go get them. He'll even throw them up in the air and catch them all by himself. He loooooves this Chewbacca. He couldn't care less about the Yoda though. LOL. We definitely bought like 3 of them! Gotta stock up on those favorites. His other favorite baby is this black cat (which we initially bought for Duchess to cuddle with...) he does the same with this as he does with Chewy.
Toy Tips:
-Cats get bored just like people. Put your toys on rotation. Hide them away, and exchange them every 2-3 weeks. That will make the toys seem "new". Seriously, Scali runs toward the toys when we bring them back out! :)
-Seriously... do not leave Da Bird unattended. It will not survive.
-If you have a krinkly tunnel, put it away at night, otherwise you'll be waking up to some serious noise.
-If your cat doesn't enjoy chasing or hunting toys, try making it more believable: cats like things that run horizontally across their line of vision, they also like things that vary speed (run fast, stop, run slow, stop, etc.). This really gets our cats excited to play. Even cats I know who aren't into playing love it!
Behavioral Resources:
This book, has been a lifesaver. Some of the ideas related to how to feed them, how to play with them, etc. have been so so good for us. Cats are essentially wild animals, and they need to do things like hunt, be challenged, be in high places, etc. This book has given us a lot of ideas to include in our home and to make our kittens happier! (including some of the toys above!) This book is also great for beginners and long-time cat owners alike when it comes to things like cat proofing, health info, etc.
Bonus Tip!
If your cats like to crawl around in your box springs at night... get another fitted sheet and put it on the bottom of the bed. Blew. My. Mind. :O
There you have it, lots of cat photos and our entire list of things we and our furry ones love!
Do you have pets? Do they have foods/toys/etc. that they just LOVE?!
Any cat tips?!
XO,
Alexandra
*this post does contain affiliate links, but these are, as always 100% my opinion. I am not posting about anything that we don't own and legitimately love!*
