Krazy Kitty Organic Catnip

So I decided to test out "The Original Krazy Kitty Organic Catnip" from krazykitty.com.

To test it out I filled an old "holy sock" with catnip - as in, all the catnip in a single package, 14 grams or half an ounce in this case - and then wrapped the sock up and bound it with three elastic bands to keep it firmly in place.

Then I gave the sock to Victoria to see how she would react to it.

I think the video below speaks volumes by itself. Definitely a positive review from Victoria. Later I took the sock away and she spent some time laying in her favourite box and then sitting on the window sill watching the world go by. Since that kind of behaviour is normal it is hard to judge, but she seemed rather sedated and tired after all that exercise.

I am hoping filling an old sock with catnip will prevent her from stealing my other socks in the future. She has a tendency to collect them and carry them like kittens to her favourite mat.

Spot Pet Laser Classic, Laser Pointer

Earlier today I went xmas shopping and got our cat (Victoria) a "Spot Pet Laser Classic" for $6.99 - basically it is laser pointer with 5 different shapes:

Classic Dot
Butterfly
Mouse
Happy Face
Star

I don't think the cat really cares which thing she is chasing, all I know she seems to really enjoy chasing it and trying to catch it. (I even made a video of her chasing it around in the dark, which I will likely post later on Victoria has Claws.)

I have determined I have a tendency to spoil our cat when it comes to cat toys. Whatever it takes to prevent her from clawing our faces off while we sleep.

Fancy Feast Seafood

Gave our cat (Victoria) Fancy Feast Seafood today...

I am guessing you are supposed to mash it up with a fork or something first, however I gave it to her straight out of the can because she was so excited just at a whiff of the smell. She spent the first bit just licking it, apparently testing the flavour, but after awhile she dove in and started licking / muncing it up.

Colour wise the stuff looks a bit like chocolate ice cream, so it looks like she is licking chocolate ice cream. Weird but anywho.

Judging by the purring I am guessing she is giving it two paws up.

Cat Toys on Amazon.ca

By C. Moffat

Today I browsed Amazon.ca for cat toys to see what things are available. And oddly enough discovered I could just make these toys myself.

First up is "Da Bird Go Cat Rod". It is quite literally a rod with string and some feathers attached to it. Not complicated at all. Indeed our cat Victoria has already been playing with something similar - except we used yarn instead of feathers. I did put a feather on the yarn at one point, but she ripped it off of there eventually. Since then I have replaced that with a heavier item because I felt the yarn was too light weight. You can see video of Victoria playing with the yawn version.

So my review for "Da Bird Go Cat Rod" is GO MAKE YOUR OWN! Don't waste $14.99 on some feathers on a string.

Note - If you stick the rod above a fan, the fan blows the yawn / feathers around like crazy and the cat goes nuts for it. It is basically an automated way of giving the cat some exercise. She runs back and forth doing "drive by clawing" at it.

Next up is cat springs, or as the official name on Amazon.ca goes "Ethical Pet Wide Durable Heavy Gauge Plastic Colorful Springs Cat Toy, 10-Pack"... Not sure how much she would play with that, but for only $4.90 it doesn't seem like a horrible price at least for a cat toy. I have some steel springs that just won't do the job. Curious to see what a cat would do with a brightly coloured plastic springs.

I have determined our cat is picky about what she chooses to play with. Yawn and feathers are awesome. Bits of crumpled plastic also good. Plastic springs? No idea.

Very similar to the plastic springs are "Mylar Balls", which is to say balls of scrunched up plastic. Again, this is something you can make yourself. You don't need to spend $5.99 on a pack of 4 mylar balls for the cat to have some fun. Leftover packaging will accomplish the same job.

I am not even going to bother showing a photo of the mylar balls. Complete waste of money.

Continuing down the list there is also various kinds of bouncy balls, bouncy mice on a dangling flexible rod (our cat would knock that over in the first 30 seconds), so-called "cat tunnels" for the cat to play in - as opposed to "a cardboard box" which apparently most cats love playing in,

And then we come to "OurPets 100-Percent North American Catnip Filled Banana Cat Toy A Peeling"... which is basically just plastic with catnip inside. I am pretty sure I could arrange that. When we got the cat one of the things we got came with a bonus bag of catnip. So we have the catnip, it is just a matter of how to use it.

When we got Victoria from the pet store they gave us a plush mouse chew toy which had apparently been in her cage with her. She has since lost all interest in that. Hasn't touched in more than twice since we first got her home. I am tempted to cut the mouse open, stuff it with catnip and resew it back up. She would probably go nuts for it then.

One thing I have that by accident she loves is plastic rats. I picked them up for Halloween a few years ago, and the cat loves those things. She bats them around, chews on them, etc. So if I wanted her to play with them even more I could just stick a hole in it, add catnip, seal the hole in a manner where can still smell it.

If you have suggestions for cat toys we should consider buying, or cat toys we can make ourselves please post your suggestions in the comment section below.

Kitty Treats for Cats / Training Your Cat

In an effort to train our cat Victoria we have tried rewarding her with Whiskas Temptations (seafood flavour).

What we have determined is that the cat exhibits positive behavioural characteristics when kitty treats are involved. Even the rattle of the treats inside the bag is enough to change the cat's mood and suddenly she is very friendly, less aggressive, and easier to deal with.

In contrast when she is misbehaving she gets the water gun. We tried using a spray nozzle, but determined it doesn't quite work all the time and doesn't spray very effectively. Instead we adopted a Walter PPK plastic water gun as our method of negative reinforcement of behaviours.

At present, just the sight of the water gun or the spray nozzle causes the cat to scurry away - and her negative behavoural traits (aggressive biting) have been reduced significantly compared to when we first got her.

As a rescue cat from the Toronto Humane Society they warned us that she does like to bite - mostly as a way as expressing her dominance, but also as a way of expressing displeasure - and sometimes she just bites because she is feeling playful.

When we got her we were tempted to name her Luisa Suarez, after the soccer player Luis Suarez who is known for biting people.

However we felt that naming her after a vampire who plays soccer was a little too much, so instead we opted for a more regal sounding name - thus we chose Victoria, after Queen Victoria.

Although sometimes I think it should be Queen Bitoria.

Anyway, back to the Whiskas Temptations (seafood medley) - Victoria goes nuts for this stuff. Her behaviour completely changes and using it as a treat for behaviour modification (rewarding her for good behaviour) appears to be working. Thus we are giving it a thumbs up.

We may try other brands / flavours in the future, but for now seafood seems to be working just fine.

Cat Product Reviews

Product Reviews Canada now has a cat - Victoria, after Queen Victoria. In the future we will be adding cat oriented product reviews for cat food, scratching posts, kitty litter, cat brushes (Victoria is a longhair mixed), cleaning supplies, odour removal, cat carriers, cat toys, cat treats and more.

Companies with such products who are looking for product reviews are advised to contact us.

We got Victoria from "Pet Smart" with a donation to the Toronto Humane Society. Victoria is a rescue cat as her previous owner abandoned her and she was picked up and cared for by the Toronto Humane Society. The donation was approx. $99.

Victoria is grey, has long hair with bits of orange in it and despite being only 2 the grey hair makes her look quite old. She has a habit of biting people if she gets annoyed which means she is not good with children. I will say you start to develop faster reflexes with your hands for her moods can switch rapidly.

Note to self - buy chew toys.

Update October 19th

The Toronto Humane Society has literally thousands of cats that need homes. If you have a home, and you like cats, why not get a cat that needs some love? We did. And we really like her. Victoria is now part of our family - and we are currently building her YouTube Channel at:

Victoria Has Claws

Dog Clothing

Dog accessories is big business.

I mean yes, the entire canine industry has everything from dog food to dog leashes, dog collars and dog harnesses...

Oh and dog figurines, dog paintings, dog beds, dog bowls, doggie water bottles...

Oh and then there is the breeders, the pedigree papers...

Dog artificial insemination, spaying, neutering, whelping, registration for pedigrees.

Dog grooming, dog walking, dog sitting, dog boarding.

Like OH MY DOG, it is just really ridiculous after awhile.

Thus when people start dressing up their dogs in dresses, gowns, vests, with matching leashes - or better yet Halloween costumes for dogs - well, then you know it is an industry without and end in sight.

My topic today however is dog clothing. Specifically dog bows, dog vests and dog dresses, which are so adorable on your little poochie poo that you just have to have it.

My advice? Shop on Etsy, because at least then you are buying from an actual dog owner who is making the vests, dresses and bows themselves. As opposed to buying from some company that is likely using slave labour in South East Asia to make the clothing.

It also means what you buy will be unique, higher quality - and more likely to stand the wear and tear of everyday life on your dog.

For example Kasamile's Klosette is a company that makes dog bows, vests, dresses and leashes, all made by a Maltese breeder who lives here in Toronto. So immediately you know she is going to be one of those dog obsessed people who wants the absolute highest quality materials for her little snookie-poochie-poos.

And a guarantee that she probably really uses words like "Awwww, that is so cute!" on a regular basis.

After all, what kind of woman would make a matching vest, leash and bow tie for her dog - and use ladybug buttons?

Kasamile Maltese Puppies in Toronto

Look at the photos to the right and tell me they aren't cute and adorable?

This is what you can expect if you purchase puppies from Kasamile Maltese of Toronto. A cute fluffy Maltese puppy who has been bred, raised, pampered, had all their vet shots and treated with love.

They're just plain adorable.

They are not cheap however. Kasamile imports their breeding parents from South Korea and goes the whole nine yards when it comes to pampering. Their Maltese puppies cost approx. $3,000 per puppy and are pampered in the extreme.

As a breeder Kasamile Maltese has set themselves apart from the competition. They are the BEST when it comes to raising Maltese puppies, pampering them, training them and so forth.

It is really no wonder their puppies are so adorable. They are loved. The breeder really cares about them and she doesn't just sell to just anyone. There is a whole screening process before you can get a Kasamile puppy.

But if you have the dog for 10 to 15 years the $3,000 you paid will seem really worth it. The better the breeder the less likely the dog will have congenital problems and there is zero risk of the dog having a bad temperament due to bad treatment. (Less quality breeders often have dogs that get frightened or violent easily because the dog has been mistreated in the past.)

And when it comes to man's best friend shouldn't you get a friend who is absolutely loyal and will love you unconditionally?