DôyenCat Treat Toy Party

Ashton: Did someone say treat toy party?

Ashton: Oh, yeah, kitty, yeah.

How does this thing work, anyhow?

Cupcake: What happened to our DôyenCat?

If you saw Cupcake’s lesson from Newton on how to play with the DôyenCat, you might have wondered how the food got inside that PVC toy. The whole top screws off.

What you wouldn’t ever expect is that there’s an additional reservoir at the top where you can put something you don’t want to fall out of the treat dispensing hole… like catnip. Who said the party is over when the treats are gone?

Newton: Party on!

FTC Disclaimer: We received our DôyenCat toy for free from DôyenWorld, but our opinions about how it is fun to play with are our own.

Candy Kittens?

When Cupcake shops in the home decorating store, she doesn’t just look in the pets section. She shops everywhere. That’s how she ended up checking out the fancy foods section full of packaged foods. In it, she found something that caught her eye.

Candy kittens! Of course, we had get some and check them out.

Candy kittens are thankfully not made of kittens. Instead, they are candies in the shape of a cat’s head. They are soft and chewy, but firmer than a gummy bear.

Newton heard the bag rattling and thought it sounded like a cat treat, so he had to come take a look. Cats don’t eat fresh raspberry, Newton!

Not one to listen, Newton had to get a good sniff before he agreed that cats indeed do not eat fresh raspberry!

These candies are very British. So much so that one of the flavors is Eaton Mess. I had to Google to find out what Eaton Mess was. It’s a traditional English dessert made of strawberries, broken pieces of meringue, and double whipped cream.

Eton Mess. Image credit: flickr creative commons/Garrett Coakley

Hey, that dish looks like something a cat might like to taste a little more than they would these candies! The candies are really tasty, though. Not as sweet as a lot of American candy, but fruity. I tried the Eaton Mess flavor, then the fresh raspberry, wild strawberry, and sweet pineapple.

But they aren’t for cats. Even Ashton knew it.

Better luck next time Cupcake goes shopping, Ashton.

Getting Cozy with the Art of Paws Heated Pad

It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, whether it’s cold out or not, Pierre’s feels better when he has some extra heat. And let’s face it, sunbeams can be hard to find. What he needs is his own little patch of sunshine no matter what time of day it is. So when our friends at Art of Paws asked if he would like to try one of their heated mats, Pierre said he was the cat for the job.

The Art of Paws heated pet mat is about two inches thick, and unfolding it from the box, I found it had a nice, removable cover that will make cleaning easy. The cord, which has a protective cover to prevent chewing, extends through the cover at one end, and an inline switch so you can turn the mat on and off. The covered cord connects to the shorter cord attached to a little power brick, and the power brick, of course, plugs into an outlet.

I really liked that the whole cord assembly was over six feet long, so I was able to put the mat just about anywhere I wanted instead of having to be really close to an outlet. Setup is easy and common sense, no manual needed.

Once the mat was set up, it took no time at all for Pierre to find his little patch of sunbeam-like warmth. I’m not sure exactly where Pierre’s arthritis is, but there was room on the Art of Paws heated pet mat to warm all of him so he’s sure to get comfort from it. The mat so big that you could fit two of him on it when he is curled up. Or he can sprawl across it and really soak in every inch of its warmth.

The Art of Paws heated pet mat proved so popular that it when Pierre wandered off to use the litter box, a line formed to use it. Newton claimed it, and he immediately spread out to absorb the warmth.

There was still a little bit of space left on the Art of Paws heated pet mat, even with him spread out, and Cupcake saw her chance to get some of that warmth. She stepped onto the mat right next to Newton, but Newton made it clear he wasn’t in a sharing mood.

Cupcake decided she would wait in line for her turn. Getting a chance to hang out on the heated pet mat would be totally worth it!

All of us are big fans of the Art of Paws heated pet mat, and we give it enthusiastic paws up.

If your cats want their your own heated pet mat, you can get 15% off your order at the Art of Paws US or UK site with discount code catsherdyou. The discount is also good for their cool wall shelves and scratching posts, too!

FTC Disclosure: We received this heated mat at no charge from Art of Paws. Receiving the free products did not influence our review. All reviews on Cats Herd You reflect our honest and unbiased opinions.

The Making of a Raw Fed Kitten with Darwin’s Natural Pet Food

I knew that I wanted Cupcake to be a raw fed kitten. I wanted her to have balanced, species-appropriate nutrition, so when the folks at Darwin’s Natural Pet Food gave us a chance to sample their premium raw cat food, I thought it was a great way to get Cupcake started on a raw diet.

Black and white tuxedo kitten with box of Darwin frozen raw cat food

Receiving Darwin’s Raw Cat Food By Mail

Darwin’s is a mail-order company, and one of my concerns was making sure the food arrived still frozen. Everyone knows that Florida is hot in the summers. On top of that, when I’m not home, food is delivered to my porch, which gets the full afternoon sun.

So I was really pleased to find that the box was lined on all sides with thick Styrofoam to insulate it. I was even happier to discover that there was still dry ice left inside, working hard to keep the food cold. As a result, the food was still frozen. Win!

black and white tuxedo kitten unboxing Darwin frozen raw cat food

The cat food is packaged really conveniently. Four vacuum sealed 1/2 lb amounts are attached to a perforated plastic sheet. That means each one holds 2 lb. That makes it easy to tell at a glance how much food you have on hand.

black and white tuxedo kitten looks at Darwin frozen raw cat food in packaging

What’s super convenient is that each 1/2 lb portion fits nicely into a 1 cup storage container. That allows me to thaw a portion overnight in the fridge in its original packaging. Once it’s thawed, it’s easy to store it safely while Cupcake eats it over the next couple days.

Darwin frozen raw cat food and bowl

Transitioning to Darwin’s Raw Cat Food

Starting Cupcake eating Darwin’s wasn’t hard. Kittens usually are happy to try new foods. She had a little bit of Darwin’s raw food on the side with her canned food meal, and slowly the amount of canned food became less at meals and the amount of raw became larger. Success! A healthy, happy, raw-fed kitten.

I don’t even like being in the kitchen to make my own meals, so having Cupcake eating raw cat food without my having to make it was great. I loved having my little obligate carnivore kitten eating a diet from a company I trusted to use the best ingredients to make a wholesome food for her. And the convenience of their grab-and-thaw packaging was just awesome. Happy, healthy Cupcake, and happy me, too.

black and white tuxedo kitten looks into freezer containing Darwin frozen raw cat food

Cupcake’s Setback

Then something happened that is the reason this review didn’t happen months ago. We ran out of our sample of Darwin’s raw cat food. This would never have happened if we had been enrolled in the Drawin’s home delivery program, since it is set up to ship to you on a schedule. But since Cupcake ate eating large, growing-kitten portions, we ran out of our sample more quickly than I expected.

This was when we discovered Cupcake wouldn’t eat any other raw food. She rejected the homemade raw I prepare for Newton for his unusual urinary pH needs. Then she rejected raw made another cat food company. Since a growing kitten has to eat something, I let her go back to eating canned food.

blackand white tuxedo kitten reaches under Darwin frozen raw cat food

I wasn’t quite ready to give up yet, though. I ordered some more Darwin’s food. The second transition didn’t go as easily as the first.

Cupcake would avoid the raw food paired with the canned food on her plate. When I put some raw food on top of the canned, she would eat through it, pushing it to the back of the bowl with her nose. She ended up wearing more on her face than she ate.

When Cupcake started eating some of the raw food again, we found she wasn’t keeping her meals down, which was puzzling. I finally tried giving her a full raw meal, and that stayed down. Her stomach apparently didn’t like meals mixing both raw and cooked ingredients! It turned out the biggest barrier to getting Cupcake eating raw food was her human being overcautious in transitioning her.

black and white tuxedo kitten eats Darwin Naturals food

So Cupcake is a happy, rambunctious raw-fed kitten again, and she loves her Darwin’s raw cat food meals. She knows they come from the refrigerator, and she comes running when you open the fridge to see whether you’re bringing out food for her.

How to Try Darwin’s Natural Raw Cat Food

If you want to try Darwin’s Natural Pet Products premium raw cat food for your cat, they offer a great trial offer for their food. You can get 10 lbs of their premium raw cat food for the price of shipping. It’s a great way to try raw food for your cat with very little financial commitment.

FTC Disclosure: We received this product for free in exchange for our honest opinion. The opinions in this review are my own and not influenced by any outsider. Sponsored posts always reflect our honest opinions and feature products we use ourselves and love.

DôyenCat Treat Toy Party

How does this thing work, anyhow?

Candy Kittens?

Getting Cozy with the Art of Paws Heated Pad

The Making of a Raw Fed Kitten with Darwin’s Natural Pet Food

Receiving Darwin’s Raw Cat Food By Mail

Transitioning to Darwin’s Raw Cat Food

Cupcake’s Setback

How to Try Darwin’s Natural Raw Cat Food

All Rights Reserved

Disclaimer

Policies