Monday, March 9, 2009

Cat fishing

Of all the cat toys out there, I would say that string and ball (light ping pong size) rank top two fun cat toys for most cats. Even the expensive mechanical porcupine (RM30) and sock on a rod (RM15) would not come in the top 5 of my cats' list! So ever since a few months ago, I've kind of given up on buying pet toys from pet shops.

Back to the favourite string toy. I've tried remnant cloth strip, brightly coloured hand-braided wool, and off-white parcel string.

Of the 3 strings, the parcel string gets the most attention from my cats. I don't know why - perhaps it's something in the smell of the string? My cats (Friesia especially) likes it when I run with the parcel string around our home - over the chairs, sofas, TV, and their gym / tuck shop. Sometimes they like jumping up to catch a parcel string dangled just above their noses. When they're tired chasing the string, they occasionally enjoy lying on their backs and trying to catch the dangling parcel string that poked their cute bellies.

As I said, string is such a versatile toy that my husband even found that it's a good bait to lure Friesia off the top of the kitchen cabinet! Well, it worked for about 10 times before Friesia realised it, and decided to fish for the string from the top of the cabinet ;-)

Scratch Board for RM18.90!

I found this rather expensive scratch board at Jusco Setiawangsa's pet section.

I wouldn't buy it of course because I can make it at home with a small aubergine ;-)

Well, not quite but seriously speaking I did make scratch boards for my cats for much less than that!

To find out how, check out my blog post on DIY scratch board made of cardboard remnants.

Feline Fresh natural pine litter smells like Ikea :)

If there were a title for "World's Best Cat Litter", I would give it to pine litter and not the self-acclaimed "World's Best" corn litter. Like corn litter, pine litter clumps and is flushable but is not edible. In fact, it gives a pleasant pine fragrance just like in Ikea!

For just only RM21 for 2.73kg (6lbs) from Jusco Setiawangsa, the pine litter is good value for money. My two cats have been using it for 2 weeks, and there is still just under half a bag left.

Pros

+ Good value for money
+ Pleasant pine smell
+ Clumps better than clay, so litter doesn't stubbornly stick to tray or floor
+ Flushable, so no need to waste plastic bags for collecting litter
+ Biodegradable, so don't worry about it blocking your loo bowl
+ Not edible like corn, so no disgusting scenes of cats nibbling on litter
+ Fine texture, gentle on sensitive paws and feet. You won't notice you stepped on it like crystal, clay, or paper pellet litter!

Con
-
Pine litter bits show up on dark carpets and sofas