Tag: Litter

Twiddlin’ Me Paws and Worryin’

Service Cats US

Well mommy and me shuld be at hers monthy doctors pointment today, but… Notice me said shuld? Dat’s cuz me be right here at home twiddlin’ meez paws with worry while mommy be tryin’ to walk there. She left me home cuz she was fraid sumfin’ bad might happen to me sittin’ on da side of da road in meez stroller while she lay on da street passed out. Let me ‘splain. A few years ago mommy was playin’ da piano fur a small church down da way and one night while dwivin’ there our then car went kerplunk. A lady with a little money attended da church and decided she wuld get mommy a car as hers tithe fur da month. We was and are ever so grateful and da car is new fur us. But da car wasn’t new and had parrently sat fur quite sum time as da tires had began to rot. At da time tho, dat was one of da lesser purroblems with da car and so nuffin’ was done ‘bout da tires and an as is purrchase is just dat.

Dezi on cat tree with paw outstretched

Me sure hopes mommy gets back afur dinner time.

 

Last year one of da front tires fell all to pieces and our awnty Anonymous got us a new one. We knew it was just a matter of time, but, well, when your on a fixed income like we are, there’s just not enuff money fur da necessities, much less extras. So yet another tire has fallen to pieces and must be replaced. They run ‘bout $100.00 each and will all need replacin’ in short order. Oh but it dusn’t stop. MOL  Da car tags be due too. Mommy’s gotta get those cuz ifin she dusn’t we’ll be in violation of our lease and get evicted. You know how much da manager wuld enjoy dat, so weez not gunna have dat happen. But, da money mommy has to use for dat wuld be da money she wuld normally use fur our supplies. Member we don’t have money fur extras. And by extras me dusn’t mean eatin’ out, mommy eatin’ or buyin’ purresents, me means other necessities.

 Lexi laying on her back on nip mat looking cute

Course mommy can tell her self there’s no money fur food and all’s good, but she can’t do dat with us. And she NEVER wuld. She’d figure sumfin’ out no matter what dat meant. But me decided to ask fur your help. Sis Lexi and me need food and litter and sum pH testers fur meez pee and sissy’s supplements on top of dat tire. Altho’ we can’t get da tire at Chewy we can get da other stuff, and we have an auto delivery box ready we just need to pay fur it. Da total is $91.76. We posted an update to da Fundraiser and on Facebook Tuesday. And by da time we wrote this posty we had raised $45.00. So ifin you can help, we wuld sure purreciate it.

Luv ya' sissy.
Luv ya’ sissy. Lubz you too Dezi.

We know da holidays are upon us and dat things be tight every where. And we hate to be askin’ at all, but we’re not askin’ fur purresents or stuff like dat, we just wanna have litter in da box and food on da plate and da ability to get to da (whispers) doctor or farmacy ifin we need to. Hopefully we won’t need da last part but it’s better to be purrpared. Altho’ meez pawdee box depawsits are larger, without testin’ da pH we can’t be sure meez really better.

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Me is eatin’ da new food and luvvin’ it, but we need to be sure it’s really workin’. We are gunna be tellin’ ya’ all ‘bout it soon. Let’s just say dat mommy is thrilled. As you know me was addicted to da BB and transitionin’ me off was a nightmare. Mommy wasn’t purrleased wiff da food me wuld eat but at least it wasn’t BB. So when she got da new food she almost had rug burns on her knees from purrayin’ so much dat me wuld eat it. Eever da purrayers worked or da food is just dat good, cuz me put meez head in da plate and didn’t come up fur air till it was all gone. And you know what? Me asked fur seconds. Yep sure did. Never done dat afur, but it was soooooo good. So anyways, like me said, we kuld sure use your help. You can give thru paypal with no fees to our account at: lexi.dezi@yahoo.com, or thru da fundraiser here. Da paypal link takes you to da sign in page. We can also use your purrayers.

Looks like weez’ll be getting’ caught up on Fursday, cuz we don’t know how long it’s gunna take mommy to go to da doctor. Meez goin’ back to twiddlin’ meez paws now. 

Till da next time……………………….Be Blest!!!

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Dezi and Lexi       

30 Day No Scoop Litter? We’ll See

Service Cats US

Welkum to Wednesday wiff Chewy. As part of da Chewy.com bloggin’ team we get to review sum really great products. Mommy almost always asks us what we wuld like to try and chooses da products based on dat. But this month she decided we needed to try a new litter. Weez been tryin’ a few different ones but so far nuffin’ has stood up to our regular litter, so mommy had high hopes fur this one.

Have we got a Chewy review fur you.
Have we got a Chewy review fur you.

As those of you who have read meez blog fur a while know me can be a little OCD ‘bout da pawdee box. Fur those of ya’ dat be new, let me ‘splain. We have more than 1 pawdee box of course. But me dusn’t care. Da minute sissy or me uses a pawdee box me wants it cleaned right then. Not in a minute, but right dat instant. Me will stand right outside da pawdee box room and meweek at da top of me lungs at mommy till she comes and cleans it out. Noooo, me dusn’t care what she’s doin’. Nuffin’s more purrtant than a clean pawdee box. Me might want need to use it. MOL

 simple solution

So this month we had da oppurrtunity to try Simple Solution 30 day Super Absorbent Litter. Da box says right on da front, “Never Scoop Urine Again.” It claims to be light weight, and it is. 3 times more absorbent, weez’ll get to dat. And have exclusive odor absorbin’ technology. So, it’s fur sure lightweight, and it’s pink. Now me dusn’t mean a little pastel off white color, me means bright girly girl pink. See…

This is da box on day 1 of trials.
This is da box on day 1 of trials.

Now let’s look at litter from a cat’s purrspective. We want sumfin’ we can walk on without hurtin’ our pawsies dat dusn’t smell like a french wh___ house purrfumery. Yep me sed it. Ask your kitties, they’ll tell ya’ me be tellin’ da truth. We want sumfin’ dat will kill da odor and dat dusn’t stick to our furs. And we wuld really purreciate not havin’ our noses filled wiff dust da minute we go to cover up our business. And me can tell ya’ we wuld all like sumfin’ dat didn’t stick to our paws either, but alas…

So how did da Simple Solution stack up? Well me took a sniff and didn’t have an asthma attack or need oxygen and neither did mommy, so we thought it was great in da smell department. No overwhelmin’ purrfumes. Sis Lexi was da furst to jump right in and take a seat, so we wuld say da grains must not be too hard. Altho’ we still haven’t figgered out why she wuld wanna sit in it. It’s made of pure Attapulgite, a lightweight mineral with a 3 dimensional crystal structure.

No footos of sissy in da pawdee box as mommy was...indisposed. MOL But we fawt you wuld liike to see one of her we took last night. Isn't she purretty?!!!
No fotos of sissy in da pawdee box as mommy was…indisposed. MOL But we fawt you wuld liike to see one of her we took last night. Isn’t she purretty?!!!

As fur da nose fillin’ dust…well mommy had to blow her nose, take a shower and change her black shirt after fillin’ da pawdee box wiff it cuz da pink dust got everywhere. And when me came into da pawdee box room to help mommy wiff her shower, me started sneezin’ like sneezy da dwarf.

It didn’t track all over da place after sissy jumped out of it, but she also didn’t actually do anyfin’ in it. As a matter of fact, neither of us wuld use it at all. Me looked at it a few times and sniffed at it ‘bout once a week, but me never put meez delicate little paws on dat pink dusty stuff. And after da one sittin’ adventure sis Lexi never went near it again. MOL  So we honestly don’t have a clue ifin it hides da odors or ifin mommy wulda been able to get by wiffout scoopin’ cuz we wasn’t havin’ any of dat.

This is da same pawdee box wiff Simple Solution 30 day litter on day 20. Still looks like it did on day 1. MOL
This is da same pawdee box wiff Simple Solution 30 day litter on day 20. Still looks like it did on day 1. MOL Unused

Mommy says she’s surprised we didn’t at least try it cuz weez purretty good ‘bout tryin’ new things. But she’s also not upset, cuz she dusn’t think all dat dust wulda been too good fur us. So all in all sis Lexi and me gotta give it all paws down. Mommy said she wuld give it 1 fumm up just cuz it’s natural and lightweight. And our regular stuff nearly breaks her back. Thank catness fur rollin’ trolleys cuz it dusn’t look like weez’ll be changin’ litter any time soon.

But hey, Chewy has lots of pawsum stuff fur all da furries in your life. So check ‘em out. They offer flat rate shippin’ thru Fed Ex and free shippin’ on orders of $49.00 or more every day of da week. Their Customer Service can’t be beat, and they’re available 24/7 365 days a year. Yep, even on Christmas. We know too, cuz we called ‘em afur. You know, mommy likes to make sure you do what you say ya’ do. MOL   And then there’s da auto ship program dat makes sure you never run out of what ya’ need. You can always make adjustments to or cancel your auto ship any time.

 

Disclaimer: We received da 8 lb. box of Simple Solution 30 day litter in exchange fur our honest opinion. Obviously we were not swayed and neither Chewy or Simple Solution are respawnsible fur da content of this post. We only bring you products we use or have tried ourselves and think wuld be of interest to you our readers and furiends.

 

 

Now, me also wants to announce da winners of our Pumpkin’ Patch Up give away. Laila and Minchie and meez sweet handsum mancat Andy and hims sisfurs won a case of their very own. Fank you to all who entered. And stay tuned me has another pawsum give away comin’ up soon.

 

Till da next time…………………………..Be Blest!!!

 

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Dezi and Lexi

Whose A SmartCat? Give Away

Service Cats US

Oh sissy awen’t you ‘cited today?

 dw Dezi selfie

Shur Dezi, I had a grayt brekky and treetz arr shur yoo beez on da ajenda. Whatz not too beez sided ‘bout.

 

No sissy, me means ‘bout da Give Away weez havin’. Oh, datz what youz beez tawkin’ ‘bout.

 

Yep, I’z sided ‘bout dat too. I’z rellee happee dat peepz arr awlwayz wunderin’ ‘bout what beez beztezt fur us kitteez. It meenz weez git too try nu fingz dat weez mite not git too try udderwize. Soz who’z gunna tell ebberpawdy ‘bout it?

 dw Lexi profile face on1

Me of course. Me might need a little help, but wait till me asks, okay?. (Lexi nods and starts a bath) Well kitty peeps awe always lookin’ fur da best food and carriers and tweats and toys and…well you get da picture, wight?. Seems da biggest debate among hoomans is our pawdee boxes and what to put in ‘em. Shuld it be clumpin’ or not, and just what shuld it smell like? Wild flowers or spwing bweeze, or sum udder furesh scent. And shuld it be pelleted or sandy, scoopable or not. Da choices awe weally endless. Well come weal close and lissen up, cuz meez gunna tell ya’ what yous kitties have been talkin’ ‘bout and wishin’ fur. Da bestest litter in da whole wide world be da one yous kitty weally likes and will use. After all da pawdee box be fur him/her to do their business, not you. And all those purretty scents you luv…We DON’T!!! We have noses dat can pick up a scent fwum miles away and come on, do yous wanna sit on da hooman pawdee box sneezin’ da whole time?

 

Youz tell ‘em Dezi.

dw Smartcat4112

Fanks sissy. Weally da bestest litter is unscented in a texture dat isn’t too wuff on our paws and dat we can do our business in and get on wiff our busy lives of nappin’. So dat bein’ sed, seems there’s a new litter in town and all da peeps be askkin’ ‘bout it. Just what is it? How duz it work? Duz it work? Duz it have dust? Duz it twack? What is it you ask? Well it’s Pioneer Pet’s new litter called SmartCat All Natural Clumping Litter. It’s made of…wait fur it…GRASS. Yep you read dat wight, me sed grass. And it claims to out clump clay every time. It’s chemical free, clay free and fragrance free, 99% dust free, biodegwadable and wenewable and light weight. Well those fings there oughtta make yous peeps happy. But, duz it work and awe those claims twu or just more hogwash?.

 dw4133

Da folks at Pioneer Pet was gwacious enuff to send us a 20 pound bag to twy out. Mommy was a little worried cuz bein’ made of gwass and all she kinda fawt it was gunna be gween of sumfin’. And as much as we like to eat our cat gwass, she wunnewed ifin we might twy to eat da litter. (not weally but me kuldn’t wesist) Never fear mommy dear, weez smawter than that. MOL When monmmy picked up da bag she sed she wuldn’t weally call it light weight, but it kuld be considered such as 20 pounds felt more like 10. And since mommy has difficulty wiff heavy fings then weally it is lighter weight than most. So when she opened da bag, she was purrleasantly surpwised to see a golden litter dat looked a lot like what we were alweady usin’. She was happy to not be overwhelmed by purrfumes, and so were we. Now fur da furst test. Mommy began to pour da litter fwum da bag into da box…NO dust. They get a check mawk there too. Now she just sat back and waited fur us to twy it out to evaluate da west of their claims.

 dw4134

Of course, she didn’t have to wait too long. You know us kitties, a clean box be callin’ our name. MOL And well you all know me. Me began to holler to make mommy aware dat she needed to clean up. So mommy got da scooper and scoop she did. OMC What a clump. it was hawd as a cement rock. So mommy bwoke it up a bit ad flushed it down da hooman pawdee box. No purrawlems there eever. We had to wait a few hours to check it’’s clumpin’ abilities wiff sis Lexi, but it clumped just as well fur her. Mommy sez she weally liked how well it clumped cuz nuffin wet bwoke off and fell back into da clean litter. Mommy also sez there was absolutely no smell. Altho’ da weal smell test comes in later wiff da…well yous know. And Pioneer Pet’s SmartCat gets 8 paws and 2 fumms up there too. We was all so impurressed dat it be all weez took to BlogPaws. And even one of our visitors liked it well enuff to give it a twy. Our weebly wobbly furiend Sophie had to avail hers selff of da facilities while visitin’, and so weez gunna say anudder 4 paws up there.

dw4136

Old litter on da left, SmartCat on da wight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a lot of you know we be purretty big kitties so there’s only one fing we found purroblematic. Me duz seem to “sink” a bit cuz it be so lightweight. Sissy has lost a lot of weight and mommy didn’t notice it happenin’ wiff her, so ifin yous kitty be 15 pounds or less, you shuld be fine. Fur me a little mixin’ and all’s good again. As wiff most of da natural clumpin’ litters Pioneer Pet wecommends keeping 3” – 4” of SmartCat in da box fur optimum purrfurmance. And a 20 pound bag filled da extwa lawge pawdee box and we had a little more than a 1/3 of a bag left. Me wuld like to tell ya’ a bit ‘bout Pioneer Pet. It was founded by Betsy Lipscomb, a cat behaviorist. She also stawrted Catsinternational.org, a non-purrofit organization whose mission is to help peeps better unnewstand their feline companions. The mission of Pioneer Pets is to make purroducts to impurrove da quality of life fur hoomans and us kitties.

 dw4144

Now fur da big news. Pioneer Pet has agweed to give one lucky U.S. reader a 20 pound bag of SmartCat litter. Just leave a comment on this blog posty by Tuesday June 23, 2015 tellin’ us yous wanna enter to win. And you can say more too ya’ know. Weez’ll be usin’ da randomizer to choose a winner fwum all da entwies. And ifin yous just can’t wait, you can order yous own bag wiff a flat rate shippin’ now by pawin’ here. And check out their Facebook page too. So to wecap, It duz out clump clay, it weally weally is 99% dust furee. it contains odors wiffout smelly purrfumes, it’s all natural grass, so it’s good fur da planet too. All paws and fumms up here fur Pioneer Pet’s SmartCat cat litter. Sissy you wanna add anyfin?

 dw4145

Nope Dezi youz sed it all. But weez do wanna wish a…

 

Happy Father’s day to all da dads out there and all da mommys who be purrlayin’ daddys too. (like our mommy)

Disclaimer: Weez didn’t weceive any gween papers fur this weview. We did weceive a bag of litter fur furee. Our opinions awe our own and not fur sale. Pioneer Pet is not wesponsible fur da content of this posty.

 

 

Till da next time…………………. Be blest!!!

 

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

 

Dezi and Lexi

cat-animated

The Silent Killer pt. 2

Service Cats US

Meowllo and Happy Furiday to you. Dezi’s still with the Cat Scouts on their Jamboree havin’ a good time, and so I’m still managing her blog. We started telling you all about UTI’s yesterday, and will continue today. If you missed yesterdays post please check it out here. 

Lucky Lucciano
Lucky Lucciano

So if UTI’s can go unnoticed how then is it detected and diagnosed? As we talked about yesterday your cat may be showing symptoms. Frequent urination, blood in the urine, straining to go, crying out and eliminating outside the box, to name a few. Or your cat may show no signs at all until it’s too late. A vet will perform a visual and physical examination. Most Vets can tell if the bladder is full by palpations. the next step in diagnosing a UTI is a urine test. The best way to collect feline urine is by “cystocetesis”. That means your Vet will insert a needle through the cat’s abdominal wall, puncturing the bladder and aspirating it. Your Vet is looking for the formation of crystals, bacteria, and other sediments that could be causing the infection. It is essential for proper handling of the sample during this time so as not to contaminate it. It is best if the tests occur within the first hour after urine retrieval. It can be refrigerated and brought back to room temperature if the tests can’t be done until later, but if you suspect a UTI your Vet will want to test the sample as soon as possible. The gold standard for diagnosing UTI’s in any species is urine culture and sensitivity testing. This is the type of tests our current Vet uses. Some Vets still send home a special litter for you to put in the litter-box for urine collection. Please if your vet wants to do this test, refuse and request the sample be taken by cystocentesis. Any other sample may be contaminated, and it is  extremely important to know exactly what is causing the infection. A urine culture is often not performed until a round of antibiotics has failed.

 Chart for FLUTD_opt 300 w 326 h

Blood will almost always be taken and tested as well. And while bloodwork is not informative in diagnosing a UTI it may reveal underlying abnormalities that can lead to an infection of the urinary tract. Such as kidney disease, cancer or cushings disease, just to name a few. X-rays and ultrasounds can also be useful in diagnosing and treating UTI’s by allowing the Vet to see the presence and size of any stones and the size of the bladder, kidneys, ureters, urethra and prostate glands (applies to males only). And to identify Kidney or bladder stones or masses that are obstructing the output of urine. 

 feline stones

Once the problem is found and the diagnosis made your Vet will prescribe a course of treatments to assist the animal in getting well. As long as there’s no blockage, your cat will be treated on an outpatient basis. It’s important to take all meds prescribed by your Vet for the amount of time ordered. If there is a blockage the cat may require hospitalization and a catheter. If a catheter is used or surgery is required you will need to watch the animal because infection may set in or scar tissue may result in narrowing the urethra. Thus making the reoccurrence of UTI’s highly probable. The signs and symptoms of a urinary tract infection should subside within 4-7 days following treatment. If your cat is still having difficulties you will need to return to the VET immediately. If there are recurrences your VET may decide to treat it with a prescription diet as well as antibiotics and/or surgery.

flutd_strain

So how can you prevent a UTI in the first place? That’s the million dollar question. Especially since nobody truly knows why living in the same situation, eating the same food and being exposed to the same things, some cats get them and some don’t. But here are a few things you can do. Make sure your cat drinks plenty of water. A water fountain can be a big help as cats do love fresh running water. It has long been accepted that distilled water is best when dealing with cats prone to UTI’s. Scheduled feeding is also recommended. Leaving food available all day means the cats body is constantly working because of the smell. Cats in the wild don’t nibble or eat off and on all day, they hunt, kill, eat and move on. Scheduled feedings are the recommended course of action. As well as a well balanced diet low in ash content. Human tuna fish is one of the worst offenders. You should look for a diet that has an ash content of 5% or less as this has been known to cause UTI’s. Wet foods are also recommended as opposed to dry kibble due to the fact that cats don’t drink a lot. If you’re feeding a raw diet, remember the supplements are very important. Be sure you are providing all the necessary vitamins and minerals so that you don’t cause another medical issue. And before you supplement with vitamins, etc. when feeding a commercial diet, please check with your VET. You can have too much of a good thing. Although cats require certain minerals to digest foods and certain vitamins there are also risks to absorbing too much. And try to avoid stress. We can’t repeat enough, If your cat is crying out, running to the litter box constantly, urinating outside the box or worst yet, going to the litter box and not leaving a deposit, GO TO THE VET IMMEDIATELY!!!

 feline box scared

Well again we have covered a lot of material at once, so we’re going to stop for today and finish up tomorrow. We really appreciate all your support in this effort, and we hope we have been able to bring some things to light that you weren’t aware of. But most of all we hope we can help even one of you to avoid this terrible Silent Killer or at least know what to look for and be able to get help before it’s too late.

Sis Dezi and me love you all.
Sis Dezi and me love you all.

Till the next time……………………Be Blest!!!

 

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses 

Lexi and Cat Scout Dezi