Wooly Snail and Dental Chews Review

http://www.nipandbones.com/zanies-sparkle-fish-cat-toys.html

See this fishy? This used to be EK's favorite toy. Not any more. His new favorite - my pink wooly snail. MY pink wooly snail. MY snail that I ordered with MY http://www.nipandbones.com/ gift certificate that I won at #pawpawty. ME, not EK. I won the gift certificate and I ordered the snail for me. Do you think I've gotten to play with it yet? NO! Little stinker boy's been hogging it ever since it showed up. Needless to say, it's a very popular toy in our house, and I haven't even gotten to nom on it very much yet.

The snail I'm talking about is this one: http://www.nipandbones.com/snail-cat-chew-toy.html. You can see it in this picture:

 

Here's a video of EK playing with the snail:

So that's sort of my review of the Wooly Snail. It's just fun to play with however you like to play. It's nommy for chewing on, too.

The other toy I ordered with my prize was Dental Chew Toys - http://www.nipandbones.com/dental-health-chew-cat-toys.html. You can see them in the picture, too. So far no one's shown any interest in them. Mom's even waved them right in front of our faces trying to get us interested in them. Nothing doing. For some reason, not a one of us wants to play with them. So I guess my review is that we think they're boring.

So that's my review of the other two toys that were in the box. I'm so glad I got the Spiky Ball to test. I love it so much that I guess I can let EK hog the pink snail for a while. I'll have to sneak my snail time in when he's napping. MOL

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Packages From Near and Far

Happy Sunday efurryone! My Sunday started out perfect. All three of us kitties snuggled in bed with mom for a really long time while she finished a book she was reading. It must have been a big book cause it took hours and hours to read. Plus there were scritches and games of 'chase mom's fingers under the blankie'. It was lovely.

Now for my excitement this weekend. I got two packages - one from nearby and one from very far away. The first package was the one from far away. It came all the way from New Zealand from my furriend @rumblepurr.

See at the top? It says "New Zealand Post" Isn't that pawsome?

Of course I had to inspect the package furry carefully before I let Mom open it for me.

Sniff, Sniff. I can smell Rumblefamily on it. Cool.

Wait 'til you see what was inside. It was a kiwi. It even made kiwi noises. Isn't it cute? There was also a lovely card from @rumblepurr and a little finger puppet.

Getting acquainted.

 The other box was from Nip and Bones. It had the snail and dental chew toys I ordered with my #pawpawty prize gift certificate, and also a surprise!

See the purple, green, and white fringy thing? That's a Go Cat Go Spiky Ball! I didn't buy it, but it's not a present, either. I got it for a furry special reason.  Baby Patches selected me to be one of her toy testers! I'm so excited about that. We get toys to test and right a review about. Of course, I don't get paid to do reviews. I do them because I want to help Baby Patches and Nip and Bones find just the right stuff fur us to buy.

Well Baby Patches knows how much I like to play fetch, so she thought I'd be the purrfect cat to test out the Spiky Ball to see if Nip and Bones should carry it. We have thirty days to play with and review the toys, but I didn't need thirty days. I've hardly stopped playing with since mom took it off the card for me. Candy and EK like it, too.

Here are the pros and cons, pros first:
It flies well when mom throws it.
It's nice and soft to bite into so I can carry it easily.
It's light enough to bat around and toss in the air.
It's big enough to fight with and almost big enough to bunny kick.
It slides really well on the wood floors.

cons:
It doesn't bounce well.
It's too big to go under the door to play door hockey.

As you can see, the con list is really short.

Here's a video of me playing with it:

That's my review of the Spiky Ball. I would highly recommend it for any cat that likes to play fetch or chase, or likes toys they can carry around in their mouth easily.

Even though these aren't toys that were sent for testing, later in the week I'll do a review of the toys we ordered. One we liked, the other we ignored. Check back later in the week to find out which was which. MOL Have a good week efurryone!

Hill's Science Diet Giveaway Results

It's time to announce the winners of the 15 bags of Hill's^® Science Diet^® Hairball Control cat food. There were only 16 entries, so everybody wins! Concatulations everyone! 15 of you will get your bags direct from Hill's and someone local to me will get their food from me because I have some extra here at the house. Unfortunately, as wonderful as this food is, one of us in the household has an extremely sensitive tummy and didn't react well to it (glares at offending sisfur). EK and I think this is wonderful food. If it were up to us, Mom would switch us to this. Unfortunately, the kitty with the sensitive tummy outvotes the rest of us. :(

Please email where you want your food shipped to pumpkinpuddy@gmail.com. I'll forward all the addresses on to the wonderful people at Hill's. Thanks everyone for participating in my giveaway. I know you're gonna like this food. I sure did.


That's it for this Sunday. Lippe had a big weekend and we gotta get all the pictures on the computer and get them labeled so we can post them, so I gotta say bye for now.  *runs off to get camera*

My First Blogiversary

Today is my first blogiversary. I can’t believe a year has gone by so quickly. And what a year it’s been! Better get comfy because this blog’s gonna be a little on the long side. MOL!

Here’s a partial list:

My sweetie Curzon

1. Joined Twitter, Fursbook, and Facebook and started blogging.
2. Gained over 1,000 Twitter followers, 246 Facebook friends, and almost 100 regular blog readers.
3. Wrote 97 blogs here and a couple over at Anipals Read.
4. Tweeted over 13,5000 tweets. (I’m a real chatterbox, aren’t I?)
5. Met tweeters from all over the world and made tons of amazing friends.
6. Sadly, had a bunch of friends go OTRB.
7. Wrote (well, edited) a book. More about that later.
8. Adopted a shelter to help support (still working on how to do that effectively).
9. Went to Blogpaws West 2010.
10. Stayed in a hotel!
11. Went lots of cool places in my stroller.
12. Met some of my twitter friends live and in person.
13. Went out to dinner at a restaurant. How many kitties can say they’ve been to a restaurant?
14. Been interviewed for Cats Who Twitter and Anipal Times.
15. Adopted two fursibs, Candy & EK.
16. Joined #pinkangels and got a cool Hello Kitty motorcycle.
17. Became a barktender for #nipclub & #pawpawties.
18. Got an even cooler vehicle - a Lamborghini Gallardo.
19. Had a hareem for a while, but now I got a sweetie - Curzon from @UsCoons.
20. Was bridesmaid in a wedding and am going to be in another one.
21. Attended lots of pawties.
22. Won mountains of super cool prizes.
23. Got Toki Poki cards and traded them with my friends.
24. Got to wear lots of cool costumes.
25. Was nominated for an Anipal Academy Award (but didn’t win).



Candy & EK

26. Entered the 2011 Teddy Olympics.

And that’s just what I can think of right now. I know there’s stuff I’m forgetting.

Most of my blogs have been about fun stuff and exciting adventures, but there have been a few serious ones, too. And I’m gonna get serious now for a little bit. As you all know, I keep trying to raise funds to help out Duncan’s Place (http://duncansplace.org/), which is where Candy and EK came from . I’ve put up a chip-in to raise some money for them. They do so much for the cats in their care and for the community and I really want to do whatever I can to help them. If you can see your way clear to donate, even just $1, please do so. 

Another way you can donate is by getting a copy of ‘Summer at the Lake with Petie’. My good pal @BlindMaximus was kind enough to write a blog about it and to put a link to my chip-in on his site. How amazing is that? @Rumblepurr is also helping. He has a link to my book on his blog. If I’ve missed anyone who still has a link up, please let me know. I want to make sure everyone who’s helping me gets mentioned. 

I’m gonna really push the book here for a minute, because of the way the website where I sell the books works. There has to be $25 in my account before they’ll cut a check. What goes in the account is the difference between the cost of the book and how much extra I added on to have to donate to Duncan’s Place. I’m short by about 4 books worth in order to get paid. It was 6 books worth, but @BlindMaximus bought a copy in addition to blogging about it, and @iamDaisyDoo bought a copy to donate for a prize for the next #pawpawty. Anipals really are the best pals. So I’m really hoping that at least 4 of you will order books so I can get one last check to donate.

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for - the Giveaway! A while back I won a wonderful prize package from the folks at Nutro. It was very similar to this one:

It took a while until we actually got to eat the Nutro Natural Choice food that was in the prize because of Candy’s tummy problems, but we finally got to try it a couple weeks ago. We loved it!

Even more important, it doesn’t upset Candy’s tummy. We think the food is soooo good and you know how we love Greenies, so I wanted someone else to have a chance at the same wonderful prize package. I asked @EdnaAtNutro and the wonderful folks at Nutro if it would be possible to arrange one for my blogiversary. The answer was yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So it is my pleasure to offer you a chance at this package full of fun and yum. Here’s the particulars:

1. Anyone is welcome to enter for the drawing, but the prize is a cat prize.
2. Apologies to my pals outside the U.S.A., but the winner has to be in the U.S.A.

Here’s how you enter.

1. Go to the Nutro (www.Nutro.com) site and pick which formula of Nutro Natural Choice you’d like.
2. Go to the Greenies (www.greenies.com) site and pick which flavor of Feline Greenies Dental Treats you’d like
3. Leave a comment saying you want to be in the drawing and telling me which flavors you’d like.

The last step is the most important. I know lots of pals who are not entering will also leave comments, so make sure to tell me you're entering the drawing.

Comments left by April 30th will qualify for the drawing. After the 30th, I’ll throw all the names in a magic internet hat and pull out the winner. The winner be announced May 8th. Good luck!

Pet Carriers

Peek-a-boo! Here I am in my little red tent. I just love love love my little red tent. So do EK and Candy. We love them so much, we have two of them! We play in them, we sleep in them, & we hide in them and jump out to pounce on each other. We have fun every way a kitty can have fun in our tents.

You're probably wondering, "What does this have to do with pet carriers?" Well, I'll tell you. Our magnificent little red tents are actually pet carriers. They have two zippers, so you can arrange them to open front, back or top. There are handles at the top for carrying. We love our tents so much we don't even mind getting in them to go to the v-e-t. That's right. Off to the v-e-t no muss, no fuss, no crying, no hiding. We just get in our tents and go.

We've read about a lot of furriends that have had to visit the v-e-t lately. They dread getting in the PTU (prisoner transport unit). They hide and run away and make it very difficult for their humans to get them in the PTU. Now, none of us, anipal or human,  likes going to the v-e-t. But sometimes you just have to go. So why not make the PTU fun?

Our tents are out all the time. We don't have any warning about being off to the v-e-t since nothing new happens until we get there. Mom scoops us up, puts us in our tents, and off we go. Our first hint that this isn't a new game is when she seatbelts the carrier into the car. And since I've had stroller outings involving the car, for all I know we're going on an outing!

I think everyone should have a fun carrier. I think it would make going to the v-e-t or anywhere else you have to go much less stressful. Don't forget to get nice fleecy beds to put in them. That makes them extra cozy and comfy!

My tent came from Target. I've never seen this type of carrier anywhere else. If any of you know of other fun carriers, post the link in the comments. There's three of us and soon the two little ones will be too big to share and we'll need a third carrier. It would be fun to have a new shape.

The Zen of Max

One of the anipals I talk to regularly and whose blog I never miss is @maxthequiltcat. I love Max's Mousey cartoons and couldn't wait for each new chapter of his mystery story. When I found out his mom, Lou Belcher, wrote a book about him, 'The Zen of Max' I couldn't wait to get it. I was so excited that I was lucky enough to win a copy of 'The Zen of Max' at the last pawpawty.

'The Zen of Max' is a very heartwarming book. It's about Lou and Max, how they found each, learned from each other, and shared their lives. But all books about pets and their people have that same basic plot. What makes each book unique are the personalities of the people and pets involved, and how the writer tells their story. Well Max and Lou definitely have interesting personalites and Lou really knows how to tell a story.

I enjoyed learning things I didn't know about Max. For example, I did not know that Max was tweeting and blogging from over the Rainbow Bridge. Max had already crossed the bridge when I met him, and I don't think it was ever talked about when we tweeted or in his blog. At least not that I had noticed. I didn't know that Max had moved from one state to another. I don't even like the short ride to the park. I can't imagine driving from one state to another. I also loved learning about Max's idiosyncrasies.

This book is a must read. I give it a definite paws up!

Armarkat Faux Fleece Deluxe Cat Tree

I got the coolest cat tree for my Gotcha Day. My gotcha day was actually last week, but my present didn't come until Friday. It's the Armarkat Faux Fleece Deluxe Cat Tree and Mom got it from Petco. It came in a great big box and Mom had to put it together.

It had so many pieces, I couldn't believe it! It even had the tools to put it together. The tree came with good directions, too.

It actually went together pretty quickly.

Of course I had to inspect all the pieces and snoopervise the construction.

Look at how cool this is. It's got 2 hidey holes for playing and sleeping. It's got ladders for climbing and lots of scratching posts. At the top there are three platforms. I'm getting two brofurs so it's perfect - we each get one!

I wasn't to interested at first. I didn't understand about climbing and how fun high places are. Then Mom rubbed catnip in one of the hidey holes and put treats in the top to make it more interesting for me to check it out. Once I climbed up to get the treats and play in the catnip, I saw how furry cool it was to be up high. Now I go up there without prompting cause I know how much fun it is. I'm a little nipped out in the first picture. MOL!

Look at my floofy tail hanging down. And my toes hanging out. MOL!

So that's my Gotcha Day present. I think it's a present for my brofurs, too, 'cause it's big enough for all three of us. Only two more weeks until they come. I still can't decide what to name them. I think I'm gonna have to live with them for a while first.

Oh, and Happy Howloween!