This is made up from the Ying Yang Seat, the Sisal Post and a Foot Cover from Catrix Build ‘n Create line, plus the top of a stool we broke a while back and had kept for just such a project. All it took was marking the centre of the stool top, now scratcher base and drilling a hole big enough for the correct sized bolt to go through, plus counter sinking an area for the head of the bolt.  The foot covers of the Catrix product come with a captive nut that’s ready for a bolt, so once that was tightened into place the usual push fit of the Build ‘n Create System was all that was needed to put the whole thing together firmly. This was so simple to do that my 11 yr old son made it under supervision. He is rightfully proud of his creation and the cats love it to bits! :)

The other added advantage of looking at getting a small bit of this system is that it can grow over time if you want, or you can replace parts that are starting to look badly used and worn if this is an issue in their setting as it is here, being that this is located in our lounge. While we have cats and love them to bits, we do still like to keep the house looking presentable! ;)

If you have the luxury of having a spare room that the cats can have the run of this system can grow into the most fantastic indoor cat climbing area possible. Sure to keep most any indoor cat fully occupied and happy! :)

This recent find is a furry topped cat wand, giving all the fun of a wand toy with a lot better life expectancy than their more common feathery versions!  While all my cats love wand toys the feather ones get shredded to bits pretty fast... After mending them a few times the feathers are ruined, so I keep the wands and attach left over furry rat tails to them giving the wand a new life! :)

You can’t go far wrong with the tried and tested furry toy mouse or it’s bigger version the flurry rat! While many people dislike real fur, I have always found that the cats and kittens far prefer these to the synthetic fluffy ones.  One of the advantages of the bigger rat toy is that they are less likely to go missing under your furniture, plus they seem to be mistaken for the real thing a little less often too - always good to know if you have family and friends with a deep seated fear of mice and the like...  :)  Once the cats have managed to pull the tails off of these, I collect them for mending wand toys with, making these excellent value for money and very long lasting too! :)  These are available at most pet shops.

Bozita is what we now feed our cats on a daily basis as it has an over 90% meat content and nothing really in the way of fillers. This helps to make it highly digestible and since it contains calcium it is a great way of ensuring that our girls have a good level of that in their diet, without adding supplements. While it is not found in pet shops it is easily ordered direct from the UK Stockist at a very reasonable price, including delivery.

Applaws All Natural Pet Food is one treat I know all the cats will eat, anytime they’re given the chance. While it doesn’t offer the fully balance of the other tinned or pouched cat food we use here quite often as it is seen as a huge treat that is gobbled up in seconds. The other added bonus is that it doesn’t smell bad, so can be fed by younger family members or those who are easily upset by the smell of most wet cat foods!

We feed the cats Hilife as an alternative to Bozita from time to time and wean our kittens onto their kitten formula, as it is far easier for our kitten owners to get hold of. The kitten pouches are easily digestible for the kittens and offer 3 flavours to keep them happy. HiLife also do a fishy kitten formula in tins that they are also fed. 

Recently we found these cat treats from natures:menu after looking at many other similar products and finding mixed results with our own cats, these are a big hit across the board!  While we have only used the chicken and liver variety here to date, they also come in a 75% meat & fish version with salmon and trout. They are eagerly sort out by all our cats and kittens and some in an easy to feed format that even our kittens can cope with. While we don’t feed a lot of treats to our cats, preferring to keep use a jar of their regular dried food as a reward most of the time, these are a nice alternative while keep a high standard for feline nutrition!

These are the treats that Isis will do anything for! They look like a two toned lip shape sherbet sweet, but are in fact packed full of Malt flavour and are a good source of additional dietary fibre - helpful if your queen gets a little constipated towards the end of her pregnancy  and also good for helping cats pass hairballs. So as to avoid any stomach upset restrict to just 2-4 treats in any 24 hrs, they’re certainly a cleaner and nicer way to aid a cat who suffers from hairballs than the normal malt paste. Just right for that malt loving cat! :)

Having had such an amazing response from Isis to the Gimpet Malt-Kiss treats, we thought we’d try her on these Schnurries treats that contain chicken for taste and taurine for good health, alongside a milk-sugar derivative with a high content of TGOS (TransGalactoOligoSaccharide, from lactose derivatives) - like most Gimpet treats.  This type of fibre is important for intestinal flora, and the amino-acid taurine that is essential for the production of biliary salts that are necessary for the good digestion of fats in the small intestine.  Unlike other animals cats cannot survive without this amino-acid in their diet.

Having had cats for over 30 yrs, we’ve had plenty of time to look at and try many different types of carrier. All have both good and bad points, but here are a few that I feel have quite a lot of good points going for them.  Firstly the traditional plastic, easy to use and clean, but they can be a little bit heavy and they certainly take up quite a bit of storage space and can be hard to get your cat in and out of, though they do last for ever it seems!

Having looked around for a while at most of these fold flat style carriers we settled on the Petzden® type as they have a tubular metal inner frame, over all good construction and a decent handle. The cover comes off and can be washed, but using a pet safe cleaning wipe you can keep them pretty clean between washes too. Although they lack a solid base, if you add a nice pet pad or some vetbed we’ve always found our cats to be very comfortable. They come in a variety of sizes to suit all cat breeds!

Again having a fold flat construction, this Shnüg carrier is wonderful, as there are no hard surfaces for to cause injury and the handle plus shoulder strap make carrying it simple even if you’re trying to deal with a handful of paperwork at the same time - so great for cat shows and vet visits.  There’s even a built in pocket for documents! Sadly they’re not that easy to find as yet, they can only really be cleaned with a wipe. I therefore suggest using a large disposable absorbent pad with kittens, to save worry about accidents.

Well since we're all very environmentally minded here, we have taken the time to look around for the very best and most environmentally friendly cat litter there is.  In Cats Best ÖkoPlus we feel we have found it!  It pretty much makes unpleasant indoor odours a thing of the past, as they are be trapped within it's organic fibres. The fibre itself comes from untreated domestic fir and spruce wood, which accumulates naturally in the environmental cycle - so using this wood is a help to maintaining healthy forests!

ÖkoPlus is currently the only clumping litter that is both compostable and biodegradable and because it is made from organic fibre, it is much lighter and easier to handle than comparable mineral litter. This in turn saves on transport costs and makes ÖkoPlus a truly environmentally friendly litter. What's more it's also velvety soft on the paws and most cats happily accept it.

There are so many good cat litter boxes on the market and the prices vary wildly. While we have found that one that suits us here, due to size and colour (well you don’t want a litter box that’s going to clash with everything else around), it’s not necessarily always going to be the right one for the job. The main thing is to get a well constructed one that’s covered as cats are far more likely to use one that gives them privacy and makes them feel safe.  Just doing this can cut the chance of “accidents” alone.

We also look for litter boxes with a removable and replaceable charcoal filter in the top, as well as a well constructed but transparent flap door.  This keeps bad smells inside the box, helps the cat with an even greater sense of privacy while being transparent lets other cats within the household see that the box is occupied - this saves fights and upsets, which in turn can lead to litter box issues and inappropriate peeing or worse around the house. So find what fits your cat, your house, your budget, but remember the basics needs!

We use a selection of rubber grooming gloves and pads here to get the best out of each of our cats coats, plus each one seems to have a subtle preference for one or another - although in the end the result you can get from each of these products is pretty much the same.  The Zoom Groom by Kong is great for giving your cat a bit of a massage while removing loose fur.  Where as the glove works well on cats who really don’t like grooming much.  Giving them a chance to get a good grooming while they

think they are just having a nice fussing - this can help build up their confidence while removing excess fur nicely. :) It’s an excellent way to start off a kitten ready for a lifetime of good grooming experiences as you have a fantastic level of control over the feel of the whole experience.  Making it easy to keep as light as possible on fine kitten fur and delicate skin. 

For a good deep clean we find the generic grooming pad to be the very best of all these products. It strips out the loose hair quickly and with a minimum of fuss letting us get a cat groomed and ready in no time.  Finally for that high gloss show cat finish you need to invest in a simple Chamois Leather! It’s a lovely way to end any grooming session in fact as you just need to use a gentle stroking action in the direction of the furs growth to bring out it’s full shine, usually resulting in not only a cat with great fur but one who’s purring like mad! :)

To get rid of all that excess undercoat that always seems to gravitate to your best clothes or the sofa you just spent ages vacuuming, we’ve found that the FURminator® Shed-Less Treatment works amazingly well.  You’ll be surprised at how much loose fur your cat has, even if like ours they are all short haired!  It’s quick to use and just one or two good FURminations a month is all you need to keep shedding to a minimum. :)

Keeping your cat’s teeth clean and healthy can be a bit of a battle at times, so when we found a toothpaste all our cats liked with a small enough brush for them too, we’ve stuck to St. Jon, Petrodex - Malt Flavour toothpaste.  While recently hard to find in the UK, we’ve found it’s the only oral hygiene product that the cats accept happily, so now buy it online from the USA as needed.

Since we’ve had quite a few people ask about the bath and grooming products we use here, I thought I’d mention these first as I really wouldn’t like to try coping without them!  These grooming wipes can be used in the place of a bath in many cases, which saves a good deal of time and potential stress depending on which cat we need to clean up. Although they don’t replace a bath in all situations they do certainly help. We use them on our queens before bringing them home after a stud visit, to cut the smell of the stud and therefore ease her return to the feline family dynamic here. Again they are used when the queen is pregnant and having difficulty in keeping herself as clean as she’d like.  They can also help clean her up after the birth of her kittens

We’ve been using this shampoo for nearly 10 years now with consistently great results! It’s very mild and suitable for all breeds and ages of cat, and formulated to clean deeply without removing the natural oils so vital for a healthy looking shiny coat.  It contains unique surfactant that will NOT wash off flea preparation (if you use them) such as Frontline and Advocate.  Plus is it safe to use on a weekly basis if you need to without the risk of any side effects! Oh and it smells nice too! :)

One last option that we find very useful is John Paul Waterless Foam Shampoo, yes it is exactly what is says! A foam shampoo that you can apply straight to your cat’s fur and massage in. It’s just that simple and there is no need to rinse at all, just comb it through before leaving it to dry.  This is the perfect solution for cleaning a water phobic cat and because they don’t get too wet it’s also ideal for use in cold weather when drying off would take a long time.  We use it on all our cats here when needed and have had excellent results every time. Even Ramses is happy to have a darn good wash with this product - not that it’s often necessary to wash an Aby because of their short fur and excellent self-grooming habits! :)