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Showing posts with label Jackson Galaxy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jackson Galaxy. Show all posts

Saturday, February 06, 2016

How To "Catify" Your Home

Ms. Bella has been pretty inventive around our home in making her own "Catification". She'll hide and let you seek her anywhere!

But if you have multiple kitties and want to enrich their environment (see the many benefits here), there's more than one way to modify your home to help your feline family members be more comfortable in an indoor environment.

First, you can take some tips from the catification lady herself, the fantastic Kate Benjamin, who teamed up with none other that Jackson Galaxy to write an entire book on the subject...aptly titled: Catification. What we particularly love about Kate and this book is that the focus is on contemporary and stylish designs that will please both your cat and you—after all, you humans are paying the rent!

You also might check out some veterinarian-based enrichment advice for your feline, that will help you learn the "whys" behind what you're doing and how it benefits the physical and mental health of your kitty. And here's a feline environmental enrichment checklist prepared by Dr. Tony Buffington, a world-renowned veterinary cat expert with over 35 years of feline research experience. You''ll recall that we had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Buffington a couple of years ago about his work and his interactive iTunes book and course called Cat Mastery.

Finally, we'd like to share this video again because we think it's phenomenal what these guys did to catify their home—and the fifteen or so cats that share their gorgeous abode are all rescues. Happy #Caturday!

Saturday, August 08, 2015

It's #InternationalCatDay! Are You In The Doghouse With Your Cat?

                     It's what? Every day is my day around here!

In honor of International (or World) Cat Day, we thought we'd share these feline-friendly strategies that could very well improve your relationship with the cat in your life. By the way, International Cat Day was started in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare to celebrate the world's most popular pet. Uh, as a dog, I find it shocking, shocking I tell you, that cats are more popular as pets that us faithful canines. Humans are fickle, aren't they?

O.K., back to cats. Did you know that your kitty might be more receptive to your hugs if you pick her up the right way? Or that you must keep her litter box scrupulously clean or she might get agitated and do her business elsewhere? Her food must also magically appear at just the right times or she might get, well, agitated again. Is there a high maintenance pattern here?

All snarkiness aside, if you're owned by a cat like my Parental Unit is, the aforementioned tips by Dr. Karen Becker, one of our favorite holistic veterinarians, are sure to help both you and your cat live a more harmonious life.

While you all are celebrating this day, you might want to watch this interview with Dr. Becker and  Jackson Galaxy of Animal Planet fame. You're sure to learn something new about your kitty!


Monday, January 26, 2015

An Indoor Cat Paradise

We ran across this article and video on the Huffington Post and couldn't resist sharing it with you—talk about enrichment for indoor cats—this guy has it covered for his 15 (and counting) rescued felines.

First of all, this home in California is simply gorgeous, but what the owner designed to keep his cats happy is gorgeous, too. The article, via a link to Houzz.com, explains how they built the hundreds of feet of cat runs and perches to keep their felines purring. Yes, this house is definitely "catified"!



What enrichment or playground-like objects  keep your indoor kitty happy? Let us know!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Cool Cats!

"Cat Lady" and blogger, Kate Benjamin, and one of her 11 kitties. Photo by John Burcham for The New York Times

Or at least these 11 cats have cool stuff! This article in today's Home Section of The New York Times, features Kate Benjamin, a super-successful blogger with a focus on sleek design...for the cat or cats in your life. And the felines in her life get some pretty cool stuff because she tests tons of these hip cat products and reviews them on her blog, now revamped into an "online magazine for design-conscious cat people," called Hauspanther.

Ms. Benjamin, who has both marketing and design experience, is now creating her own, really cool cat products that are for sale on her site. She's "positioning herself as a cat lady for a new generation...she has upended the old stereotype of the frumpy, middle-aged woman surrounded by cats," says The Times. She's even frequently collaborates with Jackson Galaxy: She's been a guest on his Animal Planet Show, "My Cat From Hell", and is currently working with him on a book about "catification".

But her popularity is not without some controversy. When she features a $400 cat bed, for instance, many comments tend to criticize spending that amount of money on a "designer" lounger, when we know how pleased a kitty can be with a free cardboard box. As one reader said: "Do you know how many shelter cats that would feed?"

 We say that the person who can afford a $400 cat bed can also donate that same amount to a cat shelter! Why not have well-designed cat toys and furniture around for your beloved felines? And not all good looking products are prohibitively expensive. For Ms. Benjamin, what it comes down to is good design. "I would like to see every cat in a happy, loving, forever home, and I want to keep them there through design." Bravo to you, Ms. Benjamin!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Cat Travels 200 Miles Back To Her Home

Photo of Holly and Parental Units by Barbara P. Fernandez, courtesy of  The New York Times

But Holly's journey wasn't exactly a Caribbean cruise-she staggered into a neighbors backyard weak and emaciated after a two month, 200 mile trek back to her home. This fascinating article posted on the New York Times blog, "Well", endeavors to understand cat behavior. Why are there so many stories of cats finding their way home, regardless of distance?

The article quotes several scientists who attempt to explain, in vain, what types of instinctual behavior or just plains smarts or luck, would lead a cat on an over 200 mile journey back to its home. But the bottom line is that no one really knows. The closest to a0 scientific study was conducted recently by National Geographic and the University of Georgia's "KittyCams Project", where 55 cats wore video cameras on their collars. The results: "cat behavior is exceedingly complex".

Even Jackson Galaxy, the cat behaviorist whose own cat pulled off a similar feat, threw up his hands: "We haven't the slightest idea how they do this...anybody who says they do is lying, and, if you find it, please God, tell me what it is."

How do you think kitties navigate hundreds of miles, or even a few blocks, to find their way home? Do you have any wandering cat stories to tell? We'd love to hear them!

Thursday, June 07, 2012

The Pet Postcard Project!


We're proud to share the details of this really cool campaign to help shelter animals...and bring out your "crafty" side in the process of helping out. The Pet Postcard Project is an ongoing campaign, with different companies stepping up each month or so, to donate much needed food and/or supplies to shelter animals in need. The idea for the campaign and its spokesperson is Nikki Moustaki, a pet lifestyle expert, writer and fundraiser extrordinaire. The amount of the donations are triggered by how many homemade, pet-related postcards folks send in to this project-so get your "creative caps" on and start by making your own card to send in! Here are the easy-to-follow directions on how to make your one-of-a-kind card and lasting tribute to your beloved pet-just scroll down to find out how to make your card and enter: betterwords.typepad.com/petpostcardproject/food-raiser-campaigns.html  Note that these are real postcards and must be snail mailed to the address given-all the better to flex your crafting muscles!
                   Here are a couple of cute examples...



The May/June campaign is extra special because Jackson Galaxy, that super cool dude (or "Daddy") from Animal Planet's hit show, My Cat From Hell, is spearheading the campaign to benefit his favorite organization, The Stray Cat Alliance in Los Angeles. And Halo Purely For Pets, through it's Freekibble.com program has agreed to donate up to 15,000 meals of delectable Halo Spot's Stew based on the number of postcards submitted.


But wait, there are even more donations! PetArmor, which makes a great generic and less expensive version of Frontline's Top Spot flee and tick prevention, has agreed to donate $1500 worth of their cat flea and tick prevention products to The Stray Cat Alliance when the goal of 2500 pet postcards is reached-so this campaign is a double dose of help for those sweet, homeless kitties.

There are a number of ways you can help:
__ Make that postcard and send it in!
__Blog about this campaign and encourage your readers to send in their postcards; and/or
__Spread the word on social media or however you see fit.


As always, thanks for your support. and if you choose to make a postcard, we'd love to see it and feature it on our blog, so send us a photo. We're off to make ours right now!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Cat Walking-The New Enrichment Activity For Our Feline Friends

Well, it's not a completely new idea to take your leashed cat on a walk outdoors, but the momentum seems to be building, at least according to this article in today's New York Times. In fact, training your cat to walk on a leash is the latest rage-yes, we said "training" and "cat' in the same sentence.

Mac, the author's kitty, explores Prospect Park in Brooklyn: Photo courtesy of NY Times.com


We enjoyed reading about the author's cat, Mac, whom she rescued from a shelter at the age of four, and soon became frustrated confined to his owners' apartment. Many escapes, neighbor "visits" (does eating a turkey leg count as a visit?), and ankle attacks ensued.

So Mac's owner enlisted the help of Jackson Galaxy, a cat behaviorist who stars on "My Cat From Hell", a television show poised to begin its second season on Animal Planet...and what happened next is both entertaining and enlightening. The article in the paper edition includes tips on how to start your newly leashed kitty out on the right paw, and the online version adds a video with Mr. Galaxy, Mac, and owner engaged in training.

We're considering trying this with Bella, although for the last seven years, she's appeared perfectly content to be an indoor kitty...

What about you folks owned by a cat-have you, or are you willing to try, walking your cat on a leash? Let us know!

P.S. A correction to last night's post announcing the winner of the FURminator Deluxe De-Shedding Tool: The winner, Olivia, is not the author of the blog we mentioned-we were simply confused with blogs she followed versus blog she authored. Please excuse our mistake.
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