Pea of Sweetness

Making Your Home Kitten Proof

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A couple weeks ago we got a new kitten. Our daughter was particularly thrilled because she has been wanting a kitten for a while. Since we’re finally a little more settled, we thought it would be a good time. Lily (the name our daughter gave her) is a sweet little kitten, but like most kittens, she’s very curious and into everything.
Making Your Home Kitten Proof
So how do you make your home kitten proof? Here are a few tips that helped us.

Make the Litter Box Location Known

Depending on where you got your kitten, they may not be familiar with the litter box. Even if they are, they need to know exactly where it is or they may use the nearest blanket, pile of clothes, etc.

Kitten Toys

When I say kitten toys, I don’t even mean you have to buy those fancy toys at the store. Kittens are pretty happy to play with anything – strings, boxes, tape, other pets, kids, etc., but make sure there are plenty of those things to play with so they turn to things like the furniture.

Close Up Unsafe Areas

We used to have the litter box in our half basement, but it’s just not a safe area for a kitten. Our other cat would just go downstairs, use the litter box and come back up. A kitten is more likely to look around and maybe get into things she shouldn’t. Plus, with all the rain, the basement is damp and mucky – not a good place for a kitten to play!
We also found we needed to block the opening in the stairway that is quite a steep drop. She curiously was sticking her head out of it, and we feared she would fall down, so we simply blocked it so there is no longer a danger. Also be sure to check for little holes and spaces where a kitten might fit. Our other cat is rather large, so we had to reevaluate because our kitten is much, much smaller.
Making Your Home Kitten Proof Sleeping

Tie up Loose Wires

Loose wires are very attracted to wires. This can be dangerous for many reasons. They could chew through one or end up pulling down the appliance to which it’s attached! Wires can be tucked behind furniture, grouped together with zip ties, taped or stapled to walls – whatever works for your home and space.

Proper Introductions

If you have other pets, be sure to give them a proper introduction. We have a dog and cat and used the open barrier method where they could sniff each other with a barrier in between. Introductions went well, so we knew we could remove the barrier and let her explore her new home!
Making Your Home Kitten Proof - Introductions to Other Pets
We are so excited and blessed to welcome Lily to our home and so grateful the transition has been smooth. What have you done to prepare your home for a new pet?
 

Be Pawsitive

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Disclosure: I received a treat box to facilitate my review. Regardless all opinions are my own and those of my dog.

Dog treats

Our pup is part of our family, and I am always on the lookout for healthy and natural treats, which aren’t easy to find! Luckily I was introduced to Be Pawsitive. They offer a subscription dog box with oven baked dog treats in a variety of flavors delivered right to your door.
If the fact that the Be Pawsitive treats are oven baked isn’t unique enough, they are USDA certified organic as well! They are truly made with such care and quality! In addition to being organic, they are also wheat free and contain no soy or corn products. Plus they are made in the USA and baked in small batches for quality control – no mass production!

Natural dog treats

For our review we received a Be Pawsitive box with a bag of their oven baked dog treats. They are a nice average size so they would be good for any dog. We have a BIG dog (an Italian Mastiff), and they weren’t too small for her to enjoy, but they also wouldn’t be too large for small breeds to enjoy, either.
As a former dog trainer I also check to be sure they can be broken into smaller pieces for training purposes or if they are best for just a treat to enjoy. Finding a healthy treat for training would be quite a find! I found I was able to break them up for pieces small enough for our mastiff, so that was exciting for me, too!
Our pup has really enjoyed her Be Pawsitive treats, and I feel really good knowing I have finally found treats of such quality!
I like that they offer a variety of flavors so if you have a pup (or pups) like ours who LOVES food, you can choose to receive a different flavor each month. If you have a pup (or pups) that are a little pickier you can choose to have their favorite flavor delivered each month! The best part? You don’t even have to go to the store and get quality dog treats at your door!
In addition to their organic, oven baked dog treats, Be Pawsitive also gives back! Buy One, Give One means for every bag of organic oven baked treats your pup receives, an animal shelter receives a box, too! You can feel good knowing their pups are not only receiving tasty, healthy treats, but that they are also being used to help with obedience training, which increases adoption rates!
If you’re ready to check out these organic oven baked treats that give back head over to the Be Pawsitive Website! Be sure to connect with Be Pawsitive on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Natural Stress Relief for Pets {Review}

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Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

RESCUE Remedy Pet

Our pets are part of our family, too, and just like I look for natural products for us, I look for natural products for them as well. Something that has been quite challenging is our mastiff’s anxiety. It is pretty bad. We rescued her from a bad situation, but even at just 12 weeks old she was already traumatized from mistreatment. As a dog trainer of group classes I constantly took her to my classes to make sure she was properly socialized with other dogs as well as around other people. We saw some improvement, but there was still some hesitancy and nervous behavior particularly with men.
When I learned RESCUE Remedy offers a solution for natural stress relief for pets I was excited! I wasn’t new to the RESCUE Remedy brand as I, myself, am often in need of stress relief. I have personally used both the Original RESCUE Remedy as well as the RESCUE gum. When I realized they offered the RESCUE Remedy Pet I realized I am not sure why I didn’t think to look into it before!
Rescue Remedy Pet is Veterinarian recommended, alcohol free, and made of the following 5 Bach® Original Flower Remedies:

  • Rock Rose, for terror and panic
  • Impatiens, addresses irritation and impatience
  • Clematis, for inattentiveness and lack of interest
  • Star of Bethlehem, for shock or trauma
  • Cherry Plum, for a lack of self control

You can read more about the Bach Original Flower Remedies.
RESCUE Remedy Pet is easy to administer, and the dosage is based on amount of stress, and not on the type of animal or weight. I think that is something very important to note. 4 drops is the recommended dose, and for our mastiff that seemed to be sufficient. I might consider increasing it in a situation where she is under higher stress, though, as I do feel that might be necessary.
RESCUE Remedy Pet can be administered in multiple ways, which means you can do what is best for you and your pet. The drops can be placed on a treat, in their food or water, or even rubbed into their ears, nose or paws. Because part of Caprice’s anxiety is being fearful it was definitely easier not to apply it on her directly! She and the cat share the water and even share the food often as well (though we are trying to encourage our cat not to eat her dog food – that is so backwards, isn’t it?). So for us, applying it to a treat was definitely the best choice! The dropper makes it really simple to use! She is never one to turn down a treat, though I don’t think the RESCUE Remedy Pets affected the smell or flavor very much either to a point that she even noticed.

RESCUE Remedy Pets

I have been using RESCUE Remedy Pets in situations where we will be having guests in our home (anxiety around people) and where we will be out of the house for a longer period of time (separation anxiety). I have definitely seen an improvement in both situations!
When we have guests she is generally very anxious, particularly if there are men. With women and children she tends to settle more quickly, but if there is a man (or men) she will pace, pant, and even bark when they get up to move sometimes. We saw a decrease in this type of behavior. Although she did still seem a little more alert with the men and still barked when they first arrived she did settle more quickly as she would if there weren’t men. There wasn’t the pacing and panting and nothing more than a quick glance when they would get up. This is a remarkable improvement. What I love most, though, is it’s not a sedative that knocks her out. She isn’t medicated. She is just calm and able to enjoy herself more, so she is actually happier, too!
Although it is harder to note the improvements with separation anxiety as we cannot see how she has been acting when we were gone since it wasn’t a situation where we were gone for more than a long stretch of the day that didn’t require someone to look after her, we did notice she has been laying down and rather relaxed when we returned instead of excitable. Of course, we also noticed less torn up items. Since we moved recently she had gotten out of sorts and has been getting into trash and such just tearing things up because her anxiety was high when we were out of the house. This is now improving again. Although we generally try to remember to put all of that out of her reach now regardless, it is nice to come home and not find something torn up we might have missed!
Overall, I’m excited to see the improvement and so glad we have found a natural product for stress relief that helps!
RESCUE Remedy Pet is available in two convenient sizes: 10 ml drops for $16.95 and 20ml drops for $20.95. RESCUE Remedy Pet is sold nationwide at Whole Foods and your local pet products retailer, or at the RESCUE Remedy Pet Website.

For More Information:

Visit the RESCUE Remedy Pet Website
Connect with RESCUE Remedy Pet on Facebook

*Giveaway!!!* {Ended 1/7/13}

Would you like the chance to win RESCUE Remedy Pet? You’re in luck! One lucky reader will have the chance to win a bottle of RESCUE Remedy Pet! This giveaway will run from 12/24 – 1/7 at 11pm Central Time. It is open to US residents ages 18+. Please refer to the full Terms and Conditions in the Giveaway Tools Form.

 
Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. All opinions are my own. Pea of Sweetness is not responsible for prize fulfillment.
 
 

Dress it up for the Holidays with Soft Claws

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Disclosure: I received the product mentioned to facilitate my review. Regardless, I only recommend products I feel would be good for my readers. All opinions are my own.
Soft Claws
Photo credit: softclaws.com
We have a pretty big cat. Although he is pretty good about not scratching inappropriate things, there are things he does that aren’t really intentional. He really loves a good stretch, and because he is so tall, it really is a BIG stretch. He likes to do this on the couch – or us! Of course, when he stretches, the claws come out! Ouch! At night he also gets a little feisty. Usually I am the only one awake since I am the “night owl,” and because it seems this time of year in particular I’m trying to keep up with my blog posts. Because of this, I get that extra time with him. It’s not usually calm, quiet time, though. He will randomly jump on me from behind or even from beside me when I least expect it! Sometimes he latches on when he does this, which is also unpleasant!
So what are we to do? We do not believe in declawing. I could explain in detail, but in short, declawing is like removing fingers at the top knuckle. For the most part, since he hasn’t been clawing things he shouldn’t we just dealt with the minor incidents here and there. Luckily, though, we have been introduced to an alternative – a very festive alternative at that!
Soft Claws
Soft Claws (also known as Soft Paws) are nail caps for cats that slip over their claws easily. They allow their claws to function as usual but without the sharp scratch! Although our cat, Bart, was a bit wiggly when we applied them, they were pretty easy to slip on, and once on we could tell they didn’t bother him at all. He went right back to his usual day without a fuss! Now he’s ready for Christmas in his holiday green and red!
Not only are Soft Claws a humane way to address a scratching problem, they are also extremely safe and non-toxic. Plus, they are so simple you can apply them at home! You simply follow the included instructions and slip them over the front claws. It does recommend adding the adhesive to each nail cap prior to applying so you are ready to apply all of them at once, and I can definitely see how this is a good suggestion! Even a docile cat could become antsy after waiting for so long! I added the adhesive first, and then I got Bart and put them on. This way he wasn’t sitting and waiting in this “something is about to happen” moment. Then I just had to slip them all on! That’s it! Their nails do need to be trimmed prior to application, though. Because our cat isn’t very patient I did the trimming and the capping in separate sessions but within a close amount of time to each other.
Each Soft Claws home kit comes with 40 nail caps, 2 tubes of adhesive, 6 applicator tips, and application instructions. So one kit contains enough nail caps for four front paw applications. Each application should last approximately 4-6 weeks, so that means in one kit you could get 4-6 months of use from it! Bart has had his nail caps on for a couple weeks now, and not only does he seem to not be bothered by them, I can clearly see his claws function normally, and the nail caps are definitely still there! It’s hard to miss the fun Christmas colors!
Soft Claws are available in a variety of sizes, so if you have a kitten, a small cat, a “normal size” cat, or a larger cat like Bart, you can choose the size that fits best. Soft Claws also has nail caps for dogs! Soft claws are the perfect, safe and humane solution for a scratching problem, and it’s extra fun that they come in such a variety of colors and styles!
If you have a furry friend, you can spruce up their look for the holidays with Soft Claws and perhaps keep your Christmas Tree and other decorations looking nice as well! Soft Claws make a great holiday gift for pets and your friends and family that have pets. Do you know somebody who is getting a new pet for Christmas? Many people get a new pet for Christmas and then feel overwhelmed by problem behaviors like scratching. Introduce them to a safe and effective solution for scratching for a smoother transition as their pet becomes part of their family!

For More Information:

Visit the Soft Claws Website
Connect with Soft Paws on Facebook and Twitter

*Go win!*

If you’d like the chance to win some Soft Claws, be sure to check out the Paw-fect Giveaway I am helping Savory Savings promote!