New Catalog!

Only Natural Pet Supply is one of my favorite suppliers, and I received a new catalog in the mail.

Many of my suppliers send emails and ask me to visit their websites. I go as much as I can. Sometimes, the emails get garbled, so the links don't work and I have to read between the lines to figure out what they are highlighting this month. With Only Natural Pet Supply, the emails are usually pretty clear, and they include an informative article about once every 3 months.

Now, in my newsletter, CatLover Magazine, you get at least one article a month. Usually on training issues, but of course, this month everything is on the food issue that Bugs is dealing with.

Anyway, the point is that I don't get many paper catalogs from suppliers. Only Natural Pet Supply is one of the holdouts to this archaic way of doing business. While it may be old fashioned, I like it. They give a lot of information about their products in the catalog. I think it comes out about once every 3 months, but I'm not really sure. I'm a customer as well as a publisher, so I give them a LOT of business!

They have a new line of pet food called "Nature's Logic" that might interest some of you. I read the blurb on it, but I'm still undecided about it. I may get a small bag (it's dry kibble) and see how the cats do with it.

There is a new "generic" line of chinese herbals, for those who are into such things. I need powders and liquids for my kids, so pills are pretty much out. This new formulary may help that situation. However, from what I can see, everything is pressed into pill form. Capsules would even work! Why is everything a little pill that you have to push down a throat? Anyway, I digress.

There are 2 freeze-dried foods you might check out, Prowl Cat Recipe by Honest Kitchen and Nature's Variety brand in Chicken & Turkey, Beef, Lamb or Venison.

You save 5% on all orders over $75, so there isn't a lot of savings until you get a few things, but the quality is really worth paying full price!

So, what works?

I'm getting the links for the foods that work right now. Innova-Evo and Eukanuba Sensitive Stomach. I think you'll like the pricing and the shopping process.

I've got a couple of days to get the website "up to snuff" and post some links that reflect the current needs of my readers. I fixed the Cat Toys page, because it wasn't displaying correctly. I could not find the problem, and neither could my friend, so I re-structured the page and now it displays correctly. There will be other changes and updates, because things need to clearer for you.

However, I wanted to give you this right now. I think you need it so you can get the help you need for your cat.

Bugs is Much Better!

Missy Bugsy Bits is much better! Her tummy seems to still be a bit hard, but the diarrhea is gone. She's having to fight everyone else for her food, as the Eukaneuba is a hit! The other crunchies are getting stale in the bowl.

This is the Eukaneuba Sensitive Stomach formula. Very expensive, but everyone seems to like it. So, we know something that works.

I still have the Innova Evo to try, along with the frozen raw food and some canned Innova Evo.

Results for Bugsy

Bugsy seems to be much better! She's been eating the Eukaneuba and the diarrhea is almost gone! She's still a little ripe, but most of the cats can be. Everyone likes the Eukaneuba more than the "regular crunchies" so I guess this is something that needs to be done for all of them.

Bugsy's fur is better, too. I've been putting a dash of the supplement in the water bowl, and that means that everyone is getting a little of it. The bowl isn't empty twice a day, like it was when Bugsy had the bad diarrhea.

They seem to like it, too. Fur is in good condition, kitties seem happy and calm.

That's the report for today.

Bugsy Likes It!

Bugsy is eating the Eukaneuba. It seems that everyone else eating her food helped her decide that it was OK to eat. Queenie is especially interested in eating Bugy's crunchies! Well, Bugsy is eating again at least.

Her tummy is still distended, bloated and tight, but she doesn't seem to have the same kind of smelly diarrhea. At least the apartment doesn't smell as bad! Her fur is already shinier. I don't know if that's just her or if it's the food.

I also put a little of the supplement in the water bowl. It won't hurt any of them, and Bugsy really needs it. They seem to like the taste, too. Everyone had to sample the water!

Oh well, more as things change. At least these first impressions are favorable.

Shopping Trip Results

Hi There,
I went to a couple of stores in the area and got some foods that said they were grain-free dry foods. Eukaneuba sensitive stomach and Innova-EVO. I also found some "treats" in the form of freeze-dried shrimp, chicken and beef. The chicken & beef has corn-starch in it, but we'll see. I was able to find a formulation with taurine in it, too. I found a frozen chub of raw, called Countrypet Natural Cat Food, fish and chicken recipe.

I've started with the Eukaneuba. Bugsy is turning her nose up and every one else is interested in it. She isn't even trying any of the shrimp! I got some toys and I'm using the freeze-dried stuff as treats.

Here are the items not listed above by brand name:
Pet Authority Cranberry & Papaya Digestive Supplement
This is a daily formula supplement with taurine

Dingo Kitty treats, chicken and beef
Old West Treat company, all natural shrimp cat treat

I also got one can of Innova-Evo canned food to see if I can get her to eat that.

It was an expensive shopping trip, but I got to have coffee with a good friend before I actually hit the stores.

I got everything except the Innova-Evo and raw food chub at PetSmart. The rest I got at a large health-food store called Earth Fare in Knoxville. We don't have a Whole Foods Market, but they probably carry these items, too.

So, that's what I did today - what about you?

Contact form is back up

I was able to fix my problem with the contact form. It was a glitch in the way my profile was set up at PayPal, nothing they did.

I like PayPal.

I want to say that up front. I like that they get the financial info & keep it secure. That's why all the phishers want to break into it. I never see anybodys info and I don't want to. That's too much information.

That's all I wanted to say at the moment. I'll be back later to talk about other things, but I wanted to let you know.

Payment Problem

There was a payment problem and a few folks got over charged. I caught it right away, pulled the contact form and refunded the overcharges. It was a pain in the butt!

Missy Bugs is not responding to the California Naturals. She cried like there was no tomorrow when I got home tonight because Princess found her food and ate it. So, Bugsy needs to be monitored. Actually, Princess needs the monitoring, but Bugsy needs the food.

I got some news today that upset me. I'm not ready to share. So, that's the newest update. See ya'!

WooHoo! Got a Firewall!

Wow! It took almost 6 hours just to connect it, but I got a firewall! It's a Linksys router with firewall. It should help keep the viruses out and make things a bit easier. I was on the phone with Linksys for almost 4 of those hours! Between Bellsouth and Linksys, it was really tough. But - and this is HUGE - I can now surf the internet, take care of email and be more together in running the business!

I also got a Po box, so now folks can mail their payments. That should ease the burden of Paypal and credit card fraud. I put the info on the contact page, so it's already up and in use.

I was able to get a carrier yesterday, so the cats can now be evacuated if I need to do that. It was something that bugged me. Especially after Katrina and Rita, that I didn't have enough carriers to go around. I got a larger one, so I can put Bugs and Queenie in the same carrier if I need to.

Meanwhile, Bugs has been having a real problem with her tummy. It was hard before she got fixed, and I thought it was worms from the fleas. She was the last to get a flea collar. But, it's not worms. She seems to be allergic to her food. I got a special food, California Naturals yesterday, but so far there's no change. The smell isn't quite as bad, but the diarrhea is still there. She's very uncomfortable. However, she's very cuddly and knows that I'm working on it. I'm about to try a chub of grain-free food for her. I'll let you know how things work out.

Queenie is very cuddly, and in heat again. She's the last to get spayed, but her chirps are usually not too intrusive. She's beginning to get on my nerves, though. I realized tonight that she's cross-eyed! That oriental bloodline in her is very strong. Her eyes are yellow/gold, and her fur is black, but her body is fine boned and long. She has a lot of oriental in her from someplace.

Pretty Girl (Cuddle-Fluffer) is keeping her cuddly stuff going. She wants scratches and cuddles every time I walk by her. She was next to my pillow this morning when I woke up. Beasley was on the other side, and didn't seem to mind too much. I found them next to each other, head to head, watching me last night while I worked in the kitchen.

I've been chasing them out of the kitchen lately. I'm tired of feeling penned in to a little corner by 3 cats who think that the kitchen is only for them! I need to be able to cook and clean, after all!

Princess is still loving and giving. Her serene nature is a blessing in this household of 5 cats! She's an oasis of calm in the playtime insanity.

Well, I hope to post again soon. I have more changes to the computer to make. A new virus program and an internet camera/microphone. Wish me luck!

Yikes! It's been so long!

Yikes! It's been so long since I've been able to post! I didn't mean it to be so long, honest!

Bugsy jumped up on my lap one day while I was on the computer & I wanted to post about it. She's so cute!

Queenie decided that I'm OK again. She is cuddling on me again.

Pretty Girl now has "Cuddle Fluffer" as her nickname. She's very cuddly and loves to be snuggled.

Princess is very insistent on cuddles, and I'm so tired most of the time that she's getting testy.

Beasley is his usual, clingy, loving self.

I quit smoking the day before Christmas, and the nicotine replacement stuff I'm using has been causing some sleep disturbance. I've been so tired and it's hard to get back to sleep when I wake up. The longer I've been in bed, the harder it is to get back to sleep, too. So, maybe it's easy to get back to sleep at 11:45, a little harder to get back to sleep at 1:30, a little harder at 3:20, and harder still at 5:00. Then, the alarm goes off at 6:10 and it's time to get up. So, I've started going to bed about 10:30 at night, just to get enough sleep. That means taking my night-time pills at 9:30.

It seems to work, especially since there is absolutely nothing on TV. I'm reading my books (I got a 13-book series by Robert Jordan) and ignoring the TV except for the few shows that I can stand for reruns. I'll be glad when February gets here and they put some new episodes on TV again. I also got about 15 movies from a friend, so I have lots to do. That's a good thing, with the weather finally turning wintery.

Something really good happened, too. It was a "God Shot" as far as I'm concerned. My car has been confined to the garage since before Thanksgiving (mid November) because the gas was not getting to the engine. Everyone said it was going to cost a fortune to fix it. I changed the fuse and nothing happened. We all thought it was the fuel pump or the fuel pump relay. That's on the gas tank on my car. Lots of labor, drain the tank, and so on... Well, a friend from work gave me a phone number & said that person might be able to help. He came over, twisted the fuses in the fuse box, did some circuit testing & the car started! It was corrosion in the fusebox all this time! I even have brake lights again! So, the car is back on the road, just as gas prices come down again.

Anyway, I'm caught up as much as I can be for the moment. There is supposed to be a way I can email entries into the blog, and I'll try that I just never think about it. I've been crazy busy!

Till next time...