Thankful Thursday! Our Mr Chewy Review

Way back in December, we were contacted by Brent, over at Mr Chewy. See, our bloggie friends aren't the only ones who get 'put on a back burner' while Teri's gathering green papers at her day hunting place!

Brent offered us a $50 coupon to use for anything on their website and we thought that was VERY generous! While we are on some pretty specialized foods (they carry over 70 brands though!), Teri thought she'd look and see if there was something else that they carried that she would buy us! (ahem, they have healthy treats, Teri!!)

But she kept forgetting to go look! And then, just like they said--they keep adding new, in-demand foods all the time...and they added Nulo, one of the canned foods we eat!

We used to order our Nulo right from the company, which we liked (cuz everyone there knew Disco from his participation in their 'Simply Fit' campaign). But then they changed and had us order from some company called Alice.com and all of a sudden we were bombarded with junk mail for products we didn't need. We weren't very happy, and we told Nulo that...and they made the wise decision to get Mr Chewy to carry their food!

So she wrote back to Brent and asked him if the $50 coupon offer was still available, since it had been months since he wrote to us...

And he said certainly! So, we ordered our foods on Wednesday afternoon about 3pm and had them shipped to Teri's day hunting place. Since they have free shipping on orders over $49, that was free, too!

And believe it or not (they do say they have prompt shipping...) our order arrived THE NEXT DAY! We were amazed! It was packed very well (no dented cans at all) and Teri said she would continue ordering from Mr Chewy, as the service was excellent, their website easy to navigate.

Another plus is that they have a 'Refer Your Friends' donation program that helps the pet charity of our choice (we picked Best Friends Animal Sanctuary) and every time a new friend orders from Mr Chewy, they donate $10 to Best Friends!! So easy!

And if you decide to order from Mr Chewy, please use our unique referral code, FURR2007, and you will also get $10 off your first order! We say 'What's not to like?!'. Mr Chewy is very supportive of us pet bloggers, they donate to help animals and their service is superb. We give them our Paw of Appurruval!

Disclaimer: We are happy to be a part of this company review, and we did receive a $50 coupon for products from Mr Chewy to use. However, all of the opinions about Mr Chewy, and their company and products, are ours and not dictated in any way by the company.

Disco Gets Down in Funky Town...

By down, we don't mean on the dance floor...we mean on the scale! He's down another one ounce this week and everyone has noticed the change in his physique.

At this rate, he will be under 14# by next week...the end of his 90 day participation in The Nu Campaign to Fight Pet Obesity. But, it won't be the end of Furrydance being a Nulo household, that's fur sure! And we all want Disco to meet the target weight of 12#, too!

All the cats are wild about the canned Turkey formula Nulo now, after a kinda slow start. In fact, the other canned food they were all previously in love with (Life's Abundance Instinctive Choice) has become 2nd choice, as this photo shows...


Here's what's in the Nulo Turkey canned food...remember those important 'first five ingredients'

Turkey, Turkey Broth, Chicken, Beef Liver, Tuna, Flaxseed, Oat Bran, Tomato Paste, Calcium Carbonate, Carrageenan, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Potassium Chloride, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Betaine Anhydrous, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Niacin, Vitamin E Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex, Folic Acid, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide

It has been both fun and rewarding to also watch all the participants progress--Tahlula 'hauling nub', Xena is looking positively ravishing at 14.5#, Koa another pound lighter and Noah plateauing as Disco did for a while--don't give up, Noah!

Disco actually looks forward to, and 'guilts' me into playing stairclimb as I am ready to head to bed. We aren't getting in the 10-15 minutes 2 X a day that the experts recommend, but then it's better than skipping 'going to the gym', right?!


And since we are talking 'Turkey', we wanted everyone to know about the Nulo Petsgiving campaign. Nulo is helping feed shelter pets for Thanksgiving! Cat and dog lovers can help their less-fortunate furry friends stay healthy and happy this holiday season by participating in Nulo's "PetsGiving" food donation campaign between Nov. 1 and Nov. 25.

During this time, for every $25 customer order placed nationwide, the Austin-based pet food company will donate one pet Thanksgiving dinner to local Austin shelters. Each dinner includes Nulo's turkey and sweet potato recipe for dogs or turkey recipe for cats, plus cranberry treats or chicken treats for dessert.

These traditional Thanksgiving ingredients are part of Nulo's nutritional formula year-round. The company aims to produce the most nutrient-dense, transparently labeled cat and dog foods on the market. In place of the usual meat by-products, Nulo uses all-natural, single-source proteins like turkey, chicken, lamb and salmon. It also chooses nutrient-rich, low-glycemic carbohydrates like sweet potatoes and brown rice rather than corn and other cheap fillers that have become ubiquitous in commercial pet foods.

Here's how you can help...

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT PETSGIVING

Ps: Teri's on the road, delivering Spot & Dot to their new home, hence the lateness of her weekly Disco post, and she forgot before she left to download some good 'body shots' of the almost svelte Disco...but when she gets home on Sunday, she will add them to this post, promise!

Disco...Closer to 15# than 16# now...Nulo Week 11

Ok! If Disco continues to lose an ounce a week, by Turkey Day he will be 15# and that would be a total of 14 ounces lost...not quite to the goal of 12# but at least I know he is doing it slowly, safely and nutritiously with Nulo.

That is one thing I always worried about when dieting him before--knowing he probably wasn't getting the right amount of good quality food, minerals and vitamins...No worries about that now!

He is more active, and it's so cute how at the end of the day, how he waits at the top of the stairs so he can do his 'aerobics'...Here's a funny, short video of 'Take Three' of his workout on Monday (hahameow--you'll see why we are laffin')



Whenever I call Nulo to place an order, the guy I talk to, Devin, pulls up Disco's file and tells me how much they enjoy his blog posts and how great it is to follow all the the Nu Campaign for Pet Obesity participants. I have been enjoying seeing their posts and progress too, and thought you might, too.

TAHLULA AND LYGER
PHOEBE AND OREO
NOAH, WHO AND SLICK
JUDY
XENA AND VELVET
KOA
ROMEO AND PUGSLEY
MARBLES

By participating in the Nu Campaign, I pledged to help raise awareness about pet obesity and, through Disco's participation, inspire others to change how and what they feed their dogs and cats. I talk about Nulo and Disco's weight problem with all the clients at the cat hospital where I work and feel like Disco and I are part of the 'Street Team' for Nulo, hahameow!


I pledged to provide my pet(s) with optimal nutrition, appropriate portions, and plenty of exercise. I am doing better with their program than mine!I tell people if it wasn't for the stairs in my house, I wouldn't get any exercise at all! But I feel good about making the time and putting in the effort to help Disco and all the Furrydance cats live a longer, healthier and happier life.


Every one I have talked to at  Nulo has been open, honest and approachable. They are like-minded pet lovers, just like me, and you can tell they share a kinship and a passion with their pets and the company they work for, too. You can tell it's not just a marketing ploy!

And every post on their blog is informative (and as a veterinary technician, I am very persnickity about accurate information when it comes to pet care!)

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE NULO BLOG

As you can tell, we are Nulo fans!

Disclosure: Nulo has generously provided free product in exchange for our participation in the Nu Campaign to fight pet obesity. We are happy to be a part of this awareness campaign, however, all of the opinions about the product are mine and Disco's and not dictated in any way by the company...that would be silly!

Disco's Diet...Week 10

Disco's dropped another 2 ounces on his Nulo food since his weigh-in last Tuesday!

And that's with me being gone for 3 days and my petsitter coming in to take care of the kitties! They said they are 'invested' in Disco's successful weigh loss program, too and every day they came in and 'exercised' him (twice a day, which is even better than my once a day routine).

They pulled out the laser light from the toy drawer and 'mixed up' his 'workout' routine with the light and the dragonfly and they said he was eager to race up and down the stairs and around the living room after the light. They did have to put the other kitties away though--as they were interfering with his 'aerobics', hahameow!

It is pretty amazing that even on Disco's way reduced calorie intake, he isn't pestering me to death about being hungry. And now that he is only eating a small amount of the dry he is eating more of the canned and I think as 'carb intolerant' as he seems to be, that combined with more exercise, he is starting to drop the weight.

As the folks at Nulo say, 'Encourage your pet to play for just a few minutes a day, slowly increasing the overall exercise time as your pet’s health improves. Older animals don’t have the endurance or interest in extended playtime, but will still benefit from short activities throughout the day'.

I really have noticed a difference in the past two weeks with Disco's 'endurance' improving when playing and although it's hard to tell from the photos, I think he feels less, ummmm, blubbery than at the start of his diet.

Here's his weigh-in photos over the past 10 weeks...

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

I am sure most of you are kinda chuckling because well, it's kinda hard to see much difference, except of course for the 'Nudity'...he already has a 5 o'clock shadow, hahameow...but you can see by the numbers on the baby scale that yes, he really is losing weight!

I know it's not much, but he also gets 1 Nulo Chicken Treat a night, after he gets his anxiety pill and while I am not sure he even has time to 'savor' it before he swallows it, I do feel good knowing that he is getting a 'nutritious' treat instead of 'junk food'. Once he's down to 12#, he can look forward to maybe having 3 treats, hahameow!

I am going to be away almost every weekend in November--delivering Spottie and Dottie to their new home in New Jersey; staying at a friends beach house the next weekend; a cat show the one after that and then there is Thanksgiving...

I am hopeful that with my petsitters help, that Disco won't 'fall off the wagon' (he'd bounce, I am sure) and that he will look more like a sausage and less like a pumpkin by 'Turkey Day'...

Disco's Diet...another effin' Plateau

Oh...I'm not really 'effin' mad. I am happy...because I can already see a difference in Disco's 'enthusiasm' and activity level. I know, just like in humans when dieting, plateaus happen.

And part of it might just be due to the fact that Disco has decided he REALLY likes the Nulo Turkey canned food and he just might be eating more than 2.6 ounces twice a day that he is restricted to eating.


And all the other cats are now horning in on his 'special' food, and I know they sneak bites of his meals, so I have been feeding him a little more canned food to make up for that.


But he is only getting his 1/8 cup of dry twice a day and well, that's such a small amount that he goobles it up pretty darn quick!

I also got him a bag of Nulo Chicken Treats with the last order and well, he can only have one treat a day, and I know if he found the pouch, he'd eat the whole thing...he loves 'em!


I am happy about that too, as I had pretty much given up on finding a treat that all the cats liked and knowing this is a 'Good for You' treat makes me feel good, too.

I know when Disco's 12 weeks in the weight loss program comes to an end, that feeding Nulo will continue, for everyone in the house then and I can't begin to explain how confident that makes me feel--no worries about the quality or the ingredients or the safety of the food supply...Nulo's right on top of all that!


Providing my cats with optimal nutrition, appropriate portions, and plenty of exercise, in order to help him/her live a longer, healthier and happier life will be a 'Lifestyle' from now on!

And by making the commitment to participate in the Nu Campaign, I am also raising awareness about pet obesity and, through my participation, hopefully inspiring others to change how and what they feed their dogs and cats.


I am a vet tech at an all feline hospital and I help counsel our clients on nutrition and obesity, too. I have been spreading the word about Nulo and one couple who have 2 Furrydance Cornish Rex kitties from me are thinking of giving Nulo a try, too. Well, there are more reasons to give Nulo a try than not!


And because Disco looks so darned cute, racing up and down the stairs after his 'dragonfly' lure...I will have to get a friend to film it, maybe by next weeks 'Simply Fit' post!

A Loser is a Winner...Nulo Week 9

Yay! Disco's down to 15# 7 ounces!!! Now, I know some of you might also notice that he's also not sporting his 'Body Beard' either and might think...well, he probably lost 5 ounces of fur, but he weighed in BEFORE I shaved him down, so it's real weight loss! Yay!

Just as the experts at Nulo said, just persevere and if I want him eating more canned, feed less dry and being hungry will convince him. And I know since there's less carbs in canned, that is what I would prefer for all my cats to be on anyway.


He has a funny way of eating the canned, lap lap lap and I noticed he was pushing the paper plate across the floor and at least to me, that looks real frustrating---having to chase your food around.

So I put the paper plate on a stoneware plate and it holds it in place pretty well. When I am at home, I just feed him about a tablespoon of wet food whenever he appears, so it stays moist and fresh (I have been told never to leave canned food out for more than 4 hours as bacteria can start to contaminate it). And I feed him 1/8 cup of dry maybe 4 times a day, as he sometimes has to share a meal when the other cats come running in.

AND this week, I have been stairclimbing him for 5 minutes every night before I go to bed and he just loves it, and watching him makes me smile, too. I can't wait until he is slim again and can enjoy recreational activities to the fullest!


As the folks at Nulo say, you have to get your pet to Move It, Move It because exercising and eating right goes for pets too, so they can lose that excess baggage, while keeping their body and mind fit. By coupling exercise with a good feeding routine, you can alleviate your pet’s insulin resistance, reducing visceral fat—the dangerous kind that collects on vital organs. Here's a cute AND informative video the Nulo people put together with Dr Khuly, who has the great blog, FULLY VETTED




We still have 3 weeks to go til this 12 week campaign is complete, although he didn't start his Simply Fit program til the week of August 8tH. So for me, he still has 4 more weeks to try and meet his 12# goal...and no matter how long it takes...We WILL do it and he WILL keep the weight off, because in reality it was ME that was overfeeding him, not the other way around!

Ps: By the way, I shaved Disco down for a couple of reasons...my petsitters had so much fun using the Zoom Groom on him and a Sphynx's fur is easily epilated (pulled out)so that he more or less resembled an ancient Persian Rug that had lost much of it's wool. Or that he had a medical condition called Alopecia Areata.

He was good for his grooming session and he did have very flaky skin under all that fur as Sphynx have a lot of skin oils anyway and the fur was compounding the greasy feel.

So he got a bath (in Aveeno bodywash as the oatmeal is soothing to the skin) and got a mani/pedi and ear cleaning too...boy did he smell sweet and he really struts around now--I think he feels good about himself now, hahameow!

Disco's Up 4 oz...Week 8

There's an explanation, honestly and it just goes to show that even a little more food, even with a little more activity can have it's consequences!

Our Teri was away with Disco's buddy Brighton, at a cat show in Ohio last weekend and she was gone for 4 days! Coco and Kiki were confined to the bedroom and Disco had free run of the house...but it's pretty obvious he didn't RUN anywhere!


Teri even had our petsitters come in twice a day instead of once a day so they could measure out Disco's food instead of just leaving a bowl of dry food out for him to gorge on. She also asked them to get him to 'Stairclimb' twice a day, too...which is more than she'd been doing! To make it a little easier on them, she had them feed him 1/4 cup of dry Nulo in the morning and evening, and 1/4 can of Nulo each time, too.


That's a little more dry than Teri had been feeding him (1/8 cup of dry and 1/8 can of wet in the morning and in the evening, 1/4 cup of dry and 1/8 can of wet) but she had asked them to also exercise him for 5 minutes twice a day, so she thought that might make up for the extra food.

Guess not...


But she knows she is feeding a food she feels good about and she knows that eventually Disco will drop the excess weight he has packed on. She loves visiting the Nulo website and learning more with each visit. Nulo’s Resource Center is dedicated to your pet’s optimal health & wellness care, with articles written by leading veterinarians exclusively for Nulo. And it gets shipped directly to our house, in a fun red box!


They offer newsletters and tips via e-mail and they have the first online weight loss program for pets including fitness programs, guided menu planning, tools for measuring and tracking weight loss, and an online support community,

And the every blog post is informative for both woofies and meowzers. And they are on facebook, too and if you visit them there, you will see they are getting lots of attention from both TV and newspaper articles! CLICK HERE TO VISIT NULO ON FACEBOOK

Here's a great video from their website, talking about 'What's in the Bag':

So, even though Disco had a little bit of a gain, now that our Teri is back home, she will put the toys into action, every day, and she hopes that by next week...His Chubbiness will be a have shed some more ounces and she'll know she is helping him get fit!

Disco's Diet, Week 7

As you can see by the photo above...Disco is holding at 15# 8oz this week and that is probably because I was home over the weekend and his constant yelling about STARVATION had me feeding him extra kibbles from time to time.

That, and the fact that he needs to hire a new personal trainer to help him 'feel the burn' computes to another standstill in weight loss for Disco! I told him I keep having to buy longer belts because my midsection seems to be expanding, too! But then, I am not blogging about my weight loss or lack of such...


He is enjoying the canned food more, and when I placed my second order for Nulo, I decided to just get the turkey canned instead of the salmon variety too, as I am not a fish fan and the term 'Stinky Goodness' is what Nulo Ocean Fish canned food is! Now when he yells for food, he gets a spoonful of canned, not dry, and I think he will make some progress in his weight loss!

But I did get more of both the Nulo Chicken and the Salmon dry as Disco likes both of those, and he is continuing on the restricted amounts that his vet recommended and I am trying to increase the canned and cut back on the dry even more, in hopes of getting him on mostly canned Nulo eventually.

I bought a couple of new cat toys at the last cat show and they are great for getting Disco to run up and down the stairs after...I just need to do it every day not a couple of times a week! I wish I had someone to film him as I was getting him to use the 'Stairclimber' but he does get pretty excited about 'catching' the dragonflies and I make sure to let him rest between reps, hahameow!



One thing this Nulo campaign has shown me is by monitoring Disco's food intake and his activity level, I realize just how INACTIVE he has become due to his obesity! Where the other cats run and chase and 'Stairclimb' on their own, Disco is more than SEDENTARY...he is more like a Pet Rock in terms of activity.

Of course, due to his obesity, I do worry about the strain on his joints when he climbs the stairs and watching him almost makes me cringe...not a pretty sight! But I hope that when (not if) he gets down to 12 pounds (and though it may not be by Thanksgiving as we hoped as his progress has been so slow) that he will be able to once again join in the fun and games with the other cats in my house!


Just as it says on the Nulo website 'Cats get varying degrees of exercise, depending on their lifestyle. Indoor cats often don't get enough exercise on their own and it's up to you to encourage your resident felines to be more active'and I feel guilty that I am not making more time to help get my cat healthier. But I do know I am feeding him what I think is the best food out there and just need to make the commitment to do better from here on out with getting him to exercise every day!

Nulo tells us that 'By encouraging your cat's natural attraction to these types of games, you can increase his activity level significantly. These games may not be new ideas but the concept of making them a regular habit may be. Make a point of setting aside time each day to play with your furball and soon you'll both look forward to this fun and special time together.'

Stay tuned for next weeks installment of the Road to Simply Fit!

We B Losin'...

And that's a good thing!

Disco, on his severely restricted 'I'm always starving' calorie intake, has finally dropped some ounces, as we head into Nulo Week 6

Because he had not been successful at losing weight the past month, I even took him in to work with me for a physical exam and labwork, to make sure he didn't have a medical problem such as hypothyroidism. Well, he isn’t hypothyroid! We didn’t think he would be as the only hypothyroid cats that come into our vets are ones that had radio iodine treatment and they are the rare ones that get too low after treatment--even that happening is unusual!

But, it was something to check for to ‘rule out’, and we also checked his liver function and red blood cells to make sure his anxiety meds (Paxil) weren’t affecting him in that way. But all the tests were A-OK!

His vet reviewed his feeding schedule and calculated his caloric needs based on her exam and knowing him well and his (lack of) activity level recently, and we discovered that he is eating WAY TOO MANY CALORIES! (even though he would argue that fact!).

Even though Nulo staff calculated what he needed to eat in order to lose weight, even they say ‘Your cat’s requirements may vary due to activity level and environment.’ And they have never met him personally, so I certainly don’t fault their calculations at all.

They had him eating 2.6 oz of canned twice a day and 0.2 cups (slightly less than 1/4 cup) twice a day and that calculated out to almost 350 calories. Dr E calculated his needs using a chart she has, and she calculated that he should be eating between 145-195 calories a day!!

So, no wonder he is stuck on a plateau! So now he will be eating 1/4 cup of dry in the morning, and 1/8th cup dry in the evening along with 1/4 can of wet food, and a treat of 1/8th cup of dry at bedtime. That will give him about 190 calories a day. I am still going to order some Nulo Treats as I hear cats like them so much that they are even doing tricks for them!

He started out on August 9th at 15 pounds 10 ounces, and in the following weeks put on 3 ounces instead of shedding them! So I am happy to announce that this week--tah dah!! Disco weighed in at 15 pounds 8 ounces. Soon he will be able to fit into these outfits again!



He still isn't wild about either the chicken or the salmon canned, but that's ok, cuz Kiki and Coco love both, as do Coco's kittens. So what Disco doesn't eat in 15 minutes, get served to those who want it, hahameow!

I still am being a terrible purrsonal trainer, terrible--'Your Fired! as Donald Trump would say! Maybe if Disco and I worked out together to that song from the movie Madagascar, 'You've Got to Move it, Move it' we could burn off some calories!

Even NULO says 'Exercise and eat right. The same goes for pets. Exercise helps pets lose weight while keeping their body and mind in top condition. And by coupling exercise with our feeding routine, you can alleviate your pet’s insulin resistance, reducing visceral fat—the dangerous kind that collects on vital organs'.

August 9th

September 13th

But I think that Disco does look a tiny bit more 'svelte' and I need to do my part to make this weight loss program work. Maybe I need a personal trainer to push me, right?!! OR he could just hide under the covers and pretend he is Obi Wan Kenobi!

We are enjoying following the Nulo Blog, too as it has really informative posts about everything from 'Do Kitties and Milk Go Together?' to 'Caring for Your Senior Pet' to 'Pet Food Ingredients to Avoid'. You should check it out, even if you don't feed Nulo food... CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE NULO BLOG

And as a sidenote, more than a few people have commented on how much fur Disco is sportin' now...Yep, and I have a theory about that and we'll see if it is spot on when he is down to 12#. I think that even though Sphynx are 'hairless' and as a young fit cat he had more bristly peach fuzz than many Sphynx...I think because of his fat layer, his skin is colder and he has grown fur due to that.

Or, it could be that due to Sphynx still being outcrossed with other breeds and his close ancestors include American Shorthairs, that he just matured with fur. It will be interesting to see if my guess is correct, won't it. Anyway, I love the thick wavy furs he has now, but I am sure it's adding a few ounces to his weigh, hahameow!