Our Review of FrostyBowlz-A Cool New Pet Dish...

For a bowl that is kinda dog-sized, we give this product our Paw-of-Approval!!

Way back in July, our furriend Ashley, the PR person from Matrix Partners, emailed us to see if we would be interested in doing a test and review of the product that won "Best in Show" from BlogPaws at the Global Pet Expo 2012.

Teri knows we like fresh cold water, most often right from the faucet and she's not sure if it's because it's colder or fresher or tastes like the pipes...hahameow, but since we also eat a little raw diet, Teri wondered if the Frosty Bowl might not keep it colder and fresher, too, though she doesn't leave it down for more than 30 minutes.

We have quite a few water options--a Drinkwell 360 and 2 Sink Drinks, but anything that would encourage water consumption especially for Brighton, who had a urinary blockage 2 years ago, is something Teri said she'd would love to try.

According to PetMD.com, consuming the adequate amount of water aids in the digestion of food, helps the body absorb nutrients and also serves to cool the body while helping maintain a normal temperature. Understanding the important role water plays in keeping pets happy, healthy and well hydrated, the Talega^® team developed FrostyBowlz^®.

Unlike adding ice cubes to your pets water dish, something that almost half of pet owners already do, FrostyBowlz^® keeps pets’ water refreshingly cold all day long, even in direct sunlight. The secret to FrostyBowlz^® is in the FrostyCore^™ technology. Filled with a non-toxic freezable gel, the FrostyCore^™ fits between the custom designed, stainless steel bowl and its non-skid bottom tray. 

You put the FrostyCore^™in the freezer overnight and in the morning place it in the bowl to instantly upgrade your pets’ drinking experience. The FrostyBowlz^® temperature control lasts between 12 and 16 hours – keeping the water cold as much as 6x longer than other methods.

Teri thinks we prefer our food at room temperature, but thinks the FrostyBowlz^® would keep our stinky goodness (aka wet food) fresher longer. And then she had another great idea! Since we now spend time out in our Condo out on the deck, Teri was worried how hot our water would get out there in the sun.

So she tried the it out there and MeWowZa! The first thing we do when get get in the condo, it take a drink! And the water stays chilly all day, so even though we aren't out there whiffin' the breeze all day, sometimes on the weekends, we get to go out a few times a day and Teri doesn't have to put out fresh, cold water every time when using the FrostyBowlz^®

FrostyBowlz^® is made from stainless steel and is easy to clean and dishwasher safe. And when the bowl’s bottom plate is filled with a little water, the tray acts as a reservoir to keep pesky ants away, too. It's a great design and we are even thinking of ordering another FrostyCore^™ so we always have a frozen one at the ready! In fact, if you order one from their website, you can get a 2nd FrostyCore^™ for free!

For more information on FrostyBowlz^® visit their website to get the scoop on the bowl that serves pets better, www.FrostyBowlz.com

Disclaimer: We are happy to be a part of this product review, and we did receive a free FrostyBowlz® from Talego Products to use and review, and keep! However, all of the opinions about the product are ours and not dictated in any way by the company.

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.

Thankful Thursday...Our review of NOse Offense!

Way back in October, we were asked if we would be interested in using and reviewing a new odor eliminator. See, we aren't only behind in visiting furriends but also on our duties as Testers and Reviewers of various pet care items!

While we do hear Teri say PeeYou sometimes when we exit our litterbox and she has been seen crawling around on her hands and knees sniffin the carpet...we are not sure we are as stinky as she says!

That being said, there are times she says she sniffs the air when she walks in the house and is suspicious that we have been, ahem, missing the toilet, if you know what I mean. So, she said she would love to try NOse Offense for Pets!

If you visit their website, you can get your servant to tell you all about NOse Offense. The humans who make it say it takes care of all odors on carpet, fabrics and in the air, and in an environmentally friendly way without adding any scent to hide anything.

Teri read that NOse Offense neutralizes and eliminates smells found in the air and also on most any washable fabrics. It can be used in litter boxes and also wood floors, too. In fact, they say it is safe to spray on a washcloth or sponge and wipe any stinky pets in your house, too. (Teri says Disco smells like Mushroom and Potato casserole when it's time for his bath, hahameow!).

NOse Offense even has a link on their website that explains what bad things are in most 'air fresheners' and NOse Offense is safe, non-toxic, organic, biodegradable and100% free of enzymes, alcohol, phenols, phosphates and phthalates. And they are a 'green' company, too, using recycled or biodegradable packaging!

And gosh, before Teri even tried it, she looked at the 'Testimonials' on NOse Offense's website and it looks like a lot of our furriends already use NOse Offense and gave it their Paws Up!

So Teri went looking around the house for places she could let NOse Offense work it's miracles!...

The plastic tub she puts our empty stinky goodness cans in til she can take them out to the garbage...

The other plastic tub she scoops our 'eliminations' in til she takes them out to the dumpster.

And after cleaning our litter boxes, she sprayed NOse Offense on them, too!

And she said she felt comfortable knowing there wasn't anything in it that might harm us if we contacted it. Then she kinda went crazy and started spraying everything...curtains, Ham-Micks, cat trees, even the Christmas pillows!

She sprayed NOse Offense on the front of her 'undies' drawer where Coco used to spray when she was in heat, and on the old antique headboard where Disco had sprayed many moons ago.

She even sprayed the stuffies!

As you can see, she used up about half the bottle, and guess what?! Truly, no lingering scent of any kind from the NOse Offense, just like they say!

She says she is going to order some and put it in little spray bottles in every bathroom and next to our 'bathroom', too and even keep some in her car, cuz she says it kinda smells at times since we live in a humid area in the summer and a wet area in the winter!

While NOse Offense is only available online from their website, Teri is used to ordering lots of our things online and she says it's convenient and keeps her out of the stores buying needless items, hahameow!

We are so glad we were among those picked to test and review NOse Offense, because Teri says she thinks it will become her 'Odor Eliminator' of choice because of 1) how well it works, 2) that's it's Eco and Pet friendly, and 3) that they have a blog that is full of helpful and informative pet info.

Disclaimer: We are happy to be a part of this product review, and we did receive free product from NOse Offense to use and review, and keep! However, all of the opinions about the product are ours and not dictated in any way by the company.

Thankful Thursday...Our Review of the Purina ProCare Products!

Way back in August, we attended BlogPaws and part of the fun was visiting all the 'vendor' exhibits and learning about new pet products out there!

In fact, our Swag Bags were filled with many goodies, including some of Purina ProCare Ultra Dry Advanced Training Pads...

Teri is familiar with using 'puppy pee pads' or human 'incontinence pads' at the cat hospital where she works. And she will often put a pad in our PTU (Prisoner Transport Unit aka cat carrier). So including such an item in our Swag Bag was very useful!

All the pads of various brands she had used previously were lacking in speed of absorbency and 'durability' when we used our paws 'n claws to cover an 'accident'...Not so the Purina ProCare Ultra Dry Pads! We all gave them our 'Paw of Appurruval'! (Oops, guess that means we umm, had an 'accident' while 'on the road'...).

When we got back home, we had Teri look into the Purina ProCare line and mewowza! They have everything from toys to beds to grooming products...and we cats thought Purina just made food!

Of course, there are lots of choices out there when it comes to pet products, but in looking at their new ProCare line, we think they are well thought out and good for pets, too. Then the folks at Purina contacted us and asked if we would be interested in testing and reviewing some of their new ProCare products. Teri said sure...we are messy kitties from time-to-time!

The Purina.com website is chock full of good information from veterinarians that Teri is familiar with and trusts! Here's the link to their page on basic cat care. They even have Podcasts, which are something Teri likes to listen to when she is traveling.

The Purina name is well-known and Teri knows that they have all kinds of foods, including prescription diets. She was eager to try out their new Pet Stain & Odor Eliminator, as well as get another box of their their new ProCare Ultra Dry Advance Training Pads!

Typical 'puppy pee pads' often leave our servants with a mess to clean up, kind of counterproductive! The Purina ProCare™ Ultra Dry Advance Training Pads feature exclusive DryStep microweave technology for fast absorption and as a result... dryness!

They say that thousands of one-way microfunnels quickly channel urine into the core, trapping it there and keeping the surface dry; the super-absorbent gel core provides maximum absorbency, keeping paws clean; and a leak-proof backing also protects floors and carpets. Teri gave them an A+ on results, better than anything she had used before!

The pads are available at pet specialty retail stores in 10-count, 30-count and 50-count quantities and come in an easy-to-store box for convenient dispensing.

They have a video that shows how absorbent they are and she knows now that we'd stay dry and odor free if we did pee in our carrier, and that's a good thing! And she has used them in our hotel rooms when we travel, to put in front of our litterbox to catch any tracked messes. Handy in case we have any tummy upsets due to the stress of traveling, too!

Now on to the 'odor eliminating products' (yes, we can be stinky at times, hahameow!). In visiting the Purina.com website, we found they have 4 ProCare odor eliminating products:

We got to test the Carpet & Upholstery Pet Stain & Odor Eliminator:

Here's a video from the Purina website that tells you all about it...

http://purinaprocare.com/stain-odor-video.html

Teri has probably tried every product out there for pet stains and odors, all with varying degrees of success. As our followers know, Teri used to breed Cornish Rex cats and also is actively involved in helping 'rehab' kitties that have 'out of litterbox' experiences, and that means there can be 'odors' from time to time.

So she decided to try the ProCare product on some 'old' stained and odiferous spots on the carpet...a true test, to be sure! And she was very pleased with the 'sniff' test after she cleaned those areas.

The Purina ProCare Pet Stain & Odor Eliminator has a unique six-enzyme blend that breaks down stains and eliminates odors safely and naturally, and is certified by The Carpet & Rug Institute.

The cleaner lifts pet soils from and cleans surface carpet fibers for easy removal while the odor-eliminating technology destroys surface odors on contact. The enzymes and bacteria continue to break down deep-set stains and the source of odors until they’ve been completely eliminated and thorough odor removal discourages pets from remarking.

It is designed for use on carpet, upholstery, pet beds, litter boxes and any water-safe surface, the Purina ProCare™ Pet Stain & Odor Eliminator is safe for use around children and pets.

Teri said she is very satisfied with the two Purina ProCare products we tested, and she will have to look into their other ProCare products (though she said we already have enough beds and toys...that can't possibly be true!!).

Disclaimer: We are happy to be a part of this product review, and we did receive free products from Puina to use and review, and keep! However, all of the opinions about the product are ours and not dictated in any way by the company.

Thankful Thursday! Our review of The Drinkwell 360 Fountain!

Way back in August, right after attending BlogPaws, we were contacted by a nice young man named Zach (who we met there) who asked us if we would like to do a review on a Drinkwell Pet Fountain made by Veterinary Ventures, Inc.

Teri wrote back to him, and told him that we already had one Drinkwell Fountain, the 360 model and that she spreads the word about it both at the cat hospital where she works and to cat friends in general.

We said we'd be happy to do a review of the 360 model, so Veterinary Ventures sent us a second one!


As our followers may remember, Brighton spent 3 days in an emergency hospital in June 2010 with a urinary blockage and that is when Teri bought the The Drinkwell® 360 Pet Fountain.

Brighton eats 99% canned food which helps increase his water intake, and with The Drinkwell® 360 Pet Fountain, Teri knows he is getting the water he needs and he has not had another urinary episode since then.

The Drinkwell® 360 Pet Fountain has interchangeable spout rings that can make up to 5 free-falling streams of water for families with more than one cat, like us! That's another reason we like it over the Original model, cuz we can all have our our spout and don't have to wait in line at the water fountain, hahameow! Here's a video of Coco sipping away...



All the Drinkwell Fountains have a filter to help keep the water fresh and free of debris and contaminants (like from when we paddle our paws around in the water--do any of you kitties out there do that, too?).


Drinkwell has a few different models to choose from, and even makes a large doggie sized fountain, too. And they were all designed by a veterinarian who also had a kitty that loved to drink from faucets!

Teri likes The Drinkwell® 360 Pet Fountain over the Original model as it is so easy to clean, no nooks and crannies. That was one reason she stopped using the original version we had, as it took little bottle brushes to get all the crevices clean, and Teri said it was like maintaining an aquarium...which we wish we had, but she says she doesn't have time to care for fishies, too!

All Drinkwell Fountains are dishwasher safe on the top rack, and that makes cleaning them easy, but Teri never tried that when we just had one, but she will now we have two!

Especially for cats, and especially for those on dry kibble, water consumption is vital and something most pet owners don't monitor well. This site has a good writeup on the importance of water intake in the cat:

The Importance of Water Intake for Cats

Using a pet fountain encourages pets to drink more (we all know how many cats love to drink fresh flowing water from the faucet, right?!). So, by using a pet fountain, and letting us have 24/7 access to running water (not just when she turns on the bathroom faucet, hahameow!) she knows we are well-hydrated!

Before we had two, somehow the days would pass and Teri didn't get around to cleaning the fountain as often as she should have and with Brighton having a history of urinary blockage and the need to drink a lot of water, that was not good!

So now, every few days, Teri puts out the fresh, clean fountain and then gets the dirty one cleaned up ready to go! So for our particular family, having two is perfect! Here's another short video of Disco lapping at the fountain, before getting distracted and wandering off...



We give the The Drinkwell® 360 Pet Fountain our Paw of Approval and Teri says that even though having a fountain is a little more work than just filling up a water bowl, she thinks we are healthier and happier having the fountain, so she give it a Thumbs Up, too!

If you would like to learn more about the Drinkwell line of pet fountains, they have a great website with lots of info and videos where you can see all their models in action, just click HERE.

Disclaimer: We are happy to be a part of this product review, and we did receive a free The Drinkwell 360 Pet Fountain to use and review, and keep! However, all of the opinions about the product are ours and not dictated in any way by the company.

Toysday! Our Review of the Purrfectplay Dust Bunnies & Carrots!

When us kitties were up at the cat show in Indianapolis a few weeks ago, we were kinda surprised to run into a furriend, Pam Wheelock, who we met at at the very first BlogPaws back in April 2010 and she makes some of the best organic toys on the planet!

We got to chatting again, and she made a fuss over Disco and Coco in their customized stroller and she very generously donated a heaping handful of her special Purrfectplay toys and in return, we promised we would test (and taste) them and write a review for our bloggie...

Teri didn't let us have them until we got back home, cuz she didn't want us losing them under the bed in some hotel room (and as you may remember, one we stayed at wasn't so nice!).

As you can see in the photo below, we got a nice, tasty selection of Wool 'Dust Bunnies' which are light and fun to bat around and easy to grab with our teeth and carry around! And we got a couple of very Bite-able Baby Carrots, too!

Each and every toy PurrfectPlay makes is made of organic natural fibers, with no dyes or toxins, no synthetic or reprocessed plastic and of course, where applicable, are stuffed with Certified Organic Catnip!

As you can see, Brighton thinks the texture of the carrot is just right for putting the bitey on! Maybe he had too many choices, do you think??

He gave the Carrot his Chomp of Approval, as you can see in the video clip below!

When Brighton ran off with a Carrot, Disco said, My turn, my turn! He has a thing for chewing on paper, so right off he grabbed the Purrfectplay business card, hahameow. You can't really tell, but he was really inhaling that organic nip!

Teri felt really good knowing these toys were hand made and safe in every way...something she just never feels real comfortable with when she buys toys at those 'Big Box' places! So, I guess these toys even made her feel good, hahameow!

And Coco does love the nip, as you can tell in the video below. Teri is hoping that one of those dust bunnies becomes her favorite toy, so she can throw that ratty sock away that Coco carries everywhere!

and even Sammy got in on the action...sniffin and a whiffin!

So, if you are looking for some wholesome toys, that are good for you too, as well as more great items than you can shake a paw at-- kitty and doggie blankies, collars and charms and accessories for planet conscious humans, too...

...we hope our review will have you runnin' right over to...

PurrfectPlay.com

And they have a bloggie that is full of news and views and articles on how to live healthy, too, along with lotsa cute kitties and doggie photos and tales!

PurrfectPlay Blog

If you are on Twitter, they tweet @Purrfectplay and they have a Facebook page, too!

Disclaimer: We are happy to be a part of this product review, and we did receive free toys from Purrfectplay to use and review, and keep! However, all of the opinions about the product are ours and not dictated in any way by the company.