Cats and Coupons

With the holidays approaching people are shopping for friends and loved ones. I work outside of the home as well as inside the home. At the end of the day the last thing I want to do is pack everyone into the car and go to a store to fight crowds and wait on lines. So for the past seven or eight years I have done the majority of my shopping online. One of my favorite stores is Amazon. I can shop for anywhere from two to eight people all on one site. I always check out Amazon books, toys and housewares before shopping anywhere else. They’ve also got a great bargain and clearance section. I compare prices using their site and they offer free shipping on lots of items.

How can you not love online shopping? I click, I pay, I open the door and take them from the delivery guy. It’s definitely my favorite way to shop! What do you think of online shopping?

I’ve mentioned once or twice before that pet clothing amuses me. I don’t dress my cats now, but as a child I could frequently be found putting baby doll clothes onto my cat and then pushing the cat around in the baby doll carriage. I came across formalwear for pets on a site called CozyPetClothes that made me giggle. Yes that’s right, formalwear! I’m not talking about Oscar de la Renta or anything, but I am talking about gowns and tuxes. I thought the little outfits were pretty amusing until I saw the prices. I can’t imagine ever spending $50 or more dollars on a pet outfit. Can you?

When we got our first Himalayan kitten Nikki we wanted to get him a scratching post. All of the simple little ones I saw were $20-$25. I saw one that was almost six foot tall which was covered in carpet, built on a tree limb and had four levels that was priced at $125. It seemed the better buy so I got it. Nikki loved it. He played on that thing for years, and used it for scratching his claws. There were actually threadbare areas where he’d demolished it. We got rid of it after he passed. I would recommend any cat owner have recommend some sort of scratching furniture, to protect their home and to provide their cats with their own space.

I was surfing today, looking at different cat trees and forts. It’s amazing what’s out there now compared to twenty years ago. They make all sorts of cat furniture now, about the only thing I didn’t see was home theater seating for cats. I really like this really cool looking one, the Savvy Tabby Tree House Fort, at FreshPets for $206.99. If I were shopping for a cat tree now and had two or more cats, there’s an excellent chance I’d get this one.

 I am not a shoe lover. I despise shoe shopping because my feet are big and I can never find styles that I like that fit. I will be needing a pair of boots for the winter and will almost certainly have to shop online. With it getting colder here I’m starting to see people wearing their UGGs. I’ve always thought that Uggs look pretty warm and comfortable. The ones I like are shorter and have no zipper, I believe from their website they’re called the Short and the Mini. How easy are they to put on? I saw a new style with a zipper called the UGG Knightsbridge that has a zipper but they’re too tall and I don’t like them. Are they comfortable and durable enough to justify the expensive price? Also I have another question. Are UGGs comfortable and durable enough to justify the expensive price?I’d love to hear your replies, they might help me make my decision.

If you have an electric blanket, you might or might not be aware that pets and electric blankets don’t mix. Never put an electric blanket in your pet’s bed and don’t let them get too comfortable on yours. Your dog or cat might chew on the wire and cause electrocution. Or, a nail might accidentally damage the covering of the wire or the wire itself, making it unsafe to use. Be warm, but be safe.

If you’re a cat person and want to get a bit more exercise, consider bringing your cat along as an exercise partner. Walks are the best fat burners there are. You can train your cat to walk outdoors with you. Get your cat used to wearing a harness inside the house. Then add a leash (or rope) to the harness and let the cat walk around with it on for a few days to get used to the change in weight and feel. When he’s comfortable wearing the harness with the leash, pick up the leash and walk him around the house or yard. When your cat does well walking on the harness in the house try it in the yard during a quieter time of day. Once they’ve got that down you can try the side of a street. Bring treats.

It’s not uncommon to see flyers and ads offering Callaway golf clubs in my area, we have a couple of golf courses near here. I was surfing today and found myself wondering if there was such a thing as a pet friendly golf courses. So far I have found out about one - Belgrade Lakes in Maine. Do you know of any others? I think it’s a terrific idea, and shouldn’t be a problem if owners bring supplies to clean up. What a great walk that would be on a nice day!

This is a question for dog owners. I know they make Halloween costumes for dogs. I noticed a bunch of them in the local party store yesterday as well as some in Target. Their costumes were just clothing, there were no words on them. This week I came across an online store that carried funny t-shirts for dogs. I found myself wondering exactly who is supposed to be seeing these shirts and reading them besides the owner?

Do you receive a lot of catalogs at home that you no longer need, no longer want or never requested in the first place? I always get a little mad about the ones I didn’t request or buy from, because that’s how I know someone bought a mailing list. Catalog Choice is a free service designed to help people cut down on the amount of catalogs that they receive that they don’t want. It’s very good for your garbage and recycling piles and it’s great for the ecology. Users can create a free account. There’s a list of catalogs that work with Catalog Choice, so you mark in your profile which you want to receive and which you don’t. Not all catalogs are on the list, so it might not stop all of the unwanted catalogs you receive but it could help make a dent. Why do we even need catalogs anymore since we have the internet? Everyone knows that by the time a catalog arrives it’s out of date. I can find a better deal online for everything from CAT5e cables to zippers. Are there any catalogs you absolutely can’t do without?

My brother has this crazy tabby cat. When I opened his door today I found her and two toy alligators on the floor. For a minute I thought of the movie Toy Story, because the two toys had not been there two days before. I moved the toys and left the room with her water bowl to get fresh water. Downstairs I found that my parents had put in one of those really fancy Kohler faucets so I had to take a minute and check that out. When I finally returned to the room the alligators had been moved again. That’s when I realized she plays with them. They’re big, I think they might even be dog toys. So that’s what my brother’s cat does that’s strange. For me, my cats stand in the sink for a bath. They don’t squirm or try to run, they seem to enjoy it. We had a cat once that always tried to steal Doritos. Does your cat do anything strange?

We have a huge litter box that currently is kept in the old bathroom. It does not have a lid or dome on it. RB has been having small fits lately because one of the cats has not been doing a very good job of covering his business lately and RB doesn’t like to look at it when he’s using the toilet. He actually carried on a lot about it at the end of last week until we had a fight about the litter box. At one point he told me if the cat couldn’t cover its’ turds then he’d squat over the box and do his business and see how the cat liked looking at it. I burst out laughing when he said it and almost choked on my glass of water. If he’s going to keep coming up with these crazy things to say I might have to check my life insurance rates in case I do choke to death from bursting into sudden fits of laughter. I was almost too embarrassed to type this but it’s so funny that I had to share it. So, who uses the litter box in your house?

Did you ever go away and want to bring back a souvenir for someone but were running short of cash? If you really can’t afford to purchase souvenirs, there is an alternative. My Mom’s done this a couple of times and depending on where she’s been it’s been nice. Mom travels with her own toiletries. So when she goes away she collects all of the little toiletries and freebies from wherever she goes. Upon her return home she takes all of the items and makes cute little gift baskets with them. It’s a nice little way of bringing the place you went to back to your friend. It’s affordable and fun.Here’s a tip.The best basket my Mom has ever made had Disney products in it.

Rennie is still sleeping on the chair under the kitchen table. Shadow is now sleeping on the back of one of the dining room chairs. Now just so you know, it isn’t a wide backed chair or anything, it’s actually an old office chair that I got when my work upgraded furniture. I can’t believe he sleeps there without falling, it’s only about two inches wide. It could be worse, he could be sleeping on top of the baby bedding I’ve started getting together for my sister in law.

As cameras and other gadgets improve and get upgraded it isn’t unusual for the type of removable media that they take to change. AS time goes by families also have different gadgets and each of those might use different media. Instead of buying a card reader for one specific type of media, be sure you check out the multi slot card readers that read many types of media. These readers used to be more expensive but they’ve come way down in price. You can get a decent one now for as little as $10. Overstock has a DNJ USB 2.0 All-in-one Card Reader/ Writer on sale for half off right now at $9.99 that reads 25 different types of cards including SM, SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, CF, MD and XD picture cards. Something like this is an affordable solution for any family.