Are you a cat mom, or wanting to be a future cat mom? If so, you are in the right place! I’m about to share with you all of our tried and true cat products from food, to litter, to toys, and more! I’d definitely consider myself an expert now that we have 6 cats! What?! Oh Lord, when did that happen?! We now have Gracie Mae, Squishy, Fitzgerald, Gatsby and our two outdoor neighborhood kitties Max and Mia, that are now ours. If you’ve been following my instagram stories then you’ve already seen the amazing cat house Pat is building for them. He’s actually in the garage sawing away as I type this. Max & Mia are siblings and if you’ve seen my cat highlights you know how much they adore each other and cuddle each other every night in their heated house we have for them. We didn’t know if they would stick around since they liked to wander but after we started feeding them everyday they have never left. So that’s when we decided to claim them as ours and Pat got to building their fancy, bigger cat house. Max is friendly only with us and loves to be pet but is scared of everyone else. Mia still is feral and won’t let us pet her but she sits right next to me and Max while I pet him. Every once in awhile she will let me get a quick pet in, only while she is eating but she still doesn’t like it. Max has already been trapped and released (fixed) and we have an appointment set for Mia to get fixed. We are also going to get them both microchipped. Our four other indoor only kitties are microchipped and I can’t recommend that enough! Pets have been reunited with their owners years after being missing thanks to the microchipping technology. Okay now lets get into all of my favorite products for our sweet fur babies!
I think I’ll start with cat litter. We have tried them ALL over the past 12 years and I mean them all! We finally heard about Ever Clean Cat Litter tried it and NEVER went back. It is the absolute best! This stuff works so well people come over and say I would never even know you had cats if I didn’t see them walking around. Which as you know is the best thing any cat parent can hear!
While on the topic of litter lets talk about my favorite litter box. No, they aren’t all the same. This one is our favorite. It is deep, and hooded, and very spacious for kitty. If you have a large cat this box is a complete must have, but it is also great for our average size kitties too! It also comes with a flap for the kitties to walk in and out of; our cats weren’t a fan of that (or they couldn’t seem to figure it out) but it was super easy to take off. We have two of these cat litter boxes, they last and are durable. Make sure you are cleaning your litter box a minimum of once a day and also completely clean and change it out once every two weeks. And if you are looking for more of a decor look instead of just a litter box in the laundry room we also loved this one. If you have average size, or small cats it’s perfect, but it was just too small for our 19 lb Squishy. That’s why we switched to the one mentioned above.
Next up is this awesome cat litter mat it is the best! Does your kitty trail litter all over your floor after he/she jumps out of the box? Well not anymore! This magical thing traps all of that extra litter so your floors will now stay super clean! It also is the easiest to clean just pick up and and empty the extra litter into the trash can. Such a great invention! Obsessed!
So now that the issue of cat litter trailing everywhere is resolved lets fix your issue of cat hair everywhere! First up is one of my most recent finds. If you are like me you probably have a million lint rollers all over your house and are constantly lint rolling your chairs, couches, bed, ottomans, etc. well lint roll no more because I just found your new game changer! This thing is your new life saver! No more ripping off sticky lint roll sheets, this thing will clean all the cat hair off of your furniture in one back and forth swipe and holds it all until it gets full and you have to empty it. I saw a girl talking about it on youtube and thought, where has this been my whole life?! I also thought, this thing sounds too good to be true. Nope it is the real deal! This might just be my favorite product of all! You will definitely be thanking me later!
Now for the cat hair all over your floor I have another saving grace for you! You do not need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a robot vacuum. I promise. This vacuum is inexpensive and works just as good as the expensive ones. Trust me, I did tons of research on it. It was another one of those is this too good to be true, but nope it wasn’t it works amazing and we have had it for years! It doesn’t miss a spot, and all you have to do is set a timer and it will go off at that time and you don’t have to do a thing except empty it every few days. It’s the BEST! We loved it so much we got one for my parents too!
Now to help kitty keep a shiny, pretty coat and also to help keep down the amount of shedding is THIS. It is the best deshedding brush for cats! I was blown away the first time I used it!
If your kitty needs a trip to the vet or you are going on a trip this carrier is great! I love how you can put your cat in through the top or the side; makes it a lot easier for you, if you have a cat that hates being put in the carrier. Side note, if you have a soft pair of pj pants or a soft sweater put it in the bottom of the carrier for your kitty. It will be a comfort for your cat, they will be soothed because it is covered in your scent. We always leave out sweatshirts that we have recently worn, out on the bed and chairs before we leave on a trip and love seeing them laying on them when we watch on our cat cams.
Speaking of cat cams, these cameras are the BEST! They come in a pack of three and if I were to tell you how many packs we have ordered you would think we were actual cat crazed lunatics. Whatever, we are helicopter parents, it is what it is. We have had these for years and they still work as well as the day we got them! And if you are handy or have a handy S.O. you can easily make them hidden cameras. But beware, you might be shocked at what you will see. You can watch them live at any time, record at anytime, and also hear everything at all times. You can even talk through the cams if you want. They literally do it all! We are thankful to have finally found the most amazing pet sitter ever and could not live without her! She treats our babies like they are her own and doesn’t go through our stuff, which is a win in my book.
Lets talk cat food. Our cat Squishy had his first urinary issue when we let a dog come in our house. He freaked out and then just shortly after he peed on the bed, and then would jump in and out of the litter box as if he had a UTI, we rushed him to the Emergency Vet and I’m so grateful we got there when we did because if we had waited he could have had a blockage and he could have died. This is a common thing in male cats and is very serious. I have a friend whos friend has a cat that had to have gender reassignment surgery because her cat had so many issues with it. I didn’t even know about blockages until this vet visit. The vet gave him pain meds, and an anti-inflammatory shot and he was pretty much like new as soon as we got home. That shot was a lifesaver! But then shortly after the dog incident our alarm in our house went off and it was LOUD it completely freaked him out and he had the same issue, we rushed him to the vet again and he had his anti-inflammatory shot and he was good as new; but we were worried this was going to keep happening. Let it be known if your cat is having accidents etc. most of the time it is you. You need to change the environment to make your cat feel less stressed. Give your cat safe places to go where it won’t be bothered by other people, kids, or animals. Show them love, affection, and attention. Cat perches are a great way for cats to retreat and feel safe. I’ll share those next. Now back to Squishy, we were worried things were going to keep triggering his urinary issue and feared it might happen while we were on vacation so our vet told us we should try putting him on a new food and suggested this food and it has been a God send. He hasn’t had an issue since we put him on it. And our alarm has gone off since and no issue. Obviously we don’t let dogs in our house anymore, but there have been fireworks, thunderstorms, and alarms, even the smoke detector (whoops) and he has been completely fine!
Now does your cat struggle with a lot of hairballs/throwing up? Our cats did. Then our vet saved the day again by suggesting this. You put the smallest amount in some wet food for them (I recommend blue buffalo wilderness wet food) once a week and that’s it! They hardly ever throw up now! It is a life saver!
Our cats also enjoy treats, and these are their favorite!
So as I was saying earlier cats need to have a safe place. A place just for them, away from the hustle and bustle and a place where they can look out the window is great. Every cat loves being able to look outside and watch the wildlife. This cat perch is their favorite and it is such a steal for the size! It has it all, toys to play with, houses to go in, perches to lay in, scratching posts to scratch. Everything! Now if you are looking for something small this one is also great! It is the perfect height for them to see out the window. Also this one is a great option if you are looking for a window sill cat perch. They all love all three of these perches and I definitely recommend them all!
To make their life as indoor prisoners even more entertaining get them this. Our cats love watching the birds come and go from the window. They truly never get bored with this, they sit and watch them every day.
Now for toys, because you can’t ever have enough of those! Our cats love this feather toy. I think all cats do really. They also loved this interactive toy for a long time, which is now being enjoyed by the kitties at the humane society. It’s such a cool toy and our cats went nuts for it. Here is another toy that they love and never get tired of, they have so much fun finding the balls and getting them out, and I have fun praising them like they are actually human toddlers that just figured out a puzzle. Now this toy is Fitz’s personal fave, and he will run around this thing for the longest time playing with it and trying to catch the yellow feather toys that pop out, it is adorable. They all love this little butterfly toy and it’s so cute watching them jump to catch it. This squeaking mouse toy is a fan fave in our house and it is so fun watching them hunt the fake mouse. I love watching their wild instincts come out and this toy definitely does that. This triple ball toy is everyone’s favorite. They will play with this thing for hours!! It’s honestly a must have! And lastly is another favorite of theirs, it’s a scratcher and ball toy combined this one and the one I just mentioned are definitely two of their absolute favorites!
Most cats love to be enclosed so this little cozy cat house will become your cats favorite place for a cat nap. They all love this house and take turns using it everyday! For the cat that loves cardboard boxes and scratching this fun house is the best of both worlds!
Most cats absolutely LOVE running water, and LOVE drinking from running taps like the sink or bathtub. This waterbowl is such a hit in our house. I don’t have to worry about remembering to turn the sink or bathtub off and they have constant fresh running water. Empty daily and put fresh water in it, and clean thoroughly once a week. If your cats aren’t a fan of running water these marble bowls are so pretty! I love them!
Now a total must have are these. Put them where they can be clearly seen, so firefighters can see them before entering the home. AKA find all 4 of my cats BEFORE you find me or you are going to wish you had. These are things you don’t even want to think about but a parent must be prepared for any circumstance.
Speaking of being overprotective and prepared for anything, our cats as I said before are indoor only, does that mean just because they never go outside they shouldn’t have collars? No. They all wear their collars everyday and they are all microchipped. Now, we take every precaution necessary for them to never get out, EVER, and they never have. (Except of course for walks around the neighborhood in their stroller) Yep, we are those people. Gracie Mae is the only one we allow on the porch with us because in 12 years she never leaves our side, and we never leave her unattended. Long story short microchip your pets and make sure they have a collar with an up to date ID tag. These collars are the ones we use. I love how they are personalized with their name and our phone number. They are even reflective, and they are breakaway, which is of upmost importance. You don’t want to hear the stories of non-breakaway collars on cats. Horror. Also why microchipping is so important. I know I’m sounding pushy about that but trust me, one day it could be a miracle if your pet goes missing.
Lastly if you are taking care of feral cats in your neighborhood this outdoor heated cat house is the absolute best! We first got it when Fitz showed up in our backyard, and the second we put it out for him he was in it just minutes later, and then we used it again when Gatsby showed up in our backyard, and same thing, as soon as we put it out for her she was in it. And now you have seen my stories of Max and Mia in it every night together cuddling. So that is literally 4 for 4! You can unplug it in the summer so then it is just a cozy house without the heat. Honestly, if you are taking care of outside cats it isn’t even a question it is a MUST HAVE unless of course you have built one yourself.
Whew! That was A LOT!!! If you made it through you deserve a gold star. I just love our kitties SOOOOOOO much and thought it would be helpful to every other cat mom out there to hear about what works best for our fur fam! Now go give your kitty a treat and some extra pets and tell them how much you love them!
*Cat food and hairball remedy should be discussed first with your veterinarian before use*
XoXo,
Lauren