With four cats competing for the “best” perch locations, I decided to add two tall perches to the cat furniture collection.
Tilly was enjoying her favorite spot in a perch we already had, and she didn’t get upset when Molly and Pearl came to investigate the new perch on the left. They all settled in for a nap. Of course, they’re all facing away from the camera!
Tilly, Molly, and Pearl in the perches.
Tilly, Molly, and Pearl relaxing in the perches
The second perch arrived yesterday, and the kittens were quick to make sure we assembled it correctly. I ordered this model because they all enjoy the curvy beds on our existing perches.
Molly and Pearl making sure the new perch was assembled correctly.
The new perch area has lots of places for playing, napping, and hopefully peaceful sharing. I always place multiple perches next to each other because it’s easier for the cats to get up and down. Molly has wonky back legs and can’t jump well, so this makes it easier and safer for her to climb.
Molly on the Lounger cat tree
I’ll start a review by saying you just can’t find high quality perches like the ones I purchased years ago. Those were very sturdy, had spacious deep beds, nice quality carpet, and were not prone to tipping. Sigh… gone are “the good old days”.
Both new perches are made by New Cat Condos and purchased from Wayfair .com (no affiliation). The perch on the left is a 63-inch Staggered cat tree for $110. The curved beds are “curvier” than our existing perches, but I’m hoping the cats like them. It also tips easily, but I’ve placed it between the wall, couch, and other perch so it’s more stable. If used alone, I’d mount it to a larger base or add a 25-30 pound weight on the base to prevent tipping. The posts and beds are not as robust as our other perches, and it has short carpeting.
The center perch is a 61-inch Lounger cat tree for $130. It’s sturdy and has shaggy carpet. I think it will be a favorite.
The perch on the right was purchased a while ago from Petsmart. I can’t find these anymore, because the new ones have a round bed at the top and this one is oval shaped. Tilly loves it and I wish I could find another. Lots of online comments have said the same thing (bring back the oval bed!)
Compared to what we can find in local pet stores, I think our two new perches were a good find.
Wolfie is obsessed with drinking from the faucet, so we purchased three water fountains to try to satisfy his need for running water.
Cat Mate – Plastic Dog & Cat Fountain, 67.6 ounce
My Lovely Feline – The Magic Feline Fountain
Catit – Flower Plastic Cat Fountain, 100 ounce
Cat Mate, Magic Feline, and Catit-Flower Fountains with “Max” our photo stand-in.
Things I like about each fountain
The Cat Mate has multiple places for the cats to drink, some with water moving faster than others.
The Cat Mate is very easy to keep filled. I just dump a glass of water in the lowest level. It has a very long 118 inch power cord with inline connector, so there’s no problem with the cord reaching an outlet. The fountain can be disconnected with about 1 foot of cord, and carried to the sink for cleaning without having to wrangle the entire cord.
In comparison, the other fountains have much shorter cords. The Magic Feline cord is 47 inches, while the Catit cord is 39 inches. Because of the way the cords plug in, both can be placed a little over 2 feet from the outlet when you run the cord against a wall.
Cleaning the Cat Mate is easy because there aren’t many nooks and crannies. The top and base go together easily and there’s a slot for the filter.
The Magic Feline is sleek and eye-catching.
A stem provides 2 waterfalls, and there’s a small puddle at the base of the stem. If you look at the side of the bowl and the counter, you can see a lot of water splashes. More on that later.
It’s a bit of a chore to clean and reassemble, and you must pour slowly into the top when topping off the water. This fountain comes with a 2 year warranty and the company seems to have a strong focus on on “community” and offers some pet education resources.
The Catit holds a lot of water and the flower stem provides multiple little waterfalls. You can remove the flower stem and the water just bubbles. Changing the way the water flows may come in handy if Tilly gets bored of the waterfalls.
It’s a bit fussy to clean and reassemble, and you have to pour water in slowly to top off or the water will hit the flower and splash everywhere.
Tilly enjoys drinking from it, but Wolfie isn’t very interested.
What I don’t like about each fountain
The Cat Mate fountain is a functional, utilitarian fountain and I can’t find any negatives. Well, they could have been more creative with the PET MATE label on the front.
The Magic Feline fountain – unfortunately, there are a few things I find annoying.
It costs twice that of the other fountains, but the kittens’ Dad thought Wolfie would like it, so we indulged him. Wolfie drinks from it, so I guess that’s a positive.
The cord and USB power adapter are a bit limiting. The power adapter protrudes 3 inches from the wall. I can’t put this fountain on our small bathroom counter because the adapter sticks out too far and the cats bump into it. I could swap it out with an adapter that has the USB plug on the side, but that would still be a tight fit (and it’s not what the fountain came with for this review).
As far as I can tell, the canister-style filters for this fountain are available only from the company. You must use the filter because it supports the upper tray of the fountain. Each filter is $10 and I have no idea how long it lasts. You can’t see inside the filter to check if it looks gunky.
The other fountains have filters available from major retailers.
Remember the water splashes I mentioned above. Well, water ends up everywhere. Imagine the top of an apple with a drain at the core. Lapping from the waterfall causes water to splash around the top, run down the outside of the fountain and collect around the base. You absolutely need to place this fountain on a water-safe surface or use a waterproof mat (which the company sells).
The Catit – flower Unfortunately, the filter sits just beneath the upper lid so the water level must be very high to keep the filter submerged. I have to add water every day to keep it topped off. This is also the noisiest of the three fountains.
The Verdict
All of the fountains work as advertised and Wolfie and Tilly enjoy drinking from them.
We’ve had a bit of positivity with Raven this past week. We found another food that she enjoys and doesn’t upset her system. It’s Rawz rabbit pâté. It has a well-blended consistency that she prefers.
She’s eaten rabbit-based food for a long time. Usually she eats Instinct Original Grain-Free Pâté Real Rabbit Recipe or sometimes I crack open a can of Ritzy’s Rabbit and smush the heck out of the chunks so she will eat it.
Her vet recommended we add probiotics to her diet, so while we were at the pet store getting that, we found the Raws rabbit pâté. It’s a high-quality food with no other animals proteins, and I like that it doesn’t have the montmorillonite clay that’s in the Instinct food.
The Rawz food seems to have perked up her appetite.
Nom, nom, nom.
I lucked into a photo with her tongue out! That’s not her name tag, it’s her tongue.
Unfortunately, Rawz rabbit food is nearly impossible to find and we don’t have any more. The pet store rep said something about “shortages” but didn’t know exactly why. I found a case at on online retailer in San Francisco and ordered it this morning. They said it ships within 24 hours, so I should have it in a few days.
When we have the next generation of kitties, I plan to feed them a food that isn’t a pain in the paw to find! Fancy Feast, here we come!
Purrs to everyone. I hope you have a great week and maybe get out a little more (safely of course).
p.s. I purchase everything and don’t have any ads or affiliations or do sponsored reviews.
Due to my allergies, Mom has been reluctant to change anything in the house, including the brand of litter I use. But she’s fed up with the current brand and decided to try a new cat litter.
Out with the old – Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat scoopable
We’ve used Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat scoopable litter for years, but it doesn’t seem to work as well as it used to.
Clumps never get really hard or dry. Clumps that are against the side or bottom don’t come off the pan, and getting them off makes a sticky mess on the scooper and lots of broken pieces in the litter pan.
It’s so dusty that Mom refills my litter pan outside. She sets up a big fan to blow across the litter stream as she pours from a foot or two above the litter pan. A noticeable coating of dust blows onto the ground around the litter pan. Even after that, there’s plenty of dust in the bathroom.
Mom read some online reviews and other have made the same criticisms about Precious Cat litter. Maybe the clay is coming from a different area or it’s being processed differently. Whatever the reason, it’s not what we want in a litter.
What we want in a clay litter
Hard clumping & easy scooping
Unscented
Reasonably low dust
In with the new – Fresh Step Ultra Unscented
After reading some reviews, Mom decided to try Fresh Step Ultra Unscented litter. She used Fresh Step years ago and liked it, so we’re giving it another try.
Mom bought a 25 pound box on sale for $9.99.
She poured the entire box into a litter pan and was amazed at how little dust wafted up. She did it outside, just in case there was lots of dust, but there wasn’t any. This is a litter she’d feel comfortable pouring inside the house.
As for clumping, this litter is making harder & drier clumps that are easier to scoop. So far, only one of my pees was against the side of the pan, but it came off easily. Hopefully that continues.
I think this might be our new favorite litter and Mom will have to buy more while its still on sale.
Mom bought a 25 pound box on sale for $9.99.
Indulged Furries 