New "Give Litter" Campaign and Our Chaser Contest Winner!!

World's Best Cat Litter™has launched its newest "Give Litter" campaign and voting will be running through Monday.

It would be wonderful if you would get involved and vote in this worthwhile cause.  Share it with your friends so they will vote, too.  Even if the shelter you vote for isn't near you, you'll know that you'll be helping kitties who really need it!

Here's the link to the voting area of the website:
http://www.worldbestcatlitter.com/givelitter/

World's Best Cat Litter also has a Facebook page where there is a voting area:
https://www.facebook.com/worldsbestcatlitter/app_450722531630543

And now for the news you've been waiting for!  We've had some wonderful entries in the contest this week to win a copy of CHASER Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words by John W. Pilley with Hilary Hinzmann, published by Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt who are providing the winner's copy of this wonderful book.

I wish everyone could win a copy but, alas, no such luck.  Only one winner could be chosen. And that winner is:

Hombre McClanahan

Please contact me via my Website: http://www.darlenearden.com.  There is a link there to contact me directly. I will e-mail you the form that you will have to fill out for the publisher so they will send the book directly to you.  Congratulations!

Adopt a Cat Month & A Contest

Yes, it's June and we're well into Adopt a Cat Month. This is a good time to remember that so many cats are available for adoption now.  Not only is Kitten Season in full swing but shelters are full of cats who simply will not survive if they're not adopted.  And all of the kittens push the wonderful older cats aside as they fill the shelters. There's nowhere for those cats to go but to be put to death in kill shelters. 

I've already told you how I feel about the people who rush in after an older relative has died and take everything but abandon, or throw into a shelter, that person's one source of love and companionship. Often they don't even show up to visit but manage to find their way there to take what they can after death except for that living, breathing, loving, sentient being.  Then there are the cats whose owners can't afford to keep them thanks to the current economy.

Photo of Taffy by Diane Smith

If you have room in your home and your heart, and can afford food, litter, toys and veterinary care, I hope you'll consider adopting a cat or two this month. No matter if you take an adult cat or a kitten or two home, you'll be saving a life and bringing untold happiness into your own life.

You can go to www.petfinder.com Or you can find breed rescue if you want a pedigreed cat who has lost her home.  You can search using the name of the breed + rescue.

Please remember that there are colonies of feral cats who consider where they are their home. The best way to help these kitties is Trap, Neuter, Return. By neutering them and returning them to their colony, they can live their lives in peace and not reproduce. This has been found to be the most effective way to handle the situation. The people who do TNR also make sure that the cats have shelter, food and water. For more information please point your browser to Alley Cat Allies: www.alleycat.org

Photo of Alana by Claire Clayton

Every cat deserves a wonderful, loving family of his or her own, whether it's feral cats with their clowder of other feral cats or an unowned cat who is available for adoption. The cats you see pictured here are both adopted. Taffy was born outdoors and raised for her first weeks by a veterinarian before she was adopted and is now living indoors only with all the love (and toys!) a kitty could ever want.

Alana was found wandering in a field. She was a young cat and adopted by a first-time cat owner. She lives with two dogs and has no problem getting alone with them.  Of course, it's likely that it's Alana who rules the dogs!  But everyone is happy, loved and content.

Now for something Special for some lucky person who adopts a cat.
The nice people at The World's Best Cat Litter will send a coupon to a reader of PerPETuallySpeaking who adopts a kitty during Adopt a Cat Month.  Leave a message on this post and one winner will be chosen at random at the end of the month!

If you think about it, during Adopt a Cat Month, EVERYONE wins - because they have a wonderful new family member and a kitty or two will have a new home and will live!

Welcome to April &WBCL Contest Winners!

It's April First, the major holidays, Easter and Passover, have come and gone, early this year and with many of us still looking at snow on our lawns. It's Spring on the calendar and we hope for warm weather and gentle days.

This is the time of year when we start making changes, airing things out, getting a new lease on life. This is also kitten and puppy season when many little ones are born, a great deal of them unexpected. If you're planning to add a pet to your home be certain that you are ready for the responsibility. Do you have time, money and resources to adopt or buy a new family member? Are you ready to commit to this puppy or kitten for its entire life? Will you do the proper care taking, training, overseeing every aspect of mental and physical development?  Think long and hard. And if you opt for a pet, that newcomer may be healthy now but accidents happen and so do illnesses. Either purchase pet insurance from a reliable company - be sure to compare policies to see which will be best suited to you and be sure it's one that your veterinarian accepts. Many people put more thought into buying a new car than they do into bringing home a new pet.  This shouldn't be an impulsive decision. All babies are cute but babies grow up, tend to be mischievous. There's a lot to consider. We'll be revisiting this topic if you are interested. Just a little food for thought.

I know that many of you are wondering who won the World's Best Litter new Forest Scent Litter contest.

I promised that there would be five winners, thanks to the generosity of World's Best Litter. Here are the winners who were chosen at random.  Thanks to everyone who entered!  Drum roll, please!

1.  Nancy Dionne

2.  Carolyn Kristof

3.  Barbara Brill

4.  Lucy Londoner

5  Sue Janson

Please contact me through my website (www.darlenearden.com), just the way you entered, and send me your mailing address so I can send it on to the company. You will each receive two 6-pound bags of World's Best Cat Litter Forest Scent litter.  

Passover, Easter & A Contest!

Happy Passover to my readers who are celebrating this week. I suspect many dogs and cats are getting a "taste" of matzo, gefilte fish and maybe a little chicken. 

And a Happy Easter to my readers who are celebrating this weekend. Another group of dogs and cats who will be enjoying special treats. Just be sure they don't have an opportunity to eat chocolate which is going to make them sick and can be lethal. Remember that Lilies are toxic to cats. If you must have lilies, make them imitation ones because no "safe" place is really safe from a curious kitty!  Be very careful that neither your dogs nor your cats get anywhere near that pretty shredded plastic that often fills  Easter Baskets.  

With a little thought and care your pets can enjoy a safe holiday, whichever one you celebrate!

Now for some exciting news.  You'll remember that last week I told you about The World's Best Cat Litter's new Forest Scent litter.

I'm NOT paid by World's Best Cat Litter but they did give me a bag to sample which I shared with my petsitter and she shared with a co-worker, each of whom has a multi-cat household.  Well, now it can be YOUR turn to try it. Thanks to The World's Best Cat Litter, five of my lucky cat-owning readers in the U.S. are going to win a sample of The World's Best Cat Litter Forest Scent!  Just send me a message via my website (http://www.darlenearden.com).  The winners will be announced here on my blog on Monday, April 1st. This is not an April Fool's Day joke - it's the real thing!  I hope you're as excited as I am by this opportunity!  You can't win if you don't enter so get those entries in!  

NOTE: This contest is NOT open to other World's Best Cat Litter CATvocates since they have already been given the opportunity to sample the new Forest Scent Litter.  

World's Best Mystery Litter Revealed

It's no secret that my cat, Aimee, has been using World's Best Cat Litter ever since I brought her home. She likes, I like it. We're happy.  Although she's an "only" cat in my house I like their Multi Cat formula. Aimee likes it just as much as the original.

Recently, World's Best Cat Litter announced the coming of a new "mystery" litter. I was one of the cat bloggers chosen to test the litter and then write about it, announcing their newest litter to cat owners everywhere.  I thought a really fair test would involve more than one cat.

Ike
Photo by Mary Slaney

I gave my sample bag of the (drumroll please!) new Forest Scent to my petsitter, veterinary technician, Mary Slaney, who has two cats and 4 dogs at her house.  She set up an extra litterbox with the new litter and her cats Ike and Huckleberry Pie  known to her friends as Pie, went right in. There was no hesitation about using the new iitter.  Three of the dogs ignored it but little year-old Vinnie, was entirely too attracted to it; he wanted to eat it. His fascination would mean that any small dog living with a cat would have to be prevented from access to the litterbox. You don’t want any dog to have an abdominal obstruction so keep the litterbox inaccessible to any small dogs. For that matter, keep litterboxes inaccessible to larger dogs, too. Dogs tend to surf the litterbox as if it were a buffet. 

Huckleberry Pie (Pie)
Photo by Mary Slaney

Mary shared the litter with her co-worker, Nancy, who has several cats.  This would be the ultimate test.  Would more than two be attracted to the litter?  Nancy often uses World’s Best Cat Litter’s Multiple Cat formula and her cats seemed to like the smell of the new litter and used it immediately. The multi-cat homes would, of course, do better with a multi-cat formula.

Mary brought me a small plastic bag of  the litter so I could smell it. The woodsy scent was subtle but apparent, sort of like cedar.  I put it in one of Aimee’s litterboxes, mixing it through with her other World’s Best, and she took to it  immediately.  Aimee loves World's Best Cat Litter.

World's Best Cat Litter
new Forest Scent

There seem to be many paws up for World’s Best Cat Litter’s new Forest Scent.  It's available in 6 lb., 12 lb. and 24 lb. bags and should be on store shelves on April 1st.

Disclosure: I am not paid by World's Best Cat Litter. I received a sample bag 

to test as reported above. The results of that test are

in the blog post.

World Spay Day & Catvocacy

World Spay Day has come and gone. I chose to wait until after the event to write about this annual push for spaying and neutering pets because I have some very specific views on it.

World Spay Day was started by the actress/singer Doris Day and was originally called Spay Day U.S.A. She had someone lobbying in Washington for spay/neuter.  While there are excellent reasons to spay and neuter the zealots have gone too far. I can hear them screaming at me now because I dared to say that.  Let me be more specific. I expect my readers to be reasonable and not scream before trying to understand what I'm saying.

I am, without doubt, an advocate for spaying and neutering pets. I believe that some of the pet overpopulation talk is not valid in many places. For example, where I live the shelters import pets not just from other States but from outside the 48 contiguous States. One shelter had to be closed because the dogs they brought in from another country had brought disease with them, and I don't mean kennel cough.  

We have too many mixed breed dogs and in that I include the "designer" breeds. These are not purebred dogs. They don't have a set breed type, nor will they. Nor are those alleged breeders likely to do genetic health testing before breeding. They are the result of someone wanting a quick buck.  Those dogs and puppies should be spayed and neutered.

There are also health reasons for spaying and neutering. A female has zero chance of getting breast cancer if she's spayed before her first heat. The longer the owner waits, the higher the chances of cancer developing. Neutering male dogs completely eliminates testicular cancer. And males are less likely to roam. Neutered males may, or may not, continue to lift their leg when urinating.

All are excellent reasons to spay and neuter. There is no need for a dog or cat to have a litter first. They do have every chance of complications during birth and some die.  As for those who want to show their children "the miracle of life," there are videos available and they won't add to the pet population.

That said, let's remember that there is nothing wrong and everything right with purebred dogs and cats who are bred by ethical responsible breeders who do the necessary health screenings before breeding, socialize their puppies and kittens, keep the litter together with their mother for at least three months and then carefully place their puppies or kittens in carefully selected homes with responsible owners who are ready, willing and able to keep those pets for his or her entire life. And the responsible, ethical breeder will take back a dog or cat of their breeding, no matter how old. They created that life and are always ultimately responsible for it.  

It's quite likely that I will explore these topics in future blog posts.  There's far too much for just one post. The point is to be fair to everyone and respect all life. 

On another note. I'm pleased to tell you that I have been selected as a Catvocate by World's Best Cat Litter.  This is an honor as only a limited number of cat writers/bloggers were chosen. It represents that we are dedicated to bringing good information to cat owners. 

Let me be clear, I'm not paid by World's Best Cat Litter. That said, it is the litter that my cat, Aimee (GP Sinaye's Plaisir D'Amour of Ajolie) uses. It's the substrait she prefers. It would, therefore, have been accurate if Aimee had been named a Catvocate. She's well-mannered, intelligent and certainly knows all there is to know about cats. She's doing a good job of helping round out my education.

As a Certified Animal Behavior Consultant (both cats and dogs), I am dedicated to making life better for our companions. It's the least we can do for them when they do so much for us!