MIKITA & DAHLIA'S TIPS & FAVORITES
*All items I discuss on this page, we have tried and like. Many we use daily. Some of the items I do receive a small commission, if you purchase through the direct links provided.*
COMFORT & FUNCTION
Cats are basically professional loungers. It's our job to make sure we provide them with comfy napping spots, safe transportation and enrichment.
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Sleepypod: The Sleepypod Mobile Pet Bed is a top notch. I searched for a new carrier for awhile and this one just fits the bill. The internal space is round and domed, which is natural for how a cat would sleep. It's also soft and plush. The top zips off so it can be used as a bed in home and away. Traveling can be stressful for cats but a roomy carrier/safe space can really help. It's also crash tested, great for car travel. The top is mesh so they don't feel so confined. It all zips apart for easy cleaning and you can even buy a replacement lining if necessary. They've thought of everything. It's a bit of a splurge but something you'll have for years. It's worth the investment. Mikita has "Sky Blue".
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Litter-Robot: I always thought the Litter-Robot looked cool but once we actually got one, I don't know how we ever lived without it! If you don't mind the scooping chore, the LR might not be for you but I love that it cycles every single time so it's always clean. Awesome for single cat family homes, life changing for multi cat homes! (Use link for $50 off)
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Contempocat Elevation II dupe: Unfortunately our cat tree is no longer available but this one is very similar! It's especially great for for space saving because it utilizes vertical space without much of a footprint. It can also be put near a window and still allow light in. Oh, and you can rearrange the levels anytime you want. It's like the cat tree that keeps on changing!
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Cat Stroller: We upgraded to this stroller and love it! We like that the basket can be removed from the base and be used as a carrier or car seat. It's great quality and the stroller completely zips up so it keeps them extra safe!
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The Ultimate Scratching Post: Ok, so it's not the prettiest scratching post but its tall and Mikita loves getting up on his tippy toes to scratch to the top! The post is wide which is great for all around clawing, scratching, grabbing, climbing etc. It might be hard for your cat to get on top of the post at first but with a little help, it's totally possible. Mikita absolutely loves it so I'll put my design opinions aside.
FOOD
Mikita and Dahlia typically eat a fresh, raw, prepared diet. Anyone looking to switch, visit my transition guide! These are some brands we've tried and foods we think are better quality than most.
RAW, FREEZE DRIED & DEHYDRATED
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Darwin's Pet Food: Top Fave! We buy this directly from them, online and feed to Mikita and Dahlia most of the time. It's a fully formulated frozen raw food for cats made with muscle meat, organs and bones. Available in 3 different proteins. Their packaging seals the food into 8 oz bricks which keeps it super fresh. Eat your heart out, carnivores! Use code: Chicago 2020 for free jerky treats!
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Hare-Today: This website has whole animal grinds, meat chunks, raw meaty bones and more. Everything comes in frozen. Lots of great food for cats here. We sometimes buy their ground rabbit as a full meal for Mikita and Dahlia. This provides extra variety since rabbit is harder to come by. Mikita and Dahlia love their venison chunks. This website is also great if you're looking to make your own food. They have tons of proteins and organs. Everything is delivered to your door.
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Steve's Real Food: Frozen raw found in boutique pet supply stores. This is a high quality raw balanced cat food. They have some less common proteins, like Emu. Great for adding some unusual variety. Despite the meat being in the form of nuggets loose in a bag, the freshness is better than comparable brands.
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Small Batch: This is a good quality raw food with organically-raised meat. Defrost and serve! They have rabbit which is harder to come by. Again, their individual medallion style food in bags allows for some oxidation to occur. I'd love to see them seal their food a little differently. But they do use great ingredients and a lot of people like it.
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Tucker's Raw: Sold at some boutique pet supply stores. I like their packaging as each puck is sealed for freshness. It's a fully formulated frozen RAW food made with muscle meat, organs and bones! They add pumpkin to all their foods which is interesting. Pumpkin can be good for GI issues so if your cat has any, this might be a good one to try. The only downside is it uses High Pressure Processing (HPP), which is a pasteurization process. This process does change the texture a bit. People have mixed feelings on HPP, so if you're considering raw, this is something to keep in mind. The more processing, the less it is in it's natural state.
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Primal Pet Foods: They make fully formulated frozen raw and freeze dried meals. They also make treats, bone broths and more. Mikita likes some of their products more than others. We've noticed that their raw nuggets tend to oxidize which changes the taste a little. Mikita and Dahlia want their meat as fresh as possible! Overall, they have a good product line, but I wish they'd package their raw food differently.
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Stella & Chewy's: We occasionally buy this brand when we want to provide a little extra variety. They really bend to the consumer which is good and bad. They offer a great variety, including frozen raw, freeze dried and human grade cooked diets. But it gets confusing because they sell a kibble/freeze-dried blend. This is a slippery slope. Their kibble/freeze-dried blend might be good for transitioning, but, if you're really trying to improve your cat or dog's diet, it's not a species appropriate choice. Like Primal, their raw nuggets tend to oxidize which changes the taste a little. Mikita and Dahlia want their meat as fresh as possible! Overall, they have a good product line, but I wish they'd package their raw food differently and discontinue selling all kibble.
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Answer's Pet Food: This is a good quality raw food with organically-raised meat. Defrost and serve! We've tried this before and like Primal and Stella's, it does oxidize a bit. I know several people who like this brand. It's definitely one of the good ones, but it isn't sealed as tightly as I'd like, to hold in all the raw freshness while it's stored in the feezer.
CANNED FOODS (cooked)
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Caru: This is a fully cooked, human grade cat food. It comes in a carton but is similar to canned. They use high quality ingredients from the human food supply.
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RAWZ: This is a canned food that is high in meat content and is made without rendered ingredients or gums. They have a variety of harder to find proteins which is great for variety. They also donate their profits!
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Ziwi Peak - This is a canned food that is high in meat content. They focus on less typical proteins like lamb and venison.
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Weruva - This is a canned food that uses mostly human edible ingredients. They focus on low carb foods which is important for cats. They use too much fish in their line, in my opinion. But for a mid priced brand, there are some good options that use a lot of animal protein.
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Tiki Cat - Their canned foods are typically low in carbs. The After Dark line has more organ meats which is great for carnivores. They do have a line of raw foods but I haven't tried it.
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Canned diets: In general, we don't feed canned cat food, but I do keep some on hand to help with transitioning cats to raw. I am not as well versed in canned foods, but the better quality canned foods will have fewer carbs and whole meat ingredients.
TOYS
We love variety! From interactive, to self entertaining, to super simple, variety is key. We often put them away so that bringing them back out creates excitement!
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Sheer Fun For Cats: This is such an unusual, cool toy. So creative and simple and Mikita LOVES it! It's a great toy accompaniment. He likes to get lost in the texture, bite the crinkle edge and hide underneath. We love that we can get in on the fun too as we toss toys in, hang it on a tunnel or just lay on the floor and play! Check out our video on Instagram! And our other video!
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Kurfman Treasures: They have felt catnip toys! Mikita doesn't typically care about catnip but he goes crazy for these toys! The catnip is organic and more potent. Also, I think he loves sinking his claws into the felt and bopping them around. Here's Mikita with his Pop Tart!
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Cat Tunnel: We've had a few of these but this one is great because it's a little more attractive. It's also fantastic because it has a crinkle sounds which he loves! When we bring it out, he immediately starts running through! We love hanging the "Sheer Fun" on the end for extra crazy kitty fun!
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Cat Amazing: This is a really fun box with holes and places to put treats. There are levels so they can gain skills on how to search and fish the treats out of the box. Mikita got better at it as he used it more which is always exciting as a cat parent. It's so fun seeing them learn!
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Wand toys: These are great in general. We like to slowly inch it away as he's hiding in his cat tunnel. He'll wait, sometimes minutes, and then run and pounce! He loves being interactive with us and the wand. This is a great item to hide under #1 on the list, Sheer Fun!
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Realistic mice toys: Mikita loves those little mice toys. Some of them are made of fabric, some made of rabbit fur. He bops them around and makes sure they roll under our couch.
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Butterfly Spinner Toy: Several brands make these but this is the one we have. Mikita LOVES it! It does tend to tip as he plays with it but we just pick it back up. He will chase it, stalk it, let it bump into him over and over... He has so much fun with this and it wears him out!
TREATS
Treats are HUGE in our house. They're also healthy!
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Pure Primal: If you want top notch treats, these are them. Single ingredient, freeze dried and not your typical proteins. They have rabbit, elk liver, goat lung etc. Our cats and fosters go crazy for them and they're healthy which is great! I like buying proteins that I don't usually feed for meals. This way they are getting more variety.
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Pure Bites: This brand has a line of freeze dried treats. I'd like them to use more muscle and less liver but at least they're single ingredient. They have a line of different proteins.
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Primal's Freeze Dried Turkey Liver Munchies: The first treats Mikita went nuts over were the Liver Munchies. They have a couple other single ingredient treats in their line as well.