portable carpet cleaner

Now that we are living in an apartment with carpet everywhere it made sense to get a carpet cleaner, especially now that we've been feeding the cats wet food. (Wet food hork is a completely different deal than dry food hork! Yikes!!) We were going through bottles of the spray carpet stain remover and rolls of paper towels. I decided to go with a portable one rather than an upright, because it seemed more versatile, like being able to clean the cat trees, human furniture, etc. I also wanted something that I could easily grab and go at the sound of hork.

I did a little research and decided on the Bissell SpotClean™ Pro Portable Carpet Cleaner 3624. I bought it directly from Bissell.com for $109.00 and free shipping (the list price is $129 and I took advantage of a sale of $20 off). On Amazon.com, it's also $129 and free shipping with Prime.

It's a relatively small unit when all closed up.

It has the clean water tank up front and the dirty tank in the back. In the clean tank you put in a capful of the cleaner mix with the clean hot water. (It comes with a small bottle of cleaner). There are some carpet cleaners that will heat the cleaning solution for you, that seemed silly to me (another part to break or wear out), why not just use hot water to start with?! On this unit, I like that the clean water tank is designed to sit flat on a surface when upside down and being filled - the human factor engineer  who designed that gets a gold star. 

It's not very heavy too, which is nice.

I used it to spot clean some work-stains on the rug in Oliver's room and to clean the cat tree, that has been in desperate need for a cleaning for some time. But, before you can use the carpet cleaner, you have to use the traditional suck-monster to get all the furs and other stuff up first.

Many reviewers complain that the debris gets caught in the clear plastic piece on the cleaning tools and there is no way to really clean it without using something to fish out the yuck. Those reviewers are very much correct, as well engineered as this device is, this bit is just plain stupid. If you are not going to make it cleanable, then why have it clear plastic so we can see how gross it is in there?! (Design engineer just lost their gold star.) 

The cleaner did a fantastic job on cleaning the carpet stains and the cat tree. 

Some reviewers complained about the noise of this machine. I didn't experience it to be any louder than a regular vacuum. The cats didn't get scared of it like they do a real life suck-monster.

Top of the dirty tank.

Another annoying design shortcoming is cleaning the debris from the top of the dirty water tank. There is a small filter on there to help separate out the chunks (cat fur), which makes sense. What doesn't make sense is that they didn't make it easy to get the debris out of there. Again, needing to poke with a tool - it's not a huge deal, just annoying. Once that stuff was out, it's pretty easy to dump the dirty water and rinse out the top and bottom parts. 

In the picture above, you'll notice on the top left, the nasty gray dirty water. All that nasty was on the rug and the cat tree - yuck! 

Oliver enjoying the freshly cleaned cat tree!

I had one problem when using it, the sprayer part leaked quite a bit when I wasn't activating the sprayer. It only did so for maybe half the job and then stopped, not sure what that was about, definitely something I'll keep an eye on. Many reviewers mention that the hose eventually breaks just on the base of the tool handle. Seeing how this is designed, I can easily see how this will happen, especially as the unit ages and the hose gets more brittle. Even knowing that in advance, I thought this was still the device to get. It comes with a 2-year limited warranty, so I can see how Bissell responds to the hose breaking and/or engineer my own fix when that time comes.

I am very, very pleased with how this device gets the carpets clean. It has a lot of amazing suck-power, so it gets up a lot of the water after cleaning. The cat tree is just like new and the ancient nasty carpet stains are no more thanks to the Bissell SpotClean™ Pro!  I'll keep using it and will post an updated review if my opinion changes - for now, it's a winner!  Yah for clean carpets and clean kitty furniture!!!

Gotta try out all the clean kitty tree perches

Camped out in it's sleeping spot (closet).

One more little thing to note - the unit comes with two tools, a Stain Tool and a 6" Stair Tool. I only used the smaller stain tool. One little annoying thing is that there is no on-board storage for the extra tool. I decided to play it safe and banished the stair tool to live in a different part of the closet for fear it would cavort with the stain tool and come after me in the night. 

Theo could care less about carpet cleaners

* There is no disclaimer regarding this review because I purchased it with my hard earned money with no assistance from anyone associated with the manufacturer, their agents, family, friends, or non-friends.

SureFlap Microchip Pet Door

At the start of this year I shared with you my challenge of trying to keep Oliver and his family safe during the nights. I had started bringing Oliver in at night or locking him on the back porch so he couldn't fight with the other neighborhood cats in the night. The problem was by doing this, his family couldn't be with him overnight. Pierre and MK both adore Oliver but being ferals, they keep their distance from me. So, I needed a solution that would allow Oliver to be locked away and yet would allow Pierre and MK to visit at their will.

I discovered the SureFlap Microchip Pet Door, which is a programmable pet door. It can selectively allow cats to enter by scanning their microchip as they stick their head near the door. And it has curfew mode, where you can program a time that will allow authorized cats to enter but not leave again until the pre-programmed time. My hope was that this would solve my problem. They are a bit pricey, but after saving all year, guess what I got?!

Introducing the latest bit of technology installed on Oliver's back porch - the SureFlap Microchip Pet Door!

I installed it through the wall, next to the existing, old-school guillotine cat door. I left the existing door because I wanted options and I had the space.

On the outside, I installed a larger shelf so the cats could access both doors and have room to navigate around the flap that would swing out on the SureFlap.

The manufacturer makes a smaller model called the CatFlap, but it doesn't have the curfew mode and it's made for a small to average size cat, which means it wouldn't fit Oliver! They also make what they call a "Dual Scan Cat Door" which is the same size as the CatFlap but has the ability to scan microchips both coming and going, so you can program which cats can enter and which can leave. The Pet Door only allows you to selectively choose which cats can enter. The idea is to keep undesired cats or raccoons from coming into your house. I wish they made the Pet Door but with Dual Scan option, that would be the best choice.

Programming the unit is fairly straight forward. It comes with a large manual, but the bulk of it is the same information presented in multiple languages.

The door's memory can remember up to 32 different microchips, wowza! I think that means I can get more cats! Oliver is already microchipped, but I haven't gotten Pierre or MK chipped yet. Thankfully, the door has the option to function as just a non-discriminating pet door with curfew mode, with this setup any animal can enter at any time but animals can't leave during the programmed curfew time (8:30pm to 6am). I'm still planning to get MK and Pierre chipped so I can use the scanning feature, I just need to gather the gumptions to trap them and get it done.

Installation was fairly easy. The challenge was going to be how to teach feral cats to use a cat door! When the door is closed it has strong magnets that pull the door to the plumb position, so the cats have to push hard enough to overcome that magnetic pull. My regular cat door has a magnetic closer to but this one is way stronger, which is great for making sure the door is in the proper place so the locking mechanisms can function correctly.

I started by taping it open like shown in the picture. This would allow the cats to get used to the feeling of it rubbing their backs as they passed through. Each day I used a bigger piece of tape making the cat push against the door more and more. I also taped a string to the door that went up and over to the other side of the room, this way I could open the door from the mudroom and encourage the cat to try coming through.

Pierre figured out the door the same night and has had no problems pressing his head against it to open it and push through. MK has tried but still hasn't managed to figure it out. After being locked in someone's garage for a week last July he's gets very anxious about being locked away somewhere, so I'm guessing he's figured out that if he goes through the door it will result in him being locked away, which probably curbs his enthusiasm for trying to come in. I haven't seen Oliver use the door yet, so I'm still not sure if he knows how to use it! During the daytime, I just open the old guillotine cat door so everyone can enter and exit at will.

Now, before I go to bed for the night, I'll go out and secure Oliver on the porch. Then it's just a matter of time before Pierre lets himself in, locking him in with Oliver for the night. Pierre has let himself in every night since I have installed the SureFlap! This makes me very happy.

Thus far I am very happy with my SureFlap Microchip Pet Door, it works awesome! It's well built and feels sturdy. It operates on 4-C batteries, which they say will last about 6-months. My complaints are really just nit-picking - I think the instructions could be laid out better in a way that makes it easier to figure out the basic operations and I wish they had the option for using AC power in addition to battery power (like the Pet Feedster I recently reviewed). And as I previously mentioned, I wish they made a Dual Scan version of the Pet Door. I've read that SureFlap provides awesome technical support, but so far, everything has gone perfectly, so I haven't needed to talk with them.

I LOVE coming out in the morning and finding Pierre cuddled in with Oliver. Seeing this every morning has made me feel really good about spending the money to buy the SureFlap Pet Door, it's been totally worth it. I so hope that MK gets comfortable using it too. Maybe soon I'll come out and find all three of my boys safely secured on the back porch for the night.

The fully enclosed back porch currently offers three heated bed options, but with the temperature falling to crazy cold recently, I've started to think it's time to insulate and finish off the back porch so Oliver and his family can truly stay warm in a heated and insulated space. The heating pads do a great job keeping their tummy side warm but their topside gets chilled from the freezing cold air temperature. Hmmm, I think I see my next project calling my name...

Pet Feedster

I've never worked with a fully automated pet feeder before, so when I was asked if I wanted to review one, I jumped at the chance! The manufacturer sent me the feeder and asked for my candid review, so here it is.

Let me introduce you to the Pet Feedster (Model: PF-10), a fully automated pet feeder, or as Theo sees it, a slot machine-like device that yields a tasty jackpot! More about Theo's response in a minute, first let me tell you about the Feedster.

It's advertised as Jam Proof, Ant Proof, and Kibble-Theft Proof! It holds up to 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of dry food and has a nice little window on the front of the storage bin to give you a view of how much food remains. Because it works on batteries and/or AC power, it can be used inside or outside (in a covered space of course). The unit is good size and quite stable even though it's surprisingly light. It's dimensions (per my measurements) are 18-19" deep (with bowl attached), 13.5" wide, and about 16.25" tall (47 cm x 34 cm x 41 cm).

There is only a small amount of assembly required out of the box. It comes with a feeding dish, power adaptor, FlexFeed auger, instructions, post-it-notes and a cat chute attachment, which keeps cats from stealing extra food! I'm not sure what the post-it-notes are for, at first I thought it was to set reminders for something, but as I started using it, I realized no reminders are needed, so they must just be a little extra marketing material.

Take a look at this flyer that came in the box:

"Kibble Theft Proof" eh? Well, Theo will for sure give that a thorough testing!

There are three things to do when setting it up, first thing is to install the FlexFeeder auger device inside the unit. This little thing is what the motor turns to dispense the food.

Theo checks out the FlexFeeder

The device has three settings based on the size of the kibble. They provide a little chart telling you which size to select for the size of the kibble you use. The cat food I use is fairly small, so, I set it to the Small setting. It's really easy to set, no tools are required, just hold it and gently twist. Once set, you place the FlexFeeder into the main body of the unit, again pretty easy.

The anti-theft cat chute attachment attaches with two screws that are provided. I didn't see anywhere in the instructions that spoke about attaching this piece, but it's rather obvious and easy to do.

Then comes the programming. I'm fairly adept at programming things, and this was fairly straight forward once you go through it once with the instructions. One of the first things it has you do is to set the food quantity dispensed. This is one thing I really like about this feeder is that it will dispense the exact amount of food you want based on the kibble you are using. What you do is place a measuring cup under the chute and press a button to get it to start dispensing and once the exact amount of desired food is dispensed you press the button again which stops it, then you write down the Quantity number that is shown on the display. That number will corresponds to how long it took to dispense the amount of food you want dispensed.

Then comes programming feeding times and food quantity. You can program it to feed five meals a day! (Don't tell Theo that!!) And you can tell it exactly how much to dispense at every meal, so each feeding can have a different quantity. The clock runs on 24-hour time (military time) so, for those not used to that, a little brain work is required or they provide a handy conversion chart in the instructions.

On the back of the unit is a Quick Set-Up sticker, which is handy.

Ok, enough with the words, lets see some action...

Theo and Nahum knew from the start that food was somehow involved

Theo checks out how this thing works 

Theo: Dang that anti-kibble-theft chute attachment!

Nahum: Nothing to see here, move along

I programmed it to dispense just a few nuggets after they got familiar with it.

Jackpot!!

nom, nom, nom...

nom, nom, nom...

Theo: What did I do to get this thing to yield it's bounty?!?! Must keep trying...

Then comes the vigil - waiting for the machine to dispense more!

A feeder like this is really geared for a single cat or a couple of "normal" cats. If I was to use this with Theo and the other inside cats, no one would get any food except for Theo, and he would be routinely stuffed! So, I brought it out for Bert to try.

Bert is more representative of a "normal" cat, he likes food, but he's not obsessed with it. He free-feeds throughout the day. So, I setup the feeder to dispense a little less than 1/2 cup of food in the morning and evening. As you can see, the food piles up below the chute.

Bert: You gotta problem Mac? 

I was not able to test the "Ant Proof" claim due to lack of ants, but it seems like a good idea. What makes it ant-proof is that you can fill the bottom section with water, which functions like a moat and prevents the ants from crawling into the food storage part. However, I would think they could still get to the food bowl part, but maybe that's of less concern since the kitty or dog will probably eat that food shortly after dispensing.

In the week I've been using it, it's not jammed at all. The kibble I'm using is small and roundy, I wonder how the larger Science Diet triangle kibble that I used to use would work. Might be something for future testing.

Some AWESOME features that I like about this feeder:

• Battery backup! This feeder can run on batteries (6-D) or on AC power. They say using batteries alone will provide 4-5 months of use. We had a Fall windstorm a few days ago where the power was flickering, which made me realize what a great feature having the battery backup is. Without the batteries, if the power goes out, you will lose your programming and your kitty will be hungry! The sticker on the back says "If the power goes out, the programming will be preserved for a short time" - however that did not prove true for me. 
• Food bowl is dishwasher safe! Which means easy to keep clean.
• LCD screen is brightly backlit when you press a button making it easy to see.
• The motor that spins to dispense the food is not super loud. As it runs, the food comes down the chute into the bowl.
• I like the peace of mind that comes from knowing Bert will get his dinner regardless of how late I come home from work.

Things I wish were different:

• I feed my cats in ceramic or stainless steel bowls. I don't use plastic because in the past I've had problems with plastic causing chin acne. A stainless steel replacement bowl as an accessory for this feeder would be awesome. An easy remedy is that you don't have to use the provided food bowl/tray, you can remove it and use your own bowl below the chute, you just need to make sure the cat doesn't move the bowl from under the chute!
• The programming and button arrangement could be a bit more user-friendly. It would also help if the button labels were a little bigger or a lighter colored font, my eyesight is failing as I get older and it's hard to read! I don't want to make a big deal of this because the programming is not really that hard, you just have to follow the outlined procedure found in the instructions. And since I won't be changing the programming very often, I'll need to keep the instructions handy.

You can find out more about this feeder at PetFeedster.com. It's available directly on their website or from Amazon.com - Pet Feedster USA PF-10 CAT Pet Feedster Automated Pet Feeder For Cats. I'm not sure if it's sold in stores, I hope so. The Amazon.com price of this posting is $215.00 USD. Not having tried other automatic portion control feeders, I can't really compare the price of this feeder to others, but I can say the quality of this one is really good. I'm not the only one saying that too, it has a lot of positive reviews on Amazon.com (32 of the current 41 are 5-stars!) I would rate it 5-stars as well.

If you have any questions about the feeder, leave them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks to Winoe Corp for sending me the Pet Feedster to review and to Sunny Park for inventing such a great device!

A Cat In Paris

courtesy of catinparis.com

A Cat In Paris is a short animated film that reveals Dino's double life. By day, Dino lives with Zoe, a little girl who has lost her voice after the recent violent death of her father. By night, Dino wanders out into the city and visits Nico, a slinky cat burglar. Together they pull off many jewelry thefts around Paris. All is well until Zoe decides to follow Dino one night and before you know it Dino's two worlds start to come together.

courtesy of catinparis.com

I really enjoyed this film! It is beautifully created and very cat-centric. I love all the fish pictures and rugs in people's homes! Dino is a sweet, complex kitty, who reminded me a lot of Oliver! And now I wonder what Oliver gets up to when he's out and about.

One thing I noticed throughout this film is that I was tense as I watched it, maybe because I wasn't sure where they would go with the story. Thankfully, the ending it good and happy. The only critter that dies is the poor lizard that Dino hunts early in the film.

You can watch a trailer of the film at CatInParis.com or if you subscribe to Amazon Prime, you can watch A Cat in Paris free online with your Amazon Prime account. Let me know what you think!

special furs

Humans have the potential to create many amazing things. Over time there have been many great inventions that have forever changed the world.

The wheel	Printing press
Engine	Fake mousie
Interwebs	Fire
Box

Which invention is the best of all time? That's a tough question. Which would you say?

I'm going with what's in this package.

Can you guess what it is?

Before I tell you, let's take a moment to talk about kitty furs. They are super soft, provide an attractive appearance, and keep kitty toasty warm. Several different layers of furs make all this happen. So how come humans don't have furs like these? Humans tend to wear uncomfortable furs - like dress furs or business furs and they freeze in the winter. They later change into more comfortable furs for lounging around the house or sleeping. Silly humans! Why not take a lesson from the kitties and wear your warm snuggle suit all day?!

I must confess, I was one of these silly humans too until I found this life changing discovery.

These are flannel lined chinos from LL Bean!!

This means I now get to secretly wear my soft, snuggle furs on the inside and my business furs on the outside! And I stay toasty warm! This certainly is the best invention of all time! 

dumb humans, kitties discovered this eons ago, now who's the copy cat?

And it gets better - they even make these flannel lined furs with different types of outer furs for different occasions.

I can even get flannel lined upper-furs with business furs on the outside. I don't have any of these yet, but hopefully Santa Paws is reading this.

photo courtesy of LLBean.com

I'm gonna stay toasty, snuggly warm this winter, just like my super soft kitties! Come on winter, I'm ready for you now.

Special thanks to Oliver for assisting with the photo shoot.*

*full disclosure: Oliver was compensated with treats for his participation.

Advanced Natural

Over three years ago, I tried the World's Best Cat Litter, a corn based litter. I was excited about the possibility of using a product that would be safer for the cats and would produce much less dust. Before I could switch all the cats over to the new litter, I ran into a snag:

A young Theo enjoys some ground corn!           July 27, 2010

Theo LOVES corn in any form, including ground up into litter-sized bits! After I found him feasting on the litter, I realized it wasn't going to work. Since then, I have used it in some of my rescue work and have been very pleased, although sometimes the strong smell of corn can be a bit much for me.

Recently, the fine folks at World's Best Cat Litter asked me if I would be interested in reviewing their new line of litter, and I jumped at the chance. I still love the idea of their litter. The new line is called Advanced Natural, and it comes in original or pine scent.

Since the new line, Advanced Natural, is made from a blend of plant fibers, maybe Theo won't eat it! Nahum is the one in the family that loves to eat plants and greens, Theo generally leaves the plants alone.

My 6 pound bag arrived and I setup a special litter box for the trial. I followed the directions on the bag and mixed some of the new litter in with a little of the old litter. After a few days, I added the rest of the bag of the new litter.

Willow, an informed consumer, reads over the bag to see what she's trying out.

hmmm...

The litter material itself is aesthetically pleasing, I really like the darker brown color. It's lightweight like the corn-based litter but it has a much nicer smell. The corn-based litter had a strong corn-like smell, this stuff has an earthy smell, but it's not overwhelming. And like the corn-based litter, the Advanced Natural doesn't create much dust. 

old litter is layered on top of new litter to acclimate the cats to the change in material

Nahum is always the first to try out new litter! He loves being the first to pee in fresh litter. 

It doesn't matter the size of the box, he'll make it work! Thankfully, he remembered to squat, so everything worked out just fine. Willow tried it next, and sadly, she didn't remember to squat! I'll spare you the picture of Willow peeing over the side of the litter box!

The Advanced Natural litter clumps well and the clumps held together well when being scooped. So far, it has done well to absorb odors, which is always important. Thus far in the new litter trial, I am quite pleased. With that said, there has been one problem so far...

Once again Theo has decided that the litter is yummy to eat! Theo!! After I mixed in some of the old clay litter, he didn't return to eat anymore. Hopefully after time he will associate the plant based litter with doing his business rather than having a snack.

After this bag runs out, I'll buy a bigger bag to fill up one of the big litter boxes and see how things go. I really do like the idea of no dust, which will help Willow (she has asthma). My biggest challenge will be in getting Theo to not eat it! 

World's Best Cat Litter has generously offered to giveaway a small bag to one lucky winner! If you want to be considered for the giveaway, just leave a comment below by Sunday, August 4, 2013 at 11:59pm and I will randomly draw the winner. Even though I love my worldwide friends, sadly, giveaway only open to people in the USA.