Cat Faeries talks about The Modern House Cat

Halloween is the start of the Winter holidays and cats everywhere are making their lists of the toys they want. This year they may find our Catnip mice, poached eggs, carrots, corn on the cob, strawberries, and other tempting shapes all wrapped up and awaiting their playful paws!

Going to a holiday party held at a home with cats? Cat toys make great “hostess gifts.” Its always thoughtful and meaningful to gift the host’s or hostess’s cats or children. We don’t carry items for children, but we can help you with goodies for their cats.

Keep checking our website. We plan to introduce some absolutely mouth watering new cat toy shapes . . . and rumor has it that our muse, Betty the cyber cat, is launching her signature “fragrance.” The paparazzi have been staking out our office hoping to catch a glimpse of Betty for a quote about the return of Cat Faerie Mist - our wildly popular Catnip floral water spray. But we can’t let the cat out of the bag just yet. Stay tuned!

Enjoy all the festivities this time of year offers! And drive carefully, be kind to strangers, and smile!

Here’s a quote from a long time customer of ours:

Christmas isn’t Christmas without Cat Faeries’s toys  –  I have 5 cats, and they have been enjoying these great toys for several years now.  We have “spread the wealth” to the cats of friends — always well-received and well-enjoyed! 

My cats are veggie-lovers, corn and carrots are their favorites!!  Thanks for the many hours of enjoyment!!

Amanda

From time to time we hear from someone who muses “I’d love to work with animals like you do.” We’ve got a grand idea for you! Meet Patty White and hear the story of a professional cat groomer who makes housecalls.

Back in the day Patty White was a computer systems analyst. It was rewarding and challenging work which she enjoyed. She was going to stick it out until retirement. But what to do next?

When the book The Natural Cat came out, Patty read it from cover to cover. She was particularly impressed with author Anitra Frazier’s chapter on cat grooming and stories of her life in New York City as a professional cat groomer. Viola! That was IT! Patty knew that when she retired she would become a professional cat groomer. Patty firmly believed that making house calls was the way to go because cats don’t travel well and a trip to a salon for grooming would be traumatic.

For 10 years Patty dreamed of the retirement day. When it finally came she had already sought out the finest training she could find. It was one-on-one training with a master cat and dog groomer. It wasn’t easy getting to her instructor, but Patty wouldn’t settle for second rate training - and it shows in her skills! The groomer was the same sort of compassionate perfectionist Patty is.

Once Patty was qualified, the referrals from the clients at Especially Cats, a veterinary practice in San Francisco completely devoted to cats, poured in. Patty now spends her days going from home to home grooming cats of all ages, sizes, and fur types. Best of all for Patty, she’s booked weeks in advance.
Before Patty enters our home she has already completely changed her clothes for the health of wellbeing of the next cat she works on. Upon arrival, she lays out her own equipment and tools. If we’ve asked her to bathe a cat, she’s got her drier, water hose for the kitchen sink water faucet, and towels. She likes to sit on the floor holding the cat by a sunny spot near a window for good lighting. She puts a plastic bag on the floor, a clean sheet on top of it, sits down and then begins her gentle grooming, de-matting, nail trimming and whatever the modern housecat might need to look good and feel good.

We’ll hear her softly say to the cats “ooooooh you know Auntie Patty loves you, you hold still for Auntie Patty, Auntie Patty is going to make you look gorgeous.” The cats love it!

One of the benefits of having your cat professionally combed and brushed is that sometimes your groomer will detect someone amiss with the cat - perhaps the lack of luster in the cat’s fur is a sign of illness, or the groomer might feel a mass or lumps.

When the grooming session is over, Patty completely cleans up after herself, not a single bit of fur remains on the floor. She hands over the fur she combed out of the cats and we toss it into the composter.

So if you find yourself staring at a cubical wall thinking that you’d like to do something more meaningful, take inspiration from Patty White. Get the best training you can find, and read everything on cat behavior and anatomy. Its wonderful to make living doing something you are good at and love!

By now you can tell we are hardcore greenies and have been for years (but we won’t disclose how many, a kitty never divulges her age).

You’ll never guess who’s recently gone green!  Well, we’re here to let the cat out of the bag - don’t faint, its The United States Postal Service!  

The United States Postal Service is the only mailing or shipping company in the US to achieve “Cradle to Cradle” certification for human and environmental health from McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). 

The post office’s boxes and other mailers including envelopes had already exceeded government requirements, including recycled content standards from the EPA, but, going beyond federal and state requirements became the goal for 2007 and they did it.

Every box is now made from 100% recycled materials.  Every box is now 100% recyclable by you the consumer.  This means that their boxes will prevent 15,000 metric tons of carbon emissions for going into our atmosphere annually!

And its not just the boxes which have gone green - all decals, labels, and packing tape are 100% recyclable!  When you toss the box from Cat Faeries into the recycling bin there is no need to remove the tape!   The paper we use to pad the contents of your order is recycled “dunnage”  (clean newsprint) or for our bigger boxes we use recycled heavy craft paper.   

Cat Faeries has never and will never ever ever use packing peanuts or popcorn.  Both do a bad job of protecting your items and they are disaster for the environment.  Because we save and reuse just about everything you might occasionally receive something that’s wrapped in bubble wrap.  We don’t over tape so that you too can re-use it!

So, are those cute little trucks the mail carriers drive around in hybrids or even better, bio Diesel?  We’ll be asking our contact people at the post office - stay tuned! 

As we get further into Autumn and the weather gets colder we may find another furry 4 footed creature in our homes seeking warmth.

If you see your cats staring at heater vents or closet doors, or if you see them going in and out of closets more often than usual betcha 10 catnip cupcakes that you’ve got mice either setting up residence or using your home as a highway from point A to point B. You could even have a rat or two.

A mouse in the house can cause

* sudden and unexplained fighting among cats.

* sudden and unexplained urinating or spraying near closets or heater vents by your cats.

* health worries of contracting the Hanta Virus from rodent droppings

There are many traps for mice available. We like the idea of “trap and release” using a humane trap - a great brand is Havahart. A good supplier of cat goods should have them, sometimes they’ll loan you one. For trapping rats . . .well, its tough and probably not safe to be so kind hearted - this is up to you. There’s a trap for rats which quickly and humanely electricutes them called The Rat Zapper.

Here’s a bait recipe that a friend who is a professional exterminator gave us for trapping rats. Rats are hip to the peanut butter thing so if that’s failed you in the past its because rats are very smart and evolve! (probably faster than some humans, but that’s another blog posting!)

Take a cookie and put a glob of peanut butter on it - think of the peanut butter as the glue which will hold the next two ingriedents: 1 macadamia nut and 1 small piece of black licorice. Rats may now be ho hum about peanut butter but the darlings cannot resist a mac nut or a piece of black licorice, so why not use both together! Insert this gourmet bait in the trap and voila, you’ve got em!

Warm wishes to all!

We have been supporters of the Slow Food Movement since around 1990. We shop, eat, cook, and live . . . slowly. When we work we try to make every move slowly and carefully with much thought and attention to detail and its cause and effect. Unless forced otherwise we buy only food grown or produced by persons in our bio region or watershed who are committed to organic, Permaculture, or Biodynamic principles. The same principles of Slow food and living Slow extend to how we care for and feed our cats and bunnies.

Our cats are fed a diet of raw grass fed meat. We purchase it from a local producer who we know by name and have the personal phone number of. We can ask them questions and get real answers. We know these folks well enough to know the names of their family members and their housecats! We enjoy the relationship we have with Linda Alston of Alston Farm and trust that the meat she sells us is as pure and clean as can be. We know the animals are raised with compassion, that they are healthy, and that they are not given drugs. The Jersey cows graze year round on grass in the California sunshine. We also like that Linda is close to our 100 mile watershed and is in our bio-region.

Our cats eat twice a day, breakfast and dinner. Preparing their food is a way we can slow down and put our energy into their good health and well being. As I put the meat in a bowl I think of Linda who I bought it from and I send nice thoughts her way. When I stir in minced baby greens I think of my garden where they grew or the person I bought them from at the farmer’s market, again sending out good wishes and nice thoughts.

If I add baked sweet potato (which cats love) I think about how I incorporate what the cats eat with what we eat. I roast or bake enough sweet potatoes for all of us. The greens which go into their food are also in my salad or part of a meal. We don’t give our cats much grain, but if there is some left over rice I’ll add a bit to the mix. My rice comes from a grower who’s in my bio region. Sometimes its from a fair trade company which works with organic and sustainable growers in far away places. I add Kidney Kitty flower essence formula as all of our cats are over 12 years old.

As I mix their food carefully and slowly I think about my beloved geriatric cats who’s ages range from 12 to over 18. I know that they look great and have lustrous fur and fairly minor health problems compared to other cats their age or even younger. I believe that eating commercial cat food on a daily basis is not good. Our cats do sometimes get canned cat food, but I’m very fussy about what I buy. I call the cat food companies and ask if all of their ingredients are US manufactured. I will not buy any food items which contain ingredients from China or similar countries (with the exception of things like tea, but its organically grown). Rarely do my cats get canned cat food more than a few times a week. While I mix their food and spoon it into their bowls I send out healthy and loving thoughts to all 6 to my cats.

I like homemade food for my cats for many reasons. I know the name and source of every single ingredient which is how I feed my human family and friends. The mystery ingredients in commercial cat food scare me. And how do we know for sure that the ingredients in prepared food for animals and humans are not toxic or safe? We don’t! We cannot trust corporations to put care and love into what they produce. We certainly cannot trust companies in other countries.

When news of the tainted cat and dog food first hit the media I wondered “why would any US or Canadian company consider buying ingredients like wheat or rice from China when we grow them right here?” Its madness. China and many other countries have appalling standards of cleanliness and health. Do you really trust US corporations who care only about the bottom-line and which buy cheap ingredients to feed you and your cats? Do you trust corporations in places like China?

We feed our cats food made with love. Do corporations love you? Or just your money? Do those workers, who are often slaves or barely paid, resent and hate us? As they are working under force or for little money are they putting their angry thoughts into those goods and ingredients?

Speaking of ingredients, how do we know for sure that every ingredient in prepared food - be it your cat or dog, or yours - does not contain toxic ingredients. Does that food bowl which was made in China contain toxins or give off toxic fumes? If you think we are alarmist then read the recent news articles about the millions of children’s toys which have been recalled because they contain deadly toxins

Cheap cat toys from China, cheap clothing from China, cheap appliances from China. Cheap and cheaper, toxic and dangerous, the list of cheapness grows every day. Then there is the pollution its causing in the countries where all of our manufacturing has gone because they do not have safety standards. Think your safe here on US shores? Read about the clouds of pollution which blow across the Pacific right into our backyards.

Do you know that only 1/2 of 1% of all imports are inspected? That’s not a typo, its a fact. Are you outraged? You should be. The recent cat and dog food deaths caused by poisoned ingredients from China should have scared you, gotten you to ask questions, and changed how you spend your money.

Transporting all that cheap junk to the US on ships requires the burning of a staggering amount of fossil fuel. The next time you say “Wow, I love it, its so cheap.” Think about what your saying and the effect shopping like this has.

Earlier in this post we tossed out some words you may not be familiar with: bio region and watershed. Hop over to Google and learn something new!

Shop: To find grass fed in your state: www.eatwild.com

Read: The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Read: In Praise of Slowness, Challenging the Cult of Speed by Carl Honore’

View: Manufactured Landscape, a film by Edward Burtynsky. View the trailor: http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/landscapes/
View: Lou Dobbs on MSNBC

Web: FDA website for recalls and warnings on food, health care items and more. Very eye opening indeed!
http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html