pets – Page 2 – Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs..

How you all doing? Hanging in there I hope! It’s been a rough week around here for me personally. There were some things that were causing me a great deal of stress with my extended family and I was struggling a bit this week. I couldn’t read, which I hate when I can’t settle down with a book. I pushed through and got things done, with a lot of pep talks from friends and family. So this week was an odd one. We didn’t get too much besides what we needed to do done, but it was a week of small victories, which are just as good.

Harry had a recheck this week and the vet said he looks awesome! His surgical area healed perfectly, and he is looking good and did not require any further medication, although we still have to give him his appetite stimulant because he lost weight, poor guy. But otherwise he is doing well. He has the world’s tiniest carrier and everyone at the vet thought it was adorable – as did I. It has a little strap that cracks me up, like I can carry him around with me on walks or in stores or something. I had to send Harry into the vet alone per COVID rules and I do wonder if they wore him for a minute because I would have, had I been them.

I also started a new skin care routine this week. I don’t usually do much, just wash and moisturize but it has been so cold and I am over 40 so I thought I should up my game. I ordered a few different oils from Good Molecules then had to call my friend to ask her how to use them. I took notes even. So I now use squalane oil in the morning, and rose hip seed oil in the evening. I also have an ultra hydrating one that I am to use as needed, per my friend Kelly, my personal beauty guru. I am sort of a wash and go person, even with my hair so anytime I add in anything new it feels like such a big deal.

I have also been trying to organize a meal plan that is sustainable and easy to turn into a routine. In preparation for this I ordered meat from Trillium Woods Farm. We have ordered from there before and picked it up at the farm, but this time we had it delivered. It came today and it was sort of fun to go through when it came. The things that make me happy these days! Truth be told, I feel like it was a good price for the quality I know we are receiving, especially when the prices in the grocery store are pretty comparable these days. Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are also planning on doing a recipe swap in February to sort of mix things up and try new things. I am excited about it!

Wyatt and I also had a great week of homeschooling, after I had one day of dragging my feet over it. I plan on sharing more on that tomorrow, but we are both loving the topics we are learning about this week.

It’s been so cold here too! Not much snow but single digits that go below freezing at times. We are winter hikers but I don’t like to take Wyatt out when it is that cold out. So this weekend we are sticking around the house, baking, and working on his Valentine’s! I am part of on online “cohort” group that all use the Blossom and Root curriculum for first grade, and one of the mothers organized a Valentine exchange. She grouped interested families into “classes” of 24 and sent out the lists! We are going to make a Valentine’s box that Wyatt can put them in as they arrive, and then open them all on Valentine’s Day. I think it will be fun! Especially since Wyatt loves anything to do with mail these days.

So how are you guys? Hope all is well in your world!

I mentioned I have become like a lunatic telling everyone I know about this litter. I have senior cats and I have to have at least one litter box on our main level – and we only have one level, then a basement in our 900 square foot house. So the litter box ends up in someone’s space. There is just no way around it. But since I was redoing the office and wanted Wyatt to be able to play in there I knew I had to do something about the litter situation.

I had been using a clay based litter for my cats’ boxes, which was ok. However, they are slobs and track it all over, plus the dust was insane. I was forever cleaning up and scooping and it was tolerable but not a room where I wanted Wyatt to hang out. Or me either really, for long periods of time. So I thought I would experiment with PrettyLitter. I ordered one bag to start and used one box dedicated to it. I have three cats, and they recommend at least three boxes and three bags but since I was just trying it, I didn’t want to go all in, since it is more expensive then our normal stuff. My friends all have multiple cats, and issues as well – one friend has a box in her husband’s home office, where he spends a lot of time and another has a problem kitty who likes to avoid the box in general. (More on that kitty later) They were interested in my experiences and wanted updates because we are nerds like that. So this is my report to them basically, but I thought other people might be interested as well.

The first week it was like magic. No tracking, no smell except for when they do some real business, then it dissipates quickly. I also noticed my cats were preferring it to the other box of their normal litter. So, I ordered another bag and set up another box, and very quickly just switched over to all PrettyLitter. After two weeks, still no tracking, no smell, but I did notice the litter itself was discoloring a bit, but PrettyLitter said that would happen, so no worries there. The third week I did notice there was a little more mess outside the box, from them scratching in it but still everything was going really well! Finally, this is the fourth week and I am noticing a small faint odor when I am in the room near the box, but nothing overwhelming. I have noticed a bit more tracking as well, but still not anything outside of the room. I am due for more any day and while the situation is not grim it is ready to be renewed, if you will.

My routine is pretty simple: I vacuum everyday and scoop twice a day, which has become something that takes just a few minutes, as you only scoop “solids” with this new litter, as liquids evaporate and don’t form hard bits in there. (trying to be delicate here lol) I am using less than the recommended amount still, two boxes, two bags for three cats, instead of the recommended three bags, three boxes for three cats,so there could be oversaturation issues which is why I am noticing a little odor – I am going to three boxes next so I will see.

My friends each set up one box as well – so far, so good. My one friend has noticed a difference in her husband’s office, while the other – well, we all had a chat to discuss her kitty. We decided that perhaps her cat had sensitive feet, so she bought a few bags of sensitive feet litter from a different manufacturer, Dr. Elsey’s, and also set up a box of PrettyLitter, since that same cat also has asthma and she wanted to reduce dust. Since she has switched, she has noticed less box avoidance, but we can’t say for sure if it is because of the PrettyLitter as she also has multiple boxes with different litter. She did comment on the no dust though, which she felt was a bonus from the PrettyLitter.

Overall, my experience with my cats using it has been pretty positive. The only drawback I see is that I do have to spend twenty more dollars a month on it over what I used to spend. Right now we have extra in our budget due to our stay at home, eat at home lifestyle, so once things hopefully change in the coming months, I will have to make sure to allot for that difference. The only other negative for me is the anxiety it gave me at first, running to check constantly to see if there was any indication that my cats had any health issues, as it does analyze and report health monitoring by turning different colors for different issues. However there is the added bonus that the bags themselves are very light! I carried in the box with three bags inside with no problem at. So far I am pretty darn pleased with everything!

Edit 1/11/24: I did end up canceling because with three cats the cost became too much for our budget. Sadly however, two of my three cats have passed on since this post (my Mags and my Marlow and I miss them every day) and I have reupped my subscription again. The price with just one cat is pretty competitive to what I have been paying and I no longer I have to go get it. So bonus.

Note: This is not a sponsored or paid ad from Pretty Litter. However, I do have a link if you are interested. This is a weird post for me, but honestly I was already running around telling everyone in the world about it so I figured why not? I promise not to do too many of these type of posts though, and if I do, it is because I honestly love what I am talking about. If you were to click the link and buy a bag, I would get a free bag. If I ever (long stretch here) started to compile a huge backstock of litter from referrals I would donate some to the PAWS Clinic in Michigan or a food bank.