WVC part two - the free samples

I didn’t realize how much from WVC I had to write about until I sat down to do it.  Here’s the first of two blog entries about new products which were on display at the convention.  In this entry I’ll write about the products I was able to bring home and try, aka, the free samples.  In the next entry I’ll just write about some of the neat things I saw that didn’t come home with us.

  • Muttrooms:  Muttrooms are dog biscuits made from… mushrooms!  They’re certified organic, are a blend of five mushroom species, and were invented by Paul Stamets (he’s the author of many books about mushroom cultivation).  The packaging says they help promote healthier joints and mobility, which is a benefit of mushrooms I’m not familiar with.  I gave a cookie to each of Eli and Dante, and they ate them with the same enthusiasm they show for most dog biscuits.  The cookies were apparently tasty, but not “over the top” tasty.  They smelled good to me—nutty, like peanut butter (which is another ingredient).  They’re a completely vegetarian cookie, which some dog owners may appreciate.

  • Flavor-Doh:  This is an item for pilling dogs and cats.  It’s an edible dough/paste, available in different varieties like chicken, fish, and liver.  You pull a gob of dough out of the container, and embed a pill in it, then hopefully your dog or cat will happily take their medication.  The packaging says that if the dough dries out, you just need to add some water to it—just like when the tub of wall patching material runs out!  My initial impression was that the dough was too sticky to be effective - I gave it to Jackson, and he licked at the paste instead of chewing/swallowing it.  If I’d been trying to give him a pill, I think the pill would have been spit out.  I wonder if it would work better if I left the pill ball sitting out for a while to try to get it to dry?  I don’t think it would be a huge problem with dogs, who tend to gulp their snacks, but it may not work well with delicate eaters.  On a positive note, I put a few balls of dough out and all the cats were interested in it, and many of them ate it.  They definitely approve of the flavour.

  • Ziggies:  The Kong Company makes Ziggies, a new chew treat for puppies.  It’s made to not splinter and to digest easily, and it’s higher in protein and calcium than most chews.  We don’t have any puppies, but we figure we can test them on our two small dogs.  Report to follow!

  • Kitty-Stim:  I’m anxious to try this product when I have my next batch of foster kittens.  Kitty-Stim is a nutritional supplement especially for newborn kittens.  It contains colostrum, probiotics, and a number of stimulants to help give neonates a boost.  The manufacturer is in the UK, so I’m not sure if the product is available here yet, but I’ll feel good having it in hand if I ever have another weak kitten, like Miles.  It’s got a shelf life of two years, and is good for three months after it’s been opened.  I figure I’ll definitely have another set of foster kittens sometime in the next two years.

  • Cat Attract:  You know I love my Dr. Elsey’s products!  The show rep offered to let us have as many bags of Cat Attract litter as we could carry, but frankly, the thought of carrying any at all made me want to cry (I was sore and tired).  Instead, we took a sample of something we’ve never tried before - Cat Attract Litter Additive.  It’s a mix of herbs designed to encourage cats to return to the litterbox, and I think it also helps deodorize.  I sprinkled a bit in one of our litterboxes and the cats didn’t seem to mind it at all.  It smells neutral and inoffensive.  If you have any cats who are bad about using the litterbox, this is really worth a try (as is the regular Cat Attract litter).  I also can’t recall if I posted about it, but there’s a rebate form on the Dr. Elsey’s site and you can use it to get a full refund of the purchase price of any bag of Precious Cat litter.  I absolutely swear by this stuff when I litter-train kittens.

  • Dentinary Chews:  These are good.  An unqualified two thumbs up from me, but you may have a problem finding them if you want to buy them!  Dentinary Chews are a rawhide chew which is fibrous, so it acts like floss when your dog gnaws on it.  They also say it’s easy to digest.  The chews come as either a large, rectangular rawhide strip and a smaller rawhide roll.  I gave a large chew to Eli and it actually took her a while to eat it, which is very impressive.  Flippy reports that the small rolls had good durability with our two small dogs.  I think the product is designed to be sold through vets’ offices, so you might want to check with your vet if you’d like to try the large size.  The small ones are sold online through CalVetSupply.

  • Soft Paws:  There’s just nothing bad to say about Soft Paws, the product which has probably spared many a cat from an unceremonious trip to the animal shelter.  The Soft Paws folks were at WVC debuting a kit designed to work on cats during their first year of life.  The kit, (called “Kitten’s First Year”), contains 40 nail caps for a growing kitten, from age eight weeks to one year.  This would be a great gift to send home with families adopting kittens.  I may try the caps out on Madison, although TJ needs them more than she does.
Posted by Leigh-Ann on 02/24 at 07:24 AM

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

  1. Great swag! You know, they were hoping to give away the cat litter for the same reason you refused - so as not to have to carry it! I like the idea of a Cat Attract Additive so you’re making less of a change.

    We might have tried Soft Paws on Bonnie if they had existed 8 years ago when she was shredding me, but they always sound difficult to apply to an aggressive, squirming, determined cat who will bite and use her back claws on you. She can be that mean.

    Posted by Victor Tabbycat's Mom  on  02/25  at  02:22 AM
    2. Page 1 of 1 pages
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.

Next entry: Missy Mae goes to the dentist

Previous entry: Wow, you're THE Dr. Harrison - a fangirl's account of the 2007 WVC!

<< Back to main