We Like! Catswall Design

March 13, 2012June 5, 2013

We Like! Catswall Design

Though their products are still only available in Taiwan, I am seriously lemming for almost everything from Catswall Design. Hurry up and come to more markets!! The people behind Catswall started the company after they adopted their first stray cat and then 12 more. (via Margaret & Modern Cat) Be sure to check out the post on how to make your own DIY version!

I LOVE the idea of the Modular Cat Climbing Wall where you can rearrange things and add or subtract elements. I mentioned in the podcast on environment enrichment for cats how kitties seem fascinated when something familiar gets moved or rearranged. Being able to change up this cat wall would keep it forever interesting. Awesome!

The Cat Scratching Board is brilliant! Cats can prefer different surfaces for scratching—fabric, cardboard, sisal, carpet, and wood. The can also prefer different orientations—angled, upright, or horizontal. The best way to keep them from scratching inappropriate things is to provide options they like. Wood cat scratchers are much harder to find, so this is great. It also looks wide & long enough to really make a cat happy and you can have it at an angle, flat, or upright.

The Catwheel looks like so much fun for the right cat. You may have seen the video of the cat wheel someone made for their bengal kitties? This one from Catswall is pretty nice looking! I know a certain rotund cat of ours who could definitely benefit from a catwheel, if we could keep him from just lying down on it.

August 11, 2008June 5, 2013

Door Mounted Cat Tree

Too cool! The Climber, a door mounted cat tree from Cat Livin, is a terrific idea for people (and cats) with limited floor space.

The sisal covered shelves are staggered and look like they’re well placed for cats to climb up. (I’ve seen plenty of cat trees where the shelf placement makes it really hard for cats to actually use the tree.) The shelves aren’t terribly deep, in order to give the cat tree a slim profile, but they are 14 inches long, so there is a fair bit of room for your kitties to hang out. I don’t know how well it will work for a scratching post given the orientation of the shelves.

The Climber is spring mounted, so you won’t damage your door putting it up. There’s an extension kit for longer doors. And, your door stays full functional. Clever, clever! (via apartmenttherapy)

July 30, 2008June 5, 2013

Optivisor & Novaguard: Two More Alternatives To Elizabethan Collar!

Novaguard, Optivisor, & in background, traditional Elizabethan collar.

I love it when people care for their pets so much they’re not willing to settle for a crappy status quo. Tasi Stampoultzis developed the Optivisor to protect his dog, Billy’s, eye after surgery when it became clear the traditional Elizabethan collar (E collar, lampshade collar, cone collar) was terrible. Elizabethan collars interfere with a pet’s hearing and vision, they make it difficult or impossible to eat or drink, and pets are always running into furniture or walls with them. Stanpoultzis was a contestant on New Inventors and although he didn’t win, I think the Optivisor is a great invention. Don’t miss this video of Billy showing off the Optivisor.

Other alternatives like the Neck’s Best Thing, the BiteNot Collar, and body socks have addressed the need to keep pets from fussing with stitches, bandages, or wounds on their torso, legs, or tail, but so far nothing has addressed keeping a pet from scratching at their face or eyes. The Optivisor and the Novaguard do just that. Cool! It may seem silly to be excited about this, but anyone who has watched their pet suffer from wearing an Elizabethan collar understands.

The Optivisor protects the eyes and the upper part of the face from scratching.

The Novaguard protects the whole face.

Both leave the ears free so the pet can hear, but that also means the ears are not protected, so if your pet is scratching its ears these won’t stop it. (Note: the sizing is for dogs, but I wonder if the smallest size would work for cats.) It looks like they should be available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and soon New Zealand. But, it’s not clear if you can order them. I’ll see what I can find out and let you know. (Thanks to John, who let me know about the Optivisor.)

Check out these other alternatives to Elizabethan collars: