Product Review — San Antonio's Most Trusted Cat Sitting

Product Reviews

As cat-sitters, we have two decades of trying-out all kinds of cat-products on our cat visits. If it’s for cats and for-sale we’ve likely seen or used it at more than one household. It’s fun to handle and observe items in “real life,” in different environments and different cats.

How useful is it? Is it easy to operate? Does the cat still love it? Is it holding up under use? Is it a fad? Dud? Lost its appeal and packed away in a closet?

Eventually the field gets whittled down to a few all-star products. Here, we share our enduring and useful cat finds, posting our reviews on the best-of-the-best, why we think so, and how you can purchase them. Check back regularly as new items are added to our review.

Air Fresheners

This one’s easy……don’t

We hurry to finish scooping your cat’s litter box as our throats close, eyes water, we try not to breathe. But it’s not the box we’re escaping from!

Fragranced litter, smelly additives, and worst of all the diffusers filling the air and plugged in at close proximity make us run for cover. The odor clings to our clothes and we can smell it for hours after we’ve left your space. Commercial fragrances and especially diffusers are not only the bane of our existence but are seriously bad news for your cat if he could only tell you, and for good reason.

Most people don’t give much thought to the air fresheners they bring into their breathing space. The masking powders that get shaken in the litter box and plug-in or battery operated devices steadily puffing into the air gives the false sense that you’re adding something positive to your environment. Exotic descriptions, claims of essential oils, all lull you into giving minimal thought about what’s really filling your breathing space. Unfortunately, these products are a gamble for you and even riskier for your cats.

First, air fresheners emit gasses that you and your pets breathe. Manufacturers would rather have you buy into the notion it’s simply fragrance. But let’s start with the fact that manufacturers are not required by any law to properly disclose the ingredients of what’s gassing into your home. In fact, when many of these products are tested including those that claim to be green, dangerous chemicals are found emitted that are nowhere on the label or ingredient list. The article “Ten questions concerning air fresheners and indoor built environments” (1) states:

“In tests comparing emissions among a range of air fresheners—including those with claims of being “green,” “organic,” “non-toxic,” “all-natural,” or with “essential oils”—all air fresheners, regardless of claims, emitted potentially hazardous compounds. Emissions of carcinogenic hazardous air pollutants from “green” air fresheners were not significantly different, in types or concentrations, from the regular brands…seemingly natural aromatics such as essential oils can nonetheless emit and generate hazardous pollutants such as formaldehyde and nano-sized secondary organic aerosols, with potentially substantial health risks.”

Consumer Reports (2) states, “air fresheners can also contain phthalates, which are linked to cancer and reproductive problems. A few manufacturers changed their products after our 2007 report found phthalates in 12 of 14 air fresheners we tested," says Gina Solomon, M.D., a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "That's good, because companies are reformulating to make their products safer, but it's also bad because it's hard to know what's currently in any given product."

So what are some of these chemicals? Glad you asked. They’re too numerous to list actually since one product can contain hundreds of chemicals, but here’s a starter of what seemingly smells so good:

volatile organic compounds (terpenes such as limonene, alpha-pinene, and beta-pinene; terpenoids such as linalool and alpha-terpineol; ethanol, formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, and xylene) and semi-volatile organic compounds (such as phthalates). d-limonene; 4-tert-butylcyclohexyl acetate; acetaldehyde; benzyl acetate; 2,7-dimethyl-2,7-octanediol; acetone; ethanol; carene isomer; citronellyl acetate; hexanal; 2,4-dimethyl-3-cyclohexene-1-carboxaldehyde (Triplal 1); allyl heptanoate; methyl-4-(1-methylethyl)-cyclohexane; ethyl butanoate; 3-hexen-1-ol; o, m, or p-cymene; alpha-pinene. Of these compounds, four (acetaldehyde, acetone, ethanol, alpha-pinene) are classified as toxic or hazardous under federal laws; further, acetaldehyde is classified as a carcinogenic hazardous air pollutant, with no safe threshold of exposure, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (1)

Not so yummy after all and this all means conditions like eye, nose and throat irritation headaches, loss of coordination, lethargy and nausea, damage to liver, kidney and central nervous system according to the EPA. The EPA continues, some VOCs can cause cancer in animals; some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans. (3)
How do we cat sitters tie into this? Have we seen a correlation between homes with long-term commercial fragrance use and illness in their family cats?
Yes, sadly we firmly believe we have and that’s exactly why we posted this product review. Mostly we’ve noted rare ailments and premature cancers in young cats that resulted in their passing. Can we prove it? No. But years of noting air fragrance and sick cats in an environment full of air fresheners is likely not coincidence. Given the evidence against fragrance manufacturers and the heavy use of air fresheners in the homes where younger cats have early onset of untypical illnesses or passing away, we think the connection is real.

Ultimately, do your own research. It will only take a quick search. This information is readily available online but just not readily known to the public. You’ll be convinced not to use these products around your family or your cats.
Your professional sitter hands-down will vote for the classic clean scent of nothing and if you’re thinking the chemical haze is disguising your litter box, forget it. We can smell it especially if it’s a box and floor area that’s in need of routine cleaning deeper than a simple scooping. But once a litter box area is cleaned properly, the sweet smell of nothing returns to fill the space.
What if you still have to have fragrance or a solution to litter box odor? There are essential oils that are non-toxic to cats but not all are. Do your homework thoroughly before selecting a nontoxic essential oil, then use it properly. Always store essential oil bottles away from your cat. There are numerous litter box solutions and boxes that sense and scoop for you. Ultimately, we find that scooping and routine maintenance through disinfecting litter boxes and flooring are ample. If you’ve just scooped and guests are due by, a spray bottle filled with water and a non-toxic essential oil to mist the air is enough to clean the air when the litter box area is kept clean.

And finally, consider that after a few minutes you go nose blind and can’t smell whatever you’re filling your breathing space with after a short while anyway so the idea of continuous fragrance is misdirected given how our olfactory system works. At a minimum you’re wasting your money with continuous diffusing since you can’t smell it. We find clients setting their diffusers on the highest setting or adding multiples around the home because they can no longer smell them thinking they need to add more. Being in these homes a few minutes and the smell is so thick we can literally taste it. Indoor cats, perpetually exposed can’t step outside for fresh air like we can.

Do your homework, ditch the chemicals, clean the air naturally, and enjoy good health for you, your family and your pets. You will be relieved you did and we’ll be relieved that one more household has made things safer for their two and four-footed family members.

Ten questions concerning air fresheners and indoor built environments https://www.sciencedirect.com
Is poor indoor air quality making you sick? Protect yourself against six hidden hazards in your home. June 2012 Consumer Reports Magazine. Consumerreports.org
Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/

SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder

In our “Gift from the Gods” category

You’re in a multicat household. Things are going along blissfully and then one or more of your cats requires a special diet, one cat is turning into a tank while the other is too thin, or the dog can’t resist cleaning-out the cat food bowl. Feeding time turns into a ritual of cajoling, outsmarting, standing guard, refereeing and strategizing. Or maybe to the detriment of your cat’s health you’ve admitted defeat and abandoned special feeding needs entirely. Fret no more! If there ever was a product that ensured kitty gets fed just what he needs and in the amount necessary without the time-suck and hair-pulling, this product is it!

My cat Joey enjoying dry food from the feeder that several household cats are synced to.

I thought it was too good to be true when introduced to this slick looking food dish for the first time by a client. “Yeah, right,” I said sarcastically to my client when she lined up her three SureFeed devices and showed me how to fill and operate them for each of her three cats all requiring different diets including one cat needing medication mixed. But a week into cat sitting feeding with these contraptions, I was impressed - if still cautious. “Too good to be true. They’ll probably break within the year,” I told myself. But a year-and-a-half later, the same feeders are still going strong and we merrily restock these same feeders each time our client goes out of town. Convinced after a year of use and observation, I purchased three Surefeed Microchip feeders for myself.

he Surefeed operates on 4 C-batteries. It comes with a gray plastic divider dish, gray plastic non-divider dish, rubbery gray platform mat, and a programmable microchip tag for cats who aren’t microchipped. If you want to purchase the attachable clear plastic hood (to keep cats from marauding the feeder from the back-end), different colored plastic dishes, stainless steel dish inserts, or multi-colored mats to easily identify feeders from each other, these can be purchased as separate accessories. Rather than color code the feeders, I distinguish each by placing a small sticker with the assigned cat’s name and photo on the arch of each feeder which makes it easier for sitters to ID the cat that goes with the feeder. You can sync one pet per feeder or numerous pets to a single feeder for the foods they share in common.

Client cats Maggie and Diablo wrestle in front of their Surefeeders after a good meal.

Using my cats implanted microchips (you can use the provided microchip-tag with a collar for unchipped cats,) set-up and training my cats to the feeders was easier than I anticipated especially given I had 3 feeders and 6 cats to harang into using them. Within a week all save one cat were successfully maintaining their individual dietary needs having mastered their feeders 100% of the time. If anything, my cats find these devices entertaining. Sam likes to walk up to his feeder just to watch the lid open and close. No surprise, the batteries to his device need replacing twice as often but the convenience makes this a non-issue. Contrast this with my prior ritual of herding cats into various rooms for isolated feeding, standing guard, and refereeing, taking 30-minutes several times a day.

As perfect as all this sounds however, there were some issues I had to overcome.

One of the three feeders was defective and malfunctioned sporadically, always when my back was turned, allowing the cats (always the ones with the worst digestive issues) to eat from the feeder they’re not assigned to. Two bouts of explosive diarrhea later that overshot the litter box and glued to the front of the washer tipped me off that perhaps a feeder wasn’t doing what it should be. After identifying the rogue feeder and several attempts at troubleshooting with the company, I became worried that I was stuck with a bad feeder. But after a fair attempt at resetting the feeder failed, I was promptly sent a new replacement. The replacement arrived in two days. The replacement feeder works great and I give my customer service experience an “A”.

A year in, two of the feeders hang-up sticking open. I’m still in the process of working with the manufacturer. To their credit, they are always responsive but in the meantime I have episodes of cats gorging themselves on forbidden food.

I was concerned with six cats that I might not be able to train all cats to use the feeders. In client homes, there’ve been no issues adapting the cats to the feeders. They don’t however have a cat like my neurotic tuxedo Oreo. Oreo wants nothing to do with new things, processes, or people. On a “fraidy-cat” scale of 1-10 he’s an easy 9.5. So it was no surprise when he ran and hid from the feeders for about a day. In his mind it was some sort of portal to hell or to the vet clinic which is worse than hell in his mind. Gradually, he walked around the feeders happy to ignore them and wait patiently by his food bowl to be fed. The company gives step-by-step instructions on how to train nervous cats to use the feeder which likely solves this issue for most cats.That leaves my success rate at 75% - not the 100% I was hoping for. But I’ll take 75%. It’s better than zero which is what I was getting before.

Frankie (top center) and Joey (far right) hoping to sample from Sam’s domed feeder.

A weak spot with the design of the Surefeeder was immediately exploited by our feline mastermind Jimmy. Where Oreo would cut-and-run from the feeders lest they chase after and attack him, Jimmy adapted easily, enjoyed triggering the lid open, and figured out he could tail the other synced cats to their feeders and slide around the back side of each feeder, to dip in and dine with his paw. Canned cat food became splattered all over the feeders, floor and walls. Once the others observed this technique, I had a wagon train of copycats cruising behind synced cats enjoy a buffet from forbidden feeders. I purchased the clear plastic dome that snaps on to block the back of the feeder which successfully foiled food burglars for about a week. Undeterred, Frankie’s next move was nudging the feeding cat over and muscle in to dine too. My counter-move was to place the feeder in a tighter space wedged between furniture making it too difficult for Frank to squeeze in. It worked — for a while. The chipped cat would give up, sit in front of the feeder just close enough to signal it to stay open. Frankie happily chowed down on his prize with this development. I was ready to throw in the towel but contacted the manufacturer. There’s an advanced “intruder” setting I was unaware of and they walked me through setting up. The lid closes faster and with a shorter radius snapping shut on Frankie every time he moves in. Praise be to the cat gods! Several months later there was no food mooching as evidenced by food-free walls and a clean vertical washer surface behind the utility room litter box.

So, my remaining issue is with the lid stuck open half or all the way open on two of the feeders periodically. I’ve seen other comments online about this problem so it does seem to be a vulnerability with the feeder. At times it appears to be a weak battery connection. Taking the batteries out and replacing them seems to help.

Sophie enjoying her medication spiked meal during a sitting visit.

Although not 100%, we still give the Surefeeder high marks because of how effectively it solves the problem of multiple diets and greatly increases the success rate of keeping cats on their own diets and solves the problem of meals with medications mixed in. No more standing guard to fend off other cats while following the right cat around cajoling it to eat while I watch. Place the mix in the unit and forget it. The cat eats the food or medication when it’s ready so you can set it and forget it. If you’re presently feeding multiple cats a prescription food for ease because one cat needs it, you will save money by keeping the one cat on its prescription food while continuing to feed the others their normal diet The units are attractive, well constructed, durable, easy to use and clean, and operate reliably for the most part. Set-up is easy following the company’s step-by-step instructions and with the push of a few buttons your cat is synced to it’s feeder by placing the cat under the arch for the feeder to read it’s RFID chip. Most importantly, cats take to them well - except of course, the Oreos among the crowd. We would like to see a timer feature added for cats needing precise feeding times for things like medications. But for the most-part we happily set-up our feeders before leaving for cat visits and continue to feed client cats around town with not much complaint. 6 cats and 4 different diets, the feeding circus at our house is now a snap!

THE YEOWWW! “Chicata Banana”

While this item falls in the “non-essential” category, with as much entertainment as it provides felines and humans alike, it’s money well spent

Although we had seen this one in multiple households over the years, we brushed it off as pretty-much just another cute catnip toy. But after a while we couldn’t brush off noticing the hideous amounts of cat spit staining these things and that no matter how soiled looking they got, clients wouldn’t toss them away. We found these things frequently underfoot having seen plenty of cat-mauling action between our daily cat sitting visits. Curious, I placed one in my shopping cart with a cat food order from Chewy.com.

Joey stealing the new toy off my desk to enjoy before I even finish writing about it.

Frankie and the “well-loved” original “Banana”.

Having discovered the new prize, more “Bananas” are purchased and handed out as gifts to the company sitters. Comments like, “What’s in that thing?!,” “Where did you get it so I can buy another?,” and “I have to watch when I put it down so the cats don’t fight over it,” are texted to us with photos of their cats biting, cuffing, and rolling around on their new prize.
The frenzy has cooled at my house and I can now leave the banana out unsupervised. But it remains a solid favorite and guess what, it’s butt-ugly with cat slobber and painful to look at. But I don’t have the heart to throw something so valued away. Rather, I ordered another to arrive with my next cat food shipment. Can’t wait to see what they do with their fresh “Chicata Banana”

Andis Power De-Shedder

Unassuming, inexpensive, and great to use

My older model which is still going strong is pink - newer units being sold are blue.

At first I was unimpressed when a client left a note with a powered grooming tool asking us to brush her cat with the“favorite comb” each visit. I thought it must be a gimmick, but was I wrong! Not only did it groom loose fur better than anything I’d used before but Cleo rolled around purring to the massaging effect of it as much as the actual brushing. I grabbed one online to try on my crew. My cats were sold. Each use everal come running when it flips on nudging each other out of the way to be first in line. We recommend this grooming and de-shedding tool to our clients, especially for longhaired coats and older kitties.

Frankie tends to be first in line!.

Pros:

You don’t have to apply pressure or tug like you do with a manual brush.

The vibrating action does all the work for you, gliding through the fur easily
Causes zero trauma/pain to your cat, just provides a pleasurable experience
Cats love the gentle vibration, making it especially enjoyable for senior kitties
Thins away the dead cat hair and catches far more cat hair than a manual deshedder
Collects all the hair within its teeth so that you’re not left with a messy cloud of cat hair
Greatly reduces amount of hairballs
It’s far more inexpensive than other brands like the Furminator
Long-lasting batteries

Fur stays neatly in the teeth as it’s vibrating.

Cons:

- It may take an introduction period to get your cat accustomed to the sound and sensation of the vibration
- Inserting and replacing batteries is a slight hassle requiring a tiny phillips-head screwdriver
- You can over groom if your cat enjoys it endlessly, so monitor that you don’t overly thin the coat

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