What Food Do You Feed Your Cat? #WhiskersWednesday

Read this post first if you haven't already.

Mum has really lost her trust in the pet food industry and is panicking about what pet food is safe.

But what do you feed your cats?

She has always fed me top food but she has her doubts about that too. And she's been reading about raw food but her instinct tells her that that isn't safe either. 

This is what I've been eating regularly for the past few years until Mum switched me to Applaws in April. She stopped feeding me that rubbish last Tuesday after she heard about the recall as you can see in the linked post above. 

Here is my regular food and what I am continuing with: 

Arden Grange Light Chicken

Bozita Indoor & Sterilised Tetra Pak

Smilla Toothies Dental Care Treats

Mum buys from Zooplus and sometimes from Fetch.

What do you eat?

And other pets too - what do your humans feed you?

Enjoying some fresh air and birdie watching in the catio

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ATHENA TOTE BAGavailable from our Redbubble Store

Why My Cat Deserves Everyday Treats

Why My Cat Deserves Everyday Treats

Everything WHISKAS® does is for the love of cats. For them, cats aren't just their job, cats are their life. From their nutritious food and adorable Kitten Kollege to their Lifestage and Curiosity campaign helping owners to feed their cat’s curiosity by giving them the right food for every stage of their life – they’re passionate about cats.

Athena received a selection of Whiskas cat casseroles in chicken, duck and poultry. WHISKAS® Casseroles are the perfect way to treat your cat every day.

As you can see, she couldn’t wait to tuck in.

WHISKAS® provides leading-edge nutrition, and with over 60 years of experience making cat food, they’re rightly proud of their products. Their dedication goes into every product they make, and they work hard to develop great quality, nutritious products that'll help keep cats of all breeds and ages happy and healthy

Some would say that I spoil Athena, but so what? She deserves it because she is a cat and I love cats! I do worship her, but I don't care. She is much worthy. The ancient Egyptians got it right that cats need to be worshipped!

But that's not all. Athena is a rescue cat. I adopted her in the summer of 2011 when she was just 10 weeks old. However, I don't know her full history. All I know is that she was abandoned in someone's garden and taken to a local rescue charity in North London where I used to live. Athena was just the sweetest, cutest, most beautiful 10-week-old kitten when I adopted her from the shelter. I would definitely agree that she chose me. She was a hungry little thing, and as soon as I got her home she demanded food. And after she filled her tiny belly she decided she wanted to take a nap on my lap. For me, this was incredible because I wasn't expecting her to be so chilled in her new surroundings and so affectionate towards me on her first day. I had been imagining all sorts before I brought her home. I thought she’d be hiding behind the TV, shaking and terrified.

But you know what? I didn't need to worry at all because as soon as I opened her carrier, she bounded out on her little paws and meowed out what sounded like "I'm home". Then she climbed up my leg, digging her needle-sharp kitty claws into my skin. 

My heart melted as I held this wise little kitten and we bonded instantly. It feels like she chose me to be her mum. We are soulmates. Two souls that just seem to get each other. She totally gets me like no one else can. We are on the same wavelength. 

I love treating Athena every day because she provides me with so much love and gives me a reason to get up in the morning. I suffer from anxiety and depression, but this little furry bundle of fun and love brings me such joy.

With such a loving furbaby in my life, I just can’t resist giving in to her requests so yes, I’m guilty of giving her too many treats. I mean could you say no to this beautiful face?

It’s important to remember though that when you give your cat treats to eat you must be careful not to overindulge them as you don’t want to risk your cat getting overweight, which can lead to all sorts of health problems such as diabetes.

WHISKAS® wants to encourage owners to feed their cats a nutritious diet made up of dry food or wet food and a responsible amount of treats. They also want to ensure cat owners know how to keep their cat happy with love, attention and play.

As a kitten, I gave Athena wet food because this is what she was fed at the shelter. But I made the mistake of offering her some dry kibble and she went crazy for it. She soon forgot the wet food and it took ages to get her to start eating it again. I now give her a balance of both dry and wet food. Obviously not at the same time. Normally I feed her wet during the day and dry later, and I feed her little and often, which is recommended by cat experts because this is closer to how cats live in nature. 

Other ways to keep your cat happy and healthy

Water

It’s important to keep your cat hydrated so make sure you have a bowl of clean water out throughout the day for your little furry friend to drink.

Playtime

Cats need to exercise. Athena is an indoor cat but I always ensure she has all her needs taken care of. As I work from home, she never gets lonely and I'm also always available for little bursts of playtime throughout the day. And yes, I will drop anything just to play with her. 

It's best to alternate between toys because cats get bored easily. Make sure you supervise your cat with things like fishing rod toys and any strings. I keep them out of sight when not in use.

As well as fishing-rod type toys, others of interest to Athena are:

• Catnip toys 
• Paper bags (I cut off the handles) 
• And of course, boxes. What cat doesn’t love a box? 

Scratching

Cats enjoy a good scratch for sharpening claws and for marking their scent on stuff for territorial reasons. It also helps relieve any anxiety and strengthens their muscles. It is a primal, instinctive urge and normal behaviour. To keep your cat fulfilled always provide several scratching posts around the home.

Athena has quite a few scratching posts and she has a tall cat tree that enables her to do some tree-dwelling in the corner of our living room. After all, she has to survey her kingdom somehow!

Grooming

As a shorthaired cat, Athena does not require a tremendous amount of grooming, but she enjoys it and will often beg for it! I think she believes I am bathing her as she sees me as her mum.

Napping

Athena has trained me to nap in the afternoons. If I don't oblige she starts pawing at the walls or wardrobes. We sleep together all night too, on my double bed. She uses my calf or thigh as a pillow. I wouldn't have it any other way, even if my knee or leg hurts a little the next day!

Cat grass

Athena enjoys nibbling on cat grass. It helps aid digestion and provides vitamins A and D and minerals like folic acid. Sometimes grass will make your cat vomit up hairballs. Kitty grass also contains chlorophyll, which can help aid a healthy immune system and to cleanse the blood, amongst other things.

Catio (or cat enclosure)

Expensive maybe, but worth the investment if you want to allow your indoor cat some secure outdoor space and access to some fresh air. I am saving up for one and hope to get it installed in the near future.

Before we go, here is Athena to tell you that she enjoyed the Chicken Casserole the best!

This is a sponsored post in conjunction with WHISKAS® but all thoughts are my own.

Review and Giveaway: HiLife It's Only Natural Luxury Cat Food

This is a sponsored post and all opinions are our own.

HiLife Cat Food Review and Giveaway!

We were contacted by HiLife to offer an honest review and asked if we would like to host a giveaway. Why not? We haven't had a giveaway in ages!

I am a fussy eater and tend to only like chicken flavour food and I have my favourite and I'll stick to that. I don't like other flavours, although I have been known to try a bit of salmon in the past. But it's not my fave.

Here I am getting a whiff of tasty chicken whilst posing in my photo shoot with the free stuff I was sent to try by as you can see here.

"Wanna taste some, Athena?" Mum asked.
"Of course, I do. What a silly question!"

Before I let you read our review, let me tell you a bit about the company that makes HiLife It's Only Natural, and other pet food in the HiLife brand.

About HiLife

HiLife cat food is not only tasty and delicious but has been created using the best quality ingredients to help give your darling cats the best!

HiLife is owned by Town & Country Petfoods, a family-run business based in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire in the UK. and established in 1974, by John Parkinson. The company originally supplied Hillards, Fine Fare and Gateway with own-label pet foods They then created the HiLife brand name for their largest customer, Boots the Chemist. However, in 1987 Boots decided to stop selling pet foods so John took the step of buying the HiLife brand name from Boots.

John and his son Tony set about building HiLife into a trusted national pet food brand and it was not long before his other son Peter and daughter Julie joined the business too, making Town & Country Petfoods a real pet-loving family business. Since then, retail sales value has grown to more than £30 million and the company now supplies assorted ranges to all major UK grocery stores, pet specialists trade, and other independent retailers. The range is also available online.

Sourcing Quality

The ingredients in this high-quality pet food are sourced from suppliers that must meet the family-run business' values of innovation and quality, putting them on the forefront of a number of key market developments over the years, including the first super premium cat food range and the launch of pouches.

Caring

HiLife has a policy of sustainability and accountability, and as members of the Earth Island Institute,  all tuna in their foods is dolphin-friendly.

For more than 10 years the company has supported Pets As Therapy, which is an amazing charity with over 5,000 volunteers whose registered PAT dogs provide animal-assisted therapy, bringing comfort, joy, and friendship to thousands of people every week. Pets As Therapy provides therapeutic visits to hospitals, hospices, nursing and care homes, special needs schools and a variety of other establishments. Both young and old people are given the opportunity to stroke, hold and talk to one of these dogs and cats benefitting their health greatly. PAT also provide individual animal-assisted therapy (AAT), working with stroke patients and people with dog phobias.

Right, on with Athena's review!

Athena was sent to try HiLife It's Only Natural Luxury Chicken Platter in Jelly 5 x 50g Suggested Retail Price is £3.50 (per box)

The It’s Only Natural range is a complementary food for adult cats made from all natural ingredients with absolutely no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives and is completely grain free. This is great and puts my mind at rest as I only like to give Athena the best!

After a bit of sniffing around Athena dived right in and licked the jelly a bit like she normally does. She seemed to enjoy it, though the texture is a lot different to her usual wet food so I think this was making her hesitant to start chewing. I also didn't notice an overpowering meaty smell like there normally is with other cat food brands. I don't know if this is a good thing or not from a cat's perspective.

Feeding Guide

HiLife It's Only Natural Luxury recipes should be fed as a treat 3-4 times per week. However, to ensure a balanced diet for your cat there is also a selection of complete cat food products from the HiLife range. Just remember you should always monitor total food intake if you are going to include special treats as you don't want your kitty putting on weight!

Ingredients

Chicken breast:

Chicken breast (60%)

Cassava Extract

Minerals

Chicken breast with duck:

Chicken breast (52%)

Duck breast (8%)

Cassava Extract

Minerals

Chicken breast with beef:

Chicken Breast (32%)

Beef (26%)

Cassava Extract

Minerals

Additives: Technological additive: Cassia gum 2,350 mg/kg

Analytical Constituents:

Protein 13%, Fat Content 1.0%, Crude Fibres 0.1%, Inorganic Matter 1.0%, Moisture 85.0%

Athena was also sent HiLife Its Only Natural Luxury Chicken Trio in Sauce  3 x 70g Suggested Retail Price: £2.75 (per pack)

As always, Athena likes to lick the sauce first and then taste the meat. Again the meat quality is good. In fact, it does look like something a human would eat. I wasn't tempted though (because I'm vegan), but Athena liked it a lot.

This is also a complementary food for adult cats and should be fed as a treat 3-4 times per week alongside complete food (their daily dinner), You can find a wide range of HiLife Complete here. 

The trio pack contains three recipes: Chicken breast (which Athena loved); Chicken breast with lamb; and Chicken breast with beef.

Ingredients

Chicken breast:
Chicken breast (60%), Cassava extract.

Chicken breast with lamb:
Chicken breast (52%), Lamb (8%), Cassava Extract.

Chicken breast with beef:
Chicken breast (52%), Beef (8%), Cassava extract.

Additives:
None

Analytical Constituents:
Protein 12.6%, Fat Content 0.6%, Crude Fibres 0.1%, Inorganic Matter 1.0%, Moisture 85.0%

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Wordless Wednesday: Tasty Treat

October Purrfect Box Revew #PurrfectBox

Purrfect Box contacted Mum and asked if we would be interested in a free subscription box to review and I'm so glad she said yes! 

Why?

Well, because it's pawsome and the box it came in even more so (I'm a cat so of course I'm going to love the box.)

The box has some nice pics on it, but that's not why I like it. Mum however loved those cute drawings and couldn't stop admiring them but I was more interested in what I could smell inside.

Mum took a while to open the box because she wanted some snaps of me smooching that box. And then a video - oh, Mum how cruel! How would you feel if I tried to stop you opening that bottle of Chardonnay? 

Before we continue with the review here is the video Mum captured and posted to her own Instagram instead of mine!

Open it now, Mummy! @athenawisekitty can't wait to see what's inside her #purrfectbox from @purrfectbox #tabbycat #tabbiesofinstagram #catsoftwitter #catblogger #petblog #catlovers

A video posted by Marie Symeou (@mariesymeou) on Oct 17, 2016 at 2:13am PDT

Luckily, Mum couldn't wait to open the box either and so she quickly cleared the table and placed the box on it because she wanted to get as much light for the photo and video shoot. Yeah, more work for me! I am an aspiring cat model, after all, and frankly why am I not already at the top of my career? I am five years old. Getting a little old maybe? Anyway, as soon as Mum opened the pretty box and unwrapped the cute paw print paper (which makes a quite an awesome noise) I was in there like a shot!

Oh, look catnip, let me at it now!

Sniffing out Mr Catnip Fishy who you all met yesterday 

This guy's almost as big as me.

Oh, wow!

And this busy bee smells divine too, though Mum thought not.

This food smells tasty!

Some fun toys to play with

Marie: Athena loved this box and became excited the moment she saw it. She really couldn't wait for me to open it as she already knew there was catnip in the box. I think her favourite thing in the box was the Jolly Moggy catnip fish toy, as you can see. She had a lot of fun with it and it made me laugh watching my fur baby enjoying herself.

In my opinion Purrfect Box is an excellent product and would make a wonderful gift for your cat. And with Christmas coming up why not order one for a friend's pet as a gift? I'm sure you'll be tempted to subscribe to more boxes. I know I am as the products are high quality.

The price of subscription is much cheaper than the value of the products included in the box so you do end up saving yourself some money as you get more than £40 worth of products for under £20.

Here's how it works:

You can choose a plan to suit you. 

12 months, 6 months, 3 months or 1 month subscriptions. 

You can suspend the subscription at any moment.  

What's in the box:

6 products suited to your cat's profile, delivered to your doorstep once a month. Your cat gets delicious treats, fun toys, accessories and hygiene products, and you will also love watching your fur baby delight in having a new box to curl up in or play with. Purrfect for taking some more cute photos of your little fur darling to proudly share on social media!

This is what was inside Athena's box:

Feline Happy Bites Duck Flavoured Treats

Thrive Complete x 4  (2 chicken, 2 tuna)

GimCat Multivitamin Paste

Pack of 3 colored balls

Camon Bumble Bee toy

Rosewood Jolly Moggy Wild Catnip Toy Play Fish

Another thing I liked is that Purrfect Box support more than 20 shelters and associations and as an animal advocate that for me is so good to know.

Watch Athena discovering all the goodies inside! Can't see the video here? Click here to watch on YouTube instead!

For a £5 discount on your order please use the following code at the Purrfect Box website. All you have to do is enter the code at the check out. 

ukbyhwxd

Disclaimer: I received a free box in exchange of an honest review. All words are my own. I only review products I would use myself and that I believe are suitable for my readers. Full Disclosure.

Vet's Kitchen Review #VetsKitchenChallenge

As you can see from this pic, I am daydreaming of the yummy cat food I got the chance to taste last month!

Now, as most of you already know, Mum likes to give me only the best cat food. Quality food that will keep me healthy, happy and strong. So when Vet's Kitchen invited us to participate in their “Healthy Cat Food Challenge” she was happy to let me take part. 

A few days later we received a free month's supply of 4 bags of complete cat food. Two with 80% fresh chicken, two with 80% fresh salmon.

Mmm... which one smells tastier?

I'll tell you which I preferred further down this post but first, let me tell you a bit about this food.

Because the people at Vet’s Kitchen work very closely with veterinary experts to develop some of the best high-quality natural pet foods in their own in-house practice, they believe in striving to produce the best pet foods they can, using only highest quality ingredients to create recipes that can only help to improve your pet's long-term health and well-being.

This is a new generation of nutritious dry cat food, using a new 'fresh meat extrusion technology' and probably the 'greatest dry pet food innovation in 50-years.' 

Available in calorie-controlled portions, the packs come in three different sizes: 2 days complete, 1 week's complete and 2 weeks complete. (We received four packs of 2 weeks' complete for our trial.)

Grain free low calorie dry cat food with high meat content

10 reasons why Vet's Kitchen is the future of dry pet food

1. It has a high percentage of animal protein - a must for carnivores 
2. It's grain-free, so no cereals 
3. It's hypoallergenic and contains no artificial evils
4. It contains prebiotics for digestive health 
5. Includes herbs to aid urinary tract health 
6. Made with ultra-high levels of fresh meat 
7. It's amazingly tasty and full of natural goodness 
8. It is a single source protein
9. Contains extra vitamin C & E 
10. Only has moderated ash levels 

All good reasons!

Now, I'm going to have to admit something here. You see, I am no stranger to Vet's Kitchen. I used to eat (and love) their Chicken with Brown Rice, which unfortunately made me put on weight so Mum stopped giving it to me and switched to another brand that had a much higher meat content (because she also felt the rice wasn't great for a carnivore like me.) The new brand of dry food she gave me was quite tasty too so I didn't mind the switch, and I loved the higher meat content and in fact, it did do me good!

So which flavour did I like best?

Though chicken is my favourite food, I didn't love the chicken version of this one that much. Yes, I enjoyed eating it (felt a bit hard to chew at times), but then when it came to tasting the 80% salmon pack I couldn't believe how good it tasted! This surprised Mum. And me even more. I mean, I am not a cat that goes mad for fish! In fact, I always find it too stinky.

This one was my favourite!

In the video below I am tasting the 80% chicken for the first time. Mum tried me on this one first. If you can't see the video here click this link to view it on YouTube.

So now it's been 30 days on this healthy cat food challenge and I can tell you that I really liked this food. Especially the salmon one. It was delicious and Mum and I agreed that the smell isn't overpowering, unlike most fishy foods. For some reason, I found the salmon crunchies easier to chew, as opposed to the chicken.

I seemed to digest it well, but my poo came out quite dark though. As for coat quality, I do have a nice, shiny, soft coat, but then again, I always have done. But Mum thinks it is now even shinier and softer since I've been on this diet so that must be an improvement. As for my temperament, I was very laid back (Mum says lazy) and I slept a lot. But July has been a very hot month and the heat tends to make me lethargic, so can't really tell if the food made me calmer. Mum noticed I looked slimmer too, so it must be down to the calorie controlled portions!

I really hope Mum gets me more of this food (especially the salmon). She's a bit concerned about me eating salmon though, as she's heard bad stuff about it. But this is good quality food, and salmon is a protein-rich source of healthy energy full of Omega 3, which promotes healthy skin and a shiny coat and I will make sure she buys it for me! This is a complete cat food, but she doesn't like to give me dry food all the time, so I know she will continue to give me some wet too, which I don't mind.

Disclosure: We received a month's supply of cat food from Vet's Kitchen in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Read full disclosure here.

Sunday Selfie & Vet's Kitchen Challenge

Throughout July I am taking part in the Vet's Kitchen Challenge. As part of the challenge, we received a month's supply of this award-winning complete cat food to try for free. This new formulated cat food has been developed with very high meat content that gives us carnivores 40% protein, moderated levels of ash and more herbs to aid in urinary tract health and prebiotics for digestive health. 

At the end of the month we will post a full review and update. But you can also look out for regular updates on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube where we will post photos and videos with the hashtag #VetsKitchenChallenge. 


 Join The Cat On My Head for more Sunday Selfies!

Wordless Wednesday: Loving Feline Bozita Indoor & Sterilised Tetra Pak!

Happy Wednesday!

Enjoying some Bird TV while Mum types out this blog post

If you remember a few months back Mum was concerned that I was eating nothing but dry cat food and decided to change my diet. She tried many wet foods but I have to say I hated all of them. Then she heard about Bozita from Sweden. She ordered some from Zooplus  and because I quite liked it she now buys it in bulk. 

I know I've posted about how I love Bozita before on this blog but I think I'm loving it more and more now, so I wanted to show you just how much with a new video (see below). I asked Mum to add music to the soundtrack but in the end she left it as it is because she likes the sound I make when I eat. Unfortunately, you can also hear the creaky floorboards in our lounge as Mum moves about trying to balance herself while kneeling down with the camera (to get a good vew of my cute self gulping down the tasty food!)

This is not a sponsored post by the way - we just wanted to post a review because we like to share great cat products on this blog.

The Bozita Feline range of wet food is a Swedish high quality cat food, based on carefully chosen raw ingredients such as fresh Swedish meat. It's really tasty and smells great! The one I eat is this one.

Bozita Indoor & Sterilised Feline Tetra Pak Chicken

Why is Bozita good for your cat?

• It's a complete cat food for all stages of your cat’s life containing all the nutrition your cat needs such as amino acids, vitamins and minerals.
• It has up to 93% meat content containing only fresh meat
• You can choose from 16 different tastes in chunks in jelly or chunks in sauce. 
• There are no artificial colourings, flavourings or preservatives
• It is enriched with Macrogard®, which assists in strengthening the cat's immune system by stimulating the white blood corpuscles to give your cat better protection against alien and harmful organisms inside its body. 
• Sugar  free
• Wheat gluten free
• Soya free
• Low fat
• It's produced in Sweden with strict inspections of quality and function and with the highest quality of raw materials

Bozita is also good for the environment. The Tetra Recart® environmental packaging is easy to open and reseal without the need for any tools, and once it's empty it can be recycled. 

If you fancy trying Bozita out for yourselves check out the Bozita website to find out more. 

And don't forget to check out the video of myself enjoying Feline Indoor & Sterilised Bozita.

The video below was recorded two months ago and most of you may have seen it before. 

Caturday Art

HAPPY CATURDAY! 

This lovely work of art was created in FotoSketcher using the oil painting effect. Only thing is, Mum thinks I look a bit on the chubby side and says I have to go on a stricter diet. Being a model and all that, I have to look my best. I do blame her though, as she should be able to resist whenever I give her that pleading "I'm hungry, Mum" look. She should learn to say NO!

NEW PRODUCTS AT MY ZAZZLE STORE!

Cat Art
by Marie Symeou

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Wordless Wednesday

You may remember that Mum has been trying to find wet cat food that I will like.  Well, after a long time searching, with lots of stress involved, she finally found one I do quite enjoy. As I mentioned in a previous post it's 16 x 190g Indoor & Sterilised Feline Tetra Pak Saver Pack Bozita Wet Cat Food 

I admit I do enjoy licking it. The jelly tastes lovely. I won't give in and eat the whole lot though, so Mum ends up throwing some of it away. I just don't want to give up my dry food just yet. But we have swapped our usual dry, which Mum says had too much rice in it, for Encore Cat Food Dry Mix 800g, Pack of 3 which I like just as much. Both are available from Amazon (UK), but Mum likes to buy Bozita from Zooplus

To keep this 'Wordless Wednesday' post short we thought we'd share this Instagram video of me enjoying my Bozita cat food. It's really tasty!

Disclaimer: I received no componsation for writing this post. However, this post does contain Amazon affiliated links. Full disclosure http://www.athenacatgoddess.com/p/disclosure-policy.html

Loving #bozita #catfood #cats #catseating #sotasty #catsoftwitter #tabbiesofinstagram #catblog #cattongue

A video posted by Athena (@athenawisekitty) on Feb 3, 2016 at 1:27am PST

Wordless Wednesday

Mmm... that tasted so good!

Can you guess what tasted so good?

a) Bozita Indoor & Sterilised Cat Food

b) Encore Cereal Free Dry Cat Food

c) Myself - I was just having a bath and Mum snapped away on her camera as usual (can't I get any privacy round here?)

(This is just for fun. I'm afraid there are no prizes for guessing the correct answer.)