CatToys.com Blog

Since MeowMonday always puts a smile on our face at the start of the week we’d like to celebrate MeowMonday by giving you all a chance to win a great prize from CatToys.com!

All you need to do is follow us on Twitter or be our friend on Facebook then answer the simple question below! (You can email your answer to us or post it here in the comments).

One winner will be randomly chosen from all correct answers we receive from 12pm today until midnight (est) tonight!

The prizeis the Kitty Hoots Catfisher Bobber. No matter how quick and agile the swatting cat may be, the CatFisher Bobber always returns to the upright position. Good Luck!

Question: Name one the three “animals” you get with the CatFisher replacement lures in our Fat Cat section over at CatToys.com?

Send your answers to us at meowmonday [at] cattoys.com  (replace [at] with @ to send to us). Please use subject line: MeowMonday Contest and include your @Twitter account name or facebook name to be eligible for the prize! The winners will be chosen on the following business day and contacted via email.

This is our first MeowMonday contest so if it is a big hit we will do more!

Update: We are very pleased with our contest entries. We had quite a few people answer not only correctly with one of the animals but several told us all three!

Answer: We would have accepted any one of the following…mouse, fish, butterfly.

Winner is @BrewskieButt who not only answered correctly but gave us all three lures. So we are also giving them a set of Catfisher Lures to go with that Catfisher Bobber toy. Now all you need is the fishing pole to go with it! Congratulations!

Some of our friends over on Twitter started up a little club for their favorite cat toy – the Kong Duckie (formerly known in some circles as the Dr. Noy’s Duck cat toy). Since it started the Duckie Club has gathered quite a following among the cats who twitter crowd.

They started telling all their friends about how much they (or rather their cats) enjoyed this little yellow duckie toy. Manxington started it off by showing the world how much he loved his duckie and asking if other cats had pictures of themselves playing with their duckies. We just loved the pictures of Boris that he posted on his blog, Just Ducky: A Tale of a Boy and His Duck (we even used one of his pictures in our store, with his permission of course). Soon cats all over Twitter were posting images and talking about getting a duckie. Those kitties sure know how to have fun, don’t they?

The Kong Duckie cat toy has a Velcro closure on its back so that it can be filled with the enclosed catnip pouches (each toy comes with 2 catnip T-nip “teabags”).

We have joined forces with our friends @Manxington and @BorisKitty to donate duckies to kitties in rescues. For every 25 duckies sold through links on their websites we will donate a duckie to charity.

Check out these blogs for more information:

• The Duckie Club
• Boris Kitty
• What A Slacker Blogs

Enter today to win this PAWsome cat bed for your kitty (or little pooch). The Vertigo Pet Sofa is great for adding some style to your cat’s naps.

that was inspired by the cool curved of boomerang and kidney shaped furniture from the 50’s. It is the perfect spot for the hip pet to lounge. Fabric: 100% Cotton. Handmade in the USA. Great for small dogs and cats (up to 15 lbs).

Contest ends July 31, 2009. Retail Value: $165. See complete contest rules for more information.

Enter CatToys.com’s contest now! Or head on over to DogToys.com for a chance to win a Candy Loveseat Pet Sofa! Feel free to enter both contests (you can only win one but you’ll have twice the chances).

Good Luck!

There are many hidden dangers to our cats some of which we probably don’t even think about because we use the products on a daily basis. One such danger is household bug spray.

We were just alerted by a fellow cat lover about an article in the Wired magazine about what’s inside a can of RAID. Basically the main insecticide used in the bug spray cannot be filtered out of your cat’s system fast enough before it hurts or even kills them.

There are natural alternatives to these chemical sprays like the Sentry Natural Defense Household Spray that is safe to use around pets, children, and even food. It kills most household pests like spiders, ants, fleas and more naturally.

Mind you the product does contain mineral spirits so do not use in direct contact with your cat and keep him away until the spray is completely dried just as you would the more harmful chemical based products.

From the product brochure, “Because octopamine is not found in humans or other mammals, birds and fish, the natural active ingredients in Sentry Natural Defense products are safe to use around your family or pets, when used as directed.”

If you would like more information or have questions please visit Sergeants.com.

We just added a line of kitten toys to our site. These four new toys are designed smaller for smaller paws. They are part of the Play-n-Squeak cat toys line so all four kitten toys have that famous realist mouse squeak that kittens and adult cats love.

These new kitten toys will keep your kitten busy stalking, pouncing and chasing for hours all the while he is learning valuable habits and behaviors for life. Playing with toys stimulates the kitten’s predatory behavoir, teaches new kittens social skills and cooridination, and most importantly keeps your new kitten busy and entertained to prevent behavior problems associated with boredom.

Well we all know that springtime means kitten time. So in honor of all those adorable fuzzy kitties we’d like to share this funny video with you. Enjoy! And keep an eye on CatToys.com for kitten toys.

It is Friday the 13th and superstitions abound. Many people believe that today is unlucky. Some folks even have a strong fear of Friday the 13th this is called paraskavedekatriaphobia or some times friggatriskaidekaphobia, while the fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia. For some people these fears are all too real, while for some of us it is just harmless superstitions.

But with all this superstitious nonsense running around it is important as cat lovers to keep your black cats (another source of fear and loathing to the highly superstitious person) safely indoors on Friday the Thirteenth. When people feel strongly that something is unlucky, like Friday the 13th or a black cat, they fear it. If that fear is strong enough, who knows what can happen.

No one knows for sure where these fears originated but they have been around for a very long time. For instance many hospitals do not have a room number 13 and most hotels do not have a thirteenth floor. Our 32nd President, Franklin Roosevelt refused to travel on the 13th of any month. Other famous triskaidekaphobics were Napoleon and Herbert Hoover.

We would like to tell you all about a new item we have in our store that you may not have seen yet. It is the Magneticat from JW Pet. It is rather innovative as it uses magnets to keep the toy in motion instead of a battery operated motor. Check out the video to see the Magneticat in action.

The Magneticat cat toy is a mesmerizing magnetic motion toy your cat will find fascinating. The magnetic field keeps the toy in motion. There are no motors, therefore no batteries are required just a little nudge from your cat to get it started then the magnet takes over.

You can check out Boris’ complete review of the Magneticat toy or send us your action shots to include on our site too.

Every dog has its day and so does every CAT! Share your beloved pet’s photos online for free! This is a great way to show all your friends and family your wonderful best friend and they can buy prints and gifts right from your photos. Once your cat’s photos are online you can put your favorite photos on pet bowls, playing cards, jewelry and much more.

Get your first 20 prints from digital pictures free at snapfish.com

Plus get additional prints for only 12 cents each every day! So you’ll always have a reason to upload new pictures to snapfish!

Every February we get a little reminder of just how important our cat’s dental health is as we celebrate Pet Dental Health month. Your cat’s dental health is important all year long, February is simply used as a gentle reminder to all of us. More importantly it lets new cat owners know how important it is to take care of their cat’s teeth.

There are several ways to help your cat keep his smile clean and healthy every day. Be sure to brush her teeth regularly with the Bamboo Quadbrush (as four side toothbrush designed just for cats). Give him treats, like Feline Greenies that help remove tartar as he eats them. Give her toys that help keep teeth clean like Petstages dental chews. These are easy things to do on a regular basis that will keep your cat’s mouth healthy and save on those expensive and even risky veterinary teeth cleanings that both you and your cat hate.

Your cat will live a longer, happier and healthier life with proper dental hygiene. Gum disease (periodontal disease) can be very dangerous to your pet. Gum disease causes, not only, pain and discomfort for your cat, but if left untreated they can get very sick as the bacteria spreads throughout their body. (The Journal of Veterinary Dentistry stated that your pet’s internal organs can be damaged by the bacteria as it spreads in the bloodstream.) So start when they’re young and keep your kitty purring!