Strange things that cats do

Strange things that cats do
STRANGE THINGS CATS DO Last week the creator of CatTamboo pet toys (Daniel Bisso) and myself went to the Las Vegas Pet Expo. We had a wonderful time there and were able to introduce his new line of dog toys called Puppy Pouncer’s. While in Las Vegas, we met some of the most amazing people who shared stories with me about their cats and some of the strange things that cats do. I listened intently to everyone and was inspired by the realization that every cat is unique!
Every cat has it’s own skills, talents and flamboyant personality. I knew that I needed to share the wonderful stories here with the CatTamboo viewers. For instances; I met a girl named Alicia who said she has a cat named “Will”. Her cat will only play with her. “Will” allows the other house hold members to feed him and caress him, but Alicia is the only one he is willing to let @loose and play around with. Alicia said that “We got Will when he was 6 months old, he is now 2 years old and nothing has changed. I am still the only one that he will play with.” One gentleman said that his cat likes to jump on his back when he gets out of the shower and rides on his back throughout the house until he bends down to show the ride is over. Another woman said that she has a cat who likes to lift things with his paws as if he has hands. He will eat this way or grab things and hold them in his paws. Someone else said that their cat likes to steal things especially the glasses from off its owner, and then likes to hide them! Another person said that their cat likes to sing to them; and yet another (while hiding under a bed or chair) likes to attack peoples feet as they walk by.

STRANGE THINGS CATS DO LIKE CLIMBING DOWN TREESI remember two kittens that I had that liked to climb trees. What made it really amazing was that they liked to climb down the tree head first! There was even an article that I wrote about a few months ago where cats were mimicking the sounds that birds made to leer them out of there nests.
I liked this story so much that I sent a request on Face book to some of my friends asking them to share their stories about their cats and got some wonderful feed back! Here are just a few:
Mark Lynde shared this comment “I have a female Tabby named Bella. I absolutely cannot raise my voice in the house,..even if I am on the phone laughingly telling a story..( or anything!! ) because if I do, Bella will frantically come from anywhere in the house..meowing and then crawl up my legs to get me to stop. I believe she thinks I am in distress and that really freaks her out! Mark works with cats and said that he has always had cats and that this unique behavior was a first. “She waits in the window for me to get home and when she sees me, she goes back and forth in the window. Then, I watch her hop down and meet me there at the front door.”
Mark Ludlam shared that, “Every time I play my grand piano, my cat crawls inside and lays on the lowest strings.”
My dear friend Danilyn Bisso shared this with me: “My cat stares at you in a very freaky way and just sits there in your face, stares and purrs.”
Matt Moser sent me this one: “My cat is a big lover and my dog and he are buddies. Really best buds. I know this sounds cruel, but the cat kills the rabbits, birds, mice, etc and then gives them to my dog who eats them!”
And although sad, this one from Christine Cross is very sweet. She says, “I do remember that when my late husband Steve passed away, our cat named Scottie quit going to the shop (across the alley where Steve worked) because he was grieving. He was the office cat for Steve’s Dish Network business and would lounge on Steve’s desk …so sweet, he was… but he was sad when Steve died.”
STRANGE THINGS CATS DO LIKE CLIMBING THE SCREEN DOORSam Bisso has a cat who is now nine years old and likes to go outside. What’s cute about him is when he is ready to go back into the house he will jump on the screen door and hang there looking in until someone opens the door!
An anonymous person sent in that their cat loves to sing. She waits till they get home and starts singing! When she hears music, she will often start singing.
A cat named “Fluffy” liked to cling up a person’s leg.
Another cat likes to climb under the staircase upside down.
I decided to take my research further to the internet to see if there were any other wild tales of strange things that cats do. I first went to youtube and found a cat which while playing with a laser climbed vertically straight up the wall! Another cat would sit with it’s mouth open with an expression of Shock or Awe. One cat would arched it’s back with its hair straight up and walk in a reared up position, ready to attack!
STRANGE THINGS CATS DO LIKE OPENING DOOR 2jpgI found a cat that likes to close doors; a cat that liked to hide in draws; a cat that liked to scale doors; a cat that liked to run on it’s front paws; and a cat that liked to stand on it’s back legs while looking out of the window.
And last but not least, I found Cats that like to do back flips!
One more story that I would like to share with you is about my cat Lynx. Shortly after getting Lynx I started hearing strange knocking sounds in my home and realized that while Lynx was cleaning herself she would use her hind legs to kick the wall. Strangely the effect she creates makes a thumping sound like “Thumper” from the Disney movie “Bambie”. Lynx has mastered her talent so well that when she wants something, she will kick on the wall to get our attention or use her newest skill when searching for us, then walk around the house saying “Hello”. Over my life I have had many cats that did strange things.
STRANGE THINGS CATS DO LIKE SITTING IN ON A OPEN DOOR jpgCat’s are such amazing beings and a joy to be around. It is just fun to discover what talented, fun, and beautiful creatures are cats! And if you don’t yet own a cat, I hope this helps you appreciate our feline friends just a bit more.

How do cats communicate?

How do cats communicate?

Have you every noticed how many different ways that cats communicate?CATS COMMUNICATING WITH TOUCH

I live with two cats “Lnyx” a female and “Mojo” a male. What is funny is how different they communicate with me. Lynx meows and meows and meows; while Mojo will occasionally meows(mainly when he is hungry or wants to go for a stroll). The biggest difference seems to be how they communicate to each other. They seem to use “telepathy“. I have been watching the two of them and at times they seem to get a long just fine; then Lynx decides she is going to see how far she can push him and “wham!” Mojo puts a stop to it quickly with a quick swipe of his paw at her. They also appear to use “telepathy” and body “language” when they are trying to talk to everyone in the house. Now when I say “telepathy” I mean little things like when the cat box needs to be cleaned, they seem to use subtle gestures (like sitting facing the direction of the cat box and glancing occasionally in the general direction of anyone near by to convey this to us. Or when they want the front door opened; They will sit directly facing the door hence that subtle gesture. So this brings me to today article “How do cats communicate?” I was asked by Mr. CatTamboo to look into this further, so here we go.

How cats communicate using SOUNDS

The cat’s vocal composition and compilation abilities are very advanced. From their ability to mock birds, to learning to use words like “Mom & No”  and developing sentences shows that cats are extreme when it comes to communication!
We have all heard that when a cat purr’s it is showing pleasure; yet we now know that they will also purr when in pain. Cats will make loud sounds like hissing, growling, and screaming as mating sounds or when they are expressing aggressive behavior. Also when cats are attempting to make vowel sounds is either to indicate a need for food or some other desire.
HOW CATS COMMUNICATING WITH SCENT MARKING

How cats communicate using SCENT MARKING

Cats use a gland found in their cheeks, chin and forehead to mark their territory. They do this by rubbing against a person, furniture, or anything which they feel they need to use to convey their message of ownership.

How cats communicate using BODY LANGUAGE

HOW CAT COMMUNICATE WITH BODY LANGUAGEIf you want to know what mood your cat is in pay attention to their tail, posture, and facial expression. If you see your cat with its ears forward, eyes half open and purring she is content. When your cats ears are flat on its head and its eyes are dilated your cat is afraid. If you see your cats tail flicker quickly it is a sign of excitement and possible aggression. When your cat is trying to appear bigger it is a sign that your cat is being defensive and sweeping whiskers and ears pulled back your cat is agitated.

How cats communicate with other cats

It is believed that there are three ways in which cats communicate with each other. Cats send and receive more information among each other through these methods. By understanding them better, we can begin to communicate more fluently with our feline friends ?.

Cats communicate with each other with sound by using pitch

The first is the pitch, and the intensity that your cat uses relates its needs and desires to other cats around it (the lower the pitch the more confident and content your cat is).
HOW CATS COMMUNICATE WITH OPEN TUMMY

Cats communicate fluently with other cats by using body language

The second is body language, if your cat lays with its stomach open it is an invitation to come closer. When a female is in heat and does this she is indicating to a male that she wants his advances. Yet if your cat arches its back, shows teeth, claws and stiffens its tail it is saying to stay “away!”

Cats communicate with other cats by using scent

And the last like with humans is scent marking. Scent marking releases information about the cats age, weight, reproductive status and health, which is viral information for the possible male prospect. Whether through their cheeks, urine, or paw pad your cat leaves detailed information behind to mark its territory or make tits presence known to other cats.

How to communicate with your cat using eye contact

Now for those of you that wish to communicate back with your cats there are ways to do so. You can make great connection with your cat with a blink of the eye!

HOW CATS COMMUNICATE WITH THEIR EYESDuring my research I came across an article which talked about how slow deliberate blinking and eye contact was a wonderful way to show trust. This is conducive to a healthy relationship with your cat. In the animal world being able to close ones eyes is showing trust to the other animal, so by doing this you are sharing your openness and trust to your feline. Strangely enough direct eye contact can come across threatening to a cat. Your cats fear will show in its eyes, the more fear the bigger the eyes will get.

The more aroused the more the cat the pupils may narrow or constricted to focus on greater detail.

Your cats tail is important to pay attention to as well. For instance a curled tail is a sign of friendliness and joy/ A tucked tail is fear or feeling threatened and a held high tail is a sign of CATS COMMUNICATING THROUGH THE TAILconfidence.

You should keep in mind is that even a mild tempered cat can get overly aroused when pet too much or handled too much “cats are predators prompted by stimulation”

One thing to remember is that every cat is different and has its own unique way of communicating with you. With “Lynx” when she really wants my attention she will use her back legs to knock on the door like “Thumper” from “Banbie” which is very cute but definitely her way of demanding my attention.

CATS COMMUNICATING WITH THE EYESWhat we are learning in this world filled with amazing cats is whether it be through sound, scent, body language or their mood cats have been able to communicate their needs to humans and other species around them for quite some time. Now on youtube you can find some amazing things that cats are learning to say as well as do everyday and many will proclaim that their is nothing that a cat cannot learn to do when it wants to.

 

 

 

Are laser pointers bad for cats?

The Laser and the Cat

A question has been recently brought to our attention here at CatTamboo. The question they asked was: “Are laser pointers bad for cats?”
laser toys for catsI know from experience that cats love chasing the laser. My little girl “Lynx” loves them and so does my spouses cat “Mojo” but the question is valid “Is the laser toy bad for the cat?”
I did some research on this and noticed a pattern; there doesn’t seem to be a correct answer.
One of the first things I found was that laser toys are therapeutic for cats. They are also very good to use for exercising your cat. Chasing laser toys is also fun for many cats. So, a positive for the laser is that: If you happen to have a cat who is obese or a cat whom you are wanting to put on a diet, the laser toy is fun and appealing. It is an easy way to catch your cat’s attention!
Laser cat toys are also easy for you to turn off when you have had enough or when you feel that your little friend is tuckered out. Playing with the laser also releases your dopamine in your pet cat, thus promoting a reward motivated behavior which creates in your feline a need to chase prey.

are laser pointers bad for catsFor anyone who has an indoor cat, the laser is a fun toy because it can be placed anywhere in the house and is entertaining to the cat and the person using it. Being that our little felines are mimicking the hunt, chase, and stalk motions which they would have been taught to do by their mother; the laser spikes a cats interest with the possibility of a satisfactory ending, yet with the laser that is not likely the case :(.

Although it is fun in many cases for your cat to play with the laser, we have found that there are a few negative things which also come with playing with the laser.

Are laser pointers bad for cats? They definitely can be!

THE FRUSTRATED CAT AND THE LASERIt seems that the laser can cause cats to become frustrated and develop ill tempers or compulsive habits. It is also said that they can begin to display excessive fixations while grooming.

“The main problem with the cat playing with the laser is that there seems to be no reward for the cat at the end of the chase.”

In the wild or even in the home, our little friends know that there is a very good chance of a positive outcome if they chase down a mouse or a bird. At the end of a chase with a laser, the cat will not gain anything. This fact is the leading cause of its frustration.
There is also the question of the laser causing damage to the retina in the cat’s eye. Many would agree that this is less probable if the laser is not being pointed into the cat’s eye or at the cat’s face, yet let us look at why this question may be relevant.
In 2010 there was a news story stating that allegedly some teenage boys were seen pointing a laser at several airplanes causing an issue for the pilots. The pilots said that from the ground it appeared to be a single laser yet by the time it reached the cockpit it was a blinding beam. For the human eye this can cause blindness and possibly other issues thus making a clear case against the idea of using lasers as play toys for humans and cats alike. Now imagine that you are the size of a cat, or imagine your family members as being 20 times your size. Now imagine this is your life. Where are you usually looking? Up right? This point is just to say that there is some risk involved.
Another fact to take into consideration is that cats are nocturnal creatures, and as such are more sensitive to light than are humans.
one eyed cat visionAlthough cats cannot see in the dark per say, they need one-sixth the amount of light that a human needs in order to see. There pupils can dilate three times larger than a humans can, and the cornea is bigger allowing in more light. Also our little friends have reflective cells that amplify the light coming into the eye.
The tapetum (the reflective cells) are responsible for the glowing appearance of the eyes for which cats are known. Cats are also nearsighted. The human is known to have very good vision when they have 20/20, but a cat is known to have a visual acuity between 20/100 to 20/200.

Cats also have a larger field view which spans about 200 degrees compared to the humans 180 degrees, and the have a greater range of peripheral vision which they use quite skillfully during hunting.

Cats are usually most active during dusk and dawn; cats also have 6 to 8 times more rod cells in their eyes than human beings do. These extra rod cells allow cats to sense motion in the dark better than their human companions. Cats can also see colors well, although they seem to see colors more like pastels (more dull), yet it is clear that they can perceive many of the same colors as we can.

THE CAT AND THE LASER 3With these facts about the cat and it’s beautiful eyes, we can conceive that the laser may not be the best thing for them, let alone for us. Instead it may be a better idea to understand that the objective is to spend time with your little friend and devote that time to quality time having fun! To our little friends it is the interaction with you which most entertains them. I will not say eliminate the laser altogether, that decision I would leave for you but instead, I would say be proactive in playing with your feline friend. Find a way to be present with a cat toy that you can also have fun with.

We have come to a time in history where we understand the needs of others better every day. The needs of our little friends are no different. Sometimes just picking up your feline friend and stroking or hugging them can do wonders.

Finding what your feline likes may take time and you may have to try many different kinds of cat toys including some that we have here at CatTamboo before you find the right one; yet knowing the pro and cons of any cat toy will only help you to make the right choice in a safe toy for your feline friend.

Below is a quote from expert Pam Johnson-Bennett for more information on the laser and the cat:

Pam Johnson-Bennett is the best-selling author of 7 books on cat behavior, host of the Animal Planet UK series Psycho Kitty, and one of the most popular and sought-after cat behavior experts in the world. She is considered a pioneer in the field of cat behavior consulting and has influenced many practicing in the field today.
Pam answers the question:  Should You Use a Laser Light Toy With Your Cat?

Quoting from her website: “I think many people who use laser toys like it because it gets a guaranteed reaction from the cat but unfortunately it can also cause lots of frustration. If you really take time to understand how cats hunt and how they use ALL of their senses, you’ll come to realize that chasing a red beam of light without ever having the satisfaction of capturing it isn’t a lot of fun.”

If you follow the link above, it will take you to a blog article on CatTamboo cat toys and how they appeal to all 5 senses of a cat.

Hopefully by reading this information, it answers the question “Are laser pointers bad for cats?”. Our family here at CatTamboo Pet Toys values cats as beloved family members. We wouldn’t point lasers at our babies. Instead, we choose our unique feather toys called Tamboo Flyers because they are safe for even human babies. Our cat toys imitate all 5 senses of a cats natural prey; they are challenging for a cat to catch; and they reward the cat with a victory when caught!

Do all cats hunt?

do all cats hunt?

KITTEN WITH A MOUSEDo all cats hunt?

Yesterday I was speaking with my friend Olivia and the question came up ‘do all cats hunt?’ We both knew the correct answer, and yet I realized that many don’t, so I decided to write this article.

As most of you (my followers) know, I have a cat named “Lynx”. I had gotten “Lynx” at my local rescue mission last year. “Lynx” was about a year and a half (and I say “about” because I missed placed her paperwork when moving, just after I got her).

Part of my original motivation to get her was that I lived in a place infested with mice (and I’m a cat person), and although some mice are cute, these weren’t. When “Lynx” was brought into the home she needed some time to adjust to her surroundings, yet within a month I got to see why I instinctively choose her. She was a fabulous hunter! She had killed at least three mice (within that short span of time), and had been staking their hiding places by the time we had moved out!

So why was “Lynx” such a great hunter? Was it something innate? Or was it taught?

MOTHER CAT HUNTINGActually, cats are taught at a young age how to hunt by their mothers. From the time the kittens are up and playing (between the ages of 5 weeks and 6 months) the mother cat is usually bringing dead mice to them. In the beginning the kittens may think the mice are play things and will paw at them and even play with the dead mice, but they will eventually lose interest once they are hungry and go to their mother’s milk.

KITTEN WITH A DEAD MOUSESoon the mother cat will bring live mice and kill the mice in front of the kittens; or bring a half dead mouse to her kittens and allow them to kill the mouse. The Mother will continue to do this until the kittens are not only killing the mice, but eating them on their own. Although it would appear that all cats know how to hunt, the truth is that this usually is not the case.

There is also the fact to take into consideration regarding the type of breed of cat with which you are dealing. Some cats have been domesticated for so long that the skill of hunting has become dormant.

WHITE MAINE COON KITTENThere are specific types of cats which were not used for hunting but rather for their beauty; and this has continued for many centuries. Cats like the Persians, and some claim the Siamese cats are examples. We currently have breeds which have been said (by their owners) to have become “too laid back or mellow” to hunt. For those who wish to know, these breeds are as follows: Persians, Manx, Maine Coon, and the Ragdoll. This may not be altogether accurate, (although I thought it important to mention) being that we now know that the true meaning of a hunter has not so much to do with the breed as much as it has to do with weather or not the cat was taught to hunt by it’s Mother.

MOTHER CAT HUNTING BIRDSThe beauty of having a cat which has been taught to hunt is that he or she is your own personal pest control agent! For those who have pest problems, finding a cat that has been taught to hunt is a must. You can try going by the cat breed for which there are lists of the different types of mouse hunters available.

KITTEN WITH A RATOr you could go to your local adoption agency or pet rescue mission and find a barn cat or pound kitten and find yourself a #1 hunter! These cats have been trained from birth by their Mothers and will not disappoint you but will instead keep your home free of mice and other unwanted critters like rats, birds hiding in your walls, bats, raccoons, possums, snakes, reptiles, bugs, and probably more. Your cat will show you his or her love by taking care of your pest problem, and you will build a bond for life.

Now-a-days, it is becoming more difficult for cats to be cats, as humans impose their life styles and living conditions upon their feline pets, and although this is not to say there aren’t benefits to your feline friends being catered to, or to overindulging your beautiful little friends, some of our felines are losing their very desires to hunt or to do much of anything! The problem with teaching your cat to depend solely on you for all of its needs is that the cat eventually becomes lazy, lethargic, inactive, and often times this will lead to depression or gluttony. By the time most cat owners realize what is happening, their little feline friend has developed behavioral issues or patterns which eventually have to be addressed and reversed.

PLAYING WITH YOUR CAT A better idea is to become a friend to your cat. Learn to become more of an active part in your cats lives by becoming their playmate. Just as we get bored and turn to our feline friends for stimulation, so do our cats! By playing with them we help them to avoid becoming lethargic. You will need to learn your feline friend in order to optimize your playtime. Try new things to discover what he or she finds to be fun. Remember your cats true nature as a hunter. This will give you insight into which types of cat toys your domestic cat will most enjoy during playtime with you.

What I have learned with “Lynx” is that she isn’t as receptive to cat toys that appear to flutter in the air, as much as she enjoys chasing a string around the house.

This is Mojo our little handsome man.
This is Mojo our little handsome man.

While our male feline “Mojo” prefers the fluttering of a toy that he will leap in the air to catch and pin down. Every cat is different and the only true way to know your cat is to become its friend. This leads up to my firm opinion that you should pick a cat that reflects your personality. Not all cats like to be held, cuddled, and fussed over; and if that is something you like to do, it could cause an issue for you when your feline rejects such treatment. There are also cats who prefer to be treated as babies and be pampered; and if that is something that you do not like to do (or have the time for) then your cat’s neediness will eventually become an issue, thus possibly leading to the need for a new home for the cat. Do your research; and help yourself and a homeless feline by providing them with a new home and living arrangement that benefits the both of you. Also if a hunter isn’t what you want, please do not get one because those cats need to hunt and play in order to be healthy; and their hunting abilities are still needed around the world.

What kind of Black Cat Breed do I have?

BLACK CAT WATCHINGDo you know what kind of Black cat breed you have? Many people do not realize that there are several different kinds of Black cat breeds in the world, let alone the kind of Black cat breed that they have. I must say over the span of my years I have had at the very least 10 different black cats, yet I only knew that they were either a long haired black cat or a short haired black cat. I had no idea what kind of black cat breed I actually had. Understanding what type of black cat breed you have can help you greatly in understanding your cat. The more you know about your kitty, the better you are able to love and care for them.

This makes me think of my first black cat “Midnight” that I had when I was 8 years old, and it makes me wonder what kind of black cat breed he was. Since writing for CatTamboo I have found that there are actually several different kinds of Black cats breeds, so today we are going to go through the different kinds and give you their names.

BOMBAY CATWe are going to start with the Bombay Cat also known as the Small Black Panther. This cat can weigh between 2.5-4.5 kg their tail is 2.5-20 cm. Their origin is the United States, and they are known to have yellow eyes. They have a lifespan of 15 to 19 years, and are a medium size cat with short hair. These cats are known to be affectionate, playful and very intelligent. They are also known to be very good with dogs. There is more than one kind of Bombay cat. There is a British Bombay and an American Bombay. British Bombay cats have more greenish copper yellow eyes whereas American Bombay cat eyes are a more orange yellow.

CHANTILLY CATNext we have the Chantilly cat. This cat can come in many colors including chocolate, fawn, lilac, cinnamon and blue. The Chantilly cat is a long haired cat which weighs between 6-10 lbs. They have a medium tail, and their origin is the United States. They are known to have golden eyes, and a life span of 14 to 16 years. Chantilly cat’s eye colors tends to be a bright, clear yellow when they are young but with age, their eyes become more golden. Chantilly cats are loyal, interactive, demanding and affectionate. These cats are known to be mischievous and dog friendly.

PERSIAN CATNext we have the Persian cat also known as the Shiraz or Shirazi in the middle east. Many do not realize this but yes the Persian cat can be black. The origin is Iraq. The Persian Black cat is known to have a round face and a short muzzle. The Persian cat is an extremely long haired cat with short legs. They have a wide head with ears far apart and large eyes. They have a long tail and have a lifespan of 12 to 17 years. Their weight is between 7-12 pounds. They are known to be quite vocal, docile and dignified. They are fussy over food and are not fond of noisy children or hyperactive dogs.

AMERICAN CURL CATNext we have the American Curl cat, this cat does come in black as well as several colors including; black, greyish blue, white, red, chocolate, silver, lilac, cream, buttercream, tortoiseshell, and brown. They can have patterns such as solid, tortoiseshell, bi-color, tabby, tricolor, calico, ticking, smoke, shades and points. Their eye color can range from blue, amber, aqua, copper, gold, hazel, odd eyed, yellow, and orange. The American Curl cat has short to medium length fur which is silky and straight. They have a lifespan of 9 to 13 years and can weigh between 8-12 pounds. They have a long tail and have a distinct feature of ears curling backwards (they is a curve in an arc of 90 degrees.

ORIENTAL Black CATNext we have the Oriental cat also known as the Rainbow cat. It’s origin is known to be Thailand. This cat is a member of the Siamese family and is a short haired cat. Their lifespan is between 10-15 years and weigh between 5-10 pounds. Similar to their cousins, these cats have a wedged head that is tapering from the edge of the nose downward forming a triangle. They have large ears tipped at the top, and rounded at the bottom. These have almond shaped eyes which are medium sized, and vary in colors such as black, white, blue, ebony, brown, chocolate, chestnut, cinnamon, red, frost, lavender, seal, champagne, and platinum. Their eyes can be blue, green and odd eyed. They patterns such as , tabby, solid, bicolor, ticking, points, shaded, smoke, calico, tortoiseshell, and tricolor. They are known to have long bodies, necks, and tails with a point. They are medium sized, beautiful and very intelligent. They love to jump and love heights (climbing is their thing).

Next we have the Ragamuffin cat, this cat is a cross bred of Himalayan, Persian, and Domestic long-haired cat. They weigh between 10-15 pounds, and have a lifespan of 12 to 16 years. They are known to be long cats with colors that range from blue, black, white, brown, silver, red, cream, fawn, chocolate, platinum, chestnut, cameo, and lilac. There eyes range in color from blue, green, hazel, gold, odd eyed, and amber. Their patterns range from Mitt with white feet and chin, solid color, and point. These are heavy boned cats and appear larger than they really are. They have medium size ears and a triangle head. They have oval eyes and long legs. They are known to be even tempered and get along with everyone.

Next we have the Japanese Bobtail cat, their origin is Japan, and were known to be loved by the Japanese Imperial Families. This is the cat that is known all around the world as the Maneki Neko or Beckoning cat statue, which is thought to attract good people. This cat weighs between 8-12 pounds and has a lifespan of 9-13 years. They are short to medium in length, with a triangle shaped head. They have pointy ears which stand straight up, and very prominent cheek bones. They have large round eyes with a slant in the corners. Their front legs are shorter than their back legs. They have a kinked short tail with fur that stands out creating a bunny tail look. These cats can be either short haired or long haired. They are loving and intelligent cats which tend to take over the house if there is a dog living there. They are ok with other cats but do prefer the company of other Bobtails. Here is just a little about some of the beautiful cat breeds which come in black known around the world.

So now we see that there truly are different kinds of black cats breeds all around the world. So when you decide you are ready for your first black cat make sure to learn its origin and what kind of black cat breed you may be thinking to get.

Here are a few more for those who wish to know:

  • Exotic
  • LaPerm
  • Selkirk Rex
  • Turkish Angora
  • Devon Rex
  • British Shorthair
  • American Wirehair

Cats Swimming

cats swimming

A TABBY CATS SWIMMING 1Have you ever seen cats swimming?
One of the most fascinating things to me about cats which many people do not know is that they are really good swimmers. Once again there is an old myth which claims that cats hate water, yet I can say by my own experience with cats that this is a false accusation. What I have found is that it is how and when the introduction to water is made that plays a significant part in your cats like or disdain for water. If a cat is introduced to water at a young age it will enjoy baths and even swimming, it really can depend a great deal upon the cat’s owner. There is also breeding to consider. It would seem that there are cats around the world which have a fancy for water; and I want to share the different kinds with you.
The Turkish Vankedisi cat is from Turkey, and lives on the eastern part of the country. These cats have a thick, protective coating. Their fur protects them from the harsh winds and snow. Like many animals, these cats shed their coats in the summer heat. Turkish Vankedisi cats are known for their white coats and blue and amber eyes.  These cats weigh between 7 and 18 pounds. Their colors span a range from mostly white, with splashes of lilac, caramel, blue, black, silver, and red. The Turkish Van cat is very intelligent, playful and are excellent swimmers. They are at home in the water and instinctively like to fish.
THE MAINE COON CATMaine Coon cats are native to New England, hailing from Maine (but little is known of its true origin). Some say it is a descendent of the cat which belonged to Marie Antoinette whom it is said sent her cat ahead to America in advance of her death. The actual name is believed to have been created due to the cats ringed tail that makes it resemble the raccoon. Cats without this ring on their tails were called Maine Shags. The Maine Coon cat is known to weigh between 9 and 20 pounds. Known to be a great mouser, they are attentive, not needy, and enjoy being in the presence of people. The Maine Coon enjoys fetching and retrieving, and likes games and toys which challenge their brain. They are known to not only like water but have been seen turning on faucets and playing in bowls. So don’t be surprised if you see Maine Coon cats swimming.
Bengal cats gets their name from the asian eastern leopard scientifically known as the Felis Bengalensis. They are a cross bred cat of domestic cat and leopard cat. This cat has a distinctive spotted coat and is known as the “water cat”. The Bengal cat weighs between 8 and 15 pounds and is highly intelligent, highly active, talkative, and loves to play and steal the covers when you are asleep.  They are very fond of water and will jump in the tub, or shower, or you may find them swimming in the pool. It is said that these asian swimming cats have webbed feet like a duck which helps them be excellent swimmers.

The largest hybrid cats swimming
The largest hybrid cat.

The Savannah cat is a wild hybrid cat descending from African Serval (scientific name is Leptailurus) and domestic cat. The Savannah is a very skilled cat which can jump 7ft in the air from a complete stand still. Savannah’s are the largest domestic cats, weighing up to 30 pounds. These cats were created in 1986. They have long legs and wonderful markings at the corner of their eyes, their ears can turn 180 degrees, and they are known to making hissing sounds like a snake. Savannahs are known to be fond of water and to like bathing. Savannah cats swimming is a beautiful sight!
The Siberian Forest cat is from Russia and is loved so much that it has been mentioned in fairy tales there. A very large cat weighing between 8 and 17 pounds (sometimes more) with very thick long hair to protect from the cold climate, it is known to live in the forest (hence its name). This cat likes people, loves to play, will fetch, and likes water. If you own Siberians, don’t be surprised if you see your cats swimming. The Siberian Forest cats are known to splash in water, drink from fountains, and play in mud and snow with their paws.
Another amazing cat that loves to swim is the Norwegian cat. The Norwegian cat is believed to be either of Great Britain descent or Scandinavian domestic cat descent. These cats can weigh between 13 and 22 pounds. The Norwegian cat (also known as Skogkatt) was believed to be loved by the Goddess Freya and known in fairytales as an excellent climber: Easily climbing up a sheer cliff which no other cat could do. They are known to have a double layered coat which repels water. This cat is known to like baths, showers, and is an excellent swimmer.
The Manx cat (also known as the Bobtail cat) is an island cat who lives off of the coast of Great Britain. The Manx cat has a double coat which can be long or short and comes in many colors. Believed to be from an ancient myth from the time of Noah’s Ark, it is said that the Manx was late to board the ark. It is said that she made an agreement with Noah to pay for her keep on board the ark by catching mice, and that Noah agreed and as she leisurely entered the ark, the doors closed and she lost her tail, thus giving these cats the name Bobtail. This cat is known to love water which many believe comes from the fact that it is an island cat. They love showers, baths, and swimming.
Abyssinian cats swimming
Abyssinian: The earliest known domestic cat

The Abyssinian cat is one of the first domestic cat breeds. Not much is known of the origin of this cat,  yet myth speculates that it is linked to the Egyptian Pharaohs and the temple art found in Egyptian tombs. Genetic testing suggests that it is from the Indian coastal region, East a
Asia, or Ethiopia. It is believed to be the oldest domesticated cat. The Abyssinian cat can weigh between 8 and 10 pounds for the males, 6 to 7 for the females; their colors range from blue, cinnamon, blue, chocolate, ruddy, lilac, fawn and blue. This is a highly intelligent and energetic cat known to get into everything and anything. It appears to be ongoing (as if it doesn’t sleep) and enjoys high places like the top of the refrigerator; and loves to be the center of attention. This cat learns fast and will retrieve things to extend its play time.

The Aby cat is also known to turn on the faucet to entertain itself, thus creating its own water park full of fun!

There are other swimming cats which you will enjoy learning about, and getting to know by following this link. These swimming cats enjoy water just like the big cat family which are all great swimmers. Tigers, leopards, jaguars, lynx, bobcats, and panthers are just a few large wild cats that love water and are excellent swimmers.
So for those who love water and have always wanted a cat who did also, I hope this helps not only alleviate the myth that cats don’t like water, but also helps bring about a new love for cats’ very amazing ability to astonish us!
Also don’t forget when looking into adopting a cat to ask a bit about its characteristics for you may find a cat who likes to swim.

Cat Medicine

Cat Medicine

Cat Medicine by Author Nikki Shiva

What worked for me? Love, and CatTamboo!

Hello.  I’m Nikki Shiva! I would like to share with you a form of cat medicine which I recently found and love called“CatTamboo”

I have the most wonderful kitty cat. It was April of 2015 when I walked into an animal adoption center and saw my perfect match. I do not remember what name was given to her, I only remember her beautiful eyes and horrible haircut! I had seen her in a dream the night before, so I was quite pleased, although many didn’t see what I saw, I was in love;  but I must admit she was a mess! She had bald spots on her back and a poodle haircut which was matted and embarrassing to see to say the least! She sat with her back to the fence and complained when the other cats within the same fence looked at her..

Cat MedicineI decided to name her Lynx and took her home. Within 2 weeks I found out that she had ringworm, then I ended a relationship shortly after and we moved. There were many changes happening fast for my cat  I had to move and was unable to take her with me at first, yet I did not want to leave her with him either, so I decided to leave her with a friend who had 2 cats of her own (amongst several other amazing animals). She fell into a deep depressed when staying at my friend’s place, she stopped talking and playing and began to lose a lot of weight. The owner of CatTamboo told me about his product and how many cats he has seen it help, and proceeded to demonstrate how it worked in front of me with Lynx, I watched my little girl slowly break out of her shell. One day at a time I saw her become aware, active, energetic and playful. Her wonderful spirit lit up and the little kitty in my dreams began to show herself.

one eyed cat visionIt is a fact that our little feline friends are sensitive to our welfare. They are affected by our emotions and stresses we endure day in and day out. Many aren’t aware that changes in their environment, death, divorce, fighting (yelling, agitation, aggressive behavior) all can affect our little ones, yet there is another, Boredom..

Interacting with your little ones is very important and finding the right kind of entertainment is also. I do feel that CatTamboo played a big part in helping pull Lynx out of her shell, so I wrote this article to help those looking for a new means of inspiring their little ones to be happy again, to try CatTamboo.

Cat Worshipping

cat worshipping bastet
cat worshipping
Image of Bast: The Lion Goddess

How long would you guess that cat worshipping has been being practiced?

To date we can see the domestication of cats within the human society as far back as Mesopotamia one hundred thousand years ago (and we still believe it may have been early than this), yet for cat worshipping we can date as far back as ancient  Egypt. The most known is the worship of a Lioness turned Feline Goddess known in Egypt as Bast, Baast, Ubaste, or Baste ( said to mean the Soul of Isis, The Devouring Lady amongst other meanings). Dating as early as the second dynasty 2890 BC, Bast was originally known to be a Lioness, and the daughter of the Sun God Ra (also Atmun and Ammun) she was known to be the Eye of Ra and sibling to Thoth Hathor, Tefnut, Thor, Sekhmet, Serket, Shu, Anhur, and Ammut. She was sometimes known as The Lady Asheru (which means Lady of the Sacred  Lake) as well as the “Southern Bubastis” and was known to represent lower Egypt. By the 22 dynasty with the rise of  Thebes and the temple priests of Amun, her status had diminished and she was from then on known as Bastet the Feline Goddess. Bast has the head of a lioness or feline and the body of a woman. Bast was known as the goddess of cats, protection, keeper of the hearth, protector against disease, womens secrets,  music, dancing, joy, family and of love.

I believe this love for the Goddess Bast may the the real reason behind the creation of the Sphinx, and if the carbon dating around the Sphinx can date it to the Leo Constellation (and her being known as the Eye Of Ra) then there would be the proof!

Along with more history, cat’s were wanted so badly back in the ancient times that in Egypt the government had created a branch solely to stop the export of their beloved cats from their region! They took the removal of cats so seriously that they would send out government agents to retrieve these stolen cats and return them to their land. By 450 BC the penalty for killing a cat in Egypt was DEATH! Also the death of cat was taken very seriously, upon the death of a cat the owners would shave of their eye brows and the mourning period was known to have ended upon the regrowth of the eyebrows (according to Herodotus). It is said by that during an excavation over 300,00 mummified cats in their own cemetery were found in the city of Bubastis. The biggest proof of the love the Egyptians had for their beloved cats, was their downfall.  During the battle of Pelusium in 525 BC  Cambyses the second of Persia, defeated the forces of the Egyptian Pharaoh PSametik  the 3 and conquered Egypt by using Cats and other animals in the front line and painted cats on their shields causing the Egyptian to be reluctant to defend themselves, to hurt the cats, or offend their beloved Goddess Bast and so surrendered to the Persians.

cat worshipping bastet
Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess

Bast moved from Egypt to Greece and was identified with the Goddess Pakhet a Lion-Headed Goddess of Speos Artemidos (Cave of Artemis)  near Beni Hassan. The cave was given the name because Bast was identified by the Greeks with Artemis “The Hunter”. When you look closer you see that they were not that similar being that Artemis was known as a celibate Goddess while Bast was known for fun and sexuality. We known that our love for cats did not end in Egypt, we instead find that the worshipping of Cats (or cat worshipping) moved across the planet as we can see this in the two great literary epics of the  Mahabharata and Ramayana both from the 4/5 century BC.

In the Mahabharata there is a famous passage which concerns the cat Lamasa and the mouse Palita who help each other escape from death and discuss the nature of relationships, particularly in which one of the parties is stronger  or more powerful than the other. in the Ramayana Indra disguises himself as a cat after seducing a maiden to get away from her husband. There is also a Goddess in the indian culture known as Sastht who was greatly revered and very similar in character to Bast.

There is a Persian belief that cats were created magically. In the story of the Persian hero Rustum, Rustum provides shelter to a magician and is asked what he would like in return, the hero answers he is in need of nothing so the magician create a kitten for him out of smoke, and two bright stars.

The prophet Mohammed was also known to be quite fond cats and the M on the forehead of the Tabby Cat is said to be where he blessed his cat by placing his hands on his forehead.

In China there is the Goddess Li Shou who is said to have appointed cats as the overseer of the planet and gave them the ability of speech. It is said she gave them three opportunities to watch over the planet but they were reluctant and only wanted to sleep and play. She soon tired of their reluctance, and decided to take their power of speech away and gave it to humanity. The problem was that the humans could not understand the words of the Gods, so the cats were intrusted as the keepers of time and maintaining  order.

In Japan the famous image for “Beckoning Cat” (the maneki neko figure of the cat with the one raised paw) represents the Goddess of Mercy. In a story a cat sat outside of the temple  Gotoku-Ji said raised her paw in acknowledgement of the Emperor who was passing by. Attracted by the cats gesture, the emperor entered the temple and moments later, lightning struck the very spot where he had been standing. The cat therefore saved the Emperor’s life  and was given great honor.

In Norse mythology there is the Goddess Freya who rides a chariot and is pulled by cats, and in both Ireland and Scotland cats are seen as magical and positive.

Sadly by the middle ages, cats had become cast as demonic by the church and they were hunted and killed. During the Victorian era (1819-1901)  cats began to gain their popularity again with the help of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. She had learned of the archeological finds in Egypt about Bastet and cat worship, which were being written about and decided to adopt 2 persian cats and make them a member of the court. News reached the United States by a popular magazine in Philadelphia. The “Godeys Lady’s Book” published by Louis Godey in 1860 stated that cats were not solely for older women or monarchs but that anyone should feel comfortable with the embrace, love and virtue of the cat. Cat popularity grew after that article was released. The direction and or image of cats changed to such a degree that we begin to see them appearing as characters in movies, first by Lewis Carroll in Alice and Wonderland to the first major cat show held in London at the Crystal Palace in 1871. The first cat show in America held 1895 at Madison Square Garden and by 1952 we have our will known character “Catwoman” in comics.

Cat Worshipping women
Characters of Catwoman TV series and movies.

Catwoman has played a crucial part of the human history and woman have been so closely associated with cats that it has never been a question mark as to why we will put on the ears and tails every halloween and purr. From the 60’s all the way to our newest catwoman we have loved her and knowing that she may have existed in the past only explains why we still worship our feline friend today. Cat worshipping is probably the most natural to a cat lover, yet to know this worship may have begun by an actual worship of a Goddess for me explains a lot.

Unique facts about cats

Unique fact about cats:

Although there are many people who have cats. Few and far between know anything about their feline friend. For instance:  Did you know that outside cats can learn to imitate the sounds or calls of birds? They have learned to do this in order to lay traps for birds in high trees. They make sounds to imitate a baby bird who is fallen from the nest. This calls down the parents and the cat pounces! What is truly amazing is that people all over are recording their cats making these sounds. I did a upload search and found several of wild cats whom people recorded to cat owners recording their feline friends. It is just another fascinating fact about our beloved friends.
Below is Samara-Chuna a beautiful house cat showing you vocal skills as she tried to persuade some birds in a tree above to come down and visit her.

This was a wild one: that inside cats have learned to create sounds to communicate with their human family? Many of the calls that you hear your cat make are designed directly to communicate with you. The normal meow that you hear from your cat is not something that a wild cat will do when outside, it is only the something that an inside cat does to his or her human family.
A few months ago I saw a TV show about unusual facts about cats and the meowing was discussed as a unique ability aimed specifically toward humans, yet when I researched it online it has been received as unconducive. Maybe one day we will prove that the meow was created for communication to humans, for now it is fun to have them talking to us at all.

Join the CatTamboo family and learn something that will bring you closer to your furry friends!

 

The nature of cats hunting

The nature of cats hunting:

My cat is so quiet.  Sometimes it just appears right next to me.  One of the coolest things to me about the nature of cats is that their ancient predator instincts have never left them.  Unlike many dogs, cats have not learned how to be trained in the sense of losing who they are.  To many, cats are an enigma, yet, in truth their stealth ability is embedded within their genes.  As kittens, they begin to display this skill during play with their ambush attacks, prancing, and stalking.  Our feline friends are demonstrating their natural ability to hunt.  When you think of this, silence would have been most important to their ancestors.  Here is somethings you should know about your cat; their beautiful mouths are designed with shorter muzzles creating a strong bite making their jaws perfect for killing, they also have an add on molar a special  spur which is  called a anterior cusp which allows it to crush bones.  Their tongues which feels like sandpaper to us has sharp ridges called papillae. These are little spines made of keratin (this is the same stuff in hair and nails) you can see how this is helpful during a kill and when cleaning themselves. Their whiskers, and shapes of their ears play a large part on hearing high frequencies and the movements of their prey.  They are able to rotate their wrists, have retractable claws, pads and fur on their feet which provides silence for them to stalk. Scientist believe that cats may be the cause of the death of mammals ranging anywhere between 6.9 billion and 20.7 billion. They also believe that cats are the cause of bird death ranging between 1.4 billion and 3.7 billion. Known to be just as good of a hunter as a lion or tiger our household pets are truly a magnificently designed animal. So when you feline friend appears out of nowhere, be glad that you are not on their menu.

USA made pet supplies

USA made pet supplies – Why buy USA?

USA made pet supplies are the best! When a pet product is made in the USA, it is more likely to be unique and higher quality that pet supplies that are produced in other countries. It is important for consumers to recognize that every time they purchase a foreign made pet product, they are casting a vote in support of what they are purchasing. It is an easy thing to do when an easy 4-8 dollars buys a cheap plastic toy, however, these toys do not last. But we live in an economy of supply and demand, so as long as consumers keep buying these crappy products, we will continue to build waste and continue to make it more difficult for better products to emerge into the market. Most consumers do not realize how difficult it is to “crack the egg” of the pet supply market. It is one of the most competitive online markets!
cat toys USA
So this is a shout out to the consumer. Buy USA made pet supplies. We are dedicated to selling usa made pet supplies, however, it might be difficult for consumers to find one location to get all the best usa made pet supplies available on the market. When the consumer searches usa made pet supplies, they get some options but most of these companies are still big hitters that represent that “egg” that is difficult to crack. So if you are a consumer that is looking for unique pet products that are made in the USA, you might need to “dig a little deeper” in order to find the local USA companies and small businesses that are producing the newest technologies in pet toys, dog foods, pet bedding, etc.

Kitten Bowl by Hallmark

the kitten bowl 2014

Kitten Bowl 2014 on the Hallmark Channel

CatTamboo is an unofficial supporter of the Kitten Bowl 2014!  The “big game” is scheduled for Super Bowl Sunday at 2pm MST.  The Kitten bowl is a new creation that will feature cute kittens playing on a football field made specifically for kittens, complete with scratch goal posts and catnip football.  You are sure to love this cute, funny creation hosted by Beth Stern (wife of Howard) and radio sportscaster John Sterling!  Guest celebrities include Regis Philbin and Rachel Ray.  Join us in support of this cat lovers event which proves that all the world loves kittens!

kitten bowl
The Kitten Bowl by Hallmark

This Superbowl feature celebrates families and recognizes the important role of pets in our lives!  The kittens that are participating in the kitten bowl are all being adopted by American families!

Click here to Like the Kitten Bowl on Facebook!

2014’s first annual Kitten Bowl.

Hallmark channel is giving kittens the chance with Animal Planet’s annual Kitten Bowl 2014!

Filming features as many as 70 kittens from North Shore Animal League.  The kittens will perform in two preliminary playoff games.  The game includes an obstacle course and championship match!

Stay tuned for preview clips from Hallmark via Youtube!

Famous Cats

famous cat on twitter

Famous Cats relevant to 2014

Featuring a mix of our favorite most famous cats as of 2013.

Beginning with productions from Kittywood Studios. Kittywood studios uses state of the art technology to create cat videos that people love. They have trillions of hits on Youtube from their many videos. Kittywood studios uses puppets and CGI (computer generated imagery) to make their cat videos.


Maru

Maru is a Scottish Fold breed of cat. Maru lives in Japan and is a very famous cat on the Internet. The first video of the cat Maru was uploaded to Youtube in 2008. People everywhere have fallen in love with this adorable, box-loving kitty cat named Maru. Maru cat’s YouTube channel has over 180,000 subscribers, and his adorable cat videos have been viewed over 100 million times by people on the web.


Sockington

Sockington the cat is called “Sockamillion” or “Socks”. Sockington is a domestic short haired cat (10 years old as of ) who is from Waltham, Massachusetts and lives there with his person, Jason Scott. Sock was made a famous cat by Twitter. This adorable cat named Sockington has something like 1,400,000 likes and 1.5 million followers on Youtube. I followed him and so does my cat Mo. You can buy Sockington shirts. It is a cool brand that was made possible by a internet marketing giant.


Smokey

Smokey is a cat in the Guinness World Records. Smokey won the record for having the loudest purr of any domestic cat in the whole World. Smokey’s is special. This cats vocal levels are said to be 14 x louder than an average cats purr. He’s a beast! That has to be a cool cat to own for sure.


Grumpy Cat


famous cats meme grumpy cat

Grumpy Cat needs no introduction. Grumpy cat memes are some of our favorites here at CatTamboo. Whether alive or not, Grumpy cats image will be timeless. He rocks the internet!


Surprised Kitty

Youtube can make a cat famous, but can it make a famous cat? Hmm. Well Surprise Kitty one hit wonder video has made this kitten a famous cat with over 69,565,000 hits and over 293,000 likes! Just show the power of an excellent funny cat video. So check this out, the funny cat video that made Surprise Kitty a famous cat was made using puppets. Today, video animating funny cat videos is big business. Here’s something random, check out our cat bloopers, a page dedicated to funny cat memes, funny cat writing, and funny cat videos.

Mo cats favorite hot sauce!

cholula hot sauce cat

My cats favorite hot sauce

Mojo, hey Mo, Mo Mo Kitty…What is your favorite hot sauce?  Mo looks up, trips over a toaster wire, then stands up on his back legs a starts to speak in a Mexican voice.  Ahhh Cholula! Its every cats favorite hot sauce. Then he hops into a pair of boots, chugs a bottle of Cholula, and walks away into the night.

When Mo feels like a Mexican, he loves Cholula! So he gave it to his friends Maffer and Lavia that he met at crazy fiesta and as you can see from the picture, he loved it also!

cholula hot sauce catdemon cats favorite hot sauce

Should I Spray my Cat?

cat meme spray bottle

Should I spray my cat with water?

Regardless of what other pet owners, veterinarians, and pet trainers might say, we recommend you do NOT spray your cat with water in order to discipline or train them. It may be effective to use squirt bottles to spray your cat, but it comes at the price of not being a close to your pet cat.  Cats are a lot like children.  They are sensitive, intelligent, and perceptive. Should I spray my cat with a water bottle as a form of discipline? NO. Let me explain a little more about cats and why the answer is No.

Why would I ever spray my cat Mo with water?

My cat Mo with his leg on ice after a dog bit him.
My cat Mo with his leg on ice after a dog bit him.

My cat Mo was a stray and had trouble bonding with me at first.  Then one day he got his foot chewed up really bad by a dog.  I could tell that Mo was in pain and concerned about his foot.  I nursed him, patiently cleaned and tended his wounds, laid with him, gave him love, and showed my concern for him.  Mo recognized my sincerity and love for him and we have been incredibly close ever since. I’d like to stress that if I sprayed Mo with a water bottle, it would be offensive towards him. He is communicating his needs with my through his actions and subtle gestures. If I can’t read his subtle body language and I chose to resort to crude methods of discipline like spraying my cat with water, then Mo and I would never be as close as we are now.

 

As an Alternative to Spraying your Cat with a Water Bottle, Know your Cat!

Cats possess emotional bank accounts just like people do. You cat will remember if you hurt, ignore, or bully them. They don’t understand the world in quite the way you do, so try to be aware and sensitive to your cat’s needs. If I spray my cat with water once a day, would that help me be close to my cat?

The key to a healthy relationship with your cat is to share a strong bond. Like with Mo, I had a similar bonding experience with my cat Padme.  She didn’t trust people, but she was intelligent and communicated in the ways she could. The key is to recognize that cats don’t have a voice, but they are communicating with actions.  Cats are sensitive animals because they are keenly aware.  Cats communicate in subtle movements because of their nature.  Padme communicated with subtle body language and I listened. As a result, we had a very close bond up until her death. You can read more about Padme by reading her epitaph.

So in conclusion, please don’t use a spray bottle to squirt your cat with water when they are scratching or getting up on the table. Spraying them with water might produce results, but it will also compromise that trust you can have with your cat.

How to help my timid Cat

timid cat

Timid cats are everywhere in this world. We take cats out of their natural environments, lock them in a house, form leash laws to keep them there, and then leave to work all day. This is a recipe for timidity. Its time to first discover if you have a timid cat. Since most domestic cats have some degree of timidity, the answer is likely yes when asked the question – Does your cat ever act timid? Just like with people, all cats have some behavioral issues and personal psychology happening that can be improved upon. We are all working on being a little happier and healthier.

3 Steps: How to help my timid cat

  1. Spend constructive time with you cat
  2. Observe you cat’s daily behavior when you are not home
  3. Get your cat a CatTamboo™ pet toy and visit this blog page on timidity.

Explanations of of three steps to help timid cats

  1. In step 1, the thing to know is that you are a big part of your cat’s daily life and routine. If they are experiencing neglect and boredom, then fear follows. Imagine yourself as your cat. Would you be happy? Be honest and think of how you can improve your cats daily life and routine.
  2. In step 2, the focus is on the social life of your cat when you are away from home. If you have other cats or dogs, your timid cat is likely having social issues. Your cat might spend hours perched on the toilet or a high perch while your other pets rule the territory. It is important that you diagnose the problems in your timid cats daily life if you are to help your timid cat.
  3. CatTamboo™ pet toys take all 5 senses of a bird…they way it tastes, smells, looks in the air, flies, the sounds it makes, and the way it feels….and puts it in your effortless control. It is best to hold the toys with a pencil grip. Make a writing motion and the toy will fly all over. An up and down motion imitates a bird in flight.

Steps to help timid cats using CatTamboo™ pet toys

  1. Step 1 is to get your timid cats attention. Timid cats will typically want to watch and observe the toys. You should fly them around, land them on walls, and make them look like a real bird or moth. Let the feather touch down in places that your cat can see it but not too close and definitely don’t put it in your timid cats face. If you have other cats, then let them play in front of your timid cat, but don’t let that replace your one-on-one play time with your timid cat. The one-on-one routine is important….See step 2.
  2. Step 2 is constancy. Your goal is to establish a constructive and fun routine with your cat. It has to be every day for at least a time. Your timid cat will begin to treasure that constructive time with you and will love you for it!

You can buy our interactive cat toys that help timid cats via CatTamboo’s online pet toy store!

Cat Art for kids and adults

Cat art by 10 year old kid

Cat Art Originals by CatTamboo!

SamCat
SamCat

Enjoy our cat art designed for cat lovers. We have art pieces from people of all ages. Cats have been a favorite subject of artistic expression for centuries. From Egyptian times to the present, cats are symbols of inspiration, intelligence, elegance, grace and beauty. Herein is a new, fresh compilation of unique cat art by talented young artists. Many of these original art pieces portray the artistic perspective of a child’s primordial view of the world through art.

Cat Art Pieces by talented kids

Children see the world through pure eyes. Our featured artist is a young boy who exhibited unique talent as an artist from a very young age and has an innate love for drawing and painting. His use of color and form are very strong and sophisticated.

As an artist, Sam is quite accomplished. He is constantly creating new signature art pieces that are duplicated in various ways. With time, we will be able to compile a timeline of Sam’s paintings and drawings that will reflect his progress as a young artist maturing and perfecting his skill. Here are a few of these unique art pieces from his portfolio of cat art. These represent his first published pieces from the early age of 9. Enjoy!

cat art egypt
Cat art by Sam Bisso, copyright 2013
Cat art by 10 year old kid
Cat art by Sam Bisso

Cat Art images and cat art photography using Photoshop

Cat art by Sam Bisso.
Cat art by Sam Bisso.

There are many opportunities to create something unique in the art world. Art photography combined with advanced photo imaging software such as Photoshop can be use to produce some wonderful imagery. Much of this art is used to bring out laughter..such as cat memes. Other art pairs together things in the world of a cat. Cats go with birds and fish in ways that make sense. This art then portrays cats in a way that either tells a story or leaves a pointed impression. For example, a bird on a cat’s head communicates trust and friendship as seen through the idealistic and joyous eyes of a child.

cat art with reef aquarium
Cat art by Daniel Bisso
cat boy
Young artist Sam Bisso: Part cat, part artist.

Should I declaw my cat?

Should I declaw my cat?

cat-declawing

Cat Declawing Surgical Diagram

Declawing a cat is a surgical procedure that carries some controversy.  All cats have a basic need to scratch.  This need is in fact very natural and basic to cats.  The problems begin when cats start to scratch the furniture and carpets in order to satisfy their need. The other problem that can happen with a cat that has its claws is they may scratch people or children. So we need to answer the question: Should I declaw my cat?

Discussion: Should I declaw my cat?

Before making a final decision of whether or not to have your cat declawed, pet owners should consider the alternatives to amputation.  Removing a cats claws means they can’t defend themselves, climb, run, hunt, balance, or stretch their toes the way they once could.

As an alternative, cat owners can introduce their cats to scratching posts, climbing poles and other appropriate scratching surfaces.  Be sure to block off the places where you cats have scratched that you don’t want damaged.  Place tape over carpet areas or put furniture there.  Move things around so the new scratch post is preferred by your cat(s).

You can also make cat scratch posts more attractive by including bedding, cat toys, catnip, treats, and other things that you cat loves.  If you have a CatTamboo pet toy, then lure your cat to the new scratching post with the toy and they will naturally want to scratch it.  Repeat the routine to train your cat to get in the habit of using the new scratching location.

Regardless of what other pet owners, veterinarians, and pet trainers might say, we recommend not using squirt bottles to spray your cat!  Cats are a lot like children.  They are sensitive, intelligent, and perceptive. Click here to read a personal story about my cat and how our relationship was strengthened to a place where spraying my cat with water would never happen.

cat-declawing-imageAs a last resort, declawing a cat can be an option for pet owners. If you are at a place where declawing your cat is a serious consideration, then before you answer yes to the question” Should I declaw my cat?”, consider a few more alternatives.

Alternatives to Declawing your cat

Another alternative to declawing your cat is to go to the pet store or a vet for special nail tips which can be placed over your cat’s claws. The nail tips go on like an artificial fingernail, and they prevent damage when the cat performs its natural from scratching.  Also consider that new products and alternatives are being invented every day.

So should you declaw your cat? Should I declaw my cat? Typically the correct answer is NO. Depending on your cat’s breed, personality, environment, and age — it may be okay to declaw your cat, but generally speaking, it is best not to declaw cats.  Many would call it inhumane, but I’d would simply suggest that you have alternatives to declawing your cat.  In the end, if you have one of those cats that just can’t be helped, then you’ll have reached that conclusion by exhausting other options, but declawing may not solve your problems.  Ultimately, you will want to find a way to secure trust with your cat.  CatTamboo toys are effective at strengthening the bond between cats and their owners.  Play is a natural instinct of animals that creates bonding and trust. We recommend letting you cat keep their claws and instead establish a regular play routine using CatTamboo pet toys. Give you cat some designated scratching areas and arrange your cat’s environment in such a way that your cat can keep its claws!

Abyssinian Cats

Abyssinian Cats:

The Abyssinian cat breed.
The Abyssinian cat breed.

The Abyssinian cat is one of the oldest known domestic cat breeds in the world. The Abyssinian cat is depicted in the sculptures and various artwork of the ancient Egyptian people. These cats are venerated for their elegance, beautifully sculpted bodies with long arched necks, pronounced ears and almond-shaped eyes. Abssinian breeds are keenly intelligent and possess a majestic hora. The lineage of Abyssinian cat ties back directly to the felis lybica which is a common thread among most or all modern-day domestic cats.

One of the top 5 cat breeds in the US – the Abyssinian cat is one of the oldest breeds of cat and is also one of the smartest breeds of cat. These cats where honored in ancient Egypt.

The Abyssinian cat was imported to England from Abyssinia which is located in Ethiopia. Recent genetic information places their origin from South east Asia. People recognized the beauty and elegance of these felines and brought them to English cat fancier shows. Their engagement with cat fancier shows resulted in some refinements of the breed by English cat fanciers.

The Abyssinian breed is well known for their intelligence. They are known as people-cats. Owners of Abyssinian cats are known to say that once you’ve owned one, you will never want another kind of cat. The Abyssinian is also considered the clown of cats because they like to get into things. They don’t typically love to be held like some lap cat breeds, they do make wonderful companions. Abyssinian cats are great companions so consider getting one!

Are Cats famous after they Die?

famous cats

Famous cats that have passed on

Are Cats famous after the Die or are they simply forgotten? To cover the subject well, we need to look at some famous cats that have passed on. Then we will come to the obvious conclusion and answer: yes most likely they remain famous.

Catarina the cat

Black_cat_catrina_poe

Catarina, the famous cat of Edgar Allan Poe. Timeless!
Edgar Allan Poe’s pet cat named Catarina was the inspiration for Poe’s story The Black Cat. Edgar Allan Poe is timeless and so is his cat because it inspired a great writer. What lives on is the brilliant short story and the reflection of this cat’s inspirational influence.

Creme Puff the cat

creme-puff-oldest-cat

Creme Puff the cat lived from August 3, 1967 to August 6, 2005. Creme puff was a female cat who live for a whopping 38 years and 3 days! She is the oldest cat ever recorded as of the 2010 Guinness Book of World Record.

Stewie the cat

famous cats stewieStewie is the Guinness World Record holder for world’s longest domestic cat. Stewie was alive from August 2010 until his death February 4, 2013 and will remain famous for being the longest domestic cat even after his record is beaten.

Casper the cat

casper-commuting-cat

Casper lived from 1997 – 14 January 2010. Casper the cat was famous for travelling on a No. 3 bus in Plymouth in Devon, England. Casper appeared on BBC News and was frequently mentioned in The Guardian. Casper inspired the book, Casper the Commuting Cat, and will always be famous for inspiring the author.

Conclusion and Answer

Famous cats live on in the minds and writings of human beings, especially the ones that inspire us!

Make Haste, Reduce Waste!

waste ocean

Reduce Waste in the USA!

Americans are known for being wasteful, and unfortunately, it is often true. But many US businesses and individual Americans are striving daily to reduce waste! CatTamboo™ pet toys manufactures eco friendly cat toys, dog toys, and ferret toys. We care about empowering Americans and Montanans to reduce waste. When we discovered how much of our natural resources harvested from the sport of hunting are wasted, we began this program to empower people to reduce waste produced from the sport of hunting.

There are two major causes that we support directly!

  1. Wild Game Bird feather conservation efforts. 
  2. Reduce plastic waste in the environment.

Wild Game Bird Conservation:

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Ring-necked Pheasants and Wild Turkeys are killed during the sport of hunting. In Montana alone, over 15,000 wild turkey licenses where purchased in Spring of 2013. The limit on wild turkey is two per hunter per year. This means that over 10,000 wild turkeys are killed in Montana for the sport of hunting. Though hunters often mount the tails of larger turkeys, most of them throw away the majority of feathers on the birds they kill







reduce waste and donate for feather conservation

By helping us champion the effort of game bird feather conservation, you are making a sacrificing along with us to do what is moral and right (by helping to reduce waste). We desperately need to expand our efforts if we are going to make an impact that is worthy of national exposure.

If we reduce waste, what does it mean for Americans and Montanans?

If we succeed, it will mean thousands of manufacturing jobs for Americans, self sustainability in our US economy by expanding manufacturing in America. If we reduce waste, it will result in good karma for doing what is right, and thousands of pounds of plastic will be removed from the environment.

When we make use of our natural resources, we win on multiple levels. First off, people will be buying our eco-friendly pet products instead of plastic ones. As a result, we will successfully reduce waste (from plastics) in the environment.

If we reduce waste via feather conservation, then it will mean more jobs for Montanans and more manufacturing in Montana. It will also mean that Montana businesses won’t be forced to purchase products from China. Instead, we will be able to utilize our natural resources that are native to Montana, and create industry around the natural resources harvested here on our own lands.

Your donations are at the top of this good karma pyramid, so help us reduce waste and save our environment today.

So what can we do to help the problem?

We have been tackling this issue head on by networking with hunters to try and properly process these birds for their beautiful feathers. But it isn’t fun.

The process is time consuming and if you saw it first hand, you’d see that it could and should be on America’s top dirtiest jobs.

Wastefulness sucks! Some things we can’t change, but we can choose to be a part of the solution. We want to honor the lives of these animals. We want to give hunters a chance to donate the animals they kill because it is wasteful and sad to throw them in the trash.

In 2012, CatTamboo’s feather conservation efforts made use of wing and tail feathers from multiple hundreds of wild turkeys and ring-necked pheasants. Statically, we didn’t even make a scratch, but we also didn’t have any financial support.

In 2013, we hope to expand the effort to reduce waste 1000 fold, but it will take financial support from the caring people to make the project a success.

Reduce Waste with Eco friendly pet products!






We are fighting hard for a greener planet. It takes a lot more effort and care to make our pet toys because there are many challenges in working with natural materials. There are many variations in natural materials. Differences in strength, flexibility, ductility, profile shape, diameter, length, and taper present many production challenges. Until our distribution grows to a self sustainable level and we have the financial support to develop the equipment needed to mass produce our pet products, we will need donations. Your donations keep us in business and insure that the same CatTamboo™ pet toys that we love will be available well into the future.

Here are our commitments to you:

  • We will keep our production 100% on American soil.
  • We will hire only Americans for all labor in making CatTamboo toys.
  • We will strive to remain competitive in the market place with low prices and USA high quality.
  • We will remain transparent in the ways we conduct business.
  • We will promote awareness of sustainability and green practices.
  • We will strive to make CatTamboo™ Pet Products available in your local area.
  • We will innovate continually so we can be on the leading edge of product development.
  • We will remain committed to reducing waste!

Cat Memes that make you laugh!

Cat Memes designed and/or edited by CatTamboo!

Cat Memes are awesome! Some of the best entertainment around is seeing these creative little images of funny, cute cats and kittens saying the most ridiculous stuff. CatTamboo is dedicated to spreading joy and making people laugh. Our interactive cat toys are designed to promote laughter as are our professionally developed cat memes. Please share our cat memes via the Pinterest icon by hovering over the meme that you’d like to share. We also have funny and/or descriptive quotes on all of our pins at Pinterest. You can also join us on Facebook or sign up for our newsletter. We are publishing new memes all the time, so follow us from your favorite social hub so we can spread the laughter together! Cat memes are just another way we show our love for pet, people, and play. It is all a part of Doing the CatTamboo!

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If you like cat memes and have some personal photographs of your pets that you think would be funny to use for creating new memes, then please share them with us and we will gladly use our professionals to develop your memes! Simply click here and attach you photo to your email with your ideas of what we words or phrases we might use. We have the ability to change backgrounds of images, create facial expressions on you cats, and much more!

Cat Memes can also make a special gift for your friends and family. We love our pets so much and since they are dear to us, a meme with our own pet will always reach deeply into our hearts and draw up the greatest joys and laughter! We offer this service totally free just for being a part of the CatTamboo family, so join us today!

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cat-meme-ahhh

cone of shame cat memes

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cute puppy meme

Lions

solar lion leo image
“Bring out the Beast in your Cat”

The spirit of the lion runs deep within every domesticated cat and many humans. The spirit of the Lion manifests itself in domestic cats as a part of their innate nature to hunt and rule as kings and queens.

Lions are a type of cat that lives in prides. The Pride is a family unit typically with a few males and up to a dozen or more female lions and their offspring. The female lions are called lionesses. Within the pride, the lionesses are all related and their young stay in the pride until they mature. Young males eventually leave the pride to establish their own prides. Within a pride, lions often show affection by touching or rubbing heads, licking, purring, and doing what cats do. The males are very territorial. They fight to defend their domain and use scent markings to help establish their territory.

Male lions have thick furry manes of long hair around their heads and necks. Their manes protect them during fighting. The male lions defend their territory while the females do most of the hunting.

Today, lions are only found wild in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, except for one very small population of Asian lions that survives in India. Fewer than 20,000 lions remain in Africa as of 2013. They used to live all over Africa, but now they are confined mostly to the South Sahara desert and parts of Southern and Eastern Africa.

Lions are called the “king of the jungle” because they possess both beauty and incredible power.

Pinterest Lions

solar lion leo image
“Bring out the Beast in your Cat”

Worlds Largest Cat Toy

maine coon

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Introducing the Worlds Largest Cat Toy

Some domestic cats are drastically larger than the average pet cat. CatTamboo has designed a special cat toy for especially large domestic cats and cat owners because large cats need the worlds largest cat toy. To give you an idea of how big some cat breeds can get, we’ve included this video on Savannah’s. The Savannah is the largest cat domestic breed.

Savannah cats are a cross between the domestic and the Serval cat – a breed of wild African cats that are decedents of the Cheetah. The Savannah breed was accepted as a championship breed by TICA in 2012. Savannah cats are very social, intelligent, loyal, and can trained to walk on a leash.

A toy made especially for Worlds Largest Domestic Cats

In order to make the world’s largest cat toy for the world’s largest cats, you need some superior materials.

CatTamboo™ pet toy manufacturers use their premium selection of natural materials to make a cat toy that is between 7 and 8 feet long! These giant cat toys use large, beautiful wild game bird feathers from large game birds like Wild Turkey and Pheasant. The pet toys are reinforced for extra durability and strength.

You can order CatTamboo™ designed for large cats by selecting Large Premium from the Online Pet Store.

Thank you for Doing the CatTamboo!

Pheasant Feathers Wanted

Ring-necked Pheasant Feathers Wanted

pheasant-feathersCatTamboo™ Manufacturing is looking to collect ring-neck pheasant feathers. We are willing to compensate hunters, hunting outfits, and pheasant preserves for their efforts to remove, collect, and ship pheasant feathers from hunted birds. Please join us in our efforts to help conserve our natural, native resources!

When collecting pheasant feathers:

  1. You can cut through the feather stems. Just use scissors to quickly cut off the feathers.
  2. Please use separate boxes for tails and wings.
  3. Please separate wing feathers into left and right wings.

If you toss in some full pelts with each box, we use them to naturally enhance our feather toys. We use some of the decorative feathers but mostly the tails and wings. Cats love pheasant feathers and pheasant are actually a cats natural prey. In the wild, cats regularly hunt wild pheasant.

Ring-necked pheasants are widely hunted upland game birds. Many people find use for pheasant feathers in hats, hairs pieces, and fly tying. However, if you look at how many feathers are actually used, you can see why it makes since to begin collecting pheasant feathers for making cat toys. We use a greater volume of pheasant feathers than almost any other product or industry.

cat attractant

What are cat attractants?

Premium-Catnip

Another word for a cat attractant is a cat aphrodisiac.  Cat attractants are composed of things like odors and contents of essential oils that are from nature and have a natural ability to affect cat behaviors.  After giving your cat a feline attractant, he or she may roll in it, paw at it, or chew on the source of the smells and taste.  The effect of cat attractant on feline behavior is usually temporal, lasting for only a few minutes.  For many feline attractants, when the effects of cat attractant wears off, the cats often have a recovery period during which the response cannot be duplicated.  This is common in compounds that mimic the feline facial pheromone.  For a long lasting affect, the best cat attractants are a felines natural prey.  Cats will never get enough of birds and mice because it is so deeply a part of their basic feline nature.

Here is a list of active chemicals and ingredients that are currently known to cause euphoric behaviors in cats:

  1. actinidine from Valeriana officinalis
  2. nepetalactone – C10H14O2 from Nepeta (catnip),
  3. dihydronepetalactone
  4. neonepetalactone
  5. isodihydronepetalactone
  6. epinepetalactone
  7. boschnialactone
  8. boschniakine
  9. dihydroactinidiolide
  10. actinidiolide
  11. iridomyrmecin
  12. (-)-mitsugashiwalactone
  13. onikulactone

Our official advice to only give your cats substances that are proven safe and taken directly from nature.

Catnip snack recipe

If you want to make some catnip snacks for your kitty cat, here is a great recipe:

catnip-cupcakes

Put olive oil in a frying pan and dump in a bunch of catnip.  Cook on medium to low heat until you get a rich green oil from which to bake your treats.  This can also be done with butter and other types of oils that are good for cats.  Take care not to burn the oil or butter.

Cat Urine is a cat attractant

angry-cat-butt-sniff-meme

Things from cats and nature tend to be good attractants for cats.  Cat urine happens to be one of them.  Here we get back to the basic instinctual makeup of cats.  In particular, male cats have urine that contains cat pheromones.  The pheromone in cat urine is 3-mercapto-3-methylbutan-1-ol (MMB).  This pheromone is a compound that gives cat urine its odor.

The cat attractant named Felinine is synthesized in the cat’s urine.

Consequently, rats and mice hate the odor of a cat’s urine.  This is due to their instinctual nature to survive.  However, when your cat catches a mouse or if a mouse rolls in cat piss, the parasite Toxoplasma gondii will infect the mouse.  After infected, a mouse is actually attracted to the Felinine, thus highly increasing the likelihood of the mouse being preyed upon by the cat. This is funny stuff because all your cat needs to do is scent the mouse and the mouse will become deliriously attracted to your cat, lol!

cat aphrodisiacs

All about Cat Aphrodisiacs!

Introduction:

smurf-catThis topic is intended to discuss what stimulates those playful euphoric states of being when your cat is cute, cuddly, and happy.  We use cat aphrodisiacs as a synonym for cat attractants.  If it attracts cats and get them happy, then we consider it an aphrodisiac.  The content has nothing to do with breeding cats or feline pheromones.  Instead we try to answer the question: What are the best cat aphrodisiacs or attractants? – from the mindset of a pet owner who loves their kitty cat and wants to enjoy watching them get happy.

The best aphrodisiacs for cats come directly from nature and stimulate a cat’s biological response to the natural substance in a positive, euphoric way.  The best known aphrodisiacs for cats are:

  1. Catnip leaf and buds
  2. Unwashed Bird Feathers
  3. Another cat’s scent

Catnip and Nepetalactone Aphrodisiacs

Catnip is an abundant weed that is actually in the mint family. The scientific name for catnip is Nepeta cataria.

Active ingredient in Catnip
Nepetaloctone Chemical Structure

From a medical view, the active ingredient in Catnip is called Nepetalactone.  The Nepetalactone in catnip acts as a feline attractant. The natural chemical Nepetalactone actually enters the feline’s nose when it smells.  When sniffed by a cat, the Nepetalactone binds to one or more felines olfactory receptors.  What actually take place chemically within your cat after sniffing catnip is not very well understood, but the result is great!

We do know that Nepetalactone was first isolated from the catnip plant (Nepeta cataria).  We know that the aphrodisiac nepetalactone acts as a cat attractant.

Nepetalactone can also be gotten from the bark and wood of the tartarian honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica).

Other plant-like aphrodisiacs for cats include include valerian (Valeriana officinalis) and plants that contain actinidine.

Cat Behavior from Aphrodisiacs

Cat behaviors are altered when they sniff or ingest an aphrodisiac.  Aphrodisiacs make cats want to begin rubbing, licking, scratching, rolling, pawing, chewing, and purring.  Cats love to be high.  For them, it is a state of being that is harmless, playful, and sweet.

What happens when your cat eats too much Catnip?

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Too much catnip can make you cat drool!  It can also make them sleepy, anxious, excited, or just extra loving.  And for other cats, they might have a bad trip and begin to growl, scratch, hiss, or bite. Too much catnip can definitely cause cats to become aggressive.

How are bird feathers an aphrodisiac for cats?

Cats love feathers
Cats love feathers

Hunting for survival is embedded deeply within the genetics of all cats.  All domestic cats have evolved from wild cats which had to hunt for survival.  The natural born instinct of a hunter is to love its prey.

A good analogy is the movie Madagascar.  When the lion character named Alex begins to go savage, he sees his animal friends as stake and falls into a jolly trance.  After Alex joyfully catches his prey, he snaps out of the trance only to find himself biting his friends butt!

In real life, the cat would likely eat his friend because hunting instinct are innate to cats meaning that they are fundamental and not easily masked. However, no matter how deeply ingrained hunting instincts are to an animals behavior, there will always be cats like Garfield that may have the hunting instinct a little further repressed than is healthy.  Studies show that it is healthy a vital for a cats well being to be connected with their inner lion or innate hunting instincts.  From this instinct, a cat gains strength, confidence, self sufficiency, balance, peace, and happiness.  The best way to feed this need is to either feed your cat some birds or buy a CatTamboo and play with your cat.

Cat facial scents are an aphrodisiac

Feline facial pheromone or scenting used by cats for a multitude of reasons that include marking territory, marking objects, and scenting people.  They do the marking by rubbing their faces on things.  Cat scents are a complex topic, but the simple logic to keep on this topic is that smells and scents are as fundamental to a cat’s genetic and behavioral makeup as hunting birds and mice or coughing up hairballs.

Domestic cats gone wild

cats gone wild

Cats Gone Wild

cats gone wild

Cats gone wild … cats are meant to be wild, but indoor cats don’t have that opportunity. Cats are the kind of pets that would wanna lay around and be lazy all day. And when you start really missing them, you want to spend some quality time with them. CatTamboo pet toys are a great way to spend time with you cat and allow them to be wild when indoors. They will love playing with you and they will play all day until they are worn out. CatTamboo™ pet toys sound like real live birds flapping their wings. So your kitty cat can hunt but not kill. Cats have the instinct to kill. Now instead of having your cat kill pore baby birds outside your house, they will play all day with something that is fun for everyone!

by Hailie Newman

The wild nature of Domestic House cats

Deep within every domestic cat exists an inner lion just waiting to be released. This instinct is as natural to a domestic cat as human instincts are to humans. Cats are hunters by natural design. The origins of domestic cats all trace back to wild cats. One such ancestor is the Eastern wildcat which lives in the desert lands of the Middle East.

The first human pets were wildcats. This dated back like ten thousand years when settlers first began inhabiting new lands.

Wild cats are genetically diverse and this lead to many different species. Their genetics allowed them to domesticate naturally. With time, they got more accustom to human interaction and the breed evolved from there. So cats never escape their wild cat lineage. They will always be blended with a little bit of a wild side, and that is part of what we love about them. Our cat Padme was a Tabby, but get to know her and you’d see a wild panther. Our other cat Pippin kills bunnies and eats them. Pippin is the sweetest cat in the world, but he eats bunny rabbits raw, and I’m not talking about just eating some of the bunny. In fact, he eats 4 or 5 bunnies a year, generally focusing on the legs and back. He always has his house food, but by nature, Pippin is wild and likes to hunt, kill, and eat raw meat.

Human impact of the wild nature of Domestic Cats

Humans greatly impact the nature of domestic cats gone wild. Humans tend to lock cats indoors, declaw them, and keep them away from killing birds and bunnies. In fact, cat lease laws are now mandatory in many states and cities throughout the US.

Colorful Cat Toys

Colorful cat toys are more likely to entice you kitty! Our researchers did a little investigating to find out why cats seems to prefer more colorful cat toys over many of the more neutral colored toys.

Colorful cat toys by CatTamboo:

Just like people, cats have their favorite colors. A great way to satisfy your cats is a fun new cat toy by CatTamboo!

CatTamboo® interactive colorful cat toys and teaser toys for small dogs are conveniently made available by color.

CatTamboo toys come in a variety of colors
CAT TOY COLORS

So why choose colorful cat toys? Unlike dogs, cat see colors very well. However, since a cat’s eyes are well tuned for seeing in the dark, they see colors a little differently than humans. The rods and cones in a cat’s eyes are designed to perceive color, the difference being that a cat’s retina is designed to allow more light to pass through thus allowing for better night vision. Within the light spectrum are the primary visible colors that make up a very narrow bandwidth of actual color that exists within the known visual spectrum of our natural world. Feline’s see the same range of wavelength of light as we do only their eyes filter some colors and enhance other colors. So the big question that follows is:

Which colors do cat’s see best?


Colorful cat toys
Aqua Blue

Although any colorful cat toys will entice your cat, some colors are brighter to your cat! A well known fact about blue light is that it vibrates at a wavelength that penetrates deepest into the dark. The best example of this in nature is found in the ocean.  Salt Water filters the light, blocking most light waves and eventually all light – but blue light penetrates deeper.  Many corals in deep water reefs have adapted to blue light for photosynthesis.  Since a cat’s night vision is enhanced, the cat’s eyes actually utilize the deep penetrating blue light for seeing in the dark. In this way, a cat actually sees and perceives more of the blue light spectrum than Humans do. One can imagine that cat’s see blue very well and experience the color more richly and vibrantly than humans.

One can imagine that cat’s see blue very well and experience the color more richly and vibrantly than humans.

There are other colors with similar properties to the color blue. Yellow green is also very visible to cats. Cats actually see all colors but it is hypothesized that some colors are brighter than others. So far, scientist have not been able to see through a cat’s eyes; but feline eyes inspire wonder and imagination.

Keep Cats amused with toys!

ferret toys

Keep Cats Amused: The best solutions!

Keep cats amused and have fun doing it! That is the topic of this guide for buying the right kind of cat toys to keep your cats entertained in a long lasting way.

Cat Toys and Small Dog Toys to keep your pet amused.

Having a cat or small dog as a pet means not only giving it food and caring for it. We have to look out for the pet and buy toys which make it happy and playful. Don’t fall prey to buying cheep cat toys. Instead find durable ones to make your cats life happy.

Now days so many cat toys are available for your pet. The market offers pet owners many comfortable toys with various shapes and size. You have to be careful about which pet toys will be suitable for your cat or small dog. Choose toys that are not too big or small. Especially avoid pet toys which could hurt any sensitive body part of your pet. Additionally, pet toys should be movable like a ball, a feather toy, or a CatTamboo which helps them to play smoothly and get some exercise. It should not be necessary to purchase exclusive toys which make your cat joyful play.

Sometime we feel that we do not have enough money to buy toys for our cat or especially if we have many cats. However, there are many ways to select toys for your cats and some pet toy manufacturers have products that allow you to repair them and keep them in circulation for longer periods of time, thus saving you money. You can purchase a ball and you can also play with it, you throw the ball and cat will run to catch at that time. You can also use a hair tie to play fetch. It doesn’t have to cost much money to engage your cats in meaningful ways. It should be pleasure time for your cat and you as well. A time both of you will enjoy.

The nature of cats is similar to a human child. Cats also are curious animals and new toys will peak their curiosity. Many think that curiosity is reduced with its old toys and believe that you need to change their toys so your cat or small dog doesn’t get bored. Well, if you purchase a product that appeals to your pet’s instincts, then they will never tire of it because their basic instinct is to chase mice, snakes, and birds, bats, moths, and other winged creatures. While shopping for and purchasing cat toys or teaser toys for small dogs, you should consider your pets natural habits like scratching and biting.

Choose toys that offer some flexibility or cover a range of needs for your pet. Always choose pet products that are free from harmful ingredients. It is common that cats never put down mouse or bird hunting. Cats will chase a mouse or bird instinctively, faster than you can blink an eye. So when you decide to go and purchase new cat toys or teaser toys for your small dog, cat, or ferret: Think about your pet’s nature and buy toys that appeal to that nature. Choose a mouse that is in the shape of rat or mouse. Your new pet toys should make you happy because they will make your cat playful and energetic.

As we all know, we are buying pet toys to make our pet cat and/or small dog very happy.

Resource:

When shopping for Cat Toys to keep cats amused, you should look for those that are high quality. You can find out more about buying quality by going to Kittie Solutions Ltd.

Homemade Cat Toys

Homemade Cat Toys!

A cat in a playful mood might entertain anything in its surroundings, but there is no replacement for imitating all five senses of a bird and effortlessly flying it in front of your cat.  I think the closest thing I’ve heard of is people using feathers on the end of a bull whip – but I’ve never done it before.

easy to make cat toys

Here are 5 unique ideas for homemade cat toys:

  1. Homemade cat toys to imitate a CatTamboo! The best way to make a homemade CatTamboo pet toy is to rubber band a feather to the end of a weeping willow stem.  They only for last a day, but you’ll get hours of insane fun from the experience with your cat. You can make them last longer by using some spray on plastic coating. You will get so many hours of fun from this homemade cat toy! The first CatTamboo prototype was made from weeping willow.
  2. Homemade cat toys using cardboard tubes. If you get some balls that fit nicely into the end of a 2-4ft long cardboard tube, then all you need to do is cut a slot lengthwise along the tube to allow your cats to get their paws inside. Cap the ends of the tube. Then you will have a homemade cat toy that many cats love.
  3. Pon Pon cat toys. Pon Pons that you buy in the store typically have a piece of plastic tube threaded through them which is intended to be used for attaching the pon pon for craft projects. If you take a feather, you can push it through the whole and it makes a great homemade cat toy for playing fetch. Add a piece of thread, and you will have a fetching toy that you can retrieve across the floor. Another cool thing to do is to use a pipe cleaner (those fuzzy wires made for crafts) and stick it through one or two pon pons. Then, you can wrap the pipe cleaners around a pencil of similar in order to get a squiggly mouse tail!
  4. The peek-a-boo homemade cat toy. This cat toy was invented in a class of second graders with the help of an inventor and marketing expert. The challenge was to use supplies provided to make a new product and then pitch it to a potential buyer. Supplies: construction paper, tape, string, pipe cleaners, balloon. Instructions: Loop the construction paper and tape it. This will be the tunnel for playing peek-a-boo. Then stuff some paper shreds or similar into the balloon and add a squiggly tail using the pipe cleaner. Then attach the nose (of the balloon mouse that you just made) to the middle of the thread. This toy is for two people to play with as many cats as you dare. Each person grabs and end of string and works together pulling the mouse toy back and forth through the tube.
  5. Hair tie mouse flinger toy. Supplies needed include: a hair tie, a pon pon ball, needle and thread. Thread the pon pon onto the hair tie and shoot it across the room. This makes a great cat toy for playing catch and is fun to shoot. Not all cats play fetch, so this toy isn’t for everyone. Visit this post to learn about which cat breeds like to play fetch.

Tell us about your Homemade cat toys!

Please leave you comments about homemade cat toys that work well for you.

 

Hunters save your pheasant feathers

pheasant feather

Pheasant Feathers Wanted

Are you a hunter or know hunters?

Does a family member Hunt wild pheasant, goose, or turkey?

pheasant feather toys

If you hunt, please save your feathers!  We will buy them!  We will even help you with shipping or pickup.

If you are a hunter or person that would otherwise toss your feathers, please keep them!  We will pay cash for pheasant feathers!

CatTamboo™ interactive cat toys offer the best of both worlds for cats and people.  Our innovative feather toys are for cats, small dogs, ferrets, sugar gliders, and other furry friends that enjoy chasing mice, birds, snakes, and insects.  Our feather teasers are designed to imitate your pets natural prey!

Please donate your pheasant feathers:

  1. We will compensate you a for taking the time to save your pheasant tail feathers
  2. We will pay all shipping costs associated with sending use the pheasant tail feathers.

Call CatTamboo™ Pet Toys at 534-9707 or send us an email.

Our business philosophy:

We believe strongly in protecting the environment.  That is why we remove large volumes of plastics from the environment each day.  All other feather toys on the market add plastic into the environment because no feather can long endure a cat, and most cat toys are disposed of in the trash.   We are asking people to help us in our efforts to conserve the earth’s natural resources.  We need help from hunting outfits and individual hunters!

We will continue in our strong commitment to conservation and the production of eco friendly pet products!

Hunters save your turkey feathers

wild turkey feathers

Hunters save your Turkey feathers! We will buy or trade for them!

Turkey Feather pricing:

  1. Pays $2 or more per wild turkey – More for big males.
  2. We will pay for expenses to ship the feathers to our nearest manufacturing location.

 
wild-turkey-body-feathers

Wild turkey feathers make beautiful cat toys. We use a large percentage of all feathers on a wild turkey including body feathers. Since the cost to process the birds and preserve the feathers is significant, we are really appealing to hunter who don’t care for the fact that they end up wasting a lot of beautiful body feathers and sometime more.
 

Wild Turkeys- Feathers!

Worth keeping your Turkey feathers for three excellent reasons:

  1. Help conserve our natural resources
  2. Get Cash
  3. Support Local Economy

Call CatTamboo™ Pet Toys at 534-9707 or email.

Our business philosophy:

As part of or conservation efforts, CatTamboo™ pet products supply reaches out to hunters!  We ask that people help us in our efforts to conserve our natural resources.  We have successfully replaced nearly 30% of our feather supply with help from hunting outfits and individual hunters.  We will continue in our strong commitment to conservation and the production of eco pet products!

Billings Home Improvement Show

cat toy sale

Home Improvement Show – Billings , MT

2012 is the first year that we participated in the Billings Home Improvement Show.

NEWS UPDATE 2012

CatTamboo™ Pet Toys participated in the Billings Home Improvement Show for Spring and Fall! In the fall show, we joined in a booth with Crystal Clear Aquariums – a saltwater pet store. Big thanks to Beau for hooking us up with an excellent location. It is always fun to watch people walking around with our feather toys.

Billings Home Improvement Show Acknowledgements

best cat toys in home improvement show
Booth at Home Improvement Show

We’d just like to thank everyone who decided to try our pet products at the billings home improvement show.  We sold our larger, longest toys that we typically don’t sell individually to online customers because of their extra length and stiffness.  This made it extra special for customers because they got a longer, more durable product for a way better price!  Generally speaking, we try to significantly discount our prices for trade shows, and every year we give our pet products away.  This Fall, we did a $1 raffle to give away cat toys.  Most people in Billings where tight with their dollar this Fall so we decided to make everyone who bought a ticket a winner!

Congratulations to Deb Aldrich, Karen Robinson, and Linda Hayes — just a few of the winners of free CatTamboo pet toys! People who have more than a few cats often can’t afford to buy cat toys for all of them, so it feels good to give away something that we know people and their cats will absolutely love. It is awesome.

 

I’d also like to shout out a HUGE thanks to the team at Rimrock Promotions for giving us special treatment so we could participate in this years 30th Anniversary Spring Home Improvement Show and an even bigger thanks to the stunningly beautiful Marselle for running the booth! You are awesome.

Billings Home Improvement Show 2013

We decided not to do the Billings Home Improvement Show in 2013, but we are making CatTamboo™ pet toys available in more stores locally. The popularity of our pet toys has made production the number one focus. Thank you to all of our customers world wide for Doing the CatTamboo!

Pet Stores Billings

pet stores billings

Pet Stores Billings Montana

There are a number of pet stores in Billings, MT. CatTamboo Pet Toys are available at some stores like Exotic Pets located on the corner of Grand Avenue and 24th street in Billings. Other pet stores Billings has include the major pet chain PetSmart located on King Avenue West. There is a pet store in the Heights, but they don’t carry CatTamboo pet toys. However, Exotic Pets is our favorite store anyway and they have CatTamboo toys for sale.

Pet Stores Billings West End

Here is a list of places that sell pet supplies in the Billings West End. Find your favorite pet supplies, pet toys, and pet products at pet stores Billings has on the West End.

Exotic Pets in Billings Montana


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pet stores billings west end
CatTamboo pet toys at exotic pets in billings mt

Exotic Pets is located at 2342 Grand Ave, Billings, MT. Their local phone number is (406) 656-6282. Out of all the pet stores Billings has to offer, this pet store is one of the best. They have cats, dogs, ferrets, rabbits, reptiles, fish, and birds. They have a wonderful, talented staff and a very strong knowledge of how to care for pets. CatTamboo Pet Toys are available at the Grand Avenue location.‎ If you stop in there, say hello to the owner Melissa. They are all experts on pets and can help you with all your pet related needs.


Kings Ace Hardware

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PetSmart located at 2345 King Ave W, Billings, MT.


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Cats

cats

Cats

Cats are unique creatures!  Here are some interesting ideas and facts about cats that we have crafted for your entertainment. Our goal is to give readers an educated opinion about cats that comes from pet industry professionals who own and love cats.

catsCOLOR VISION

Despite what many believe, cats do see color.  Their eyes have two rods that make them sensitive to Blue and Yellow Green!  This is exciting information if you are choosing a cat toy color.  Research at CatTamboo has revealed to us that the color Aqua (click aqua to see our product sample) is particularly visible to cats.  Aqua is also our most popular color for CatTamboo™ interactive cat toys.  Green is also available at special request.

Most people may not know it, but blue light penetrates the deepest into water.  Like water, a cats eye is deep and uses low light in the same way.  Cats can see with one sixth the light that we require to see!

Cat Behavior – from the CatTamboo Lab

more cats
16 pound test cat named Hobbes loves his CatTamboo!

 

At CatTamboo, we perform regular behavior test and observations with cats and our range of cat toys.  We try to reach a wide range of domesticated cat’s and even some wild cats.  Wikipedia’s definition fails to mention how domestic cats and wild cats are fundamentally similar.  Both wild and domestic cats have an innate hunting instinct as a basic and fundamental characteristic.  The difference is that domestic cats can have social and behavioral problems.  Within feline psychology are the trails of being raised in human households.  We have observed how many felines have lost connection with their hunting instincts.  We have learned through our trials that by re-engaging those instincts, some of the behavior disorders can change rapidly as if a trigger is switched within the suffering cat.  We have learned that by captivating all 5 senses of a bird  or insect and bringing it into the house and relationship between house cats and owners, you can effectively reconnect most felines with their innate hunting instinct that is fundamentally important to a cats psychological and sociological well being.

 

At CatTamboo headquarters in Billings, MT – researchers have discovered more interesting incites into a cat’s mind.

About cats from our perspective:

Cats have active imaginations.  This may seem trivial because cats are so playful, but it is an important fact because the flip side of imagination (especially when lacking stimulation) is boredom.

Our customers like to engage their pets often and keep life fun for their fury friends.  Their testimonials are profound in our understanding of people and their pets.  Our most common testimonials say: (1) my cat doesn’t want to play with the other toys – he wants his CatTamboo;  (2) where do you hide your toy? -my cat finds it on the highest shelves! (3) What do you put on your toys that makes my cat so crazy for them? You forgot to tell us that CatTamboo pet toys are addictive!

The addictive nature of CatTamboo™ pet toys:

We believe the addictive nature a CatTamboo™ cat toys results a combination of factors.

  1. Cats have active imaginations that help them easily imagine our interactive pet toys as real prey – even to the point of fooling cats to believe it is absolutely real!
  2. Socially, cats love their people and want to share their lives with them!  Hunting is typically a solitary activity and with CatTamboo™ cat toys, your cat(s) can share their talents with you!  All cats love to show off their moves: stalking, pouncing, swatting, jumping, scratching, speed, agility, cunning, and accuracy!  A cat’s success while hunting directly effects his or her self esteem.  This is because the hunting instinct is a basic instinct that never leaves them and is fundamental to their nature.
  3. CatTamboo™ cat toys are straight up fun for everyone!  The energy in the room when cats and people are interacting with CatTamboo is explosive and fun; cute and cuddly and just straight up creates happiness.

Personality and Intelligence

Other resources on cats skip over the important facts about cat behavior.  Wikipedia for example states that “one poorly understood element of cat hunting behavior is the presentation of prey to human owners”.  In our opinion, this is not poorly understood at all. Most cat owners know that cats bring their owners gifts out of love. Cats are hunters. They patiently hunt and then bring us the prize!

catsCats love people!  They love sharing!  They love you, they love life, they often love each other, and the love hunting!  Cats are intelligent creatures that possess unique many of the empathetic qualities that differentiate human beings from other animals.  This is because cats are intelligent and they absorb these qualities from humans.  Other animals do it also, but cats do it uniquely well.

Cats teach people in the same way that nature teaches us.  They have this ability because they are tuned into nature.

When you observe cats, you quickly learn that they are fully aware, connected, cats bugs and attentive to the world around them.  I was observing a coyote at Yellowstone park on day.  I walked the river with him and observed.  The intense focus in him was a sight! Cats get the same way.  Their minds aren’t muddied up with distractions.  Instead they are more connected and aware.  When humans connect with their lives in the same way, it is a deeply spiritual and meaningful life indeed!

I’ve seen every kind of personality in cats and the simple reality is that each cat is unique like people are unique, but some cats (like in people) are simply blessed with personality and charm.  Cuteness, beauty, and adoring attention make those unique personalities.

cats sockingtonFor instance, meet Sockington cat on twitter!  He has nearly 1.5 million followers on twitter.  Pure personality and cuteness has made this cat a star.  Sockington does nothing much beyond tweeting about his everyday treks to the litter box, eating, sleeping, and doing what cats do.  Peoples personalities get caught up quickly.  We also have active imaginations!  Think also about the digital pets fad.  People who can’t have pets because they live in apartments etc will enjoy following twitter feeds from a cat because it satisfies part of a need.  Children do the same with digital pets.  Digital pets are really virtual pets that you interact with in different ways.  In many ways all they do is waste your time, but people love them anyway because it is a part of their personalities.

Cats PLAY : Wikipedia style.

Domestic cats love to play. The play behavior mimics hunting and teaches felines to stalk, capture, and kill prey. Cats also like to play fight with each other and with their humans.

Due to the similarity between hunting and play, cats prefer playing with objects that resemble their prey, such as CatTamboo™ cat toys.  Wikipedia notes that cats rapidly lose (and become habituated) in a toy they have played with before – however, this is only observed in toys that do a poor job of imitating real prey.  Wikipedia also states that cats tend to play with toys more when they are hungry.[2] String is used a lot as toys, but if it is eaten, string can get caught at the base of the cat’s tongue and then move into the intestines which is a medical emergency that can cause death.[1] Owing to the risks involved  with cats eating strings or choking themselves with them, we recommend a avoiding string toys.  CatTamboo™ cat toys are string-less and safe.

References

  1. Eye expert challenges laser pen ‘danger’ BBC News 24 November 1997
  2. Hall, Sarah L. (1998-06). “The influence of hunger on object play by adult domestic cats”. Applied Animal Behavior Science 58 (1–2): 143–150.

Cats and Aquariums

mo cat with fish named Azalia

Cats and aquariums are a nice combination.  Within the last 4-5 years, I’ve gotten into saltwater aquariums.  My reef aquariums are super beautiful and teaming with life.

In 2011, we got a new cat.  His name is Mojo – or Mo for short.  He was a stray when we moved into our new home and easily made himself a part of the family.

awesome cats and aquariums image
Cats and Aquariums

Of course, any cat knows he has found heaven when he comes into the home of someone with large numbers of CatTamboo™ Pet Toys and aquariums.  I like to keep a selection of the best custom cat toys around for fun.  My cat Mo falls into CatTamboo bliss during playtime, but during chill time, Mo loves sit gazing into our saltwater aquarium.

Mo likes to chill by the aquariums and enjoy their activity.  It is important to locate your aquarium in a place where your cat(s) can get close.  Saltwater aquariums are most rewarding when you can get close.  The back or side of a couch is perfect.  Near the dining room table is also nice.

Most people don’t know it, but keeping a small saltwater aquarium is not difficult and it is truly a gift for the whole family.  It takes a bit of know how for sure, but the general upkeep is relatively simple.  If you are someone who does freshwater fish tanks or has no problem caring for plants, then a saltwater aquarium is a nice option for you.  If you buy new, then you need about $500 to get started but interestingly enough, salt aquarium systems are often given away or sold for cheep.  Cats and people both love to watch fish and seem to be especially interested in large, colorful invertebrates such as starfish, shrimp, crabs, and urchins.

If you love cats and fish, you might consider a nano reef aquarium.  Here is a link to an article that I wrote about caring for small saltwater aquariums called nano reef tanks.  Enjoy!

Why cats purr

why cats purr

Why Cats Purr

This is a great topic for discussion because little is known or understood about why cats purr, at least from a scientific perspective; however, I believe that cat owners have the answers.

We should begin this discussion by making note of the similarities between cats and people.  Like cat owners, cats are intelligent, social, and in touch emotionally.  Most cat owners will agree that purring sooths the emotions.  I believe that cats are healers in this way and also use purring to emotionally calm themselves and other cats.  They are able to calm and sooth by the frequency of their purrs and the gentleness of the nature when they are in a loving mood.

How many women out there have gotten that warm feeling in their belly and felt that they would purr if they could?

If you know what I’m talking about, then you hold one key as to why cats purr.

Other blogs and resources will tell you:

  • Purring usually indicates a cat is content or satisfied.
  • There are different purrs that accompany different demeanors in cats.
  • Felines begin purring at one week old.
  • Cats can purr while inhaling and exhaling.
  • Younger cats tent to purr in monotone.
  • Older cats purr in two or three resonant notes.
  • Cats appear to retain their kitten vocal signals to communicate with their people yet will clearly use their adult purr with other cats.
  • Lions and tigers can’t purr but can roar, but there are exceptions in wild cats – like snow leopards – which can purr and roar because they have kind of a hybrid hyoid that is only partly ossified thus allowing them to do both.   All other species have a completely ossified hyoid which allows them to purr but not to roar.

So what about cat purring from a practical but esoteric point of view?

Maiya Frisbie

When cats purr, the purring vibration seems to resonate with the lower chakras in humans…in particular, the solar plexus, seat of the soul, and root chakras.  Since the solar plexus chakra (located at the naval) is the energy center for peace and contentment, it only follows that a cat’s purr resonates with the solar plexus chakra to bring it to balance and thus help people feel more peaceful.  It is noteworthy that cats tend to cuddle on bellies.

A little known fact is that some female cats purr while giving birth. It is clear by this example that cats proactively use purring to relax them selves. Remember, cats are very intelligent creatures.  If you could self calm by purring, would you do it? You would, and so do cats!

What do scientist have to say about it?

Domestic cats have been reported to purr when injured, sick, in pain or dying. Purring developmentally begins between mother cats and nursing kittens. One theory given is that cats purr as an attempt at “friendship” or a signal of “specific intent”. For example: when a cat is nervous and cannot escape the situation (at a veterinarian perhaps), its purr may serve as an attempt to avoid being hurt.  This is what Wikipedia says and my twist is that cats purr for multiple reasons and self calming is one of them.

German Ethnologist and cat behaviorist Paul Leyhausen interprets purring as a signal that the animal is not posing a threat.  Typical of a scientist isn’t it?  They are afraid to stake a claim on reality due to inconclusive evidence or fear of a bad reputation; however, they always manage to identify the most basic, obvious trait.  In this case and to paraphrase his findings:  If the cat is purring, he isn’t threatened or threatening.  Wow!  How observant of them!

In 2009, Scientists at the University of Sussex demonstrated that purring seems to be a way for domesticated cats to signal for food. According to Dr. Karen McComb, purring in the “about to be fed” context happens in high frequency.  I’m no scientist, but being simple like cats, I would have to tie this back to that warm fuzzy feeling that a happy, full belly can create.  Feed me, and I’m happy.  Cats anticipate the happy feeling of a full belly and begin to purr.  The purr also communicates love and appreciation to their caregiver. So we are starting to see more and more why cats purr.

We know our cats and can read their purrs and body language. It makes sense that purring is multi-functional if you think (matter of fact) about it.  If you couldn’t talk, but instead had meows, purrs, and body language to communicate with – ask yourself – would your meows, purrs, and body language communicate a multitude of things?  It is interesting to me how scientists will study cats purring and come up with these narrow ideas.  I guess they don’t want to risk saying too much, but cat owners will always tell it how it is.

Another theory states that purring triggers a cat’s brain to release a hormone which helps it in relaxing and acts as a pain killer. They claim that this may be the reason why cats purr when distressed.  I don’t think it takes a scientist to know that there is a cause and effect relationship between an action such as purring that eases the mind and emotions thus releasing a chemical to relax the body..  Purring=calmed emotions=brain relaxation=hormone release for the body.  The whole mind body connection is well established as fact.

Scientists at the University of California, Davis hypothesized that a cat’s purr can be used as a healing mechanism to offset long periods of rest and sleep that would otherwise contribute to a loss of bone density. I suppose this too would fall along the lines of the mind body connection and healing power of purring.  Retirement homes use cats to improve the health and well being of the elderly. The key focus in this discussion is the effect of purring on the emotions and energy body of people and cats.

The vibrations and contractions of a purr work during both inhalation and exhalation with a consistent pattern and frequency rate of 25 to 150 vibrations per second (Hz). The lower-energy vibration stimulates energy within this particular range of sound frequency and has been scientifically shown to improve bone density and promote healing.

In Conclusion, we know that cats purr because purrs heal and balance the emotions, mind, and body.  If you’re a cat lover, then yes you know, our beloved pets purrs sooth the soul.

Eco Friendly versus Green Pet Products

green cat toys

Green Pet Products

Eco Friendly green pet products are the latest marketing trend for consumers who want to purchase green pet products that are safe for the environment.  As a result of this marketing trend, many pet product companies and marketing businesses have jumped on the opportunity to represent their products to environmentally conscious consumers.

Being an inventor and marketer for CatTamboo brand eco friendly interactive cat toys and teaser toys for small dogs has given me something to say on the topic!  As a consumer myself, I have to start by asking a good question:  Can Plastic really be Eco Friendly?

This is a valid question that I’m certain many are asking.  We see it all the time where companies producing green pet products made from indestructible plastics are marketing their “Eco Friendly” pet toys.  First, we should begin the topic with a clear distinction: There are really two consumer buying patterns to look at here.

  1. Consumers are motivated to purchase green pet products that are safe for the environment.
  2. Consumers are loyal to businesses that make an effort to protect the environment.

If you are a consumer who is looking for green pet products that are safe for the environment, you can find them among the eco friendly pet products available in our line of green pet products. Otherwise, you might have to do some digging to find green pet products that are actually “green” in that they are safe for the environment.

The places that occupied the first page of my search are major pet product companies and when you click their link, you get an array of products….most made from plastics.  Many of the products boast themselves as Eco Friendly because they have catnip in them or use some type of product from nature.

 

However, these companies also produce and sell large volumes of cheep plastic toys that pollute our environment.

The fact is that companies in the pet industry have realized that appealing to either of the two consumer buying patterns is the goal.  As a consumer, your goal will naturally be to find companies that fit both categories.  These companies will likely have a brand new, innovative, green pet product because they will have begun with the premise of being Green.

So in summary and to Answer the Question: Can Plastic really be Eco Friendly?

The answer is yes.  But plastic is not a green material and green pet products are not made out of plastic.  However, a business that produces plastic pet products can claim their plastic pet product is eco friendly if they:

  1. Use recycled plastics
  2. Make an effort to reclaim and Recycle the plastic products that they produce
  3. Attempt to conserve energy and reduce waste/pollution when making their plastic products.

Companies producing large amounts of plastic and distributing them throughout the world are also appealing to Consumers who are loyal to businesses that make an effort to protect the environment….and if your business is plastic, then consumers these days might accept the reality of plastic toys but will require that you go about your business in an environmentally conscious way.

About our green pet products:  CatTamboo pet toys use long, all natural, custom made rods to fly a wing arrangement around the house.

News and Updates

if it fits it ships

NEWS AND UPDATES ON SHIPPING AND HANDLING

On May 23, 2011 we changed our shipping and handling procedures which have been a total success! USPS still damages some of our pet toys, but it is now 9/1/2015 and we are still shipping our pet toys in the same way with excellent results. However, there are some changes coming. We had some new boxes designed that will be using recycled cardboard!

In 2011 we began shipping our CatTamboo™ pet toys in Large 18″ square Poly Envelopes reinforced with 1″ foam sheets. The envelopes are water proof and easy to write on!  The results where okay, but we had some issues with the pet toys coming loose in the packaging. The solution that we implemented was to securely tape the pet toys to the foam board. Ever since we began this practice, the results have been fantastic.  As a company, we also decided to warranty the delivery by handling the post office claims…thus ensuring that our customers have a hassle free experience should merchandise be damaged in the mail.  For larger orders, we ship in recycled cardboard mailing tubes. We have had some of the tubes crushed during shipping, but it is rare that the pet toys are actually damaged.

SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS AND UPDATES

In 2011, we were striving to send updates about our pet products over Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.  Probably the best way to remain updated on changes to the website and products is to follow our facebook and google plus pages.  The website is continually under construction so please bookmark our website and when you return to purchase another toy, stay awhile and see how we have improved our website! Our Newsletter is also a great way keep up with new developments.  The signup box is currently in two locations on the website sidebar.

NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

We are continually working on new prototypes and product development.   We hope to have several more new item available soon.  In addition, we have the ability to make tougher pet toys for medium sized dogs!  Due to the growing success of these Tamboo Flyers in the dog market, we are in the process of launching a new website that is appealing and easier to find for dog owners. We are rolling out a new, custom built eCommerce site this fall 2015.

Sustainability

We continue making progress towards being sustainable by utilizing natural resources.  Our primary focus now is to grow our network for collecting feathers that hunters and farmers would otherwise throw away.  We have discovered that by doing this, we are able to offer a much nicer product because the premium feathers that we can collect from hunters are valued much higher in wholesale and retail circles. The newest development is that we are touring Hutterite Colonies to check out their white turkeys. If we find a way to do business with them, we will post more news and updates on the topic.

PRICING NEWS AND UPDATES

In 2014, turkey feather increased in price. At some point in the near future, it is highly likely that the Turkey feather toys will increase in price yet again. It is more difficult to collect turkey feathers.

In addition, we have discontinued the peacock feather toys and instead offer the option to add a peacock eye feather to your feather toy.  Peacock feather toys once used actual peacock wing feathers and an eye from the tail feathers for decor in addition to marabou plumage for color.  However, the wing feathers are expensive and difficult to come by, so we have discontinued them.

What we did was to create an option for customers to add a peacock eye feather to either the Pheasant, Goose, or Turkey for an additional charge. We have had a lot of customers choose this option!

BEST SELLERS

Hands down, our best selling toy is now the Goose feather toy.  The most popular color is still Aqua.  The most popular weight is Medium. We are selling a lot of Premium rods because customers enjoy the added value and performance.

CHANGES AND NEW OFFERS BEING DISCUSSED

The average length of a regular Tamboo Flyer is 5-6ft, however, we do have short, medium, and long toys available for purchase.  The minimum length for good action, flight performance, and feel is about 4 feet. We are only months away from adding a newly created eCommerce website! This site will offer more options and more flexibility for future expansion.

That is the latest News. Thank You for Doing the CatTamboo!

Turkey Season

feather toys - wild turkey

It is almost Turkey Season 2015

We are interested in buying or trading for your wild turkey wing and tail feathers.

turkey season
Wild Turkey Feathers Wanted

With the onset of Spring and Fall turkey season, we are seeking to conserve our natural resources by reaching out to turkey hunters throughout the country and in Montana. If you hunt wild turkey, but don’t have need of the feathers, then please Contact Us.

Our business is Green Certified. It is standard “Green” business practice to utilize feathers that hunters may otherwise throw away or collect. In fact, we son the 2010 Ecostar Award in Montana for our green business practices.  If possible, we would use 100% of the feathers from hunters during turkey season, however, coordinating such an effort has proven difficult. If you happen upon this Post and know some connections to people who obtain larger quantities of turkey feathers, then we would be very grateful to learn of your contacts.

CatTamboo™ pet toys are eco friendly feather teaser toys that make for a very constructive use of wild game bird feathers that are often otherwise thrown away or never used.

Your donations are graciously welcomed and openly received. We will accept any goose, turkey, pheasant, or peacock feathers. Please mail them to:

CatTamboo Pet Toys
2425 Cook Ave
Billings Montana, 59102

When sending your donations, please indicate if you have cats, ferrets, or small dogs. Let us know how many pet toys you might be able to use so we can send you some. It is the least we can do for those who donate to our cause!

Have a wonderful turkey season!

Ecostar Award

Ecostar Award, Montana USA

In February of 2010, CatTamboo™ Pet Toys received the EcoStar Award for our environmental efforts.  We felt honored to be among the other 27 small businesses that won the award.

That February, we gathered in the capitol city of Helena, MT at the capitol building, in the rotunda.  Our Montana governor (Brian Schweitzer) gave a wonderful speech about our heritage in relationship to nature.  Montanan’s have always been good stewards of the land and those who where not didn’t make it out here.

It was impressive to see how much other companies have done to help our environment.  In the future, we had hoped to see many others join this event, but once you’ve won the honors those who participated will bring other businesses along or encourage them to make some changes.   In 2012, CatTamboo™ Pet products got more green with the introduction of a new program.  The program involved collecting wild game birds from Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and South Dakota.  Comparing the statistics of how many game birds are shot each year, the numbers of wasted natural resources are staggering.  Our networking goal for 2013 was to process multiple hundreds of each species including ducks, geese, wild turkey and pheasant. Now it is 2015 and we are still striving to make use of these otherwise wasted natural resources. Click here to learn more about our Game bird conservation program and the statistics on how many game bird hunting licenses are pulled each year in Montana alone and what that equates to in terms of feather and feather toy numbers.  The fact is that most game bird feathers are wasted because collecting and processing them is a challenge and expense.  It is much easier to just hook up a supplier from China. But we have the same values as all Ecostar award winners in our commitment to make the planet greener, and we love supporting the US and Montana economies.

Another development from 2012 game bird conservation efforts is happening this fall of 2015 with the possible addition of yet another feather resource and feather type.  We are researching the possibility of adding white domestic turkey to the mix.  White turkey feathers are strikingly beautiful and make awesome cat toys.

In addition, we have large scale plans that will continue to take plastic waste out of the environment and employ Americans for production and distribution of our made in the USA pet toys.

Wild Game Feathers – Wanted

Why Wild Game Feathers?

wild game feathers
We use wild game feathers to make our interactive cat toys and feather toys for small dogs and other pets like ferrets.  As part of our policy and effort to conserve our natural resources, we are asking all locals from Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and surrounding areas to save your goose, peacock, and turkey feathers!  Millions of wild game feathers are thrown in the trash each year in Montana alone.  When you add up the waste nation wide, it is truly astounding how much of our natural resources are wasted.

We will purchase wild game feathers from you to make it worth your effort, and you can feel good about sharing in our mission of creating a Greener Planet! Naturally we ask for donations first, but please don’t let that stop you.  Everybody knows that recycling isn’t a great way to make money, but it is a good thing to do and we make it simple.

Click here to Contact Us via email or call customer service at 406-534-9707.

Thank you!

Worlds Longest Cat Toy at Billings Nursery on Poly

longest cat toy

Worlds Longest Cat Toy in Billings, MT

Back in 2010, CatTamboo™ Pet Toys introduced the Worlds longest cat toy to the local Billings Montana market via trade shows. We had a booth at Billings Nursery for their Fall, 2010 Craft Show.  We just want to extend a warm thank you for having us! Pet toy sales more than paid for the event and we had a great time visiting with everyone. Our business has expanded every year and now it is 2015. We no longer do local craft shows or fairs because our business is busy with online sales and we let the brick and mortar retail pet stores handle getting our pet toys into the hands of pet owners.

Billings Nursery is located on Poly Dr in Billings, Montana.  It is 2015 and they are still rocking it! They have a wonderful store packed full of wonderful things for your home and garden including some amazing art work from seriously talented artists like Lance Johnson and Dawn Ness.

Back in the day, consumers got to experience the variety of pet toys we offer, compare and contrast,  and hand pick the pet toy of their choosing.  We would offer special pricing because the trade shows are really marketing efforts.  In the past, we have sold pet toys for only $10 each, or $13 for really long toys. Today the same cat toys can retail for as much as $24.95. At trade shows, we would sell the world’s longest cat toys which are available over 8 feet long.  This is longer than anything we have supplied to retail outlets and longer than those you can purchase through this website.  Even our average 6 foot long cat toys are the longest cat toys by a couple feet when compared to our competitors.  So how long is the world’s longest cat toy?  One piece cat toys go up to nine feet in total length and two piece cat toys can go longer.

We missed doing this trade/craft show in the Spring but we couldn’t miss the Fall show.  If you haven’t been before, it is worth a visit.  Just go West on Poly Drive, past 17th street and on down…you will see it on the right.  This is a fantastic, tightly nit little neighborhood.  They even have their own cute little grocery only blocks away.

The the Billings Nursery craft show runs every Spring and Fall.  It is well advertised, so keep your eyes open or ask them about their craft show the next time your shopping there.

Lion Attack – Cat Hunting Instincts

Cat Hunting Instincts

Google Lion attack and you’ll recognize that tigers and lions have a deeply embedded hunting instinct that is easily triggered. Domestic Cat hunting instincts are also a deep part of their genetics that varies between breeds but is common to nearly all breeds of cat.

Like so many things, life is a progression.  What we see happen with Lions is a clear indication of what is also active within related species.  CNN news headlined a story of some lion attacks at a circus.

People have spent considerable time and effort trying to repress cat hunting instincts. If you treated your kitty cat like they treat the lions in this video, would he or she attack you?  Seriously, your pet has more freedom than these lions.  Do the same to your sweet little kitty cat and the result would be the same. The very same instinct is in all felines and also most canines.  It is animal instinct, born of nature, only masked by human interaction.

PS—This guy finally gets what he deserves!  Not sure why people are so stupid.

If you own a bobcat, then you probably recognize the point I’m wanting to make here.  In general, cats are cats.  Pet lion, pet bobcat, pet pussy cat – the only real difference is size and strength.  They are all hunters and felines.  Yes they can all be gentle animals that love people, but with obvious limits.  House cats are breed to be tame and have evolved in a close parallel to people.  Yet, a cat is a cat:  they will hunt, mark territory, fight, compete, defend, communicate, and play just like the rest of their species.  It is in recognizing this fact that CatTamboo pet toys were created.

cat hunting instincts

If you own a cat or cat(s), you can imagine your family pet as a lion.  They need balance so they can be themselves.

In truth, your family cat is more complex than lions because they love you, they depend upon you, and you aren’t anything like their natural prey.  Though an interesting comparison is that cats are like people, in particular women, and women are more like lions because if your a man, you are their natural prey. Since lions prey on large animals and humans qualify, the obvious difference between domesticated house cats and trained lions is their relationship to man along the food chain.  However, wild domestic cats aren’t so far from wild lions in that they often fear humans and would likely shred you if you grabbed a hold on one of them.

Cat Epitaphs: Honoring my cat Padme’s Life

sam and padme: our cats epitaph

Cat Epitaphs

Cat Epitaphs are a wonderful way to capture a few memories of your cats life and heal emotionally when they pass on. I truly believe that we are re-united with our pets when we pass on from life. I also truly believe that our pets can communicate with us after death through other pets of the same breed that are still alive. The whole animal kingdom is connect in ways that we don’t fully understand. But you can trust your experiences. I’ve had an after death experience with my golden retriever and my son Austin had an after death experience with our cat Padme. Austin said that a Tabby cat that looked like Padme (with the same M on the head and fierceness in the eyes) came around one day and hopped in his lap. The cat laid there devotedly for several hours and then went on its way. Austin had taken Padme’s passing very hard, and so this experience was deeply profound.

Our family cat Padme passed on Tuesday October 14th, 2010.  She was 11 years old.  My stepson Austin found her. She had laid down in a sleeping position, just waiting on the driveway for him to come home.  I’d just like to offer a few short sentences in honor of her life and share a few pictures.

cat epitaphs imagePadme was one of those really special animals.  Born a stray, she had a wild streak and courage of a panther.  I have so many stories to share about her.  Like the time when Austin was about 8 years old, doing this strange acting in the living room.  I guess Padme didn’t like it much because she burst into a sprint from the kitchen, then went into a giant leap off the top of the couch, taking down Austin like a gazelle.  It looked like something out of the wild kingdom!

Padme was a loyal guardian cat. When I got divorced, we split up our family and Austin went to live primarily with his Mom. Padme and Austin were inseparable during that time. She slept on his bed, wore only his scent, and greeted him when he came home. If you won her trust and loyalty, you had a dear friend for life. To this day and well into the future, Austin and I enjoy the memory of Padme and the loyalty that she gave to us alone during different times in our lives.

Yet she was gentle, intelligent, intuitive, loyal, and affectionate her whole life.  And her life was a good one.
cat epitaphs
 

I suppose my only regret is not being there for all of it. Padme and I shared a very special relationship for about 6 years before our family split up.

My relationship with our cat Padme inspired CatTamboo™ Pet Toys.  It was the love and companionship that we shared, expressing itself as a gift to the world.  This is one of her many contributions to life!  Today I’d just like to honor her as such and send love to heaven for the gift of her.

In loving memory of my dear friend Padme…  Until we meet again at the end of cycles.  I love you.

Toys cats love: Why do cats love these toys so much?

Toys cats love the most is the topic of this post. All cat lovers who buy toys are in search of toys cats love to play with and if possible, a toy that we like to play with too.

There is a direct science behind Why cats love Doing the CatTamboo.  Please tell us how much your cats, ferrets, dogs, and other pets love CatTamboo® pet toys. We enjoy your stories!

On a number of occasions I’ve been asked the question:  What did you put on my feather teaser toy that makes my cat love it so much? What a wonderful question to be asked!  Especially since we are in the business of designing and making toys cats love.  And being an engineer and inventor, I have a sound theory on what makes it all happen with CatTamboo.

toys cats loveNature is all about balance.  So in nature, balance on many levels is used to achieve grandeur on the larger scale.  I think that CatTamboo® pet toys cover the most important levels that appeal to the 5 primary senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.

Most of us here at CatTamboo are cat lovers. We design toys cats love.  We also buy toys cats love. And even though we don’t necessarily like all cats, we do love most cats and have loved some cats like our own children. I think everyone designing for CatTamboo® Pet Toys is required to appreciate cats and care enough to pay attention to how they communicate.

I personally believe that cats have great imaginations. So if we have a good design that appeals to the 5 senses, then imagining the object is a real bird becomes fairly easy.

I think one day, movies will attempt to accomplish the same feat as we do with CatTamboo® pet toys.  Imagine 3D Imax with smells, humidity, heat, coolness, vibrations, etc.

The more you appeal to the 5 senses, the more real the experience becomes.

So here we have a pet toy that flies very much like a bird wing and is long enough to allow a cat to ignore you in the process of chasing it.

cat toys cats love

As the wing flies, it also makes the sounds of a wing.  The 5 – 7 foot long rod also makes a very inviting sound.

One interesting bit of insider information: when I whip a long, blank tamboo rod in the air, my brothers chocolate lab/ red-bone coon hound mix goes nuts.  He can’t see the rod whipping through the air, but the sound drives him crazy such that he’ll start jumping into the air biting at nothing.

When I get a toy whipping, the cats can hear it from across the living room, down the hall, and all the way in the back bedroom.  They come running every time 🙂 Now that is a toy cats love! And dogs love them too!

Ever see those slow motion videos of birds in flight.  Well, our demo video has some toys flying in slower motion and you’ll notice that the action is fairly similar.  Another thing you will notice is how the feathers fly through the air when you simply guide them.  They are much like an airplane wing.  As air pushes over the top of the wing, the acceleration of air creates low pressure, thus as pressure moves from high to low, you get lift under the wing.  This swooping action is nearly exactly what happens when a bird comes in to land.  And, when a bird comes in to land is when the cat has a chance!

pet toys cats loveThis bring up another good point.  Cats are hunters and hunting is challenging!  Challenging is the key word here because CatTamboo® cat toys can be a serious challenge for cats.  I think that is one of my favorite things about them.  I have enough control to make it very difficult for the most aggressive cats to catch it.  The continuity from handle to tip gives you control, but as the feather darts and dodges through the air, its movements can be very unpredictable.  This unpredictability can make them challenging to catch.  So in summary, cats are like humans in that they like good sport.

And that leads us to yet another great point.  Most pet cats love their humans.  They love you!  Ever have your cat bring you something dead, like a bird or mouse?

toys cats love mostThis is the way cats show you that they love you.  In fact, it is one of the sweetest things they will do (in their minds) to tell you they are happy and love you.  Have you thought about how much patience and persistence it must take for your cat to catch a bird?  They might wait for hours to get their chance!  Now that part of their lives they do alone, but with CatTamboo® cat toys, they get to practice and show off and share their skills with you.

This is why I recommend shooting video early when you first expose your cats to our eco friendly pet toys.  I believe it makes for the best, most exciting videos if you shoot within the first month or two of getting your new pet toy.

Add to the mix the fact that many CatTamboo® pet toy products use unwashed feathers that smell and taste just like birds (by fact that they are birds).  toys cats love loveIf you have a really big or aggressive cat-or if you have some wild cat in the breed, then also consider that these feathers are from pheasant and goose which were primary prey for such animals, so when you trace the breeding back, you will notice these instinct remain within the domesticated animals.


I think it is all of these factors combined that make the CatTamboo® cat toys so appealing to our feline friends.  This is why CatTamboo’s are the best cat toys on the market.

Billings MT Fair Success

A Big Thank You !!!

We had an incredible response at the Montana State Fair this last week. Sales volume was very good and literally thousands upon thousands of people got to see CatTamboo™ pet toys in action!

We had many responses that I thought were really fun and we learned a lot from our customers (many who have been with us since last year).

My two favorite comments that we got about a dozen times are:

(1) “Are these just plain feathers or do you put something special on them that makes my cat go that crazy?” (These were asked in all seriousness!) Indeed it is interesting what happens when you effectively combine all the primary senses of sight, sound, smell, and taste.

(2) “Oh good, we’ve been looking all over for you! We came to the Fair just to get your cat toy!”

In the evenings, it was fun to watch how some people were captivated by the mysterious bird-thing flying through the air. Some thought it was a bat. On occasion, someone wouldn’t notice (the bat!) until it was near their shoulder and then they would quickly duck and run! I always found that funny!

Especially after their friends got laughing at them 🙂

We got enough of the French tickler comments that I seriously considered putting up a red light for the midnight crowd! I could advertise it with a big question: Red light or Blue light Special?

Then we had the cat people phenomenon which was always funny and happened quite often.

Some wonderfully dynamic individual would pretend to be a cat and leap for the toy!

Soooo fun~! and always good for business! Good times at the Billings MT Fair!

Thank you again for all who stopped by our booth at the Billings MT Fair or took an interest in our pet products. We had a wonderful experience and will definitely be there again next year!

Montana Fair Update

montana fair

CatTamboo™ Pet Toys is off to a great start at the Montana Fair!  Love and thanks to those dedicated supporters who always spoil their kitty cats!

One lady came by, her face lit up and excited that we where there.  She said she came to the fair just to get our pet toys.  Without the support of customers like her, I’m not sure we would have made it.  Bringing new products to market is very challenging, so such dedication from consumers is a key ingredient to any successful product launch.

We have many people come by and purchase multiple pet toys at a time.  Many are leaving their name and email to enter a drawing for free kitty care packages!  We’ll select winners after the fair is over 🙂  Our commitment to promotional giving means lots of winners, so get down there and put your name on the list!  Also pick up a flyer.  People who participate on our social networks and leave comments on the website may also win free toys—in fact, those who do both are almost sure to win!

Other news: a local TV station from Billings, MT had a treasure hunt there at the Montana Fair and our CatTamboo booth was a place they had to find.

Well, that’s all the news for now.  So come on down to the Montana Fair and Do the CatTamboo!

Green cat toys in Montana State Fair

news

We enjoy participating in the Montana State Fair!

Montana State Fair in Billings

montana state fairTitle: Montana State Fair Location: Metra Park – Billings, MT
Link out: Click here (for Metra Park website/ad for the Montana state fair)
The Montana State Fair begins every year in August! The Fair is a great way to enjoy the end of summer and give the kids one last rally before school starts.

We are usually choosing to set up an outside booth but if you don’t see us there then look for us at an inside booth.  In 2010, CatTamboo™ Pet Toys sponsored The Green Directory of Montana by displaying their information and flyers during the event.  This was a great way to learn more about making Green decisions and how to make your business more Green. We will continue to support green efforts!

Just remember: A Green Decision is a decision for Everyone!