Author: Allie Zottola

Mavis at Eight Months

Okay, how is Mavis already eight months old?! She’s growing up so fast! I brought her home at eight weeks old, and she was so tiny. Now she’s almost fully grown!

Cocker Spaniel puppy at eight weeks and eight months

New Things

  • Mavis graduated Adult Level I training classes in January and moved on to Adult Level II! She is doing wonderful in her Adult II classes and continues to impress me with how fast she can learn. She now knows how to do “paw” and we are hoping to teach her other fun tricks along with her basic commands.

Cocker spaniel at Petco Positive Dog Training

  • She has been practicing her training in different places like the library, bank, and stores to really keep her focus on meeting and interacting with people in hopes of working towards becoming a therapy dog.
  • Mavis no longer uses her crate except to sleep in it at night with the door open. We now put her and Lola in our spare bedroom when we leave the house and we haven’t had any chewing or bathroom accidents. We watch and talk to them on the Petzi Cam and it’s adorable!

Dogs on Petzi treat cam

Hard Things

  • She has been trying to counter surf! This is kind of funny because she’s so little, but man can she jump. She has swiped a few things off of our counters, so we really have to watch her.
  • She’s still in that “teenage” phase of puppyhood and can just be really challenging sometimes! I have to remind myself that she’s still learning and growing.
  • I was recently walking two other dogs with Mavis and her leash slipped out of my hand. She ran straight to one of my other clients’ doors, LOL. It gave me a heart attack, but it was also adorable the she remembered where her friend lives! Note to self: work on recall more.
Cocker spaniel and golden retriever sitting on couch

Mavis ran from me to try and see her golden retriever friend!

Other Things

    • She still hasn’t gone into heat yet, but I’m guessing she will before her first birthday.
    • Now that she’s out of her crate at night, she tries to sleep on the bed with us. It’s cute, but she’s not allowed!
    • She’s very social. She likes being with people and dogs. She plays really hard with all of my pet sitting clients and then crashes when we get home.
    • She enjoys playing in the snow and tries to eat it.
    • She loves riding in the car. She gets all excited when she knows we’re going somewhere.

Cocker spaniel puppy in car therapy dog in training

I think that’s everything for Mavis’ eight month update! She’s our wild, sassy, and fun little pup and we love her so much!

Our Favorite Cat Food and Feeding Resources

Continuing on with our favorite dog and cat supplies, I’m going to be discussing cat food and feeding resources today! Let’s just start this by saying that cats can be picky eaters. Like to the max. We haven’t experienced that too much with our cat, Malcolm, but he has snubbed a few things here and there.

As I said in my last post, I personally think the best thing you can do for your pet in terms of feeding is to figure out what works best for you and them in terms of quality, price, and enjoyment! With that said, here’s what we have found to be the best foods for our cat Malcolm!

The best cat food

1. Rachel Ray Nutrish
This is the dry cat food that we currently feed Malcolm and he chows down on this. He enjoys this so much that he never leaves a crumb in his bowl. The formula that we use is for indoor cats and the first ingredient is chicken. A 14 pound bag costs around $20.

2. Sheba Perfect Portions
This is the wet food that we currently feed Malcolm, and just like his dry food he completely cleans his plate when we feed him this. I love that the food comes in individual portion packs because it’s so convenient. The perfect portions are formulated without grain or corn, and a case of 24 twin packs costs around $17.

3. Cat Sip
A friend from church got Jimmy and I into buying these for Malcolm, and they’re such a neat concept. It’s a little carton of real milk specially formulated for cats and kittens that is easy on their stomachs. I really like knowing that Malcolm is staying hydrated when he drinks Cat Sip. A six pack costs around $9.

4. Whole Earth Farms Grain Free Kitten Food
This was the dry food that we fed Malcolm when he was a kitten and we had a great experience with it. He never had any digestive issues and ate really well when we brought him home. A 10 pound bag is about $24, but I think the price point is worth it because the quality is high, which is especially important for a growing kitten!

5. Whole Earth Farms Grain Free Cat Food
Another great food from Whole Earth Farms! We have bought the salmon flavor of this food and Malcolm enjoyed it. This food is formulated for indoor or outdoor cats, which is nice if you have one or the other (or both!). I really like the fact that Whole Earth Farms makes their food in the USA. Again, this one is a little on the pricey end, at about $24 for a 10 pound bag.

6. Fancy Feast Poultry and Beef Pate
The Fancy Feast Pates are another wet food we’ve had a great experience with. Malcolm has really enjoyed these, and I like the fact that a case of these provides variety of flavors like beef, chicken, and turkey. And of course, each can is formulated to provide balanced nutrition and essential vitamins and minerals. A 24 pack costs around $13.

7. Fancy Feast Broths
Fancy Feast Broths are actually considered a compliment to a cat’s meal, so we use these as an extra treat for Malcolm from time to time. The broths are little pouches of wet cat food with ingredients like mackerel, tuna, sardines, and more in a broth. When we first gave Malcolm one of these, we were impressed with the contents inside the pouch. We saw whole shrimp, sardines, and tuna flakes. Malcolm really enjoys these and finishes a pouch in minutes, if not seconds! A 12 pack costs about $14.

Cat food and feeding resources, books, and websites

1. Dinner PAWsible
Dinner PAWsible is a cookbook filled with homemade meals for cats and dogs written by a veterinarian certified in food therapy. It has over fifty recipes and a lot of useful information on which nutrients are important to cats and dogs. I’ve owned this cookbook for a few months now and love referencing it when I’m making homemade food for our pets.

2. CatFoodDB
Cat Food DB is a website that is basically a database of unbiased cat food reviews. It has lists of over 2,500 products and more than 150 brands. If you’re wanting to learn about feline nutrition, allergies, ingredient quality, and more, this website is a great research tool that does all the work for you.

3. Catster
Catster is a magazine and website that is all about cats. I like that their website has a category dedicated solely to cat food. The articles in their cat food section are mostly about feeding habits, weight loss, and other health issues that deal with feeding. This website is helpful if you have specific feeding questions.

4. Chewy
Chewy is a website that sells cat and dog food, treats, and supplies. The prices are always amazing, and if you spend over $49, you get free 1-2 day shipping. Another great (and convenient!) way to save on Chewy is to set up an autoship of your dog’s food that is automatically shipped to you every 1-16 weeks (you can choose when and even delay or speed up the autoship). When you set up an autoship, you save 5%! I’m literally on Chewy at least a few times a week and highly recommend checking it out!

Other Thoughts

  • Talk to your vet if you have questions about feeding your cat!
  • Along with Malcolm’s dry and wet food, we sometimes feed him scrambled eggs, cooked meat, and cooked salmon. He devours it 🙂