Mae Reviews: Cat Packs

My feline friend has been getting spoilt rotten lately with a variety of boxes dropping through the door for her. Her latest treat came via CatPacks who got in touch with me a couple of weeks ago to introduce themselves and kindly offer Mae and I a box to review.

CatPacks source high quality food, toys and health care products from independent manufacturers and aim to enhance your pet’s physical and mental wellbeing. A CatPacks subscription box costs £15.00 for a single box or £13.00 for a recurring plan, plus £3.50 p&p. There is no minimum subscription term and your plan can be cancelled at any time!

Each month the box is seasonally themed in some way, this month celebrates Black Cat Day (October 27th FYI!).

There was a fantastic selection of foods all of which my little fuss-pot devoured with gusto. The sachet from “almo nature” was a particular favourite, she wolfed that down so fast and was so full she could barely move! Thankfully there were two brilliant toys in the box too so she could work off some of that fullness…the black fluffy…thing (for want of a better word) was a particular hit and I’ve been getting a work out dragging it around the house for her to pounce on.

The other toy was a little bag stuffed with valerian and catnip. I think this was an especially thoughtful inclusion for a box at this time of year as between halloween and bonfire night things can get pretty stressful for pets. Valerian is excellent at soothing and calming cats down and after a few minutes playing with this little pillow of comfort Mae is out for count! Between that and the few remaining cat cafe treats we should be in for a fairly chilled out time.

The other thing I really loved was the inclusion of a gift for the pet owner too. This came in the form of a cat shaped cookie cutter, perfect for baking up some gifts in time for halloween or bonfire parties! I’ll be whipping up some black cat biscuits in the very near future.

So there we have it, another subscription box for cats that really hits the mark. I love the care and thought that goes in to picking out the products for CatPacks, using independent companies and really taking the health and wellbeing of your cat in to account. But then what would you expect when CatPacks comes from a lovely lady named Jenny who also runs Chequer Trees Cattery in East Sussex?

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Pusheen at Watchshop.com

Cat lovers and fans of Pusheen grab your pencils and get ready to add to your Christmas list! Brand new to watchshop.com is the most adorable (supposedly Children’s but plenty of room for an adult sized wrist too) bargain of a watch.

Pusheen Watch c/o Watch Shop

I know that by 29 I should be favouring more mature styles but some days you just need a little something pink and plastic to cheer you up! I’ve been pairing this little beauty with denim and slouchy sweaters and I’ve caught a few people giving it a sneaky admiring glance when I’m out and about.

At only £11.99 this would make a perfect Christmas present for children and adults alike, at that price you could easily justify picking one up for yourself too if you can’t wait for Santa!

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My Purrfect Giftbox- for the cat lady and her cat

Over the years of blogging I’ve tried a fair few monthly subscription boxes; beauty, food and for the cat but never before have I come across one that caters for more than one person (or creature I suppose). The second I heard about My Purrfect Gift Box I was intrigued- a gift for both pet and owner? It sounded pretty purrfect to me, so when the team kindly offered to send me the September box* I accepted without hesitation.
Before I get in to my review, allow me to explain a bit more about how it works:

Firstly you select which size box you would like, there are four sizes available (standard, lite, lite + gifts for kitty and standard + gifts for kitty) and it was the latter box that I was sent. Price wise the standard box + gifts for kitty costs £29.95 on a month to month basis, £86.95 for a three month subscription and £167.95 for a six month subscription. The standard and lite boxes are obviously lower priced with the same kind of discounts for longer term subscriptions. Now, on paper this might seem like quite a pricey option but I think when you see what is actually inside you’ll see that actually you’re getting a bloomin’ bargain!

The first thing to note is how lovingly packaged everything is, everything looks so endearing and it’s clear that this box was put together with love and care. The September box had a tea theme, perfect for the start of Autumn and what better excuse to kick back and relax? There were two teabags included in the box, shaped as cat heads and in intriguing saffron and honey flavours. These are from an etsy shop called LoJim based in Spain (hence the flavours, the saffron is oddly delicious!) and cost £5.99.

Of course for perfect tea you need the perfect mug and this “you are my cup of tea” cat faced mug fits the bill nicely. These retail at £11.99 and can be bought in the My Purrfect Gift Box online shop.

After a restorative cup of tea it was time for a play with my little feline friend. Mae loved the handmade catnip sweets from Tillypops.co.uk and we keep finding these scattered all of the place, being the perfect size to cart around in her mouth. An equal success was the catnip tea bag from FreakMEOWT (find them on facebook or notonthehighstreet.com) which gets thrown around…mostly landing in the kitchen. Most intriguinging were the Kit-Tea catnip tea bags which you use to brew your own catnip spray. This is such a cute and novel idea! You can get those from pawandgnaw.com.

Back to the human treats and something sweet! You can’t have tea without a biscuit (it’s the law) and these were almost too pretty to eat! Made by Nila Holden and available on notonthehighstreet.com these retail between £6.00 and £10.00 and are truly scrumptious.

I’m all for a bit of relaxing and jasmine is one of my favourite scents so the wax melt from Paw Melts was probably my top rated item! Available at pawmelts.com these cost £18.50 for a box of 9 (one included in standard box) and I’m saving some pennies to stock myself up!

Last but by no means least was this genius idea- a cat shaped tea bag holder (or you can clip it to your laptop screen which I’ve also been doing). I was really touched that the kitty I received bore more than a passing resemblance to Mae, whether it was by accident or design it was a lovely surprise. These cost £9.50 each and are available on Etsy from MiniHandsCrafts.

Still think My Purrfect Gift Box is expensive? Once you add up the value of all of the gifts included, not to metnion the time and care involved I think you’ll agree it’s a real bargain. A one off box would make an incredible gift for any cat lady- I can’t wait to see future themes.

If you’ve seen anything that’s really caught your eye there is the added bonus of the My Purrfect Gift Box online shop where you can purchase items from past boxes so there is no fear of FOMO.

I know I was sent this box for the purpose of review and all but this is hands down one of the loveliest ideas I have come across in a long time and 100% my favourite subscription box out of all of the ones I have tried. Do let me know if you decide to treat yourself to a My Purrfect Gift box and what you thought. I’m going to make sure I set aside enough money for future purchases, it’s the purrfect pick me up after an especially tough time lately and every girl (and her cat) deserves a treat sometimes!

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Purrfectly Purrfect(Box)

It’s been a little while since Mae and I last received a Purrfect Box and I was suprised to see they’ve had a bit of a make over since April. The new blue box looks great and from the second it arrived Mae couldn’t wait to get stuck in!
For those that don’t yet know the Purrfect Box is a monthly subscription which costs £19.90 a month with options to subscribe for longer periods of time which will reduce the monthly cost slightly. The contents of the box are guaranteed to be worth at least £30 with 4-6 premium products inside so it’s a pretty sweet deal, especially as each box is catered to your feline’s needs and preferences. Let me know if you decide to treat your feline friend to a box. We’ve had a few of these boxes now and are yet to receive one that hasn’t been well worth the money and Mae has amassed a huge collection of favourite toys- most memorably a dolphin that we frequently find in the bath.
The latest box certainly didn’t let us down on the toy front and Mae wore herself out in the process of taking these photos…I later found her curled up on her cushion with the red chasing toy wrapped possessively around her paws- she’s a character, that’s for sure!

Also included in the box was a cooling food bowl which I think is aimed more at dogs but has proven brilliant during this latest patch of decent weather. Mae’s food bowl is situated in the conservatory which does get quite hot when the sun is out. This bowl, after a few hours in the fridge or freezer will keep your pet’s food cool for a good 4-6 hours meaning they can graze as they please without the smell (and I imagine taste) of overheated wet food!

Unusually for her Mae also loved the treats in this box- the chicken liver “pet munchies” are her new favourite thing, she’s ignoring her beloved dreamies in favour of these and she will be sorely disappointed when she has munched her way through the bag! The squeezy pudding treat she isn’t so fond of but hasn’t totally rejected so I’d class that as a win as well.

I think this is probably one of the best all-rounder Purrfect boxes we have recieved and I am delighted to be able to offer all of my blog readers a fantastic £5 discount if you choose to sign up. Simply enter the code ukb1xlvr at the checkout.

Let me know if you sign up and what your feline friend thinks!

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Kitten Kollege “A Guide to Neutering Kittens”*

For someone who is utterly obsessed with cats there is surprisingly little content featuring them on this here blog. That’s going to change, starting from now there is going to be a lot more feline themed posts appearing on my site.

To kick things off we’re going back to school, or rather “Kitten Kollege” with Whiskas who have created a series of fun and informative videos offering advice to kitten owners on a whole range of topics. Today I am sharing “A guide to neutering kittens” which probably one of the lesser talked about aspects of owning a cat and probably a subject that causes the most anxiety to owners. It might sound cruel to remove a cat’s reproductive organs but really, unless you know you want to breed your cat in the future it’s in your best interest and in theirs. As cute as kittens are you really don’t want to find yourself suddenly the owner of a whole hoard of them who then need to be cared for and have homes found for them. Likewise you don’t want a cat that rules the roost by spraying urine to mark their territory, or finding yourself the owner of the neighbourhood bully. Neutering also has numerous health benefits and all round makes for a happier pet and human!

How cute is this video? It’s seriously giving me major yearnings for another ball of fluff in my life…which I don’t think Mae would take too kindly to right now.

And cuteness aside I think the video, and indeed the whole “Kitten Kollege” series is brilliant. Short and informative the videos deliver just the right amount of information without bombarding the viewer. A touch of humour goes a long way in learning and who can resist all of those furry faces?

Let me know what cat related content you’d love to see on the blog, and watch this space…

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