We are having a different kind of summer this year. Are you trying to figure out something for the kids to do? Do you have a little cat lover at home? If the answer is yes, you might want to check this out!
5 days of fun and activities, accessible from anywhere in the world, to learn to be a responsible cat guardian.
We have experts from the cat industry to be our camp leaders – cat behaviourist, vet nurse, sanctuary volunteers, cat trainer and pet massage therapist.
What is syllabus?
Day 1 Lesson: introduction, the origin of cats, and cat physiology. Adventure: tell us what your cat does that could come from Africa wild animal origin!
Day 2 Lesson: Where to even get a cat? What should we check before getting one? Cat care basics and your responsibility as a guardian. Adventure: DIY cat enrichment project
Day 3 Lesson: Cat behaviour: body language, vocalisation, “cat problems”. Adventure: cat training basics for kids – learn how to get your cat to come when called and teach them to do “high five”!
Day 4 Lesson: Chronic illness and how to manage, basic first aids. Adventure: learn how to do a short cat massage for your cat’s daily well being. How to get your cat used to the cat carrier for future vet visits?
Day 5 Lesson: How is it like working in the cat industry? Adventure: ask the experts! You will have the opportunity to ask any questions on how to start a career with cats!
Each camper will also receive a camper pack in the post full of goodies for both human and cat!
What is included?
*A downloadable workbook with more activities!
*A camper pack (this should arrive one week before the event)
–> Camper t-shirt
–> Cat ears headband
–> Cat wallet
–> One exclusive Made in USA cat toy
–> Cat treats
–> Certificate of achievement
–> “I am a responsible cat guardian” ID card
* A Facebook group for parents to connect and participate in a giveaway for their kids! (Everyone will have access to the Facebook Group one week before the summer camp)
*** Space are limited to ensure each child have enough opportunity to interact with others. So sign up soon to avoid disappointment! ***
If you don’t have little one at home, think about buying a ticket for your little family members whom you might or might not get to see this summer, show them you are thinking of them.
It’s hard to believe Catsmas is just around the corner but here we are…
I don’t care for Christmas very much myself. Especially since I started working as a cat sitter, Christmas is always a stressful time for me. Holiday season usually means 16 hours day for those of us in the pet sitting industry.
Having said that, for a bit of fun, I have complied a list of gift list for you all – both for cat lovers and cats! Enjoy!
Look at this amazing cat house by Mau Katz! I discovered this website recently where they are lots of amazing stylish ‘cat stuff’! Who said cat stuff can’t be stylish? Check it out.
Da Bird is a best seller cat toy featured on Jackson Galaxy’s show. An incredible thing about Da Bird is the range of refill head available so to keep it interesting for your cats. There are sparkly heads, furry heads, different kinds of feathers and so on.
Check out these cute Christmas theme Valerian pillows? They are straight from a German family business – Aumueller. These pillows are made with great care using the best ingredients. Herbal remedies such as valerian root in German pharmacies quality and well-controlled German Spelt. The intense aroma of valerian attracts cats and magically animate them to play. Valerian is more efficient than catnip and will work on cats who don’t react on catnip.
The good old laser pointers ensure your cat to have hours of fun. Do make sure to end your session by landing the laser pointer to a toy of which your cat can pounce on so that your cat can have the satisfaction of a successful hunting session. Don’t just end the session with turning the laser off. It could cause frustration to your cat and eventually behavioural issues.
The AMAZING Maow Calendar! Yes, it’s my work. I do that every year to feature the amazing cats I know around me. I invite entries from my Facebook followers and have been producing these lovely calendars for a couple of years now. People love these calendars because they are all real cats, no stock photos and it comes with a little background stories from their humans.
2. Cat book
Books always make thoughtful gifts. If you have a cat lover in your life, book is nearly always a safe item to buy. I plan to do book review on this blog in the future. In the meantime, check out the Purrfect Library for my recommendation to get some inspiration.
These beautiful, stylish and soft cat scarf are very suitable for all seasons. These scarf are not the average little fabric around the neck kind of scarf. With generous size of 160cm x 70cm, it will be big enough to cover your shoulders really well. Keep this in your bag and use it on your commute. Subtle cat print, very office friendly for cat ladies. Very easy to be stored in the handbag.
So that’s it for this year’s Catsmas shopping guide, I hope you enjoyed. I might plug in here a little bit to share some Catsmas cat sitting frustration. I don’t see you before the New Year.
I don’t like Halloween and I explained why on my last post. But I know some of you love the festival so I figure I still need to take care of those of you.
If you love Halloween, you might want to check out these amazing cat theme Halloween products that I discovered browsing on the internet.
The artwork of Psycho Cat Collection by Jeff Haynie is so beautiful. They come in hoodies, shower curtain, necklace and many more. It’s ‘Halloween cat’, but not cliche kind if you know what I mean. It’s very creative. I like it.
On Etsy, there are a few lovely things I spotted too.
If shopping is not your thing, then maybe you would love to do some Halloween cat theme cooking?
INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup baking cocoa
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 1⁄2 cups flour
candy corn
red hot red cinnamon candies
DIRECTIONS
1. Blend butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, cocoa, and vanilla in mixing bowl.
2. Mix until smooth.
3. Add in baking powder, baking soda and flour. Blend until combined.
4. Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie ball with a glass.
5. With your fingers pinch the top of each cookie to form into ears.
6. Add whiskers by press the a fork into each side of the cookie “face.”
7. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes.
8. Take out of oven and press in 2 candy corn eyes and a red hot cinnamon candy for a nose.
It took place at the Academy on Abbey Street in Dublin.
Here is me waiting to get the ‘red carpet treatment’…
There you go, me on the ‘red carpet’…
It was a great party with lovely food from KC Peaches.
I went for the satay of course, me being Asian and all, haha.
It was a good party all over.
Unfortunately, I had to leave early due to an emergency so I don’t have a lot to report to you guys.
And no I didn’t win the award. But honestly, I was surprise I got into finalist in the first place so I am still very pleased.
When I first started this blog on 2014, I just wanted to have a place to share all the crazy cat stories working as a cat sitter and behaviourist. I never imagined it would get to where I am today. So thank you thank you thank you once again for all your support.
As a professional cat sitter and behaviourist, it is so important to make sure to stay up-to-date with the latest cat science.
Last month, I went to the International Cat Care Conference (aka Cat Weekend) in Birmingham. I do this every year so to make sure to keep up my cat knowledge by learning from experts of the cat world.
I arrived a little bit early as I liked to do just so that I am not stressed. (I don’t like stress. I can handle stress, but I don’t like it if I can avoid it. I am like a cat!)
Since I had a little time, so I browsed around some shops that we don’t have in Ireland…
And found these…
These were so cute and very good price as well!
As time was running out, I headed over to the Conference Centre. This is a new venue so the entrance wasn’t very clear. As I was wondering if I was in the right place, I spotted this guy!
So yes, I guess I was in the right place! Well done, International Cat Care! Such a nice touch!
Signing in at the event, there are so many lovely cat theme souvenirs to purchase. All proceeds will go to the great cause of International Cat Care in promoting the welfare of cats around the world.
Then got myself some breakfast…
And I settled down for a day of learning ahead of me…
Some of the lectures of the day includes my favourite cat behaviourist Vicky Halls talking about negative consequences of keeping cat indoors and how to deal with that.
The day was packed full of incredible talks. Check out the full programme here:
Day 1 – Saturday 16th September
iCatCare Feline Day
09.00
– Registration opens
10.00
– From hospital to home – managing and supporting a cat with arthritis Linda Ryan, Inspiring Pet Teaching
10.45
– ‘Desperate housecats’ – the less obvious consequences of keeping cats indoors Vicky Halls, VN, author and cat behaviour counsellor
11.30
– Coffee break
12.00
– The ultimate challenge – a stress-free vet visit Sarah Endersby, iCatCare Veterinary Development Manager
12.30-
Cats, wildlife and conservationists
Celia Haddon, author and cat behaviour counsellor
13.00
– Lunch break
14.00
– Ethical dilemmas – ‘natural mutation’ or a breed too far? Sarah Endersby, iCatCare Veterinary Development Manager
14.45-
– From hospital to home – care for the cat with kidney disease
Linda Ryan, Inspiring Pet Teaching
15.15
– Tea break
15.30
– Raffle draw
15.45
– Ethical dilemmas – what is right, what is wrong and how do you know?
Karen Hiestand, Teaching Fellow, University of Surrey
16.30
– The super fosterer – how fostering cats can benefit their wellbeing Vicky Halls, VN, author and cat behaviour counsellor
17.00
– End
There was a raffle. I, unfortunately, didn’t win anything this year…
I had an amazing if a bit tiring first day of conference. There were so much information and new knowledge that I felt my brain was exploding.
Another interesting trivia, the conference centre was very close to the China Town, here I spotted the iconic pagoda…
As I was walking towards my AirBnb, I came across this little guy to round up my Cat Weekend nicely…haha
And the AirBnb also has a cat! Here he is coming to say hi to me…
Day 2 of the conference was quite unusual. It was a cooperation between International Cat Care and the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors, it wasn’t the traditional sit-down-and-listen kind of day. Instead, all of us worked on a behavioural case together. The case was very interesting in a sense that it was so realistic! I bet most of us at the audience have dealt with similar case like this!
Here is the trailer of the case we worked on…be careful, grab your tissue.
The case: An owner has two cats, a Korat, aged 13 years, obtained many years ago from a breeder, and a six month old domestic shorthair kitten acquired from a friend of a friend whose moggy was not neutered in time and was mated by a local stray tom. The owner contacts the vet because the young cat appears to be urinating and defecating outside the litter tray. The vet suggests the in-house nurse takes the case as she has an interest in behaviour and has been to some weekend seminars on the subject. And so the case unfolds to also include a homing centre.
It was such a pleasure to work with the amazing Vicky Halls on a case together…
Again, my head was exploding. The story was so sad that lots of us were tearing up. The good news – we all know it was fictional. The bad news is – stories like this happen all the time at our work.
On Day 2, we have another raffle! YEAH!
I had an amazing weekend and was quite pleased with myself. As I was heading to the airport, that’s why things started to go wrong…My return flight was delayed for 2 hour and 50 minutes! (They didn’t want it to delay for 3 hours or they needed to compensate us according to EU regulations…)
I camped out in the business lounge for 3 hours. I tried to make myself comfortable, got food and drinks, charge my phone and read a book…
I eventually made it home after midnight. And later on, I learnt that I was lucky because the next day, the infamous Ryanair mess started…
All in all, it was an incredible weekend as every other year. If you are interested to join us next year, make sure to sign up the iCatCare Newsletter and get notification for future events.
The Purrfect Job made it into the finalist of the Blog Awards Ireland! I can’t believe it!
The Award ceremony will take place on 5 October at the Academy, Middle Abbey Street. I still haven’t made up my mind if I am going but I am very pleased to know I got into finalist. For someone who is not a native English speaker writing a blog in English, I am thrilled to know my readers and judges think my writing is up to standard! Thank you so much for your support!
