Browsing Tag

Cats

The Uncommon Life

Top 10 Reasons Why Cats are Better than Dogs

April 1, 2013

10.) If you give us a toy, we don’t return it covered in drool.

9.) There’s no such thing as dog nip.

8.) There’s a whole musical about us, while no one wants to hear songs about chasing cars and pooping on the sidewalk.

7.) We have the LOOKS and the BRAINS. (And the confidence.)

6.) Dog Woman would make an awful super villain.

5.) Jingles written about our food will get stuck in your head. Meow, meow, meow, meow…big time.

4.) Like humans, we pee indoors and cover it up. (Technically, they flush it down, but that’s not nearly as much fun.)

3.) No ancient civilization has ever worshiped dogs.

2.) We don’t like the taste of shoes.

1.) Has your dog ever brought you a delicious mouse to prove his love for you? I didn’t think so.

Visit our feline favorites page for even more CATtitude.

The Uncommon Life

Wheat Grass in the House (and the tortoise, and the cats)

June 19, 2012

At UncommonGoods, we’re big proponents of “Reduce, Re-use, Recycle.” Nothing goes to waste, if we can help it. Last week, our Creative team did something super-top secret with 24 flats of wheat grass. Afterward, rather than throw it away, Adam, our staff photographer, walked among our desks offering some to any takers. He left the rest on a shelf in one of our break rooms.

I happened to be tortoise-sitting last week for some neighbors who were out of town. Since Roberta – that’s her name – eats only greens, and the occasional flower when she gets lucky, I wondered if she could eat wheat grass, too.

A quick web search turned up both the type of tortoise she is (sulcata, or African spurred tortoise–a desert type) and the answer to my question: Grass is great. I learned that desert tortoises evolved to make the most of high-fiber, low-protein greens like grasses, and that lower-fiber, higher-protein supermarket greens that people eat are bad for their health.

I brought some flats of the wheat grass to Roberta’s lair, and she went nuts for it.

Chomp chomp chomp chomp! It was like watching a dinosaur movie.

This is what one of the flats looked like after she had had her way with it for a couple of days.

Cats, too, enjoy the occasional blade of grass, so I gave a couple of flats to a friend who has five; three in the office and two at home; and to another friend who has two. All seven are rescues, saved from heartbreaking lives by the kindness and cat-craziness of my pals.

Here’s Pumpkin, nibbling.

Pumpkin again, really getting into it. Check out those fangs!

Gloria isn’t sure she wants to get involved.

Gloria, sending a telepathic wheat grass inquiry to her Martian overlords.

Beta is living the compleat wheat grass lifestyle: eating it, pretending to be a lion stalking in an African savanna, and finally, using it as his throne.

It doesn’t get much greener than taking something already green and re-using it–and finally, via the magical mystery of a tortoise’s digestive system, turning it into garden fertilizer. I decided to spare you photos of that.

Gift Guides

Gift Lab: A Paw Print is Forever

January 11, 2012

The first time I saw the Paw Prints Keepsake Frame, I knew I needed to have it! The only problem? I have 5 cats! How am I to choose the lucky kitty that gets their paw print hung on the Wall of Fame?!

Background Research:

Meet my 5 wunderkitties, in order from oldest to youngest:

Fatty
What a docile, wonderful orange blob of a cat. He appeared outside my house on the night of my 16th birthday and never left (best present EVER)!

Pixie

Our neurotic sweetheart, and the only female in the bunch. Joined the household when I moved back home after freshman year of college.

Lynard & Skynard

Brothers! My best friend and I brought them home to foster in the beginning of the summer of 2007. I am still “fostering” them, haha.

And last, but certainly not least…..Buddy!

I adopted Buddy last April from the Animal Care & Control Center in Brooklyn. He is absolutely insane, but that is why he is awesome.

I have to pay homage to Harley. Harley was my first cat, joined the family when I was 11 years old. He passed away 3 years ago, but he’ll always be the king of our jungle.

How does one choose which paw to take a print of? Well, it was actually easy to choose.

Hypothesis:

Fatty is the oldest of the bunch, and the most cooperative. My thoughts are that he will be the easiest to get a steady paw print from. Getting the paw print and putting together this frame might require some extra time to get just right since a live animal is involved in the process, but it will be well worth the memory that is being created.

Experiment:

This project looks easy, but looks are very deceiving. When opening the dough package, it subsequently stuck to the inside of the package it came in and it took a good 5 minutes to get all of it out of the package, along with out from under my fingernails.

The rolling pin that this product came with is a tiny cylindrical piece of wood that you cannot even grip, and the dough gets stuck on when you try to use it. I had to use my mom’s good cooking rolling pin instead.

Getting this dough into the right shape and having the right consistency was not fun. It took about 20 minutes to get it to the right shape and size, and to get any air bubbles out. I was not satisfied with the first (second or third) prints that I took, so I needed to roll the dough out again and… and AGAIN.

Finally, on the fourth attempt, I got the golden paw print! My Fatty was not as happy as I was at this point, but after some smooshy hairy kisses, he was fine.

Conclusion:

The end result, in my opinion, is certainly worth the effort and work that has to be put in to obtain the paw print.

I will treasure this print for the rest of my life and always have it hanging on my wall. I will certainly be getting the rest of my kitties’ paw prints at some point in the future and more of these frames to put them in!

The Paw Prints Keepsake Frame is $30.

Gift Guides

Our Best Friends: Photo Contest

February 21, 2011

This week, we’re celebrating our favorite pets. Whether you (like me) gaze longingly into the window of every pet store and stop at pet adoption fair you pass, or you already have a beloved pet in your family, I’m betting you have a great collections of photos, videos and stories to share.


Jessica, our graphic designer, shared this pic of her dog Jingles (L) with Madison (R).

So this week, you can share them with the UncommonGoods community by joining our group on Flickr, posting to our Facebook wall, tweeting @uncommongoods, or leaving a comment below.

We’ve got some pet-friendly gifts to give away, and if your pet is posing with a pet-friendly gift from UncommonGoods, we just might add your pet’s photo or video to our website!

We’ll announce our winner(s) next week.

The Uncommon Life

Gift Lab #8: The Cat’s Meow

June 29, 2010

Cat Chalet

1) Product Name: Cat Chalet

Cat Chalet

2) Background Research: I just adopted my first pet, Tammy Faye Baker the cat, and wanted to make sure she was sufficiently entertained, with a toy as cute as she is.

3) Hypothesis: Cats love cardboard boxes, so Tammy Faye will love a fancy cardboard cat chalet even more!

4) Experiment: Assemble adorable cat chalet and see if it would catch the Tammy Faye’s interest.

5) Results: I assembled the chalet, which is about a 10 minute process.  There are several decorations to chose from to place over the door – I chose the cardboard fish. 

Cat Chalet

I hung one of the cardboard ball toys from the roof with some yarn, set the chalet in the middle of my living room, and waited to see what would happen.

She was a little cautious at first, and walked all the way around it, sniffing all the way.  Finally, she decided to go inside. (A little catnip may or may not have been involved in this experiment.)

Cat Chalet

Now she loves to retreat to the chalet for short intervals (I call them her “vacations”).  She doesn’t chew on it, but she does use it all the time to scratch her face.  I also stick a laser pointer in the back and wait for her to pounce.

6) Conclusion: Cats DEFINITELY love cardboard boxes and cardboard chalets!