Furball’s famous! My story about how he ripped a chunk out of the ceiling at the vet’s office is the lead article in Catster’s Lifestyle section today.

Catster.com is the largest online community for cats and cat lovers. They recently relaunched the site and now it’s got a bright, fresh look and tons of funny and informative articles.

I wrote the articles in their Green Cat advice section too.

If your cat hates the vet, then you’ll be able to relate to Furball’s attempt at the great cat escape.

Here’s the link to the article on Catster:

• http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/my-cat-ripped-a-chunk-out-of-the-ceiling-at-the-vets-office

Green Little Cat reader, Laurie, sent us this picture of her cats’ newest pawsome hangout. She used her creative flair to transform an old speaker into a fun place for her cats to play and catch a catnap. Check out how much her cats are enjoying their new space.

Here’s what Laurie had to share about upcycling:

“I used a very old and not working speaker….you know those coffee table size ones. I took the speakers out of the box, cleaned it up a bit, then used some extra carpet and wrapped it around the outside of the box. The holes the where the speakers were are great for playing hide and seak or to just curl up for a catnap.

The possibilities are endless with the different size and shapes of the old speakers. I can vision a whole wall of them attached with some old lumber…like a walking plank from one to another and zig zag up a wall.”

Want 15 minutes of fame for your kitty?

Let’s shine the spotlight on your cat—she/he deserves it! Simply send us your creative green tip and a photo of your cat(s) to furball [at] greenlittlecat.com. We’ll publish all the pawsome ideas that we receive.

I’d been meaning to write a post about switching to a new eco-friendly cat litter.  Several months ago, Purr & Simple PR contacted me and offered a bag of their litter for me to try.  I often get offered eco-friendly cat litter to review, but most times, I don’t bother because as you know, cats don’t like change.

Furball is no exception to this rule.  The last time I tried mucking with his litter, he proceeded to poop on the stairs leading to the garage. Lesson learned.

However, Purr & Simple’s promise of twice the odor control was enough to entice me into trying it.  And it worked!  It really did reduce the stink factor.  Enough so that I went through a 3-week process slowly transitioning Furball to the new litter.

It was awesome.  I loved it.  And then, a few months later, when we ran out, I gave my husband an errand to pick up more litter on his way home from work.  And then, HORROR struck!

The store no longer carried it!  The only information the storekeeper had was that another company had bought Purr and Simple and that the distribution was halted.

So, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d been had.  I just went through the onerous process of changing litter, found what I considered to be the awesomest cat litter, and then, BAM.  It was taken off the shelves.

What was I to do?  Well, I went back to my previous pet store and bought Cat Country, the organic wheatgrass litter Furball used to use.  While at the store, I noticed that they had Feline Pine for an unbelievably low price.  So I bought a bag of that too.  I’m still using up the last bag of Purr & Simple and when that’s done, I’m planning to try out the Feline Pine because I’ve heard it’s really good for odor control too.

And that would have been the end of the story, EXCEPT…

A few days ago, one of my readers wrote in to tell me that she had recently read my post asking people about their experiences with Purr & Simple.  She kindly shared how the clumping formula was the best she’d ever tried.  And then she let me know that Purr and Simple had been bought out and was now being sold as Blue Naturally Fresh cat litter.

I read that and was delighted.  I was totally planning to ask for her permission to republish what she had written verbatim.  BUT THEN…

Tonight, I just got another email from another reader.  And she said basically almost the same thing as the first person.  Of course, she pointed out a few other key selling points of the litter.  And then concluded, almost verbatim to the first email, how Purr & Simple had been bought out and was now repackaged as Blue Naturally Fresh cat litter.  COINCIDENCE?

Hmm, even the subject headers were the same.

Blue Buffalo, I would have preferred that you had simply written to me directly.  I was already a fan of the product.

Times have changed! When I started this blog 3 years ago, I couldn’t find eco-friendly cat bowls. Today’s post is from Paul, a guest writer. Paul lives with his 6 year old cat Jasper in Washington state and is webmaster for Veterinary Assistant Schools, a guide to Vet Assistant careers and education. He’s done some great research on how your kitty can drink and dine in green style. Without further adieu, here’s his article.

Recently, pet product manufacturers have joined other manufacturers in providing eco-friendly products. Eco- friendly products are items that are safe for the environment as well as the customer. Every cat owner must purchase bowls from which his or her cat will drink and eat. Environmentally conscious pet owners can now invest in eco-friendly cat dishes. These dishes not only have a biodegradable texture, but also they will protect the animals from coming into contact with toxic chemicals and contaminants. The following is a list of five very popular cat dishes that owners can consider purchasing:

Van Ness Pureness Eco Cat Bowl

The Pureness Eco Cat Bowl is a beautiful retro designed cat bowl with an average price of $2.79. The Van Ness Company, a long time manufacturer of eco-friendly items, manufactures it. This bowl is plant product crafted and has a soy-based ink coloring. It is degradable when exposed to compost conditions and is excellent for small sized cats. Cats will be able to eat and drink from it without falling ill, as its contents are toxin-free.

Green Pet Shop Bamboo Bowl

Cat lovers who like elegant dishes will enjoy the bamboo cat bowl by the Green Pet Shop. The bowl retails for $4.99 and is made of bamboo and cooked rice husks. Additionally, its coloring comes from all plant dyes. This bowl is a favorite because it is durable, dishwasher safe and does not collect bacteria.

4 Little Paws BecoBowl

4 Little Paws manufactures an adorable pink bowl that is safe for the environment and the cat. The Beco bowlsare made from plant fibers and they are biodegradable. Beco bowls are approximately $4.75

FLOAA Eco Friendly Pet Bowls

The FLOAA company manufactures 16-inch disposable biodegradable cat bowls made from sugar cane fibers. The customer can use each of these dishes up to four or five times before disposing of it. The bowls are also stackable, which saves the consumer space in his or her pantry. This company sells these stackable pet bowls in packages of ten. One package can last a cat owner several months.

Meltdown Eco Bowl

Finally, the Meltdown Eco Bowl comes in a wide assortment of colors and has a very unique look. This bowl is made of recycled and reprocessed bottle tops and is 100% recyclable. Consumers can find these contemporary bowls for approximately $3.25.

There are many wonderful eco-friendly products for cats available. These products will help keep pets and the world a lot safer.

I always find that the new year is the perfect time for reflection and new beginnings. In fact, it was on New Year’s Day 2009 that I decided to make a gift to the planet by challenging myself to find one new way each day for 30 days to make my cat’s lifestyle just a little bit greener.

The kick-off of my 30-Day Green Cat Challenge really helped to launch GreenLittleCat.com and promote greener living for cats and cat lovers around the world.  This year, I wanted to share some of my favourite ways to help you de-clutter your home and welcome 2012 with fresh and open energy.

While this list for where to give away and recycle stuff is mainly geared for us humans, I hope you’ll find it useful for starting your new year off on a green foot.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Your Stuff Here:

1. Cat Food

• If the food hasn’t expired and hasn’t been opened, do a web search for a “pet food bank” in your town or city.  They’ve been popping up all over the country in recent years as people ride out the economic shifts.
• If you have a large bag of opened dry food that your cat won’t eat, that’s a little trickier to give away. Many people would recommend not giving it away, but there are people out there who don’t have the money to feed their cats and would welcome the food. If you do decide to give the food away, there always seems to be someone on Craigslist who will gladly take just about anything you have to give away.

2. Old Towels and Blankets

• Contact your local animal shelter to donate your old towels and blankets.  They’ll use them as bedding or to wrap animals up to keep them warm and comfortable.

 3. Where to Donate Used Books

• Some libraries will accept used books.
• If you have paperbacks, try posting them on PaperBackSwap.com.  It’s like a giant online book swap meet.
• Gently used books for young children are welcomed by Project Night Night, which gives books, blankets and stuffed animals to homeless children.
• Women’s shelters that support families are also a good place to donate books for kids of all ages.

4. Old DVDs and CDs

• SwapaCD and SwapaDVD are sister sites for PaperBackSwap.com.
• Children’s DVDs can be donated to Kid Flicks.  They’ll take the DVDs that your kids have outgrown to creates movie libraries for children’s hospitals and pediatric wards across the U.S.

5. Stuffed Animals

• While we’re on the topic of kid’s stuff, gently used stuffed animals can be given to Stuffed Animals For Emergencies (SAFE).  SAFE gives your stuffed animals to children during emergency situations such as fires, illness, accidents, neglect, abuse, homelessness and even weather emergencies.  They’ll take your baby blankets too.
• A local women’s shelter may also be a good place to donate stuffed animals.  I was making a donation of household goods and had a bag of stuffed animals in my car to drop off at Goodwill.  When the women’s shelter worker saw the stuffed animals, she was so happy to scoop them up and told me that they give them to children and to rape victims to help comfort them.

 6. Where to Recycle Cell Phones and MP3 Players

• Target stores have recycling stations for used cell phones and MP3 players.  They’ll also take your inkjet cartridges, but I like taking mine to Staples (see below).

7. What to Do With Your Used Inkjet Cartridges

• Inkjet cartridges are worth money to you if you take them to your local Staples store.  When you join their rewards program, Staples will give you 2 Staples rewards dollars for each inkjet cartridge you bring in (up to a maximum of 10 cartridges a month).

8. Where to Recycle Used Brita Filters and Number 5 Plastics

• Look for a “Preserve” recycling bin at any Whole Foods to drop off your Brita filters and number 5 plastics.

9. Produce from Your Backyard

• When your friends and relatives start crying, “No, thank you” to that second bag of tomatoes, check out AmpleHarvest.org to get connected with a local food bank in search of fresh produce.
• In Northern California, if you’ve got fruit trees, Village Harvest will send out volunteers to pick your trees and will donate any excess fruit that you don’t want.

10. Office and School Supplies

• iLoveSchools.com has a donor board where you can post books, computers and home office equipment, electronics, and office supplies.  Teachers login to the site and check the board for stuff they can use in their classrooms.

11. Odds and Ends

• Freecycle.org is my go to place for giving away stuff I no longer need (e.g. IKEA lamps, extra tealight candles, tire chains, etc.).  They have local chapters so you know that people aren’t driving 50 miles to pick up your 5 issues of Bicycling magazine.
• Here are a couple Freecycle tips:  First, give your stuff to the person who writes a friendly and articulate email to you, not the first person to say, “I want it.”  The polite people are the ones who show up on time to pick up your stuff.  Second, leave the stuff outside of your door with a note on it so that people can pick it up at their convenience (and yours too).
• If no one on Freecycle wants your cat drinking fountain, there’s always Craigslist!

So, there you have my best recycling, give away and donation suggestions for 2012.  You’re ready to start your clean sweep for the new year!

Wishing you a happy, healthy and abundant 2012,

Holly and Furball

Furball and I have been busy this holiday season creating some pawsome videos on how to make your own green cat toys. And the first video is ready for your viewing pleasure!

In it, I’ll show you how to make the Flippity Flappity Flag. If your cat loves to run, chase and catch things in the air, this is a fabulous toy to try out. It takes just seconds to make and costs next to nothing.

This is the toy that started it all: my self-published book on making eco-friendly cat toys and my Green Little Cat blog with readers in over 140 countires.

>>WATCH THE VIDEO HERE<<

Every so often, something fun lands in my inbox that I can’t resist sharing. A few weeks ago, I received this cute Cat Anatomy illustration full of interesting cat facts and fun trivia on cat health.

I couldn’t fit the full size graphic on my blog, but I did cut out a this fun drawing to share with you. The Cat Anatomy graphics were created by Matt Beswick for Pet365 and he’s given his blessings to share them with Green Little Cat readers.

You’ll learn some really cool cat facts such as how many mice make up one cat meal. And this cheery infographic also gives some interesting comparisons between cats and humans. We all know how much better a cat’s hearing is than a human’s, but exactly how much better can a cat hear? Did you know there’s one sense where humans reign supreme? It might just surprise you to learn which it is since cats are so finicky about their food.  That’s a hint!

More fun cat facts include, just how many cat years equal one human year? When you find out, you’ll gain insight into your cat’s life expectancy. And where on earth do the most cats live? There are also some fun tidbits on cat health like what’s good to feed your cat and what’s not. To read these and more fascinating cat facts, visit the Pet365 blog.

I recently was given the scoop on a nutty all-natural cat litter that claims to have twice the odor control of major brands.  Purr & Simple cat litter is made from locally grown tree-nut shells, which happen to be a sustainable agricultural by-product.

The eco-specs on this litter read really well.  Purr & Simple provides twice the odor control, half the dust and it’s also 100% biodegradable.

And, it comes in two different versions to suit your kitty’s fancy. There’s a pellet version as well as the Kwik-Klump formula.

They sure do like lab tests at Purr & Simple!  They do extensive testing within their facility, shelters, and certified laboratories.  I found a little chart on their website that illustrated how Purr & Simple Kwik-Klump turned into a solid clump in just 15 minutes.

Furball uses a pellet litter so I don’t know if this is an astounding number, but based on the chart comparing Kwik-Klump to pine, corn and wheat litters, it looks like Purr & Simple has a slight edge on pine and corn, with wheat litter being a distant fourth.

Here’s another one of their graphs comparing Purr & Simple’s odor control to three popular types of eco-friendly litters in addition to clay.

Looks like no contest here, but the real truth lies in home use. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any useful reviews for the product on Amazon.  Most of the five star reviews looked a little suspect.  Hmm, only one review written by the user and it’s for Purr & Simple and it gives them five stars.

The two low ratings I found were given due to sneezing issues and the color of the litter.  If you have any experience with this litter and aren’t affiliated with Purr & Simple in any way, I’d love to hear from you.

To learn more about this natural kitty litter, visit Purr & Simple’s website at http://www.purrandsimple.com.

Imperial Cat, makers of earth-friendly cat scratchers, recently announced their new line of “Neat ‘n Tidy” sifting litter liners. According to a recent press release, the Neat ‘n Tidy includes 28 perforated liners – about a month’s supply for daily changes – that neatly stack inside the litter pan.

You’re directed to pour your favourite clumping litter on top of the liners and instead of scooping, you lift up the top liner and the clean litter passes through the slots. So, what happens to the used litter? Well, you’re supposed to toss it out with the liner.

I love Imperial Cat’s cat scratchers. And I love their program for shelter cats, but I have to say the jury’s out on the litter liners. They claim that using the liners can extend the life of your litter by 50%.

If that’s true, then you might be able to consider the litter liners are eco-friendly, especially when you factor in how many hundreds of pounds of clumping litter many cats use over the course of a year. And if it’s regular clumping clay cat litter, then reducing usage by 50% is a boon for the environment. And here’s why you should switch from clay litter to eco-friendly cat litter.

Maybe these liners have their place in multi-cat households or animal shelters, where scoop, dump and wash just isn’t practical. I’d love to hear from you. We’re on Facebook and Twitter @greenlittlecat.

I still advocate that self-scooping, a teeny weeny bit of elbow grease and eco-friendly litter are the best way to go.

I apologize for taking a hiatus from posting. My Macbook RAM and hard drive died and I have finally resuscitated the little guy. I’ve also been super busy organizing a free online telesummit designed to empower and uplift women around the world.

So, this is a very special blog entry. It’s not for everyone—it’s for those of you who want to learn how you can exponentially magnify everything you do for the environment.

I watched a TV show several years ago that followed a couple who went from their normal lifestyle to living off the grid in a vegan community that pretty much lived like pioneers in order to minimize their environmental impact. What surprised me was that even though they had scaled everything down to the bare minimum, they still had a relatively large carbon footprint.

This got me thinking, that as an individual, it’s absolutely awesome what you and your cat(s) do to reduce, reuse and recycle. However, your biggest impact lies in being able to multiply that effect exponentially. And just how do you do that?

You reach out to others!

I chose to create this blog and write a green cat toy book. From a simple idea less than 3 years ago, Green Little Cat has grown to receive almost 50,000 visits per year. That’s a lot of cats and cat lovers who are making small changes that add up HUGE for the environment. It also led to a writing gig for Catster’s green section and Catster reaches MILLIONS of cat owners.

So, what environmental message do you have to share? Are you ready to step into your brilliance and start inspiring others? There are no excuses for not starting right NOW.

It’s free to start a blog and you will be able to find the time and energy to do what you’re passionate about. Heck, for two years of this blog, I was pregnant and looking after an infant full-time. If I can find time to write, you can too.

If you’d like more inspiration to discover how you can magnify your reach to create a greener planet, I invite you to attend the free teleconference that I’m organizing. The Lotus Blossoming Telesummit features an international panel of speakers who will spark your imagination and ignite your creativity.

It begins on August 8th and runs for 3 weeks and you can listen in online at your convenience.

One of the speakers, Stacie Tamaki, is an award-winning blogger who will be sharing how to make a difference in the world by embracing your differences. Gen Y Tech Evangelist, Sacha Chua will be speaking about how to use social media to connect with others. And of course, I will be sharing how to take your passion and make it happen easily and effortlessly .

I invite you to register for free and learn more at:
The Lotus Blossoming Telesummit