Our first ever Holiday Wish List is out, we've got great ideas to keep your cat busy and healthy! Making sure cats have their own space is vital in keeping you both happy! See it: here

This month I want to share with you two great toys that are affordable and fun!  Keeping your cat entertained not only keeps them happy but it also keeps them from being destructive in your home. ​
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#1 Catit Senses Circuit Cat Toy
This is one of the first toys I got my cats, Mia plays with it everyday, and my new kitten Benny loves it as well! It is only $7.72 on Amazon and Chewy, so it won't hurt the bank account too much if your cat snubs it. But, as always give them a few months to test it out and try moving it to different rooms if they aren't using it. ​

Please join us in welcoming our new sitter Haley. We are so excited to be expanding after only 7 months. We have you to thank for our success!

Haley is an animal lover and has loved cats her whole life. Haley currently does not have any pets but she is looking forward to getting all her cat cuddles in with her new clients. Haley loves photography and hiking in her free time. You can find her photography at alcoveimages.com.

I get all my best ideas from my clients. Every month I will start sharing great cat products my clients have that I would recommend.

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I have wanted one of these forever but I always worried that it would not
​hold, and if it falls once your cat will probably never use it again.

The K&H Pet Products EZ Mount Cat Scratcher Kitty Sill Cradle is great. Easy to set up and extremely sturdy. My cat Loki is quite large, rambunctious and he loves scratching, but the window seat holds strong. Cat love having a space up high where they can feel safe and keep an eye out for predators. The window seat lets him look outside a passing bugs and birds, gives him a high perch and as an added bonus this one lets him scratch and keep his claws healthy. 
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Make sure you follow the instructions and clean the window and suction cups before installation, and enjoy! 

A brush/glove de-shedding tool ​is a great addition to your cat brush collection! Brushing your cat is a very important part of your routine. It helps you by allowing less hair to become loose and float around your house. It helps your cat to keep their coat healthy and reduce hairballs. It can also be a bonding between you and your cat. If have multiple cats you've probably noticed them grooming each other, well brushing can be your way of showing a little affection by helping to keep them groomed. 

I had a mitt brush for over a year just sitting in my cat basket,  my cats never seemed to like it. After using it at a clients and seeing how much fur it picked up I gave it another try. My cats seem to enjoy it for a few minutes, but then, like most things, they are over it. The nice part about this flexible brush is you can get in to all the nooks and crannies easier. Cats can be bony and this soft brush is more gentle on them and their skin. 

 Thank you to our friends over at Stuff Cats Want for inviting us to give a tip for their article. See our tip below for how to make sure your pet care visit goes smoothly, and check out their site for other great tips! 

“Leave out a cat care kit on your counter or table so the sitter can find all the food and supplies…” Emily at the Lakeview Petcare Team

The Lakeview Petcare team indicates you should leave out a cat care kit on your counter or table so the sitter can find all food and supplies. This means bowls, toys, brushes and anything else important.
Also leave a note of printed instructions. This ensures that every little detail is as close to as if you were home as possible. We all know cats love nothing more than a routine!

I was very determined to never have a huge ugly cat tree in my condo. Now I have two, and I couldn't be happier! 

Watch any cat show (There's only one right? My Cat From Hell) and one of the main theme's is making sure your cat has space of their own. This will benefit you as well. If your cat has a nice cozy cat tree to call their own, they will hopefully be less interested in your furniture/counter/closet with the treats.

I have two Armarkat cat trees. Believe it or not, the one shown is the smaller one! I have been very impressed with them. They are very solid, have great scratching post and some of the most neutral colors I have found (that are in my budget at least!). I have this 57in Armarkat cat tree in my bedroom, it was the second one I purchased. It has a cubby for sleeping, perches for jumping and laying and post for scratching. Bonus points for putting your tree next to a window, cats love to look out!

Recently I've seen a lot of cat trees that look like actual trees, like this one from CatHaven. I could see my cats liking this but also driving me crazy playing with the leaves. 

If you still aren't ready to get a cat tree, another option is cat shelves. They are just screwed in to your wall, so they can be a bit less intrusive. 

Supplemental to our cat trees, my cats Loki loves to hide and jump out of his tunnel. My cat Mia loves this little ball game, there are a lot of options but she plays everyday on her own (usually at 2am!). Their favorite toy though (other than important papers I have sitting around) is string I made out of old promotional tee shirts, they will chase it endlessly! 

The main goal of cat furniture is to give your cat a place to call their own where they can run, stretch and scratch without getting into trouble. A place where they can feel safe and see any predators as the approach. They are able to relax and nap away from other pets or little hands. Cat furniture may seem like a luxury, but it is vital to the health of your cats. Scratching post help them stretch, exercise and reduce stress and aggression. Within the limited confines of your home cats natural behavior can seem destructive. If you feel like your cat is being naughty, they probably are just bored, and need more opportunities to hunt and explore. You should play with your cat everyday to help them with this, but since you can't be home at all times, cat furniture will be there for them when you can't. 

We'd love to hear what cat furniture you love!

My first blog post, and I decided to pick the glamorous subject of litter boxes!

Please remember, you will need at least one litter box per cat. A litter box is one of the most important things to your cat, and you'll be seeing it a lot as well, so it is worth doing a little research to make an informed decision. Cat's can be finicky, so you always run the risk that your cat may not agree with your choice.  

First, a lot of people ask me where to put the litter box. Many people put it in a closet, or in an extra room, but wherever you choose to put it, please note there will be litter scattered around this. You can buy the most expensive box, but litter will still be tracked outside. Getting a litter mat can help with litter spreading even further on your floors. They are offered at many price points offering varied levels of claimed litter control.

I was completely unprepared when I picked my cats up from the shelter. I bought a cheap pan litter box from the grocery store, and when that was quickly outgrown I got them this Open Top Litter Box with Shield from Amazon Prime. I still have it, its cheap but effective. And, at less then $10 you don't have to worry about cleaning it, if it gets really bad you can just get another one! 

A step up from basic, this hooded litter box is an Amazon best seller. How can 5,129 people be wrong, right? This box is under $30 and offers ultimate litter control if your cat likes to kick litter everywhere, and the door will slow down their exit, quick exit's can also cause extra litter to get out of the box. 

The Tidy Cats Litter System is not going to be cheap with its special supplies, but if it works for your cats, its probably worth it! ​The system uses filtering litter pellets that are anit tracking to help dehydrate and separate solid waste. There is also absorbent pads in the bottom that collect the liquid waste, which they tout as 'mess-free cleanup'.

I'm seeing these boxes more and more in client's houses. I got a similar cheaper version for my cats, and they haven't warmed up to it yet. I think this is a great option if you are getting a new cat, to get them use to this type of box, it is suppose to help with litter scatter. 

I started with a Litter Genie as a litter scooping solution. I love the fact that I didn't have to take the bag out every time I scooped. After a year I decided that I didn't like paying for the refill cartons so I move on to cat waste bags, so far I really like this option. We'd love to hear what boxes or supplies you use and really like!