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Every morning when my internal alarm clock awakens me at 5:00, and Sam and Eve are still fast asleep, there is someone else at that early hour who I can count on to be my side.
That’s this little guy, Leo.
Leo has been in my life since about a year after Sam and I started dating. Sam and his friend and roommate at the time adopted Leo from a friend of a friend, who sadly had to give away her four feline friends for health reasons.
In his short life, Leo has gone through some major life transitions, from living with that family to a home with five 20-somethings. Shortly after Sam and I moved in together Leo joined us and then moved with us two more times. He’s gone from having our sole attention to having to share it with Eve and figuring out how to navigate the world of small, loud children.
While Leo is still learning to appreciate boisterous toddlers, he absolutely loves adults. I like to joke he is our cat-dog he loves being around people so much. From the moment I wake up he is right by my side, poking his little face into mine and begging for me to pet him. As I start my morning routine — a trip to the kitchen for a glass of water, followed by yoga in our living room — he is right by my side.
And I mean that literally. He’s pressed up against my leg as my yoga poses, but I’ve learned to adapt and move around him.
As you may know, I like to harness my creativity in multiple ways, including making little presents for my family members. I wanted to make a fun cat toy for Leo to keep him engaged and active, and to use to enjoy during our mornings together.
I made a cat feather wand, which took a little time for Leo to warm up to, but eventually he got into the spirit of it. It took just a few minutes to make, and I’m going to show you how you can make one of your own.
Supplies you’ll need to make your DIY cat feather wand toy:
- Wooden dowel
- String (I used hemp string)
- Feathers
- Bells
How to make your cat toy:
Tie a piece of string securely around one end of the dowel.
Wrap the string around the dowel a few times so that it covers most of the loose piece of string.
Cut off the string so that it is about two feet long. Put the end of the string and a few feathers through the top of the bell that sticks up.
Tie it in a double knot so that the bell and feathers are secure to the end.
Tie a second piece of string onto the dowel to the small piece of string #1 that is sticking out, repeat the previous . Do that all one more time until you have three total strings hanging down with bells and feathers attached.
Now it’s time to have some fun playing with your cat!
In addition to petting and playing with Leo, part of the way we show him how important he is to us is through the food we feed him. Just as I care about the food that I put on the plates of the human members of our family, it’s important that we give Leo equally healthy and nourishing food. In the past we bought the cheap stuff from the pet store, but upon further investigation we realized it was full of ingredients that cats are not supposed to eat.
I was really happy to learn about the Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® cat food line, which is made from real ingredients. It started in 2007 with a line of dog food created with help from pet nutrition expert and inspired by recipes from Rachael Ray’s kitchen. Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® is dedicated to “Real Recipes. Real Ingredients. Real Good.” It is made from simple, wholesome ingredients such as U.S farm-raised chicken or salmon as the #1 ingredient, and does not contain by-product meal; fillers, such as corn, wheat, or soy; or artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors — just essential vitamins, minerals and taurine for a tasty food your cat will love.
We purchased the Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® cat Grain Free Wet Food for Cats conveniently online on Amazon.com.
It comes in a variety of recipes, including Chicken & Shrimp Pawttenesca™, Chicken & Salmon Catterole™, Chicken Purrcata®, Paw Lickin’ Chicken & Liver, Tuna Purrfection™, Ocean Fish-a-licious®, Lip Smackin’ Sardine ‘N Mackerel, Ocean Fish & Chicken Catch-iatore, Chicken Lovers Variety Pack and Ocean Lovers Variety Pack.
We purchased the Chicken Purrcata®, which Leo loved and gobbled right up. (And he has been known to be a picky eater, so that says a lot!)
(By the way, if you make a change to your cat’s diet, gradually introduce the new food by incorporate it into your current food over 7-10 days, slowly replacing your pet’s current food with Rachael Ray™ Nutrish®.)
The Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® cat food line also offers a Zero Grain Dry Food For Cats, featuring real, delicious chicken or whitefish as the #1 ingredient with zero grains, gluten, fillers, artificial preservatives, colors, artificial flavors, or meat/poultry by-product meal.
Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® wet and dry cat food varieties are available at a wide variety of quality retailers your family shops at every day, as well as online at Amazon.com. To see where you can purchase them, click here.
In addition to feeling good about the food I’m feeding Leo, one of the things that I also like about Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® is that Rachael’s personal proceeds go to Rachael’s Rescue Missions. It was created to help shelter pets in need, with money going toward food, medical supplies, and treatments for those animals. To date, Rachael Ray has donated over $14 million.
If you’re looking for even more fun cat-inspired tutorials, check out their Pinterest page!
How do you show your pet s/he is an important part of your family?