Halo Cat Food and A Trip to the Beardsley Zoo

This month, I am all about Halo Cat Food thanks to www.chewy.com. There are many things I like about Halo, but one outstanding thing is their sense of ethics.  Halo is very active in giving back to local shelters. As a matter of fact every time you buy Halo, they donate a bowl of cat food or dog food to shelters to help nourish and transform shelter pets to give them their very best chance at a forever home.

 Halo is also a Giving Tuesday partner with the Humane Society and has helped to raise more than $200,000. They also help feed pets rescued from extreme abuse and natural disasters and transports them to high adoption areas.

Halo's Chicken Pate

Since the gang of five enjoyed Halo Holistic Chicken and Chicken Liver Dry Cat Food, I decided to review Halo's Chicken Pate  thanks to www.chewy.com and they loved it. Two things I  liked about it right off was that it smelled really good and it looked appetizing with little flecks of spinach in it.

Just Natural Ingredients

Halo has been producing high quality holistic pet food for thirty plus years. A mantra at Halo is that they use only whole meat, in this case chicken and chicken liver in a chicken broth.  There are no rendered meat meals of any kind used in Chicken Pate making it easy for your cat to digest.

For Indoor Cats

Research shows that indoor cats are not as active as outdoor cats. This particular chicken pate is four paws up because it is grain free and specially formulated for indoor cats. The indoor cat food has essential fatty acids that protect house cats' skin and coat from the effects of HVAC systems and keeps them at a healthy weight. These recipes provide complete nutrition with quality ingredients but with lower fat and fewer calories that will help maintain the weight of your cat.

Ingredients

The Recipe 

Chicken, chicken liver,  chicken broth,  natural flavor, tricalcium phosphate, spinach, guar gum, carrageenan, carrots, potassium, chloride, cranberries, sweet potato, calcium carbonate, salt, minerals, choline chloride, vitamins, taurine, salmon oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols)  magnesium sulfate, and  rosemary extract.

Minerals 

Iron Amino Acid Chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate,  sodium selenite  potassium iodide

Vitamins 

Vitamin E Supplement,  thiamine mononitrate,  niacin supplement  d-calcium pantothenate,  pyridoxine hydrochloride,  riboflavin supplement,  vitamin A supplement, 

biotin,  vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, and folic acid.

Additional Health Perks

• Highly digestible because no meat meals
• A good source of additional hydration
• A great source of fatty acids that support healthy skin and coats
• No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives
• BPA free cans
• Non-GMO Vegetables (veggies sourced from farms that prohibit use of Genetically Modified Seeds)
• Protein averages from 33% to 30%

Lynx Kittens @ Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo

This summer the Beardsley Zoo, Connecticut's only Zoo announced that their new Canada lynx kittens born in April at the Zoo are both girls. The kittens were named by Spencer and Wesley Elkind of Greenwich after winning the opportunity of what to call the kittens. Spencer, age 12, and Wesley, age 11, said the names have special meaning, and added, "We chose Penny and Ruby because they are our favorite cats at our house. We love them so much, and know visitors to the Zoo will love the lynx kittens too." Don't miss a visit to the Zoo this fall to see the girls!

Lynx are light brown to gray in color, similar in appearance to a Bobcat but larger with longer legs.  The tip of their tail is black and they have long black ear tufts, giving them their distinctive appearance. Lynx lead a solitary life except during the breeding season and when mothers travel with their young. Lynx kittens learn to actively hunt and as adults they are exceptional stalkers.

Hello Halo Cat Food

This month I was so impressed with www.chewy.com - even when their headquarters in Florida were affected by the hurricane, our cat food and our products to blog came on time! I have since learned that www.chewy.com is also donating pet food to areas affected by the hurricane in Florida and in Texas - what a wonderful company to look after our unfortunate four legged friends in those states. 

This month, I decided to try Halo Holistic  Chicken and Chicken Liver Dry Cat Food and my gang of five loved it!  Even fussy Maxx likes it!  It is good for them because it is made with real chicken and specially formulated for indoor cats. This food is a great healthy option because of the many key nutritional benefits and a real bonus is that this food is well priced for the high quality of ingredients used in this formula.

No Meat Meals

The most important health benefit is that Halo uses whole meat proteins only, they never use meat meals.  The trouble with meat meals is that they are a rendered  high heat processed and dehydrated combo of non-human edible remnants from slaughterhouses and fish processing factories. Pet food companies use these "meat meals" because they are less expensive than whole meat.  A meat meal is less digestible and is high in ash content due to the heat process. According to AAFCO protocol tests this Halo cat food comes out on top in terms of digestibility. The real test here is that all my cats like it.

The Proof is in the Poop!

Yes! According to the packaging, "the proof is in the poop" and I can't wait to see if this is true!  Halo notes it that because of this cat foods proven digestibility you can expect to pick up after your cat just a little bit less and, in general feed them less. The chain of logic used here is that when you feed your pet a whole meat food that is more digestible your pet utilizes more of it- and, the more nutrition your pet benefits from, the less you pick up as waste.

Dream Coat

This highly palatable and digestible formula also includes a proprietary "DreamCoat" supplement.  This is especially important for long hair cat owners. This formula grooms from the inside out so to speak by adding an essential blend of pure oils that supply essential omega fatty acids that support a full, shiny coat...just like the maxx has !

Additional Health Benefits

• This product is heavy in protein and includes sustainably-raised, cage free chicken in addition to chicken liver and dried egg product. 
• Halo is rich in vitamins, antioxidants and fiber. The formula includes: non-GMO vegetables, sweet potatoes, blueberries, carrots and cranberries.
• In addition to no meat meals, this cat food has no hormones, antibiotics, artificial colors or preservatives.

Reviews

In addition to my humble opinion, Halo Holistic  Chicken and Chicken Liver Dry Cat Food  was recommended by 97% of the people that bought this product and reviewed it; 89% gave this product 5 stars -- or should that be 5 paws?  Best of all, www.chewy.com is offering this food for 20% off.

Where Fleas Hide

It is fall already, how summer has flown by.  The coyotes are back, I hear them howling late at night...and it seems that this year the flea and ticks season is worse than usual. My gang of five are banned from going outside (except on their leash) especially with the coyotes in the back woods.  The two pests I do watch out for when we are out are fleas and ticks. I have scoped out a few places where these pesky parasites like to hide and thought I would share them with you.

• Tall Grass is a favorite place for ticks, it seems they like to climb up and latch onto a passing person or pet. The solution is to keep out of the tall grass and to mow your lawn regularly. No romping in late autumn meadows for us! Interestingly, well irrigated mowed lawns are not a viable habitat for flea survival, they need a moist, humid area that is sheltered from the wind and sun. Fleas can't survive in areas that get a lot of rain, are well irrigated or poorly drained.

• Piles of Leaves are colorful and yes kids love to run and jump in them... and my cats love to play with piles of leaves, but there is one problem... leaf piles are perfect sanctuaries for fleas.  A colorful pile  of leaves provides darkness and humidity and is a perfect flea haven. It is best to keep your cats and dogs away from piles of leaves and to pick them up after raking and dispose of them.

• Shrubs and Trees attract fleas because fleas like wet, warm, shady, humid areas and are particularly attracted to trees and shrubs. It important to trim back shrubs and rake out any leaves that are under them.

• Pet areas that your dog or cat frequent often also attract fleas - they seem to have an uncanny ability to latch onto a dog or cat in their favorite spot.   A dog house, a favorite shady spot under a deck or porch, dense ground cover or a crawl space are all flea hot spots that should be noted and avoided. My cats love to go under the deck to eat the long grass that grows there, I guess that is off the list of things allowed for now!

A Turbo Charged Birthday!

In August my Max turned nine years old and Zoey and Zivah turned two...how time flies! To help celebrate these birthdays, www.chewy sent us the most amazing gifts -- treats by Wellness, an interactive cat toy by Kong Active replete with catnip and their favorite toy of all, the Turbo Scratcher interactive cat toy.  Best of all www.chewy.com is selling this toy at a 38% discount.

All my cats have taken a serious liking to this toy. I have a smaller version of this made by a different company but they really were not interested in playing with it, I think it was too small and the ball was too difficult for them to get at.  Size matters and is the reason why my cats, especially Zoey really loves this toy which is big enough to lay on and scratch away!   The Turbo Scratcher measures 16x16x2.  Zoey seems particularly fascinated by the ball and the sound it makes (reminds me of a eggs clinking in a kettle of boiling water) when batting it around.

Zoey loves to sit on the scratching pad in the center of the Turbo Scratcher and watch the ball go around her after she gives it a good bat with her paw! When I added a little catnip to the center scratch pad this was the icing on the cake!  I like the fact that the center pad is replaceable because they are all scratching it and batting the ball around! On another note, the other thing they seem to love are bags with tissue paper and their chewy box!!

Key Benefits

This toy was popular right out of the chewy.com box!  It also has some key benefits.

• It decreases unwanted scratching because the pad is made from corrugated cardboard
• It offers cats of all ages hours of fun
• It keeps cats active with the added treat of catnip
•  A replaceable pad and ball are available
• It comes in a number of fun colors