Delight Your Cat with #Delightibles (w/Giveaway)

Earlier this week I looked over to find Truffles lying in her lounger, working hard on her letter to Santa. When she was done she asked me to proof-read it, and it was so adorable that I asked her permission to post it here.

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Dear Santa,

I'm sure you know that I've been a very good girl this year. My Mommy has had a really hard year while dealing with her parents' health issues, and on more than one occasion she has said that she doesn't know what she would do without me. 

But I'm not writing to you to ask for anything. Honestly, Santa, I can't think of a single thing I need. I'm actually writing to you in hopes of making your job a little easier, since I'm sure you don't have the time to scour stores for the latest in kitty treats! Since I'm a total treat junkie and a kitty blogger who gets to try out lots of new products, let me tell you about the purr-fect stocking stuffer treats that will have cats purring with excitement!

Made in the U.S.A. with wholesome ingredients and natural antioxidants, Delightibles' center-filled treats are available in six tasty flavors including: Chicken, Turkey, Tuna, Salmon, Beef and Dairy. (I got to try out the yummy dairy and beef varieties.) Each treat is just the right size and texture, with a crispy outside shell and soft creamy center that cats find irresistible. Delightibles are free of artificial preservatives like BHA and BHT, and also free of wheat and soy offering peace of mind for cat owners who have cats with allergies or food sensitivities.

Even better, these treats are easy peasy to find! They are available exclusively at Walmart and Walmart Canada stores. Mommy says that Wally Worlds are everywhere, so all you need to do is send one of your elves out to the store!

Merry Christmas, Santa...I love you!

Purrs,
Truffles

You can follow Delightibles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

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Giveaway: Guess what everybody? Just in case Santa's elves find the store shelves empty, you still have a chance to try Delightibles treats for yourself! We are giving away 12 pouches (2 of each flavor) to one lucky winner located in the US!!! Simply leave a comment with your email address by noon eastern on Wednesday, December 31st.

The opinions in this article are my own. I do not work for, or with, any brand mentioned in this article, nor do I have any official relationship with them. I have a relationship with GigaSavvy, for whom I create original editorial content.

Invest in Pet Pampering For The Holidays

Last month, as part of the BlogPaws Pet Blogger Influencer Group, myself and many others filled out a survey answering questions about our holiday shopping trends for our pets. The results are in and have been compiled in a festive infographic. Check it out and then I'll tell you more about our responses below.

* Online vs. in store shopping. This year, I've done both. I've picked up a few things for Truffles in local stores, and other items I've purchased from Amazon and Etsy.

* Annual budget. I come in at under $50. I'm pretty frugal and Truffles already has so, so much.

* Pet blogs. I definitely use other pet blogs as a gift resource. They are how I discovered Petmate's line of Jackson Galaxy toys, and the Gingerbread House Cat Scratchers available at Target.

* Holiday cards. This year Truffles starred in her very first Christmas card!

* Gift guides. Truffles produced her first annual list of favorite treats of the year that would be purr-fect for stocking stuffers. I wrote a Tortie Shorties: Christmas Edition post highlighting a few of my favorite new Christmas books.

* Holiday attire photos. I went all out dressing Truffles up for Halloween, so I went easy on her for Christmas and depended on PicMonkey for her festive attire.

Tell us about your pet pampering spending this year!

Sunday Selfies: Bah Humbug

This has definitely *not* been the week before Christmas that I was hoping for. I've mentioned this on Facebook, but not here on the blog: my dad had another stroke on Wednesday. Like the one he had in March of 2013, thankfully it was small, but certainly not any less scary. Both of my parents now have had medical emergencies in the past 6 months and it has been completely overwhelming and sobering.

For our entry in this week's Sunday Selfies blog hop hosted by The Cat on My Head, I decided to model my new Grumpy Cat Christmas t-shirt. I bought it because of my love for all things Grumpy Cat and all things Dickens' Christmas Carol, but it has ended up somewhat reflecting my feelings following the events of the past week.

Caturday Art: Christmas Surprise

One of Truffles' favorite things to do is look out the window and survey her domain. It looks like her eyes were met with quite a surprise on this particular day!

This is our entry in Athena's Caturday Art blog hop. More artsy kitties can be found here.

Pet Blogger's Gift Exchange 2014: Slimdoggy/Slimkitty

As part of the Christmas season I signed up for the Pet Blogger's Gift Exchange hosted by Something Wagging This Way Comes.

Everyone who signed up was paired with another blogger to celebrate their fellow blogger with compliments, support, and encouragement via a special blog post and sharing with social media. We were paired with Kate O'Brien of SlimDoggy and SlimKitty. Yesterday Kate posted their beautiful gift to us and we were touched beyond words!

SlimDoggy and SlimKitty's focus is just what their blog header says: "Food, fitness and fun for healthy pets." Just as obesity is an epidemic among us humans, it is also a huge problem with our beloved pets, and their health is suffering because of it. SlimDoggy and SlimKitty provide a wide variety of resources to help you get your pet down to a healthy weight or to maintain an already active lifestyle.

Five reasons we purr for SlimDoggy:

1) Their SlimDoggy Dog Food Ranking Index, created to help people easily rank and compare foods.

2) They co-host the FitDog Friday blog hop where dog bloggers everywhere link up their fitness posts. A multitude of ideas on how to have fun with your dog while helping them to stay fit.

3) The SlimDoggy App lets you track your dog’s daily activities (and calories burned) as well as their daily feedings (and calories eaten). You never again have to guess about how much to feed your dog!

4) Their Dog Food Ingredients A to Z series is a comprehensive list of common dog food ingredients that is incredibly well researched and provides scientific support of benefits or risks. Their goal upon completion is to have the best free resource on dog food ingredients out there.

5) SlimDoggy has been involved with dog rescues for many years and they are committed to using the SlimDoggy brand to assist pet-focused charitable organizations while they work to solve the pet obesity problem.

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Earlier this year we were so happy when SlimKitty was launched, with a goal of fighting obesity in cats and bringing their health and fitness message to cat owners and lovers.

5 reasons we purr for SlimKitty:

1) Guest Bloggers. The SlimDoggy family doesn't have any cats, so they have a call out for feline contributors. Truffles was very excited to write her very first guest post for them: 5 Interactive Toys Your Cat Wants.

2) It's not as easy to get your cat to exercise as it is for a dog. If a cat doesn't want to do something, they're just not going to do it. SlimKitty features many articles with great ideas on how to help your cat stay fit and have fun at the same time!

3) Being obese is as unhealthy for our cats as it is for ourselves. Obesity in cats can predispose the cat to diabetes. SlimKitty has recently been writing about feline diabetes, which I really appreciate after having lived with a diabetic cat. Awareness is key with feline diabetes. While diabetes can be controlled and managed with early detection, the ultimate goal is prevention.

4) Are you as overwhelmed as I am when you attempt to read cat food labels at the pet store? Pet Food Labels Explained Part 1 and Part 2 are some of the best explanations I've found.

5) SlimKitty regularly has fun, informative posts that allow readers extra insight into our feline friends, such as why do cats purr and why do cats like to sit in boxes.

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I hope we've inspired you to visit Kate at SlimDoggy and SlimKitty!

SlimDoggy can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest; and SlimKitty is also on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Santa Kitty Toy Hop at PAWS CT

As part of the Santa Kitty Toy Hop, in addition to sending gifts to our local shelter, we also wanted to send something special to our precious sponsor kitties Truffle and Cinnamon and the rest of their friends at PAWS of Connecticut. Thanks once again to Amazon Prime this is what we had delivered:

Our good friend Kevin at Animal Shelter Volunteer Life was able to secure these pictures of the kitties opening their gifts:

More blogging kitties playing Santa can be found here:

Target Gingerbread House Cat Scratcher

I've spent the last several weeks coveting those Gingerbread House Cat Scratchers sold at Target that have been making their rounds around the cat blogosphere. Sadly, Vermont is the only state without a Target, and online searches of Target.com and Ebay proved to be fruitless.

Finally I decided to ask my friends on the Cats with Blogs Facebook page and several people said they would be on the lookout for me! That same afternoon I received a message from my friend Jeanne at Random Felines that she was able to secure the last 2 scratchers at her local Target, one for me and one for her vet's office!

This is what went down when it arrived at our house:

"I'm not sure if I trust Mommy's construction abilities. Must snoopervise."

"Hmmm...she did a pretty good job."

"Floor looks solid."

"Nice sturdy roof."

"I'm going in."

"See you after my nap!"