Author: karenjuffermans

This is me with my lovely cat Dirk! Let me tell you something about both of us. I work as a cat sitter for Cat Care London and am basically surrounded by cats 24/7! I also occassionally walk dogs or board hamsters or rabbits, which Dirk doesn't seem to care about at all! Dirk is roughly 8 years old. I got him 6 years ago from a shelter. Dirk is truly the most loving and lovable cat I know. He is very interested in people and loves being cuddled a lot. Dirk spends most of his time relaxing with me or anywhere around the house really. He is also quite playful and loves the games that involve interaction the most.

Dirk the Rocket Cat

Published on June 29, 2017June 26, 2017 by karenjuffermans14 Comments

The MelloCat Rocket Roller is one of those toys I wasn’t quite sure of initially. I mean, it looks like a rocket (complete with take-off smoke) which is sort of cool. But rockets and cats?

Once again, Dirk took me by surprise and was immediately taken with this toy.

Give me that, I know it’s for me!

I’m sure you all know what Dirk is going to do with this toy! Yes, that’s right: give it a good kick 😉 And he can be really quite ferocious when kicking it so this is a proper workout for his hind legs. The toy is quite large: he can easily grab hold of one side and then kick the other side of the rocket.

My favourite thing is to send it ‘flying’ through the house so Dirk can go and chase it. He doesn’t really let go of this toy very easily though. I guess he’s happy he’s our only cat because sharing toys would be a serious problem…

Look at me and my cool rocket! We’re totally going places 🙂
(No, not really Dirk, you just look silly)

The MelloCat Rocket Roller is handmade and it looks amazing. It’s really well made and quite sturdy, it can take a lot of kicks! Any cats that love kicking toys and want to look cool doing it: this is your toy 🙂

Going to take a nap now, but don’t even think you can have the rocket back now!

Dirk on a roll with Catkins Feather Roller

Published on May 18, 2017April 25, 2017 by karenjuffermans5 Comments

Fellow cats, I don’t want to make you (too) jealous, but check out my new toy! It’s made of straw and feathers and brings out the inner wildness 😉

My mom likes to throw it around the house for me to chase which is sort of fun. The roller has a rattling noise inside and that makes me really curious. Though honestly, I’m mostly intrigued by the straw and feathers. It’s one of those toys that’s worth taking a break from napping for.

You can sort of play football with it and run around the house. I like rolling around with it all over the floor and giving it some good kicks.

Just look at me, I’m on a roll!

Yeah, so I look kind of silly rolling around the house like this, but who cares. After playing with it I always like to lick the feathers, as I would with an actual prey (if only……)

So, this is a cool toy: I can kick it around the house and then it makes this funny rattling noise, I can really grab the straw with my nails and give it a good kick and finally when I’m tired of all that I can chill with it and lick the feathers 🙂

About the author:

Karen is originally from the Netherland, but now lives in London with her husband and their cat Dirk. She works as a cat sitter for Cat Care London.

Dirk is a very loving and lovable cat and he loves everyone! First thing he wants in the morning is having lots of cuddles (yes, even when breakfast is ready and waiting).

Dirk’s inner football player loves the JW Cataction Rattle Ball

Published on March 30, 2017March 29, 2017 by karenjuffermans15 Comments

All right, before I tell you about the JW Cataction Rattle Ball, I want to share something personal with you.

First of all, I love pink! It’s such a cool colour. My litter tray is pink, I have some pink toys and my scratching posts are pink too. Apologies, the sofas I meant…

But that’s not all I wanted to share with you. Not many people know this, but I was actually named after a famous football player, or at least he’s famous in The Netherlands and in Liverpool 😉

So now that you know a bit more about me I can tell you about my new Rattle Ball and it will come as no surprise that I love it. I mean, it’s purple & pink and it looks like a mini football! Totally my kind of thing.

Of course you can play with it on your own or with a cat friend. I like bouncing it against the walls and generally running around with it. On lazy days I just lie around and pounce the ball back and forth a bit.

Here’s the best thing about this ball, so fellow cats, pay attention! You should totally share this toy with your humans. They seem to enjoy kicking and throwing it as much as I like catching it. My mom and dad often kick or throw the ball to each other until I catch it and chase it around the house 🙂 It’s such fun to watch your humans running around for a change. Makes my day every time!

I just wish I knew how to take pictures so I could show you how happy my parents are running around throwing the ball…

Luckily, Dirk doesn’t know how to use a camera 😉 It’s true though that he enjoys this toy most in combination with human interaction. The 3 of us have a lot of fun with it.

I do also catch him ‘accidentally’ stepping over the toy and then chasing it because “OMG that just moved?!?” He’ll then play with it on his own and gets quite enthusiastic!

Dirk aiming to beat the Flab

Published on February 20, 2017February 21, 2017 by karenjuffermans17 Comments

I don’t know about your cats, but my lovely Dirk is a bit overweight… According to International Cat Care about 39-52% of cats in the UK are overweight or obese, so Dirk is certainly not the only one. As you all know, being overweight can lead to other health problems as well, diabetes for example.

It can also lead to issues with the lower urinary tract, such as cystitis. I didn’t actually know this until Dirk developed urinary issues (bladder stones) 6 years ago. At that point he weighed 5.9 kg, so his weight my well have been a contributing factor. He’s a pretty big guy, but should really weigh around 5 kg.

So, how to beat the flab?

Given his bladder and weight issues, Dirk is permanently on a special diet, which also means he doesn’t get treats… Fortunately he seems to love his dental dry food as much as treats, so we make him chase those all around the house. We strictly monitor how much he’s eating and of course we try and get him to play as much as possible. Luckily he loves his toys 🙂

He can’t go outside, which would have been an ideal way for him to lose weight, but we let him run up and down the stairs in our apartment building. He absolutely loves it!

His weight has been coming down slowly but steadily, and he’s been at 5.3 kg for a while now (yes, he has a waistline again!).

A few years ago we also started using activity feeders. He used to have a feeder ball during the day and a bowl of food during the night.

Admittedly, Dirk was not immediately taken by the feeder ball. Initially he just ignored it (or didn’t get it) and would wait till evening when we put his food in the bowl… Eventually his curiosity got the better of him and he started playing with the ball. He then discovered food coming out of it! Now he’ll happily chase the ball all around the apartment.

Two issues with the ball, though. First, when you’re trying to sleep and you keep hearing the ball being knocked against the door or walls, that’s not great. And second, whenever we’re on holiday and one of my cat sitting colleagues takes care of him, Dirk always hides the ball (preferably under our bed, shoe cupboard or the sofa). Yes, he prefers a ready meal 🙂

Where’s my food?

We tackled this issue by getting him two more activity feeders, but ones that he doesn’t actually have to move around the house: the toilet roll tower and activity board.

He now always has access to his food, but always has to work for it. He’s eating smaller portions more often during the day and actually seems to enjoy the food games. Hopefully it will also help him lose those final 300 grams to reach his target weight!

And it even works for wet food – don’t worry, your cat will clean up the mess :-)

Dirk & his Cat Candy

Published on January 8, 2017January 3, 2017 by karenjuffermans12 Comments

Remember when I told you about the Cuddly Cushion and how the name pretty much gives away its purpose? Well, the Cat Candy toy is playing mind games a bit! You think, candy!!!!! I love treats! And then when you first see the toy, you’re a bit confused, because it isn’t actually a treat?! I mean, you certainly can’t eat it.

All right, so it looks like a treat for people. The ones with colourful wrappers. You’re thinking, how is this going to be a treat for me? And then you see the ribbons and you start to think this might actually be a great toy! I mean, I don’t know about you, but RIBBONS!!! For some reason my mom thinks it has these ribbons so she can take the toy away from me, but I’m not giving it up that easily. Personally, I just love to chew them.

Wanna play?

Must say that those ribbons do mean that me and my mom can have fun with it together. I love it when she tries to take it away from me. Obviously, she doesn’t stand a chance against my nails, but I’m a good sport. I’ll let her win occasionally just because it’s so much fun chasing the toy again when she throws it away. And let’s be honest here, people are sometimes such sore losers, if I don’t let go of the toy then she’ll never want to play with me again (or perhaps that’s just my mom?)

See, she doesn’t stand a chance!

Am considering letting go….

Don’t worry if your mom or dad is not in the mood for games. This is also a very soft toy so good for cuddling, though I prefer kicking it. You can have loads of fun with it!

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If you’d like to get your paws on one of these just tell your human to get one from Ruffle Snuffle and are £3.95 each plus postage to your cat den.

About the Author:
Karen is originally from the Netherland, but now lives in London with her husband and their cat Dirk. She works as a cat sitter for Cat Care London.

Dirk and the 4cats Cuddly Cushion

Published on October 2, 2016January 28, 2017 by karenjuffermans13 Comments

I always like to think I know what type of toys my cat Dirk will love and which ones he doesn’t care about. When I saw the Cuddly Cushion from 4Cats I thought it was perhaps more for kittens. I could just picture them grabbing the cushion and then holding it with their front legs while kicking it with their hind legs. You can probably picture it as well!

Of course there’s catnip in the cushion, which Dirk loves! But I thought once he’d had his catnip fix that would be the end of it…. Well let me tell you upfront that I was wrong: Dirk loves this cushion! I’ll let Dirk and the pictures speak for themselves.

Silly mom…. how could she have thought this …. was for kittens only?! And how could she now know what it’s for?! The clue is in the name: it is a Cuddly Cushion!

I always get so excited when she calls me and says she has a surprise for me. The sound of the crinkling plastic as she unwrapped the new toy, I couldn’t wait to find out what it was.

I had a good sniff first and then rubbed my head against it, and let me tell you it is sooooo soft! And it smells good J But it’s really not just about the catnip (and coming from a catnip addict like me, this is saying a lot!)

OK, maybe some of this has to do with the catnip…

But that’s really not all. I love that it is so very soft. You can cuddle with it or just rest your head on it when you’re a bit tired from playing or just having a lazy day (that’s pretty rare, I know, I’m always super busy). I really love mine!

In all honesty, I do sometimes like to throw my Cuddly Cushion in the air and then chase it and when mom isn’t looking I also sometimes give it a good kick, but don’t tell her 😉

So, time to relax, because I am a little tired now. Luckily I have my friend… But before I go don’t forget that you can get this toy on the Katzenworld online shop.

About the Author:
Karen is originally from the Netherland, but now lives in London with her husband and their cat Dirk. She works as a cat sitter for Cat Care London.