A good scale for weighing your cat

More pictures below

Problem: you want to weigh your cat. Or baby.

Why would you want to do that?

• make sure the baby's growing on normally
• make sure breast-fed baby is getting enough milk
• monitor cat's health as he gets old
• make sure cat is sufficiently hydrated. Dehydration can lead to feline urinary problems

Solution: the Salter 914 baby scale is accurate highly rated and well priced


Pros:

• has a tare/zero function
• you can take the tray off and use it like a regular scale (up to 44 lbs)
• heavy base makes it sturdy
• accurate (at least mine is. Some reviewers have complained that theirs wasn't, although most said that theirs was if they mentioned accuracy at all.)
• rather attractive

Cons:

• $59 seems a bit much, but I didn't see any cheaper ones that got good reviews. I had been using a kitchen scale that goes up to 15 pounds to weigh the cats, but the platform was a bit too small. It was hard to get Twitch to stand on it, and Mr. Kitten--forget it. He doesn't have patience for that stuff.

Twitch has a lot of patience

I like the grayish-white. It's sort of retro modern.

with the tray off, it kinda looks like a bear

Twitch at his cat station

Here's the box

Here's the crappy warning on the box. Buy through Amazon so returns won't be a problem

P.S. 

I really like my Escali kitchen scale. I don't blame it for not being a good cat scale. That's not what it's make for. It goes up to 15 pounds in increments of one gram. I've had it over a year and haven't changed the battery yet. Here's a pic and a link. It's great for making bread. Since it goes up to 15 pounds, I can put my KitchenAid mixing bowl on it and add all the ingredients.

photo credit: Amazon

No more scooping -- the CatGenie is a toilet for cats

A Toilet for Cats

What is is

The CatGenie ($270 on Amazon) is an ingenious toilet for cats. Your cat does his business and after ten minutes the bowl slowly spins, and the rake picks up any solid wastes, plunking them into a little bin. Then water fills the bowl and the impeller in the bin breaks up the waste so it can go through a tube into your toilet where you flush it away.

Installation

photo from Amazon

Installation is fairly easy. You need to attach a tube to the toilet and you'll need to plug the CatGenie in for power. You also need to attach the included water line to your toilet's incoming water. No special tools are required, just a wrench and patience. The only difficulty is in manuevering the unwield thing into place.

photo credit: Chris Hugh

Analysis

The CatGenie relieves you of having to clean the litterbox. It really is a toilet for cats.

It sounds like heaven, but there are a couple problems.

First the reusable plastic litter is not to every cat's liking. My Mr. Kitten goes piddle in the CatGenie, but goes poopy on the tile floor in front of it. Thanks, Kitten.

Another problem is that it's not entirely reliable. Sometimes the tube gets clogged and the dirty water won't drain. It's easy to fix, but until you do, you've got poop soup and the cat has nowhere to do his business. Nowhere nice, anyway. If he holds in his pee, he can get a bladder infection and bladder infections in male cats are a life-threatening emergency. If he doesn't hold in his pee, he makes a mess. In either case, you really need a backup potty.

Third problem, as mentioned, the tube gets clogged. To fix it, you just shove the end of the hose (the part that was hanging into the toilet) against your faucet, run the water and blow out the clog. It's no big deal, but isn't super pleasant or sanitary.

Last minor problem, when the CatGenie cleans itself it will drain foamy poopy water into your toilet, leaving nasty looking stains. You'll need to clean your toilet more often to keep it looking okay.

Overall

Despite a few negatives, if you've got the space and the money, this is a great, great gadget. The best way to do this is to have two of them.

Helpful hints

• Read the directions. Seriously. I had the hose installed not-quite-right for over a year. It had too tight a kink in it, and it was clogging up.
• Write down or take a picture of the serial number before you set the machine up.
• You really need a backup litterbox. I got two CatGenie. Expensive, but very worth it to not have to scoop.

Links

Click here to read my review on examiner.com
Click here to read a review of the ScoopFree automatic litter box, another super pooper scooper

Motion-activated cat deterrent: Scat, cat! Get off the counter

Chase those cats away--with technology

Tired of cats jumping on tables and knocking over your Faberge eggs/Waterford crystal/meth-making equipment? Well, if you bring to bear the latest in human technology there's a small possibility you might teach the cat to stop it.

photo credit: Amazon

It's the Contech StayAway Pet Deterrent. (About $45 on Amazon) It's basically a motion-activated spray canister. If a cat (or you) come in range, it'll spray, or squeak or spray and squeak. The spraying (it just sprays air) really startles the cats, since it sounds like an angry cat hissing. They'll learn to avoid the area, at least as long as the device is there.

Who should get it

Everyone with a cat. You'll want to teach your cats to stay off the stove. If you're all fancy and germ phobic, I guess you might want to keep them off the kitchen counters and dining table, too.

Pros

• It really chases the cats away. Pretty fun to watch.

Cons

• Pretty expensive. You might try the Ssscat (about $25 on Amazon). Both are rated 4/5 stars.
• It would be nice if the device instilled healthy guilt and the fear of a righteous power, but it doesn't. The cats tend to learn that it is the device, not their own evil doing, that is the enemy. If you take it StayAway, well, away, the stinkers go back to their old subversive habits.
• You will get sprayed way more often than your cat will. It's harmless, but it gets old pretty quick. Perhaps it amuses the cats to see you sprayed with your own device.

Helpful hints

• Try to hide or camoflage the thing. Maybe you're cat will learn the general rule, "don't go there." Rather than the more specific rule, "don't go there until the human removes that thing or the battery runs out." Good luck outsmarting your cats.
• Get breakables and spillables out of the area. This is gonna scare the pants off your cat and he's gonna run like mad. Because cats are drama queens.