Do you have a picky cat? Is that politically correct – or should it be “finicky”? What if you’re a pet blogger who wants to include some cat treat and food reviews on your mostly dog blog, so your cat doesn’t feel left out? We were recently faced with this dilemma and wanted to share the solution we came up with. Our cat Samantha doesn’t get as much blog time around here, so we try to give her some chances to do reviews; but our picky girl doesn’t make it easy.
Cricket would like to tell the story of our recent attempt to do a cat food review for Chewy.com.
Cricket: First of all, we don’t know why the Momz didn’t just get some yummy dog treats from Chewy for us dogs to try! We’ve never given a bad review, because we pretty much like everything!
(Interjection by The Momz: That’s not exactly a glowing reference for the food and treats you have reviewed, you know! I guess that’s why I select what we try or don’t try, because I can at least report on the quality as well as the fact that you guys liked something.)
Cricket: Well, yes, and I suppose that’s part of the reason you wanted Samantha to try this new cat food, Nutrisca; it sounds very healthy and high quality. The Momz is not very happy that Sam’s favorite food is from a brand she doesn’t exactly love. So she keeps trying to get Sam to try other foods, but Sam doesn’t make it easy.
So when we got this Nutrisca food to try, the Momz was not pleased when all Sam would do is lick the gravy out of it, and didn’t eat much of it. I mean, look at this food! Real shredded chicken in a savory broth!
Nutrisca cat food is made by Catswell. It is grain free with added vitamins, minerals and taurine. There is no corn, wheat, or soy, and no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. All that is apparently not good enough for our Samantha, however!
Therefore, the Wag ‘n Woof crew had to decide what we were going to do about this. We couldn’t put out a bad review, when we know that Sam is just ridiculously picky (er – finicky)!
Sheba, Luke and I put our heads together and came up with a solution:
“Samantha, you’re fired!”
The Momz vetoed the idea of the K-9 crew doing the review (though we’re happy to…we love cat food), but we came up with another idea. We decided to outsource the job to our cousin Nina. Nina belongs to our aunt and pet sitter Auntie Lynn. She first made an appearance on the blog for International Box Day so we knew she was up for the job – no further interview required. She even got some toys from the BlogPaws swag bag because Momz knew Sam wouldn’t play with them.
Nina was glad to accept this job, and her Mom was happy to have Nina finally contributing something to the household! Miss Nina put together some photos for us, and she gave the Nutrisca food all paws up! She even knew how to display the food alongside her for the photos (well, her Mom might have helped her with that).
Nina says you should go ahead and visit Chewy.com and get some Nutrisca food for your cat. Chewy has super speedy shipping, reasonable prices, and exceptional customer service! Now is a great time to buy because Nutrisca is on sale for over $9.00 off per case!
We still had one more thing to settle though: Momz said that we could not completely fire Sam off the crew. She has done some successful toy reviews (even though she loses interest in her toys quickly, she likes them at first and poses for the photos with them, and Momz showed us this evidence of that: “Life with Multiple Pets”, where Sam played with some K9Bytes toys, and “The Short and Long Life of Toys“, where she plays with her West Paw caterpillar.).
Fine, we’ll keep her on staff for some toy reviews, and maybe some other stuff. But I have to tell you, Sam wasn’t too broken up about her firing. When we went to tell her, this is what we saw.
Even we had to admit that there is one thing she’s an expert at: relaxing (more like she’s lazy!!). Here she’s seen on a new bed that the Momz bought her, and she’s actually been using for several weeks now! Finally, Momz spent some money on her and it was appreciated! Even though we’re not sure she deserves it, Sam has been promoted to “Chief Cat Bed Reviewer”. Humph, it’s not exactly a democracy around here.
We’ll probably keep trying new foods with Sam, because the Momz doesn’t give up. But we’re sure glad we have Nina on staff now, because we pretty much know how any future attempts are going to go. The Momz might as well accept the fact that Sam just wants to eat what she wants to eat, and of course she is willing to put her principals aside to keep Sam happy and healthy!
*Disclaimer: We received a free case of Nutrisca cat food to review from chewy.com, but were in no other way compensated for this post. All opinions are our own.
One more thing! We are excited to be co-hosting Walk Your Dog Week this year with our friends from Cascadian Nomads and Dolly the Doxie.
Stay tuned for details coming this weekend and get ready to start walking!
Brilliant concept!
She looks hilarious in the cross-looking photo! Bless her!
We know exactly how that goes–Soth is such a picky little guy, too! And sometimes he’ll love a food for weeks and then decide he’s over it, so it’s always a guessing game of how much food I should stock up on because we don’t always make it through a case. Glad Nina was able to come through for you!
I’m glad we’re not alone in this! I buy most of our food online, and usually by the case. Sam does the same thing…we’ll think we found something she really likes, buy a case, and then she’s over it too. Sometimes we can fool her by adding the stuff she’s over to the latest one she likes…but she doesn’t always fall for that!
She’s been on the same kick for a while now, and I just ordered another case…we’ll see how that goes! 🙂
I’m in Sam’s corner as I wouldn’t have eaten it either. I wouldn’t have even licked the sauce. I prefer my chicken well blended into a smooth paté. Sam, I hope you enjoy long naps while Nina works.
Normally, Sam likes the food that has lots of gravy in it. But she does like to keep us guessing!
We do think Sam is pretty happy with her new position…it is right up her alley, she says. 🙂
Nina says a big thank you, Aunt Jan and crew, for hiring her, and the nice welcome!! Reviewing cat food and treats, that is right up her alley, a job she can love!! She is also glad though to see that Samantha has a new position, rather than being fired-looks like she can do great reviews for kitty beds and such! She wishes Sam luck in her new role, and says congrats on the promotion-and she will do her best for you all at her new position!
We are glad to have Nina on board, and hopefully we have more goodies for her to try soon!
Sam doesn’t know what she’s missing. We tried the Nutrisca food and loved it! Okay…maybe we’re not very picky. 🙂
We’re glad you like that food too! It really does look so good, like real food. Then again, when Sam was at her fussiest for a while there, when she first got diagnosed with the hyperthyroid, she wouldn’t even eat fresh tuna!
Mr. N is super picky too which is why I’ve turned down several offers for things I know he won’t eat. His reviews are always very discerning lol.
Maybe Sam just needs to be moved from the taste testing squad to another one, like the bed testing one. Glad someone loved the food!
I think the dogs were just looking for an excuse to fire her. LOL
We opted out of doing reviews, partly because of Daisy’s food sensitivies (and partly because we only intended her blog to be our journal of her life). So many products have chicken in them, and that’s one of her biggest allergies. You have a good backup team with Nina, though! 🙂
This was not an issue with cat stuff when we had two cats, but we plan on sticking with just one for now.
We suspect Luke might have a chicken allergy too…it’s either that or seasonal, but we’re keeping him off the chicken for now.
Welcome to our world! One of the first reviews I got was for these chews and all I did was carry them around looking for somewhere to bury them. Mom took the bag to the park and had my pal Otto try them out, he ate the whole bag in one sitting (and got sick later I believe). So we had that happen to us too. Now Otto loves mom and thinks she has something for him every time we see him. And this was at least 2 years ago.
Cats are cats and they do what they want I’ve learned since living with Rhette, no one can make them do anything! I give Samantha 4 paws for not sacrificing her tastes just for a review. Mom had to do a double take on cousin Nina she thought it was Rhette and he has that toy too (but doesn’t play with it (lazy)) Love Dolly
Oh, you’re right, Nina does look a lot like Rhette, doesn’t she? I love tiger cats.
Yes, we do have to give Sam credit for sticking to her principals, don’t we? I just wish her principals were more in line with mine…LOL (refusing to buy from certain big companies).
Uh-oh, if Nina ends up like Otto, she’ll be calling me up looking for her next job, won’t she? 🙂
Sounds like Samantha is like those humans who only like to eat McDonalds. Glad you found a new member of the team to help you out with kitty reviews.
Omg I know these problems all too well!!!
I would love to blog about my kitties more often but they sure don’t make it easy! LOL!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Hi Nina, your beautiful, nice job coming up with a out source reviewer.
Hahaha! We have had to outsource some treats to our Weather Lab Paisley. Not that the boys wouldn’t devour it, but Bentley can’t eat chicken or venison. Paisley doesn’t mind either. Sam looks just like my Miss Gitty. ♥
That looks like some good stuff finicky eater (like me)
Lily (& Edward)
Well a great review and idea..oh my the girls here drive me batty with their finickity fuss budget nitpicking at food..and it seems a lot of cat owners have the problem…and a common catch cry from them is “well they eat it one day turn their nose up the next” ..so do not feel bad..kitties are designed to be keeping us guessing 🙂 i mix fresh with tinned..always have an issue with at least one cat…urghhh but they can review beds..toys…and grooming products..not that Aussie markets are even really interested in blog reviews it seems 🙂 Nina is a great choice and Samantha ..well she gets to remain unemployed…smart move i would say 🙂 Hugs BEV XX
Yes, there was probably a method to Sam’s madness, wasn’t there? She is peacefully in her bed while the dogs (or her kitty cousins) do all the work. 🙂 xxoo
I can sympathize. We have a cat that is a picky eater too. I have given up trying new things with her. I might try a toy review now and again, but food…no…lol.
Cats can really make life rough sometimes I have to say. With Bert, there is never a food issue since he eats anything and everything, but Sophie would be picky like your kitty and refuse to cooperate. Good thing you had another cat in the wings to fill in last minute.
pawsome review Nina :o) Samantha you can be my food tester… together we can show my momma what we think about the newest diet-kibble :o)
That’s right, Easy! We need to join together and put our paws down that we don’t want any of that diet food, or fancy schmancy stuff!
Love, Sam