The BlogPaws Conference sponsors brought out the big guns this year when it came to new product releases. I've had time to use and evaluate many of the things I brought home, so I'd like to share my favorites.
Sentry Calming Collars
I've long documented the cat drama in our household perpetrated by Trillian and Xena. When the Sentry reps showed off their new line of pheromone-based collars and sprays designed to curb anxiety and bad behavior in cats and dogs, I was quite intrigued. They sent me home with one cat collar and one dog collar and later sent me another dog collar, some calming and "stop it" sprays and other miscellaneous related items.
I put a collar on Toby right before a vet visit and I really felt there was a huge difference in his anxiety behavior compared to his previous visit (which had been a nightmare). Trillian got the cat collar and it seemed to make her less fearfully aggressive toward Xena. Since then, we've purchased one for Xena as well, and I'm interested in seeing if it ratchets down her grouchiness level.
The most impressive result I saw with the calming collar was A Librarian's cat, Spike. I spent Independence Day at her house and was surprised to see Spike hanging out in a crowd of people. He is ordinarily a nervous wreck and has always gone off and hidden from company. The collar completely transformed him and I think I saw as much of him that day as I have over the past several years combined.
The collars last about 30 days, so Toby and Trillian will need to have theirs replaced soon. I'll definitely keep using them. Not only do they seem to make a significant difference in the animals' behavior, they smell quite nice (lavendar!) and they're rather pretty (purple for cats, aqua for dogs).
Zero Odor
These guys had me with their first demo. They sprayed straight ammonia in a petri dish, let me smell it (ugh) and then sprayed their Litter Spray over it. Wow. In just a matter of seconds, the odor was almost completely gone.
I don't have any Litter Spray yet, but I used their Pet Stain Remover to clean all of the litter boxes and it did an amazing job. It is also better than any product I've tried (and believe me, I've tried just about everything) when it comes to getting urine odor out of my slate floor. It is now my go-to product for pet mess clean-ups in the house.
They also have some general household odor sprays. I gave my BlogPaws sample bottle to my husband to help him combat the odor of Stinky Musician in the studio (sweat, cigarette smoke, beer, etc.). It's nice because it has no perfume or other odor of its own.
Their product line is available at Bed Bath & Beyond, so I'll definitely be heading there for more when I run out.
Rachael Ray Nutrish Dog Treats
If I'd known how much Toby was going to enjoy the Oatmeal & Berries dog treats I brought back for him, I'd have snagged some more.
He gets a lot of treats every day because we use them as positive reinforcement for good potty behavior, so I liked the idea that these were all natural and low calorie. I thought the strong berry scent might not be his cup of tea, but he chows down on them eagerly. I'll be shopping for more soon.
Pet Armor
Finally, I wanted to give Pet Armor a shout-out for being so blogger-friendly. We have indoor cats and the dog gets his flea and tick protection via his heartworm tablet because Italian Greyhounds are hyper-sensitive to topical medications, but I appreciated the cat flea protection samples I got from Pet Armor and so did my sister, who happily took them for use on her outdoor cats.
My cats love the comfy bed they sent me after the conference and I've placed it on our table so they can sit on it to look out the window during the day. Dr. Jones called dibs before it had been out of the box for five minutes.
I'm still making my way through some of the other items I received at the conference, so I may do additional reviews later. A big thanks to all of the sponsors who made it such a great event!
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