Review: Flying Tiger Pet Food Catapult – Does It Work?

May 30, 2018May 30, 2018 / Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

Hi, everyone! I hope you’re doing great! This blog post was written a little bit impromptu, because I was planning to write on a different topic, but yesterday I was doing a little bit of shopping, and decided to visit Flying Tiger. While over there, I noticed something I thought was quite hilarious – pet food catapult! On the package they show a dog as an example, but I was wondering if it would work for cats as well. It’s called “Pet food catapult” after all! I just HAD to try it out. Let’s see how it went!

Price. It was cheap, just like most things in Flying Tiger – I paid €4 for the pet food catapult.

Looks & how it works. It’s made of plastic, and the front part (the little see-through part) comes off easily with a little twist, so it’s easy to clean and/or load the catapult with pet food. Then you simply push down the black button (see the picture) and press the black button next to it to “shoot” the food in the air.

How my cats reacted to it. Well, the thing is that they didn’t. But no, really! They could not care less about the food flying out of that catapult. They were sitting in front of me with those huge eyes asking for treats, but they just couldn’t understand that the food was flying out of the catapult and they need to go pick it up. I loaded it with quite big cat treats (Dreamies to be precise), but I think the main issue was that the food would fly out at a very high speed, and the cats simply wouldn’t notice it. If the treats landed on the floor, they’d react to the noise it made, but that’s all.

Some final thoughts and is it worth it. It’s hard to say whether it’s worth it or not. All of my cats didn’t understand it, but maybe they’re just not very smart, haha! 😀 It was only €4, so I don’t feel robbed, and, well, cats are beings that are very picky in general. It did not work for my cats at all, but it MAY work for your cat. Or maybe it works only for dogs. Or maybe it works for some pets only, while it also may not work at all. If you feel like trying it out – give it a go, but I personally won’t be using it.

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asta

The softest sweaters in the world are here!

May 9, 2018July 27, 2018 / Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

Well hello there! The last time I posted here almost a year ago… How crazy is that?! Life happened I suppose. Sometimes we just get so invested in our works, and routines that we (unfortunately) forget about the things we enjoy. And blogging is one of them for me! But enough of rambling – that’s not what you came here for! Let’s dive into this new super soft fuzzy blog post and many adorable pictures of my hairless monkey cats are to follow!

I am pretty sure that if you checked out my shop, or Facebook, or Instagram at some point this spring, you’ve probably seen these fuzzy sweaters already. You may ask – well why you keep on posting about them, what’s so special about it? Well, firstly, now this style sweaters are available in 9 (yes, NINE!!!) different colors. How awesome is that?!

But colors is not the only (or most important) thing I want to emphasize here. I just… I just can’t get enough of these super awesome sweaters, and neither can my cats! They feel so cozy wearing them when it’s chilly outside. And you know what else is awesome? These sweaters are made from yarn meant for babies. They’re literally the softest thing you will ever touch in your life (besides your Sphynx, if (s)he happens to have a peach fuzz). They’re VERY soft, VERY warm, VERY cute, VERY stretchy, and the best of all – ANY and EVERY cat will love one of these sweaters. They are definitely the most comfortable and soft sweaters I’ve ever made, and believe me – that’s a huge statement considering I made almost 300 (288 to be precise) different designs since 2015.

I just love these sweaters so much! I think you can see in the pictures as well that my cats are feeling really comfy. Beliza was constantly half asleep, because they’re so warm and cozy! #photoshootproblems, haha!

All of these sweaters are available in few sizes, and soon I will restock them in even more colors and sizes. Why? Because they’re that awesome!

Now here are the links to all the sweaters (just click on the color!):

Pink, Purple & White Marl

Blue, Lavender & White Marl

Light Camel

Bright Coral

I hope you enjoyed this little blog post, and I wish you all a fabulous day!

asta

Review: CATNIP SILVER VINE STICKS – Worth It Or Not?

July 10, 2017July 27, 2018 / Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

Hello, everyone! Another month, another review is here! Today we’re talking about our kitties’ dental health. As some of you may know (or if you don’t – now you do!), I love browsing the wide oceans of the internet searching for things for my cats. I love trying out new things, so one day I accidentally came by these things called “Catnip Silver Vine Sticks” while browsing on Ebay. I got confused for a moment as I’ve never heard of thing called Silver Vine. I did some reading online and decided to purchase the sticks. If you’re just like me and wonder what on Earth that Silver Vine is, here’s a great article about it:
4 Reasons Why Catnip and Silver Vine Are Important to Your Cat’s Health.

Where I got the sticks & the cost. I got them at ebay.co.uk. Now here’s the thing regarding the cost. I saw some Asian websites selling them & also some people from the UK were selling the same kind of sticks. My thought process was this: OK, UK must have better quality stuff, so I’ll pay more and get it from there. WRONG! So, I paid about £3 (about €3.40 or $3.90) for the sticks + about £3 for the shipping. I received the package and… surprise! There’s a nice Asian package of Silver Vine sticks, meaning that the seller simply purchased cheap Asian sticks and is reselling them for ridiculously high price. You can see the packaging in the picture below.

Meanwhile the Asian shops they were selling these sticks for £0.99! Some were with free postage, while in some cases you would need to pay the P&P, which is £0.99. So even with the postage it would make under £2, which is less than the price of the sticks itself from the UK sellers. Never again! 🙂

More about the sticks & my cats’ reaction. The sticks come in 2 sizes: one thick, another one thinner. Both measure about 12.5 cm (about 5 inches) and are made of the same material.

My cats really liked them! They were playing with the sticks for a while, they like poking them, rolling them around and biting them.

How do the sticks look like now and would I recommend them. It’s been about 3 months since I got them, and they still look pretty good! They have some bite and scratch marks, but that’s completely normal. Cats play with them every now and then, so it wasn’t a waste of money. Do they really help to keep teeth in better condition in any way? I am not sure, but it’s definitely good to have something like this for your cat to chew on – in order to prevent them from chewing other things or to simply make their jaws stronger.

Shop wise, I’d definitely advice to just get it off Ebay from some Asian shop! It is an Asian product, so there’s no need to pay 3 or 4 times more than you need to. Here are some example of Ebay search in ebay.co.uk (I’m sure you can get them just off any Ebay or even Amazon!):

Option No. 1
Option No. 2
Option No. 3

I hope you enjoyed this little review! Have an amazing week ahead of you! 🙂

asta

Summer vibes in snowy Finland

May 10, 2017July 27, 2018 / Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

Hello everyone! Are you feeling the summer vibes already? Over here in Finland the summer is felt only in my colorful cat sweaters as it’s snowing behind my window as I am writing this blog post right now… Let’s just say summer definitely isn’t in a rush to visit Finland this year! And talking about cat sweaters, you’re probably wondering: hey, Asta, we understand it’s snowing in Finland in the mid May, but come on – other countries have normal climates and are baking in the sun already, so… where are all the summer goodies, huh? Well, they just arrived! The new collection was released last week in my PurringPyjamas shop on Etsy, and now I finally found a few free minutes to quickly introduce it. Are you ready?

The first 3 sweaters are super cute, super colorful and super soft. They’re also very light, stretchy and give that oh so needed protection from the sun for your hairless family member. These sweaters let the skin breathe very well, so your kitty will feel comfy while wearing them. The yarn is 70% cotton & 30 acrylic, which means that the sweaters won’t irritate even the most sensitive skin. Because they’re so light and stretchy, they’re also good for the first time wearers and cats who don’t like thicker sweaters!

I also decided to decorate these cute stripey sweaters with some beads I bought last year. I really like the little spicy vibe that they give to each sweater – from very sunny and bright yellows to more subtle brown hues. If you want to get any of these sweaters, you can find them here: Yellows & Blues, Blues & Reds, Blue Hues.

Now this sweater doesn’t really belong to any collection, but I loved the yarn, so I thought to myself – “Why not to make something cute with it?”. So I did! I hand crocheted this cutie from cotton yarn and added a few white rose beads. There are only two sweaters available in sizes XXXS & XXS, so if your kitty is on the smaller side or you happen to have a kitten, grab it! You can find it here: Pink Rose.

If you’re interested to take a look at all of the summer sweaters available in my Etsy shop, you can find them here: Summer Clothes.

I hope you’re all having a wonderful day!

asta

Bling The World: New Super Soft Swarovski Sweaters Are Out!

April 10, 2017July 27, 2018 / Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

Hello! I hope you’ve been doing well and the spring has been showering you all in nice and warm sun! Today I come here with a new post about the very new release in PurringPyjamas shop – it’s super soft, cute, very high quality and it blings… Yes, it sounds like a dream, right? Well, because it is a real dream for your precious kitty!

These sweaters are made from a very high quality Alpaca and wool blend yarn (70% alpaca, 23% polyamide & 7% wool). The sweaters are extremely soft, very light and super warm. Here’s a little more info about this magical yarn:

“A new and exciting “blow yarn” made from soft baby alpaca and cozy and warm merino wool. Its construction is unique, based on the newest yarn technologies, where instead of spinning, the fibers of baby alpaca and merino wool are air blown into a tube, which makes the garments made in this yarn about 30-35% lighter than those made with conventional spun yarns of the same thickness.”

“But why you chose to make the sweaters so… simple?” – you might ask. Fair question! I think that beauty often is in simplicity. I see so many beautifully made sweaters out there, with all these intricate ornaments and patterns, and sometimes it’s just a little bit too much. I think it’s important to be creative and try out new things, but we also should remember the very roots where we came from. Yes, it is a very basic pattern, but hey – the gorgeousness of the yarn and the little tiny bling of some Swarovski crystals make these sweaters so beautiful!

Again, you may ask another question – but why these Swarovski crystals are almost the same color as the sweaters? Why didn’t you put dark blue crystals on a white sweater or light pink crystals – on gray? Well, there is an answer to this question too – I wanted this collection to be subtle. For this reason, all the sweaters have bling, but it doesn’t shout from the distance. It is meant to give a little something special to this beautiful yarn, but not to overpower it. Over time, I released many different sweaters – some with very bright colors and complicated patterns, while others were subtle and minimal. These sweaters are an ode to simplicity.

If you’re interested in checking out this collection, you can find it here: High Quality Sweaters.

I hope you all are having a fabulous Monday!

asta

DIY Cat Treats: Easy, Quick & Yummy

March 30, 2017July 27, 2018 / Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

As a crazy cat lady, I always looks for something new for my cats. New toys, new scratching posts, new blankets, new beds… You name it, I got it. 😀 I also have quite a few books about cats, and I finally decided to get it together and make some use out of them. I flipped through one of the books I bought back in December of 2016 – it’s called “Treats for your cat”. Basically, there you can find a lot of DIY toys, pet carriers, etc. There’s also quite a few recipes with different meals you can prepare for your cats, and one of them caught my eye – it’s simple, quick and doesn’t require 15 weird and fancy products. It’s called “Christmas Cookies”, but believe me – your cat(s) will love these treats all year ’round.

pp13

These cat treats have fish in them, and I know that there has been a little bit of a fuss about giving fish to your cat. Generally, moderate amounts of fish will provide your cat nutrients, however, it’s best to serve it cooked as raw fish contains thiaminase. It’s OK to give it to your cat as a treat sometimes, but it shouldn’t be a big part of your cat’s daily diet. With that little bit out of the way, let’s get into the recipe!

pp4

So, I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit my cats’ wishes, so I am sure that there will be no harm if you use something different too. The basic recipe for these treats is:
-225 g/8 oz plain wholemeal flour
-1 x 200 g/7 oz can pressed cods roe (I used tuna fish instead)
-90 g/2 oz vegetable fat
-1 egg

I think that unless you have 10+ cats, you should split all the amounts in half – I have 3 cats, made half of the amount written and there will easily be enough treats for quite a few days. These treats are yummy and cats love them, but they’re also very filling and your cat probably won’t be able to eat more than 2-3 treats at once (all depends on the size of treats of course).

So, you have the recipe, what do you do next? Well, firstly, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the baking tray with a parchment paper (baking sheet). While the oven is heating, make the treats: mix together flour, your fish of choice, vegetable fat and egg. You can add a little bit of water if the mixture is too stiff. And here comes in the creative part of this process: you can choose what shape treats you want to make. I simply took little balls, pressed them a bit and made little button like treats, but you can do something more creative! In the book, it suggests to roll out the dough and cut out the treats with a cookie cutter. Put the treats on the baking sheet, and once the treats are all made and the oven is heated, put them to bake until golden and crisp. I baked them for about 15-20 minutes.

pp1

Once the treats are done, take them out of the oven and leave to cool down. Then give them to your cats and see if they like it! I am sure they will, because my Sphynxes generally don’t eat fish, but this time they made an exception!

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I store the treats in these little glass jars.

pp12

If you have any questions regarding the recipe, please leave them down in the comments and I will get back to you! I hope you all have a wonderful day. 🙂

asta

Review: Zooplus Cat Den – Yay or Nay?

January 17, 2017July 27, 2018 / Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

Hello, everyone! It seems like it’s been literally forever since I last wrote a post on PurringPyjamas blog. Mostly it’s because of a very busy holiday season. However, today I felt the need to do something I’ve been planning for a while – review this super cute looking cat den.

I saw this cat den on zooplus.de website whilst shopping some cat treats, and I knew immediately I had to have it. I ordered it in November, so I truly believe that after having it for quite a while I can tell an honest opinion about the product.

The den is made out of felt and has a little fluffy white cushion inside, which is soft and nice for your cat to lay on. It also has a cute little decoration that’s stitched on (see the picture above) which I was a bit worried about in the beginning. However, my worries were soon gone: it is stitched so well and is so close to the surface of the cave, that after few times of trying to bite it off, my cats just gave up and left it alone.

The cat den is INCREDIBLY warm. Because it is made of felt, all the warmth that cat’s body produces stays inside and circulates. Whenever you put your hand in the cave while cats are sleeping, you can feel that the air inside is quite a few degrees higher than the room temperature. And my cats absolutely love it!

I also washed the den once, because Coco one day decided to throw up on it (yes, we all have experienced cats throwing up in the least pleasant places!). It was very easy and quick to wash: I gently hand washed it with warm water and laundry detergent. It dried up fairly quickly, and looked just like new. Sizing is also good: my 3 average size cats fit in it perfectly!

So, all in all I can say that this den is definitely worth having! It’s soft, warm, easy to maintain, looks cute and is definitely worth the price! I can’t remember the exact price, but I paid about €20 for the den. I’ve had it since November, and it still looks like new, which is quite rare when I have 3 cats, who like to destroy things. You can find more information on the cave in the UK version website (I chose it because it is in English), however, Zooplus sells to many different countries: Information about the cat den (UK).

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments, and I’ll get back to you! I hope you all are having a wonderful day!

asta

Another Snowsuit: Royal Blues In White Winter

September 25, 2016July 27, 2018 / Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

After making a snowsuit last year, throughout the year I kept on receiving some requests on making another one. Unfortunately, most of the time I was too busy to take on a project like that and people just weren’t willing to wait. However, after my little vacation I was contacted by one lady, who wanted a cute blue snowsuit for her little kitty due to the fact that she’s so small and gets cold easily. I had some free time, so… why not? Here’s the result!

snowsuit1

This snowsuit has 2 layers of knit instead of fleece inner layer. The main reason for this is that knit offers so much more flexibility and lets the kitty to move more easily. Fleece doesn’t have as much stretchiness, and even though it’s very warm & soft, it might restrict the movement of the cat, especially when it comes to something as thick as the snowsuit.

snowsuit2

In the front the snowsuit has a zipper and 3 paw buttons, just like the previous one. It also has holes for the harness and tail. The hood is also casual and is there more for the style than function – the kitty has fur, so she didn’t need her head or tail to be very well covered. This snowsuit also has waterproof fabric on the paws, so that kitty’s paws wouldn’t get all wet, cold and uncomfortable.

It was also easier to make this snowsuit than the previous one as I already had some experience and more knowledge. Also, it didn’t require as much sewing, so it was definitely quicker to make. Overall I really liked making it and would probably consider doing it again in the future!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day!

asta

Love For Cats & Neon Hearts

September 11, 2016July 27, 2018 / Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

As autumn is quickly approaching and warm summer days soon will be long gone, I decided to play with colors. It’s always nice to have something colorful around in the wintertime, isn’t it? But this time I didn’t hold myself back with muted colors – I went for the bright neon ones! And – of course – I combined all the brightness with the love we have for our best friends, and that’s how these neon heart sweaters were born.

The first sweater is dark gray color with 3 rows of bright pink hearts around the collar. I really love the pop of color that it gives to otherwise simple and plain sweater. There’s nothing wrong with being simple (I always think that often less is more), but in this case I think that these little hearts are a very cute addition and would brighten up everyone’s mood instantly. The yarn is 75% wool & 25% polyamide. If you’d like to get one, you can do it here: Pink Neon Hearts.

This sweater was a bit of an experiment. I just couldn’t make up my mind as to whether I should stick to more conservative style or should I just go all in. In the end I decided to make it more playful, therefore it has so much more bright colors than the other sweaters from this range. There’s only one sweater available, so it’s definitely a one of a kind choice for everyone who isn’t afraid of some colorful things! The blue yarn is 75% wool & 25% polyamide and the bright lime green one is 100% acrylic. You can get this beautiful sweater here: Lime Green Pop.

And the last, but definitely not the least is this cute deep blue sweater with neon lime green hearts. It is more conservative than the previous one and will fulfill the needs of everyone, who wants something more reserved, but still likes some pop of color. This sweater is made of yarn that consists of 75% wool & 25% polyamide. You can get it over here: Green Neon Hearts.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful week ahead!

asta

Custom order: mommy & kitty matching sweaters to spice up the autumn

August 22, 2016July 27, 2018 / Asta Lamminen / Leave a comment

Back in the autumn of 2015, I was contacted by a nice lady, who mentioned that she’d like to get matching sweaters for her kitty – Gwennie – and herself. At first I was a little cautious and a bit concerned, because I don’t really make clothes for people and the last time I made a sweater for a person was ages ago. I expressed that to her, but she still said she wanted me to give it a go. She didn’t really have any certain deadline, so we decided that once I get better (I was sick at the time) and have more free time, we’ll talk more about it and see what we can come up with.

So here came spring of 2016, and we started planning what we’ll do. She looked through my sweaters, chose few designs and colors. In the end she wanted her sweater to be inspired by this cat sweater that I have in my shop:

When it comes to color, she really liked the mustard yarn that is available in my shop. Once we decided on the design & color, she sent me her measurements along with the wishes on the shape of the sweater, length of the sleeves, etc.

At first we were talking about me making a sweater, but eventually she decided that she would like a sweater-dress instead that would be snuggly and comfy to wear with leggings for example. She gave me the length she wished for the sweater-dress, and then my work started. It took a little trial and error, but in the end she was satisfied with the result, when I sent the pictures of a finished product.

done1

Even though she was satisfied with the sweater-dress, I couldn’t really completely relax until she received the item. I was constantly thinking: but what if in real life the sweater-dress doesn’t meet her expectations? Or what if it doesn’t fit right? These thoughts kept on crossing my mind until few weeks later when the buyer received the package left me these reviews:

lou ann

That was a big relief! Actually, I really thought that it will take much longer and will be much harder to make this sweater-dress for a person, because sweaters meant for cats are so much different in their structure and are knitted in different way. But… As long as I have another satisfied customer, I am happy! And I truly gained more experience, which is always a great thing. We have this saying in my country that “You won’t carry the weight of the knowledge on your shoulders”, which basically means that whatever you learn, won’t do bad to you.

But for now… Have a beautiful day everyone and I wish your week will go well!

asta

Purring Pyjamas

Author: Asta Lamminen

Review: Flying Tiger Pet Food Catapult – Does It Work?

The softest sweaters in the world are here!

Review: CATNIP SILVER VINE STICKS – Worth It Or Not?

Summer vibes in snowy Finland

Bling The World: New Super Soft Swarovski Sweaters Are Out!

DIY Cat Treats: Easy, Quick & Yummy

Review: Zooplus Cat Den – Yay or Nay?

Another Snowsuit: Royal Blues In White Winter

Love For Cats & Neon Hearts

Custom order: mommy & kitty matching sweaters to spice up the autumn