3/17/2022 0 Comments Cat WheelsIf you plan on getting a new kitten in the near future, you might be wondering if a cat wheel is worth all of the hype. Today, I’m going to try my best to answer that question. Sometimes you’ll have a kitten/cat that just won’t use it. Our first Bengal, Phoenix, won’t touch a cat wheel. They weird him out. However, we didn’t own a cat wheel when he was a kitten. He didn’t grow up using one. So, I don’t know… Maybe it would be different if he had grown up around them and had been taught at an early age. A couple more examples… Echo, our tabby cat, and Perry, my daughter’s black cat, won’t use them. Again, neither of them had a cat wheel growing up. We bought two cat wheels right before we brought Phoebe (our second Bengal) home as a kitten. She LOVES cat wheels. It is almost all she wants to do. Of course, Tracy at Lunakatz (Phoebe’s birthplace) also has cat wheels for her cats. So, Phoebe was already accustomed to using them. All of Phoebe’s kittens have been taught to use the cat wheel and they all have enjoyed using them. There are frequent cat wheel wars going on here daily at Echoes Bengals. Our cats love them so much they will fight over them. Let me elaborate. One cat is running on the wheel. Another cat jumps on the wheel and makes a point to run a little faster than the other cat, in an attempt to hamster wheel toss the other cat out of the cat wheel. Then, the other cat jumps back on and tries to do the same thing. Round and round it goes until eventually someone gives up. Cat wheel wars… battles… whatever you’d like to call them… they are fun to watch! If you have a cat that gets bored easily, a cat wheel can be an excellent option. You do have to put thought into what cat wheel to buy. There are a lot of options out there. So, where do you start? Let’s start with the most popular option, One Fast Cat Wheel. One Fast Cat Wheels have been around for a few years now. The first two cat wheels we purchased were through this California based company. The wheels were difficult to put together. You had to use a mallet to pound the pieces into place. I guess we didn’t know our own strength because we broke one of the wheels while putting it together. Luckily, the company sent us replacement parts free of charge. (I’m guessing that wasn’t the first time that had happened.) For a One Fast Cat Wheel you’re looking at spending $250-$300 depending if you want upgrades added to your purchase. You can add special LED wheels and a training kit with a cat wand and laser pointer if you want to. ***Warning with One Fast Cat Wheel - I’m adding this little note because I don’t purchase this cat wheel anymore at this time. My reason is that this wheel has become well known for it’s instability. It has been known to tip over and injure cats. Sadly, in some cases, it has tipped over and killed some cats. I do believe that One Fast Cat has been working on these issues. They’re selling their 5th Generation on their website now. I now purchase the Ferris Cat Exercise Wheel through ZiggyDoo.com. The Ferris Wheel is much bigger than One Fast Cat. It’s sturdier and more stable. There was no mallet to put this wheel together. It was still a lot of work and took significant time to assemble. My husband and I put this one together as a team. The downside to this cat wheel is that it’s going to cost you around $465. That’s significantly more than the One Fast Cat Wheel. Twice the wheel, twice the cost?? The other thing is that you’ll be put on a waiting list. They’ll notify you when your order will be shipped. It took MONTHS for our cat wheel to be shipped… MONTHS!!! I do believe it was worth the wait though. The quality is outstanding! There are other cat wheels out there. You can buy custom cat wheels through someplace like Etsy. Many of those are beautifully crafted. You can go as fancy or as expensive as you like. My only advice is to consider safety. Please, do your research. Make sure whoever you’re buying from knows what they’re doing. I’ll have to find a better Cat Wheel War video. This one doesn’t show the “hamster wheel toss” that I was trying to describe. For now it will have to do…
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3/8/2022 0 Comments Five Tiny Hearts❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Aurora’s appointment went well today. Her heart sounded good. She’s one happy and healthy, soon to be mama cat of five sweet baby kittens!
Our veterinarian went ahead with an X-Ray in order to determine approximately how many kittens we should be expecting. We do this as a precaution for when the kittens are delivered. We like to know that all kittens have been delivered safely and are accounted for. This is also meant as a protective measure for the mother cat. We want the delivery to be as healthy and as risk free as possible. (It’s also just fun to know how many there are and to see the babies!…kind of like how people get an ultrasound.) Three kittens are clustered together and two others are side by side. With the X-Ray, it is a little hard to tell what you’re looking at. I tried to kind of guess where the heart of each kitten would be, based off of what our veterinarian showed me. You can sort of see the outline of each kittens’ spine, as well as each skull. Rory was a little anxious at her appointment. So, she got a little extra spoiling after we got back home. A little quality tuna, a new catnip smelling crinkle fish toy, and a lot of extra loving were just what a stressed out mama cat needs to sooth her frazzled nerves… and a long deserved nap. 3/7/2022 0 Comments March 07th, 2022Kittens Coming Soon…
Aurora🌹 & Lucky Clover🍀 are having kittens and their due date is March 17th. St. Patrick’s Day is going to be very exciting at Echoes Bengals this year!🌈🍀 Short story… I wrote down the approximate due date for the kittens way back when Aurora and Clover were paired for breeding. A couple of days ago I was filling out my new calendar, updating and adding upcoming events and appointments. It was only then that it dawned on me that the the 17th is actually on St. Patrick’s Day. When I mentioned this to my husband his response was, “Well, he is Lucky Clover.” Mind blown. 🤯 Ha! But seriously, it’s funny how things fall together like that sometimes. That’s just crazy. Anyways, I thought it was share worthy. We are getting very excited for this upcoming litter. It’s been a while since we’ve had kittens around here! Aurora’s check-up appointment is tomorrow. Check with us tomorrow afternoon to see if we were able to get a kitten count.🥰 2/26/2022 0 Comments Zoey, Zoey, Zoey…I’m still sick. No change there. Regardless, I got up as I usually would. I stick to my usual routine… coffee, take care of the pets, pick up around the house a little, check emails, etc. (I’d better take some cough syrup.) I’m ready for my day. So, the coughing begins. It starts out as a tiny little tickle at the back of my throat. Before I know it, it becomes what can only be described as an all out thirty minute coughing frenzy by the time it is over. I’m going back and forth from being hunched over hacking out a lung to pacing the floor. The dogs and cats have no idea what’s going on. They’re all overly concerned. Rex is in my face. Hunter’s constantly under my feet. Every cat and dog in the house thinks I’m dying. Heck, I think I’m dying! No, I’m fine. I just need more cough syrup! Cough drops! What happened to my cough drops!?! More coughing. More pacing. Maybe my inhaler. Crap! Where! Oh, upstairs. More coughing (continuous coughing). All animals following (because I might be dying) all the way upstairs and then back downstairs. More (just a sip) cough syrup. I continue my coughing for quite some time after just sitting on the couch surrounded by my pets. After taking a wee bit more cough syrup than was necessary, I ended up falling asleep in the upright position on the couch. I woke up with my pets still around me. Zoey was in my lap. Rex and Hunter were on the floor by my feet. Fleur was lying next to me on the couch. Phoebe, Rory, and Prada were all close by. My mind went to Zoey. Oh, my little Zoey, Zoey, Zoey…. We’ve had Zoey, our long-haired miniature chihuahua, for going on four years now. The two of us haven’t always been the best of friends. You see, she was given to us after a family member on my husband’s side passed away. Her name was Pat and she loved her little dogs. Pat was a nice person, both to me and to my family. I loved Pat. I cared about Pat. I knew her from family, from church, and from the neighborhood. My kids trick-or-treated at her house pretty much every year. We had both lived in the same small town. My family loves Zoey (and Marvin… a story for another day). We are happy we brought her into our family. Zoey and Caleb, my son, instantly had a connection. However, Zoey and I haven’t always been able to see eye to eye with each other. Zoey does what she wants, when she wants, where she wants. Unfortunately that even includes her potty habits… poop and pee. So, yes, we tend to disagree with each other a lot. I’ll admit that she’s grown on me. She’s learning, albeit in baby step fashion. I’ll take what I can get. This is Zoey’s sad story… Pat had five dogs when she died. She had COPD. One night, she was having trouble breathing and dialed 911. The ambulance unfortunately didn’t make it there in time to save her. The hospital was too far away. Pat didn’t make it. When the ambulance arrived at Pat’s house, all of her dogs were lying on her or around her. Such an honorable thing! How beautiful was their love for Pat! They were with her until the end. They were trying to comfort her. They wanted to help her if only they could. That’s love. Real love. So, now back to my little story. I woke up a few hours later. I’m sitting upright on the couch, surrounded by pets, Zoey’s in my lap. The cough syrup has done it’s job. I get a call from Stephen. I tell him what happened. It goes like this… “Oh my word, Babe… I just woke up on the couch. I fell asleep sitting upright! I never do that! When I woke up Zoey was curled up in my lap! I was like, what the heck!?! She never usually does that! It made me feel bad! I’m not dying girl! I’m going to start coughing again because I’m getting myself worked up.” ***For the record I was worked up and happy to know that she loves me and cares about my well-being. However, it made me sad to wonder if she was thinking about Pat or what happened to Pat when she died. You never really know what animals are thinking. ***Also, for the record. Zoey and I have compromised on the potty issues. So far, she will go outside to poop and pee with the other dogs… unless she doesn’t feel like it. If it’s raining, if it’s too cold, if there are fireworks, or if there are any other loud noises then you can forget about her cooperation. She will only go out if the other dogs go out with her… and only if she feels like it. (It’s a work in progress. 😉) ***Lastly, I have nothing but respect and love for Pat, Zoey, Marvin, and her other little dogs. May my friend, Pat, Rest In Peace knowing that she was truly loved.❤️ ⭐️ Zoey, Looking Like a Movie Star ⭐️
2/25/2022 0 Comments “Someday Traveler”I have the heart of an adventurer. I’d love to travel to all of the different continents of the world, learn a new language like Mandarin (I’ve actually been learning a little with Rosetta Stone!), and visit the wonders of the world. While I may have the heart of an adventurer, I’ve always been grounded to be more of a “Someday Traveler”. I’m an introverted cat person. I dream of travel. I enjoy photography and I think I’m pretty good with a camera, or so I’ve been told. My kids are all getting older. I’ve got some know how at this point… I’ve been to college. I was a teacher for a while. I homeschool my son. I even worked for the post office for a couple of years. I’ve had a crazy, busy life so far. I wanted to do something that I LOVE for a while… or maybe even for the rest of my life! So, here I am. I’m slowly learning to enjoy my new life. I’m surrounded by my beautiful Bengal cats… I’m a photographer. I’m an editor. I’m a small hobby business owner. I have my own website. I set my own schedule. I’m (still) a homeschool mom. I have a lot of responsibilities. But, yeah!… I’m living my best life! I do sometimes get to make special road trips. Last year, my son and I went to Chicago, Illinois, to Richmond, Virginia, and to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. We enjoy traveling to cat shows and delivering kittens to their new families in other states. We also travel to pick up new kittens for our breeding program. I refer to myself as a “Someday Traveler” because in this life we will always have things to do, places to go, and people to see. Reality is that we’ll never, no matter how many days we have left, be able to do all of the things we want to do before our time is up. There will never be enough time in one lifetime. One day, when my time is up…someday, when I travel beyond this life into the next… I just want to know that I did well. Echoes Bengals is part of my story, my legacy. Colorado Springs, Colorado
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AuthorAngie J Hendricks Owner of Echoes Bengals ArchivesCategories |
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