I’ve had a few cats and none of them seemed terribly fond of playing dress up. I can only imagine the fun you’d have trying to fit kitty into an emergency evacuation vest in the midst of fire, flood or other natural hazard. Seems like a portable pet carrier might do just as well. This emergency pet vest offers:

* Japan Firefighting Association-certified flame-retardant jacket
* Materials: polyester (base cloth), polyurethane (outer shell), fireproof acrylic (lining)
* Heavy-duty carry handle, and double-duty strap/leash
* Pet supplies: food bowl, muzzle, hermetically sealed odor control bag (for any items distressing the pet), protective rain hood and rubber booties, freezer gel paks (to control heat), bell, waterproof ID capsule with blank paper
* Human/pet supplies: 50mL sealed water packs for drinking or disinfecting, nutrition bars, bandages, aromatic oil (for calming panic), first-aid gloves, mini-radio, emergency whistle
* Number of water packs and energy bars vary; see size chart for details
* Manual: Japanese, but self-explanatory

Japan Trend Shop via OhGizmo!

There are close to a million choices when it comes to bowl feeders for your dog.

Most are of the plain jane variety, either stainless steel or hard plastic.

A few are ceramic and have painted designs on them.

But what about those people who leave their dog’s bowls out all day and are interested in maintaining the overall look and design of their kitchen?

Or those  just looking for a way to make easting easier on their dog?

The Fawski feeder might be just what you’re looking for.

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There aren’t many things more amusing than watching a kitten chase a laser pointer’s dot. Kittties are playful and energetic to begin with, but giving them an impossible to catch “mouse” creates a game which never seems to tire them.

My cat Avah is two years old, and while she no longer has quite the playful moves she used to impress me with, she still shows moments of friskiness when a moth gets in the house or a string is dangling. We’ve played the laser pointer game before with comedic results, so I figured that she would be the perfect test subject for the FroliCat BOLT, an automatic laser light cat toy. FroliCat was kind enough to send me a review unit; Avah was kind enough to get off her cushion and play along…

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Cats make great pets because they don’t require a lot of attention like dogs do. Just give them a bowl of food and a pan of litter, and they can pretty much take care of themselves. The only down side to having an indoor kitty is that we humans have to clean their ‘toilet’ for them. Not fun…

Today Julie of The Gadgeteer and I are going to tell you all about the CatGenie. It’s an alternative to the traditional litter box. Will our cats love it? Will we love it? Read on to find out…

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Ever wonder what your cat or dog does all day when you’re not home? I really never have given it much thought but for the pet lovers who can’t wait to buy birthday and holiday presents for fluffy or fido, this pet eye camera may be your thing. Set the camera interval to 1, 5 or 15 minutes and up to 40 photos (640 x 480 resolution) will be captured. Includes a USB cable so you can upload the pictures. PC and Mac compatible.

Cat & Dog Pet’s Eye View Camera – $49.99

I just received word about a photo contest going on at Anamigo, a new pet photo site and blog community. By entering a cute pet photo, you have the chance to win up to $300 a week…

ANAMIGO PET PHOTO CONTEST

Is your pet cute enough to win you $300? Enter the Anamigo Pet Photo contest and find out. Entries that get the most votes will win daily and weekly cash prizes. You could win:

- Daily prize of $25. (You have 7 days to win!)
- Weekly prize of $125 Get your camera out and email your friends. Your furry friend could bring you in cash!

Which picture should win this week? I would have to go with the picture of Sarah’s cat Broadway, taken after she found him in our fireplace…!

Where can I pick up my prize?

If you post a picture in the contest, post the link so we can vote for you.

Link: Anamigo Cute Pet Photo Contest

Here’s one for the “why would I need that” file. It’s a doggie treat launcher. Insert your favorite dog treat. Pull the trigger. The treat launches into the air for your dog to fetch and eat. According to the packaging, the treats launch in random directions so the dog is “never bored”. You’re probably asking yourself why you couldn’t just throw the treat with your hands. Well that’s easy. Dogs are smart. They’ll sense where you are going to throw and soon become bored. Ok I made that up. There’s really no reason that I can think of for this other than it’s a cute gimmicky item. Fill it with Gummy Bears and launch them at your kids. Be sure to heed the instructions “Do not look directly into launcher while pulling trigger.“. Hey, thanks for the warning….

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When Sarah and I first got Avah, one of the conditions (beyond that we would take turns cleaning out her litter box in those pre Litter-Robot days) was that we get her declawed. My only justification looking back, was that we don’t have leather furniture, and I didn’t want our chenille sofas to be shredded by a claw-sharpening maniac.

I asked our vet’s receptionist about it when I took Avah in for her first shots, and she asked me “front and back? or just front?” Doing both just seemed excessive, even though Avah is an indoors-only cat, so I responded “front,” thinking that it would be enough.

Oh stupid, stupid me.

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Of all the gadgets which I have ever reviewed, I think that the Litter-Robot would definitely win the title of most offbeat, but it was well worth doing. In late January, I unboxed the Litter-Robot, set it up, and then sat back to see whether Avah would accept this “spaceship” as her litter box.

It will have been two months tomorrow, and we have both lived to tell about it, so that should immediately tell you that things went well.

But lets go back to the beginning…

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If you own a cat, then you know that there is one part of pet ownership that can suck the joy out of the experience. No, I am not talking about hearing your cat hacking up hairballs in the middle of the night while she is sleeping on the bed next to you (not that Avah ever has or ever would do that, mind you), I am talking about cleaning out the litter box.

Ever since Sarah and I added the marvelous Avah to our family, we have taken the good with the bad: snuggles, purring, and lap-warming for twice weekly sifting. Although keeping her box tidy isn’t too big of a chore, when it is my turn to do it I can think of 20 other things I would rather be doing.

Today I received a review sample of the Litter-Robot, which I requested based on Gear Diary reader Michael Harmon’s recommendation. Michael says it is like a cement mixer, I say it is like a space ship, and Avah says it looks pretty interesting to her. Here are a series of pictures where Avah checks out her new digs (pun intended), gives her impressions in her own words, and my unboxing and setup videos come at the end.

o hai. welcum to mi spaceship

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One of the things that I dislike about going out of town is having to take my pets to the boarder; Gizmo usually tries to hide (and then seethes for days after my return), and Avah also makes her displeasure known by hiding before the fact and then ignoring me afterwards. It’s like they know that when you are breaking out the suitcases something bad is coming, and it is stressful for all involved. Then there is the issue of stopping the mail and getting someone to come by to pick up packages; it’s a hassle, and there’s really no other way around it…right?

But if you live in the Addison Texas area, you’ve got options that are not available to the rest of us – and they involve a unique applications of MMS. Let me introduce you to The Pet Nanny Addison, a company is making the most of Windows Mobile technology.

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