Consumerism » Alysha♥DeShaé

Litter Comparison: Tidy Cats -vs- Special Kitty

Posted by Alysha DeShaé on Tuesday, July 05, 2011 at 12:30 pm Consumerism, Feline Features

Jul 052011

As I’m sure you know if you have been on my site before, or checked out my facebook or twitter, my husband and I have four cats. This means we use a good bit of litter. I’m not really picky when it comes to litter and neither are our cats, but we have tried several different types over the years.

Recently, when I was at Wal-Mart, I saw five things of the Tidy Cats Premium Scoop Power Blend for Multiple Cats Cat Litter. (That’s a big title for some litter, right?) For some reason, these 27 pound containers were on clearance for $6 each instead of their usual $13; naturally, I picked up all five!

Clearance Litter

Now, I don’t know why the litter was on clearance, but it was $1 cheaper than the 28 pound Special Kitty Superior Clumping Formula for Multiple Cats that I normally get. Supposedly, the Tidy Cats brand is better, too. However, I’m not likely to buy the Tidy Cats litter again. Not that we’ll need litter for a good while, but still!

Tidy Cats

The Special Kitty brand is Wal-Mart brand litter. It’s what I usually buy and my cats like it. Plus, it’s only $7 for a 28 pound box! The Tidy Cats litter is supposed to be fantastic, and maybe some of them are. In all honesty, though, while the Tidy Cats litter is good, it isn’t better than the Special Kitty. And it certainly doesn’t justify the price! If the Special Kitty litter is $7 and the brand name $13 with one pound less in the box, then you better be damn good! I better not smell a single bad odor, your clumps better stay together, and I damn well better not have any tracking issues! Unfortunately, the Tidy Cats brand just wasn’t quite up to the job.

Smells:

Yes, it kept odors down and you don’t really smell anything until you actually scoop the litter box, but I think it’s scented because while I don’t smell much poop, I do smell a perfume-like scent which is kind of weird. The perfume smell isn’t too much of a problem for me, but Special Kitty keeps odors down without any perfume smells. In fact, the first time my husband and I tried the Special Kitty brand, we forgot to change the litter for almost a week because we couldn’t smell anything at all and thought it was being changed by the other person! (Sorry, babies!)

Clumping:

Both brands seem to clump really well. I think the Tidy Cats dries a little faster than the Special Kitty, but unless you’re using an automatic litter box, I can’t see it being a real advantage. The clumps tend to stay together unless you actually put the scooper right through a clump, but that just means you need to scoop from the sides to the middle. Leeroy likes to urinate in the corner of the litter box which gives you an awkward stuck-to-the-wall clump with both litters. I find that the Special Kitty comes out of the corner and off the wall slightly easier than the Tidy Cats.

Tracking:

With all litter, you will get some tracking problems. With our cats, the litter seems to accumulate most on and in the couch. (Luckily we’re never in the living room to use it!) The Special Kitty tracks very little, especially since we bought a litter mat, and there was seldom any litter stuck to the cats feet or in their fur. But the Tidy Cats makes me want to pull my hair out and cry. Casper, our furriest cat, always has litter stuck to him somewhere and all of the cats have it stuck to their feet. So much litter is tracked out that the mat is covered and cannot do it’s job so the litter ends up tracked to other parts of the house, especially their couch. (Yes, the couch belongs to the cats.)

Litter Mat

Special Kitty is the Winner!

Yes, obviously, the Special Kitty wins! In every instance. It’s $7 for 28 pounds and I rounded up a few cents. It does a great job of keeping down odors as long as you change the litter box like you’re supposed to do. You will smell poop if you leave it sitting for a month. It clumps like a champ and tracking is minimal, even without a litter mat. If you have cats, quit spending $13 for brand name junk and give Special Kitty a try!

Special Kitty

Also, I have tried litter like Fresh Step, other Tidy Cats formulas, special “no tracking” litters, and litters that I can’t even remember. Out of all of them, though, Special Kitty Superior Clumping Formula for Multiple Cats remains the best. I cannot actually comment on their other formulas because I haven’t tried them, but look for the green box at your Wal-Mart and pick it up. Even if you or your cat end up not liking it, it’s only $7 which isn’t much.

Side note:

My babies all have facebook pages! I mentioned this last month, but go like them, please. They need some love!

We’ve been busy, busy, busy!

Posted by Alysha DeShaé on Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 09:59 pm Consumerism, Me

Apr 182010

Jaime and I have been super busy with buying a house.

O_o A house?!

Yep, a house! :-D

We’re really excited! We found an adorable little house right down the street from my grandmother that I really wanted, so we made an offer on it and then signed a purchase agreement!

I was over the moon!

That is, until we did another walk-through with his dad. We realized that all the updates on the inside were thrown together and not professionally done.

We were a bit upset at that, but still wanted the house because the location was amazing, even if you didn’t take into consideration my family. Momo was right down the street with Nanny and Uncle Chuck right next to her, and Aunt Gael and Uncle Butch were right across the street. It was near I-10 and Airline Highway and in a good school district.

Too bad for the sellers that Jaime’s dad was thorough in his inspection. We walked around the freshly (if haphazardly) painted outside. We knew the paint job wasn’t the best and there were several spots were the paint was really messed up; we had chalked that up to bad painting. Little did we know that every one of those spots of “bad painting” was really a rotten spot in the wood that the paint was covering!

Oh no! This amazing house was really kind of a dump and we had signed a contract saying that we were going to buy it! I was almost in tears because of how upset I was.

Quick interruption with a time-frame here:

We first looked at the house on Sunday, April 11. We made the offer that afternoon. Monday, April 12 was my 26th birthday. It was also the day that we received the counter-offer and signed the purchase agreement. Tuesday (the 13th) we went back to the house in the evening just to look through it again and make sure we really did like it. Jaime’s dad met us there that evening and did an inspection with us.

Well, I was devastated, to say the least. Jaime, however, was on top of everything.

Wednesday evening (the 14th) we had an appointment to walk through an eight-year-old house in Sorrento. I left work a little early to be there on time and when I got there I didn’t really pay attention to the house. I walked through to make sure there wasn’t anything I hated about it.

There was, of course. Two things, actually.

The first, was the color of the hardiplank siding. It is an atrocious pink color. Yuck! I hate pink with a passion! That can be easily painted, though.

The second thing is not so easily fixed. The stove and oven are electric. I shudder to think of how awful my cooking will be with an electric stove, but I’ll make do. It isn’t likely that we’ll ever be able to fix that problem because there aren’t any gas lines running to the neighborhood at all.

There are some major pluses, though, such as: There is no home owner’s association and therefore no restrictions in the neighborhood (which is the only reason I even considered the house once I found out it was in a neighborhood). Jaime’s friend/co-worker Rey lives in the neighborhood. The bedrooms are quite large considering the size of the house. The backyard is pretty big for a neighborhood. The house is in a cul-de-sac. All of the closets in the house are a good size. We don’t have to do any work to the house before moving in.

Jaime and I are really excited about this house. It’s 1200 square feet, has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a laundry “room,” a living room, kitchen, and breakfast area. (The laundry room is more like a really big closet, but it’s technically a room.)

Jaime has said that I get the front bedroom as a book room and computer room. His desktop will be in there, too, but it will still be my book room. The second bedroom will be the guest bedroom until we have children and then it will be their room.

Considering the size of the house, we don’t think we’ll be there forever, but it’s a fantastic starter house until we have children and they start getting older. Of course, considering that there aren’t restrictions in that neighborhood, it’s possible that was can just add-on to the house (almost) as much as we want and make the house as big as we need it so that it becomes our starter and permanent house. :-p

However, I am unbelievable happy with my birthday present this year. I get a house. Even better, I get a house with Jaime, and nothing beats that! I am so lucky to have my Jaime!

How doth the little … What?!

Posted by Alysha DeShaé on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 03:22 pm Consumerism, Me, Thoughts

Mar 202010

So, surely, all of us know (or have heard) the little poem from Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland. Few of us know that it is a parody of a real poem. I’ve always been curious because she says that she didn’t say it correctly in the story after reciting this version:

How doth the little crocodile

Improve his shining tail,

And pour the waters of the Nile

On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,

How neatly spreads his claws,

And welcomes little fishes in

With gently smiling jaws!

This is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s (better known as Lewis Carroll) parody of the poem “Against Idleness And Mischief” by Isaac Watts.

How doth the little busy bee

Improve each shining hour

And gather honey all the day

From every opening flower!

How skilfully she builds her cell!

How neat she spreads the wax!

And labours hard to store it well

With the sweet food she makes.

In works of labour or of skill,

I would be busy too;

For Satan finds some mischief still

For idle hands to do.

In books, or work, or healthful play,

Let my first years be passed,

That I may give for every day

Some good account at last.

I actually quite like the second poem, but the parody makes me giggle.

Anyways, I learned something new so I figured I would share it with all of you!

Oh, and for those who have never read the books, check out Project Gutenberg for those and tons of others! Or, of course, if you’re like me and prefer to have a physical book in your hands, you can buy the Penguin Classics edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass which includes both books and a few other extras! Mine came in yesterday and I’m going to start reading it as soon as I finish my other books. It’s only $8.00 from Amazon.com and it’s eligible for their “super saving shipping” if your total is $25.00 or more. It’s definitely worth it!

Happy reading, peoples!

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Posted by Alysha DeShaé on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 09:56 am Consumerism, Thoughts

Dec 302009

There are a few spoilers in this post if you want to watch it first.

So, I watched the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” last night with Jaime and my brother. I had never seen it and didn’t know anything about the movie. Well, that’s not true, I knew he ages backwards, but that was it. I’m not sure what kind of movie I expected it to be, but I was not prepared for a love story.

Especially such a sad love story. By the end of the movie, I was bawling! No, not ballin’, like those thug-losers say, but bawling.

Amusing sidenote, the first time I heard someone say they were “ballin’” I was soo confused! I finally asked them why they kept saying that they were crying when they obviously weren’t. They looked at me like I was the stupid one. Needless to say, I got a brief and crude definition of their slang and they learned that “ballin’” sounds a lot like a real word that implies that they are crybabies.

I really, really enjoyed watching the movie and it’s definitely worth the buy if you don’t already have it or haven’t seen it, but be warned: It is a very sad love story.

Raise your hand if you remember “Titanic.” *watches as everyone on the Internet raises their virtual hand* Okay, cool. Do you remember how that movie was done? With the old lady telling the story? Well, that’s kind of how this movie is done.

The old lady (Daisy, the main female character) tells parts of the story and the parts that she doesn’t tell are read from Benjamin Button’s diary by their daughter. Oh, and this is how the daughter finds out that her dad is not her biological father.

Oh, and it’s based in New Orleans, so they throw in some stupid junk about Hurricane Katrina throughout the movie. The TV is on in the background whenever they show the “present” time and it’s always on either the weather channel or the news with nothing but weather coverage. It’s a bit pointless, in my opinion, but I guess they wanted to tie the very last scene to something that some people consider totally tragic. (Let’s just leave it at that and not get me started on what I think about what happened.)

Obviously, after watching the movie for a little while, you start to realize what must happen in the movie before it ends. And it does happen. Benjamin continues to grow younger until he dies. What I didn’t expect was that… Hmm, I think my next thoughts would be giving away too much.

Oh well, the movie is definitely worth the time and cost, so by all means, watch it and enjoy. Just remember that if you’re anything like me, you’ll end up crying your eyes out and telling people not to say “you’re cute when you’re crying” like I had to do. :-)

By the end of the movie, I was bawling! No, not ballin’, like those thug-losers say, but bawling.

Back to the movie…

I really, really enjoyed watching the movie and it’s definitely worth the buy if you don’t already have it or haven’t seen it, but be warned: It is a very sad love story.

The old lady (the main female character) tells parts of the story and the parts that she doesn’t tell are read from Benjamin Button’s diary by their daughter. Oh, and this is how the daughter finds out that her dad is not her biological father.

Oh, and it’s based in New Orleans, so they throw in some stupid junk about Hurricane Katrina throughout the movie.So, I watched the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” last night with Jaime and my brother. I had never seen it and didn’t know anything about the movie. Well, that’s not true, I knew he ages backwards, but that was it. I’m not sure what kind of movie I expected it to be, but I was not prepared for a love story. Especially such a sad love story.

By the end of the movie, I was bawling! No, not ballin’, like those thug-losers say, but bawling.

Back to the movie…

I really, really enjoyed watching the movie and it’s definitely worth the buy if you don’t already have it or haven’t seen it, but be warned: It is a very sad love story.

Oh, and it’s based in New Orleans, so they throw in some stupid junk about Hurricane Katrina throughout the movie.

Twilight: New Moon

Posted by Alysha DeShaé on Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 11:12 pm Consumerism, Me, Thoughts

Nov 222009

Jaime and I went to a 12:30a showing of New Moon at the Rave off of O’Neal Lane. It was awesome!!

First, the theater was full of little teenagers and a bunch of gay guys. It was hilarious! Second, there were these three girls who said they were triplets who were entertaining the theater before the previews came on. I’m not sure if they were doing better before we got there, but they were trying to play charades and the only thing they would say was, “Does anyone have any ideas?” Third, the moms. Oh my word the MOMS!

When Jacob (Taylor Lautner) took his shirt off, the entire theater went “woooo” followed by an older lady saying, “I couldn’t help it! It was a reflex.” O_o Yeah, I was a little creeped out.

Anyways, the movie was fantastic and I loved it! Now, I know it’s not just me because Jaime said the same thing, but does anyone else think that Bella (Kristen Stewart) always seemed like she had to potty? I know that in the book she has issues speaking. (ie: She stumbles over her words and has difficulty forming words.) It’s understandable when you’re surrounded by two incredibly good looking guys who both want you, but it seemed a bit much. I don’t remember her having that much difficulty in the book.

I need to reread the books, because it’s been a while since I’ve read them. I meant to read them before seeing the second movie, but it sort of snuck up on me. In fact, I was lucky to get tickets at the last minute!

Jaime said he liked Edward (Robert Pattinson) better in this movie than in the first movie. O_o Edward was only in the very beginning and very end of the movie! Silly boys. He isn’t a big fan of Edward … something about him being “emo” or some such nonsense. He’s such a hypocrite. Haha!

Oh, and because I’m lame like that, this is my favorite part of the first movie:

His accent pops out just a teeny tiny little bit and it just makes me giggle insanely!

If you haven’t seen New Moon yet, go see it! In spite of the acting being a little overkill (in my opinion) it’s still great!

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