Marro - Turkey Test [@NLi10]

 Marro are happy to deliver boxes of luxury meat for our cats to devour on demand - and oddly both of them seem to love the Turkey version.  We were asked if we'd like to try a taste comparisson between two versions  - so we said yes!

The idea is you just split the food and they try both and see what they like the most.  On day 1 I didn't get the splut right for the cats but this is just as well as Flo with the white bowls will eat until all is gone where as Luna with the Blue bowls stops when full.

And they were most interested in the setting up that had to go on

Flo liked number 2

Luna liked number 1

but then pretty much demolished the whole thing

And Flo surgically cleaned the bowls ready to try to steal the remaining blue food.

It must be very hard to find out what cats actually prefer - especially ones that want to eat it all then have thirds.  

The Marro food has worked out a little more expensive than I'd have liked overall but they do both love it and it certainly fills them up and gives them energy to play so alongside biscuits they have kept having it for now.

MARRO - fresh cat food unboxing and first feed [@NLi10]

 My parents feed their dogs something called Butternut which comes in the post and is better than your typical dog food.  We use KatKin for one of our cats but the other really hates it.  This is convenient as we only have one chip feeder.  The company that make Butternut have just started doing the cat equivalent so we jumped in!

The box was dumped at our door by the delivery guys, and lying on it's side - but fortunately I'd planned to be in.  It's a cute house!

So far - so modern.  Every inch of the box has slogans and sayings.  I couldn't find them on Insta - but here it says they are!

And a free toy in the first box - ace!  Luna suitably unimpressed as it's mid morning nap time.

The tray keeps everything safe - and is perfect for cats.  If you tape the corners (Marro should do this) then they love these to sit in.  

A couple of really good ice packs, and all the lovely food.  And suspiciously packed in the same wool layers as KatKin

Lovely little frozen multitrays.  Shallow enough to actually clean so far so haven't had to resort to the "slug trick" as with the Katkin (if you put them next to your compost heap the slugs will come out and clean them for you).

Luna has decided to try the door to the house after all - I've had to use scissors to widen the door as our other cat got wedged in and panicked a bit.  She's fine - just shocked when she tried to pull back.

Here is Luna's standard tuna can with a 1/4 of the fish version added

Here is FloBot's KatKin with the Marro 1/4 placed next to it - all very similar indeed!

I'd not considered that these all might be from the same place until it all arrived, but so far Luna actually seems to like the fish one here so I think the recipe's are different.

And 4 feeds in (2 pouches - 1/4 portions each time) it's all going pretty well.

Luna this morning wasn't fussed about either food, and ate some of the tuna at lunchtime but that's not unusual.

Flo has eaten everything as usual, but it doesn't seem to have upset her delicate digestion which is a win!

Note the free branded spork too - handy for chopping up the frozen lumps.

Overall - as a trial this is great value.  I think they sent us a 50% off referal code so comment if anyone in the UK wants to try it and I'll add it in here.

I'll update once I get through a week of meals and see if either of them actually eat a whole portion to themselves!

Body FUEL - Swizzles Drumstick Original Raspberry Flavour Drink - not PRIME [@NLi10]

 It's rank - avoid.

Longer version?  I was quite pleased with myself when I found this in Lidl - a knock off PRIME drink themed around a favourite childhood sweet?  Drumstick lollies in the UK are a chew on a stick - with a distinctive artificial fruit flavour, and a kind of custard flavour as it's second bit.  They are lovely.  I'd always assumed it was supposed to be rhubarb, but this says Raspberry!

Here is what it does - some vitamins & endurance? That's a new claim!

I don't think it's designed to be seen outside of the bottle - but that's fine.  Less artificial stuff.

But oh - the smell.  It's like drumstick lollies, but it has these other hints in there that are immediately off-putting.  Looking at the ingredients this is spring water based, instead of coconut water based (presumably to make it cheaper) but that just means they've had to shove all of the nutrients in there instead of just letting nature figure it out.

Consequently it's a mess, and the massive artificial smell on top just adds to it.  The lollies rely on the sugar - clearly, but here we have just 1 k calories per 100ml and it just doesn't work.  All the sucralose in the world can't save this.

It's only just about drinkable, and I'll probably finish it just to avoid waste - but it's not a pleasure and more like a challenge from an endurance based game-show.

If your child desperately needs vitamins, and is actually willing to drink this then 2 bottles a day will give them all they need.  But seriously, PRIME is more affordable than ever now, you might as well just buy the real thing and save yourself from the risk of them just pouring this down the sink.

Merry Christmas Toilet Paper Tree - Ocado [@NLi10]

 It's officially heading towards Christmas again!  And we've put the tree up.

Well - yes it does look like toilet rolls - and there is a reason for that.

The Who Gives A Crap company have been targeting me with subscription loo-rolls for ages, but who wants the possibility of a box of paper sitting out in the rain.

But - Ocado to the rescue - they are selling (slightly more expensive) boxed versions - so much easier to justify. And it's specifically designed to be a tree with a star! So cute and so useful.

The paper itself is generally fine - the squares seem a little smaller than usual, but they work as intended and are nice and white (which I know puts some people off some eco loo rolls).

And afterall - this is closer to what an artificial tree should be made of instead of the plastic monstrosities.  And it brightens up the bathroom for a bit.  Way more than one months supply for the two of us though.

The Christmas cactus is happily starting to flower already - by the time I get back to work it'll be in full bloom.

Tcha & a Bubble waffle [and pretty dogs] (@NLi10)

 I attended (and helped out at) a dog show near Coventry on Saturday, and nearby is one of the loveliest little farm shop/cafe's I've found.  It's a reason to go to the shows!

I picked up tcha tea in a can - and some salsa to review properly another day.

low calorie, vegan and gluten free? That's just tea - surely! Unfortunately it's very much just fruity water - nothing like the strong brewed teas you get in bottles from the grocery shops in Chinatown.  Refreshing, but disappointing.

One thing I got from Chinatown in Birmingham on Friday was this Happy Lemon Bubble Waffle. I'd not tried these before but they are the perfect mix of crispy bits and squishy batter. I'm having this again!

Back to the dog show...

In the shop they also had the mix for birthday cakes for dogs - yum! Oh hang on - with British Duck. Nope. And for £12 your puppy might rather have something else. Like a new bed!

Star is only 5 months old so no birthdays, but so many gifts anyway!

smol - tiny washing capsules to save the planet (@NLi10)

Not food today - but still kitchen stuff.  I bought these thinking they'd make a decent video, but really - who wants to see someone else's washing!

We've had the adverts for these Smol washing tablets for ages in the mobile games & FaceBook places that you usually see things like this - but as they have lasted for a while and made it into Sainsbury's I thought I'd give them a shot.

It's a nice compact box for 27 washes - designed to come in the post which is odd as I'd have thought that delivering everything at once to the supermarket was better for the environment.

The box has magic bits that stop your kids from doing the tide-pod challenge.

And science on the back to teach you how to use it (and open the box)

And they are right - a lot less plastic!

And they are pretty little things - and the washing smelled nice with no extra fabric nonsense added separately.

Assuming the chemicals inside are kind to the rivers & fish like our Ecover ones we currently use then these are a perfectly acceptable alternative to their big eco bottles - and easier to carry back from the shops too!

 

Utterly Mutterly - Dog Ice-cream by Teddy The Dog @NLi10 #utterlymutterly

 Commiserations to all of the U.K. on the death of Queen Elizabeth II. As she was a big fan of dogs, todays review is brought to you by Teddy The Chihuahua.

We went to Tenby today and the place is pretty dog friendly (for the right dogs)

And good dogs get ice cream for dogs!

Pictures have to be taken first

. '.

And the humans have to have their tea

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Then you get to see the ice cream 

It’s very hard to get pictures and ice cream at the same time

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Here I am with my owner and Lilly the dog I live with. She didn’t want to eat the ice cream

When I finished the ice cream I was too tired to walk so had to be carried around Tenby bay to look at the beach

I liked this ice cream as much as the one I usually have so am happy and will sleep well in the car home

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Advent Roundup 2021 - White, Cats & Vegan by @NLi10

 It's basically half way through December which mean's I've got enough evidence to tell me what I think of each of the offerings.

First up we have a gifted Milkbar calendar - which actually has double pictures!

This is unusual in this age - all the other ones didn't bother.

The white chocolate could literally be anything and is unrelated to the pictures - low score but this is for toddlers (and me to have with cripplingly dark hot chocolates).

Next up - a late etnrant - cat calendar! These were better than half price (apparently) and contain regular kibble, and triangle luxury kibble.

Bad poos? Quick -fill the cat with them!  

Unfortunately only one of the cats likes the triangle ones - and they both ignore the kibble.  

No pictures of them eating them so far...

And here we have the main event - the Buttermilk vegan choc calendar.  No pictures - so dissapoint.

Here are the little lovely things inside - they aren't that exciting - but they are really nice!

The packaging is very eco too - easy recycle.  And the box has special reasons to break it up for recycling too - hidden goodies!

This is easily the winner but it was quite expensive...