Intruder Alert! #sponsored

When last we left our intrepid felines, they were engaged in a heated debate on who might have the use of the coveted Vimtag camera first:

Allie or Maxwell?

Maxwell: Being a Scholar and a Gentlecat, Allie, I will graciously allow you the use of the camera first.

Faraday: Here, let me translate that for our readers.

Basically Allie threatened to do her patented Crouching Girlcat Hidden Whupa$$™ move on him if he didn't let her have the camera first.

Maxwell: FARADAY! DOOD. *embarrassed look*

Faraday: Well, the truth hurts, sometimes, Maxie. Be a mancat about it and all, okays? (and because we all suffer if she doesn't get her beauty sleep....)

Allie: True. I have not been sleeping lately. Being vigilant for Intruders has had a negative impact on my nap time.  And I might get a teensy bit out of sorts.

Faraday: Seriouslies, you do not want to see Allie's Grouchy Face.

(you were warned...!)

So, what did Allie do with the Vimtag?

It was incredibly easy to identify our surprise guest with our camera. You can turn on motion detection and set the Vimtag to record high definition video footage onto an external microSD card each time it detects motion.

And we got tons of footage. The camera recorded footage ALL.NIGHT.LONG. throughout the evening every time we had a visitor.

Oh, and DOOD.
Seriouslies, you should have called first!
(And, uh, we need to talk to you about your chicken intake. But we digress.)

Allie:  FINALLY. I can rest easy, knowing my Vimtag is on the job.

I've got my eye on you, Waffles.

***

In case you couldn't tell, we love our Vimtag Cloud Camera.

It features:

• Pan/tilt camera through app with gestures 
• Real time viewing
• Two-way audio
• Night vision

It's accessible from the Vimtag app on Android or iPhone, or on your computer at vimtag.com.
It's very reasonably priced. And Vimtag has graciously offered to giveaway one camera to a lucky reader.

Sweepstakes Rules: Must be over 18 to enter. Open to residents in the continental U.S. only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

____________
FCC Disclaimer: We were compensated for the time it took to tell you about the Vimtag Fujikam, and to offer this sweepstakes giveaway. All opinions are our own. Prize fulfillment will be completed by Vimtag. Winners will be chosen randomly and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. Winner will receive a code from Vimtag for the product on Amazon.com. Winner will be responsible for any shipping costs.
_____________

***

Camera Catfight and Giveaway #sponsored

Faraday: Holy cat, Allie! The neighbor kitty's back!

(cue sounds of mad scrambling)

Allie: Where? Where?!?
Clear the deck! Coming through!  
*careens madly around the corner*

(inarticulate - and unprintable - epithets ensue)

Maxwell: Allie! That's not your inside voice!

And uh, if Momma hears those words, there might be soap in your future.

Allie: Stuff it, Maxie, I'm busy.

Mother!!
I need that Vimtag camera down here, stat!
Round-the-clock monitoring for that - that - interloper!

Maxwell: Wait - uh, Allie, actually... I'm using the Vimtag right now.

Allie: Well Maxie, you can just UN-use it.

Home Land Security takes precedence. And the Land around my Home is OBVIOUSLY not secure if riff raff like this keeps showing up!

Maxwell: Now, listen here, Allie. At the risk of sounding like Faraday, you are not the Boss around here.

So settle down and wait your turn!

Allie: Why you ungrateful little –
*girlcat banshee wail*

Faraday: ... I can't believe I'm the one about to do this ... but here goes.

 PIPE DOWN!

Instead of fighting over it ...

(and by the way, next time warn me so's I can go get some popcorn an' stuffs, okay?)

Why don't you just grab Mommy's plastic card and order a second Vimtag?

You can have more than one of them connected to your iPawd, yanno.

***

Why does Maxwell desperately need the camera?
Whose smacky-paw will win out?

Did we really just see Faraday intervene in a cat fight?

Perhaps the most important question of all ...

Would you like a Vimtag Camera?

***

In case you couldn't tell, we love our Vimtag Cloud Camera.

It features:

• Pan/tilt camera through app with gestures 
• Real time viewing
• Two-way audio
• Night vision

It's accessible from the Vimtag app on Android or iPhone, or on your computer at vimtag.com.
It's very reasonably priced. And Vimtag has graciously offered to giveaway one camera to a lucky reader.

Sweepstakes Rules: Must be over 18 to enter. Open to residents in the continental U.S. only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

____________
FCC Disclaimer: We were compensated for the time it took to tell you about the Vimtag Fujikam, and to offer this sweepstakes giveaway. All opinions are our own. Prize fulfillment will be completed by Vimtag. Winners will be chosen randomly and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. Winner will receive a code from Vimtag for the product on Amazon.com. Winner will be responsible for any shipping costs.
_____________

***

Review & Giveaway: Cat Skills

Did we mention that it's book giveaway month here at A Tonk's Tail?

This week, we're featuring another must-have: Cat Skills, by Leslie Goodwin.

I found myself nodding in agreement as I turned page after page.

Even though the title is "Cat Skills," it's really more about the skills we humans can learn to make our relationships with our pets stronger, and to ensure they live long and healthy lives.

Leslie told me her dream would be to get this book into the hands of each new adopter at every shelter, world-wide. Believe me, that would be a good idea!

Author, Leslie Goodwin

Leslie covers everything from the basics to topics even seasoned cat lovers might learn a thing or two about.

For example, I know (because I've been involved in discussions with fellow cat lovers) many people wonder about that particular wail a cat will use when carrying a special toy through the house.

Leslie's take on it?

“When a pregnant barn cat strayed into my life, she taught me how to raise cat kids. Mom cat, Lucy, was the benevolent dictator of her six kittens. When she carried them, they went limp. When she chirped, they followed. When she howled to announce she had prey, they came running.”

Howling to announce prey. Makes sense to me!

Allie wails while carrying her special mouse upstairs to Marty. Daily. Does your cat do this?

In our home, evidently Allie feels I don't feed Marty enough - she's constantly trying to feed him!

After reading Dr. Bilski's book on street cats, I can tell you these two authors agree on something else you might not be aware of:

Leslie writes: “A pet cat can stay forever a kitten because we meet his needs. He doesn’t have to fend for himself. He can bond to us as he bonded to Mom."

From both Goodwin and Bilski's observations of street and barn cats, mom-cat instills the life skills into her kittens that they need to survive out in that big and dangerous world. If mom-cat's not around, we humans are the substitute.

Faraday falls clearly into this category. He was weaned early, with no mom in sight. Faraday's almost 5 and he's never grown out of his kittenhood. (I don't mind in the least!)

Definitely the baby of the fambly.

The book is written in an approachable way, and has moments of levity. Just wait’ll you read her theory about cats vs. dogs. It’s hysterical (and true!).


Some of the topics she covers include:

• How to make a love bond
• Toxins
• How to handle & pet a cat 
• The importance of dental health
• Diet: cats are obligate carnivores

We highly recommend Cat Skills. It's on our must-read list.

Win a copy of your own!

Leslie has graciously offered one lucky reader a copy of Cat Skills. If the winner drawn by Rafflecopter resides in the U.S., you have your choice of a paperback copy or a Kindle ebook. If the chosen winner is outside the U.S., you win the ebook! (seriously, shipping outside the U.S. is a crime these days....)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you don't want to wait, you can use coupon code HAQZ7A3Z to get $1 off the purchase price when you buy directly from the publisher at CreateSpace!

Review & Giveaway: My Street Cats

I'd like to introduce you to a fascinating woman.

Dr. Bilski is a member of the Department of Political Science at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She has been an adviser to three Prime Ministers in Israel on social and welfare policies, and is - according to Israeli magazine Haaretz - an expert of political philosophy, social policy and happiness.

Dr. Raphaella Bilski with 2 of her street cats. Photo used with permission.

She also happens to have a rare and intimate knowledge of the cats we would call feral or community cats. She calls them street cats. And her knowledge base was built over 14 years of personal, hands-on interaction with them.

Now I'd like to introduce you to the amazing book she wrote.

Entitled My Street Cats, this tale is both heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. This book provides a first-person account on what it's like to care for a colony of cats for 14 years.

Dr. Bilski brings them to life for you: the independent and cautious Beauty, the abiding friendship of two male cats, the trust a mother cat places in a human when her kitten is ill.

Tel Aviv street cat takes a nap. Photo: Gal. Flickr Creative Commons 3.0

With each story, you gain insights into the fierce individuality of the species, yet also the societal dance that occurs within a colony that knits it together into a community.

I have never before read a book like this, and cannot recommend it highly enough.

A street cat in Tel Aviv. Photo: Victor Bezrukov, Flickr Creative Commons 3.0

The tale begins in a country that has little to no facilities in place for animal welfare, then several years into the journey you witness a country that embraces TNR on a national scale - and the impact that has on the colony as told thru Bilski's eyes.

Cat walking in the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem at night,by Guillaume Paumier, Creative Commons 3.0.

My Street Cats is verifiable proof that TNR works. And the fact that Israel committed 4.5 million New Israeli Shekels in 2014 to trap, neuter & return street cats is encouraging. Those of us who live in the U.S. can only hope to see the equivalent here some day.

A shelter provides shade and water for street cats in Caesarea. Photo: Ari Moore, Flickr Creative Commons 3.0.

Please put this book on your must-read list. It's on mine.

Win your own copy of My Street Cats!

This giveaway is open worldwide, to everyone, everywhere.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner will be announced next Monday.

If you can't wait and want a copy of My Street Cats today, you can purchase it through our Amazon Associate shop at this link here.
(Disclaimer: we receive a small referral fee if you purchase through our store.)
 

***

.

MARCH SPECIAL OFFER!

March book sales help find homes
for the cats at Great Plains SPCA.

Each copy of Rescued you buy from us
comes with an autographed bookplate

from Ryker, the star of "Ryker's Rescue,"

customized just for you..

CLICK PAYPAL IN SIDEBAR TO BUY
Thank you!

Catification + Giveaway!

Is your home Catified? Being Catified means you've made a few changes to your living space that takes your feline family members into consideration.

Like a cat tree by a window for good bird watching.

Or a supercool kitty superhighway, like the one in our spare bedroom, seen in these photos above and below.

And now, Cat Daddy Jackson Galaxy teams up with stylish Hauspanther maven, Kate Benjamin to bring you a book full of ideas on how you can bring cat-centric yet stylish design elements into your own home.

According to Jackson, "Catification is about creating feline-friendly environments that cater to a cat’s natural instincts to climb, perch, rest, play, and own their space."

There's plenty to be found in this book, including case studies that explain the difference catification can make in a cat's quality of life.

 The book is filled with colorful photo examples. . .

and pro tips from the Hauspanther maven!

Catification's publication date is October 14, but you can preorder it from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Indiebound today.

In addition, for every copy pre-ordered, $1 will be donated to organizations dedicated to helping homeless cats!

Giveaway Time!

 

Thanks to Jackson, Kate and their publisher, you can win a copy of Catification for yourself!
(Giveaway open to U.S. residents only)

Not only do you win this limited distribution proof, you'll also get a Catification lunch bag to go along with it.

All you need to do is let us know below in comments that you'd like to be included, then come back up and click the big green "I Commented!" button in the rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!  Winners will be announced next Thursday, August 21.

FTC Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Tarcher Publications, but I received no compensation for this post other than a sample book to review. Tarcher Publications is not responsible for the content of this post; all opinions in this review are our own.

Goat Soap Givaway!

Have you met Pricilla, the Famous Spokes Goat? If not, let us introduce you! The amazing person behind the blog, The Maa of Pricilla, is her Publicist: Patty Woodland.

Patty has an Etsy shop, called Happy Goats Soap and the soap is made from the milk of, well, Pricilla and her herd. And these goats are most definitely happy!

These aren't ordinary soaps. They're artisanal soaps. Check them out:

Not only are they pretty, but they're good for your skin, too!

Did you know (we didn't!) that soaps made from goat's milk contain alpha hydroxy acids, which naturally exfoliate your skin by breaking down and removing dead skin cells so younger, healthier cells shine through. Plus, the cream in goat's milk soap is a great natural mosturizer!

Pricilla and her Publicist have generously offered to give one of our readers a set of any three soaps from their Etsy store - free!

Just leave us a comment and tell us which three designs you would choose, then click the big green "I Commented!" button inside the Rafflecopter form.

That's it! Nice and simple. You can enter until midnight, June 20. The winner will be announced Sunday June 22!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FTC DIsclaimer: Our very good friend, Pricilla's publicist, gave us samples of her goat soap to try, then generously offered this giveaway. We were not compensated in any way other than the free sample. It did not influence our opinion in any way - and all opinions are our own.

***

Win a Toy/Give a Toy: PetSafe Shelter Event & Giveaway

Want to do something good for a shelter animal this holiday without lifting a paw?
Want a chance to win a cool prize in the process?

Then you've come to the right place!

This holiday season, for every Facebook "like" PetSafe receives, they're donating a toy to a shelter pet.*

You can bring joy to a homeless animal this holiday season with just one click. Pawesome idea, isn't it?

And if you do so, please let us know, because PetSafe has sweetened the pot by offering you a chance to win your choice of either:


The FroliCat BOLT

or

The FroliCat DART DUO (great for muti cat households. Or Waffles. But we digress.)

Here's what you need to do to be entered into the Rafflecopter drawing for the FroliCat giveaway:
 
1. Leave a comment below, letting us know which of the FroliCat "red dot" laser toys you would choose if you won. (And pleeeease be sure we have a valid email address to contact you if your name is chosen!)

Then tell us you commented by clicking the big green "I commented!" button in the Rafflecopter widget below.

2. MANDATORY (c'mon guys, it's for the kitties! And puppies!)
   Go and click "LIKE" on PetSafe's facebook page at this link here.

You'll be given TEN more entries in the giveaway by doing this, plus you'll be guaranteeing a shelter pet has a new toy for the holidays.

This giveaway is open to all U.S. residents from now til December 31st.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: No purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. 
PetSafe graciously offered up the FroliCat item as a giveaway, but we were not compensated for writing this post. All opinions are our own.

* Up to 15,000 toys will be given to shelters by PetSafe through this promotion.

Belated Black Friday Giveaway & CWA Recap

About a bazillion years ago as we cats tell time, our mom abandoned us for a weekend with other cat bloggers at an event known as the 20th Annual Cat Writers' Association Conference.

She was invited to attend the CWA event both for the award ceremony and for three days' worth of conference sessions on writing, photography tips and such.

Her roomie at the event was none other than Glogirly, the designer of the Association's new logo (cool, huh?).

She had a ton of fun hanging out with other celebs such as the author of the very entertaining Whiskerslist: The Kitty Classifieds and Sparkle's very talented human, who also is an author and publisher.

From left to right: Whiskerslist author Angie Bailey, Glogirly & Sparklecat's human
(pardon the awful cell phone camera quality!)

Glogirly presented a very informative session packed with practical photography tips for the newbie and the seasoned shutterbug. And Sparkle's human gave a great talk about how to monetize your blog. A fun time was had by all, except for us poor deprived latchkey kitties back home. But we digress.

Our mom did eventually remember she had three feline dependents, ended her wild gallavanting, and returned home. With swag in tow. Lots of swag.

So much swag, we all decided we needed to share the largesse. So without further ado, we present to you our

Belated Black Friday Giveaways!

The first one is open to all U.S. residents. It consists of two - count'em two - bags of nomilicious treats, plus catnip and mousie toys!

The second giveaway is open only to residents outside the U.S. and it consists of a classical music CD mixed in such a way as to employ sonic anchoring - bioacoustic principles meant to provide a calming effect in stressful situations. Also included are two collars: a festive holiday one plus a kitten-sized one you can share with your favorite shelter, if you'd like. Also included is a package of nip nibblers!

If you're interested in grabbing this loot for yourself, just tell us in a comment below which giveaway you're eligible to win, and be sure we have a way to contact you via email.

The giveaways are open until next Friday, December 6 at noon.  The winners will be announced on Saturday, December 7.

***

Rules and FTC Disclaimer:  

No purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Winners are chosen using Random.org and will be notified by e-mail. The winner of the giveaway will need to give us a physical address to which the prize will be mailed within 72 hours.  (no P.O. boxes please) 

If a reply email containing the physical address where the prize should be mailed is not received by that time, an alternate winner will be chosen again by random. The winner will be announced in a separate post following the drawing. 

We were given these samples by the gracious sponsors of the Cat Writers' Conference, and were not compensated in any other way, nor were we asked to do a review or giveaway. All opinions in this article are our own.

Fun Find: "Cat in an Alien X-Ray" Review & Giveaway

“Cat in an Alien X-Ray” is 25th in a series of mystery books written by Carole Nelson Douglas. If the copy I received is any indication, there’s plenty of “cat” in this series to satisfy any cat lover.

The books are narrated from two perspectives: human and feline. The main character, Temple Barr, is owned by a black house panther by the name of Midnight Louie.

Set in Las Vegas, Louie rules the night and conducts his own investigations while Temple (ostensibly in the PR business but frequently found up to her eyeballs solving mysteries) conducts her own. Along with both current and former boyfriends, that is.

 If you’re new to the series as I was, you may find the opening to be slow and a bit tedious as the first part necessarily fills in all the information you’ll need to know from previous books in order for you to jump into the story stream and understand the players.

But once the action begins, the story picks up.

Despite its title, no aliens make appearances in the book. Rather, the story line revolves around a new “Area 51” act, dead bodies, a female serial killer known as Kitty the Cutter and a late night, Dr. Phil-style radio talk show. Oh, and plenty of narrative from the cat’s POV. The feline repartee is written in a clever tone and there is a distinct underlying “gumshoe” style to the writing.

Giveaway Time!

Tor has graciously offered to give away TWO copies of Cat in an Alien X-Ray to readers
in the US, UK and Canada!  Here’s what you need to do to enter:

Tell me in a comment why you’d like to win Cat in an Alien X-Ray, then make sure we have your email so we can contact you if you win.

You can earn extra entries by doing one – or all - of the following:

• Like A Tonk’s Tale on Facebook 
• Share this giveaway on Facebook 
• Share the giveaway on Twitter 
• Or share on Pinterest. 

In order for your extra entries to be considered, you need to come back here and leave a separate comment for each extra activity you did.

Good luck!
You have until midnight on Wednesday, September 18th to enter. A winner will be announced on September 27th.

***

Rules and Disclaimer:  

No purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Winners are chosen using Random.org and will be notified by e-mail. The winner of the giveaway will need to give us a physical address to which the prize will be mailed within 72 hours.  (no P.O. boxes please) 
If a reply email containing the physical address where the prize should be mailed is not received by that time, an alternate winner will be chosen again by random. The winner will be announced in a separate post following the drawing.
We were given a copy of the book "Cat in an Alien X-Ray" by Tor/Forge publishing so that we could review the book, but were not compensated for hosting the giveaway. All opinions in this article are our own.

Fun Find Review and Giveaway: Kodak Picture Kiosk

Recently, we were contacted by Kodak and asked to test drive their Picture Kiosk in our neighborhood CVS store. In exchange for our honest opinion, they gave us a $25 gift card to use however we liked.

I'll say right up front, it was an awesome experience.

Kodak's Picture Kiosks (2) at our local CVS

First, I was amazed at how far that gift card went. And honestly, I have to make a return trip to the kiosk because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't manage to spend it all in one sitting!

The kiosk itself is comprised of a touch screen and an on-demand instant printer. I ended up ordering a pile of 4x6 standard size prints, plus three 5x7 enlargements.

The user interface is easy and the next best thing to being at home and ordering from your own computer.

The system will take just about every form of solid state memory currently in use, from a flash drive to a Compact Flash card. It even had a bluetooth option.

Some of the many ways you can upload images to Kodak's kiosk

And, get this: if you have a ton of photos uploaded to your Facebook account and they're organized just how you want them  - you can print from there, too.

Kodak's Print from Facebook menu page

Oh, and they offer a lot more than just prints. Remember that scrapbooking craze, and all that stuff you bought but never got around to making?

With Kodak's collage option, you can create your own designed page without all the sticky, glue-y mess.

There is also a nice selection of 3D products you can order.




After all, who wouldn't want to see Maxwell's cheerful face peering out at them as they drink their morning coffee, we want to know?

You can purchase t-shirts, calendars, posters and even a deck of playing cards to go along with that nice mug, too.

Out of curiosity I went onto Zazzle to see how the prices compared. Again - color me impressed. Kodak beat Zazzle's price for an 11 ounce mug by a nice 25%:  Kodak $12, Zazzle $15.

These types of items do require shipping to you, but that's only logical.  The things they do print on site are photos, enlargements and photo books.

The last surprised me, as I had expected to have to postpone this review while I waited for the book I ordered to be shipped to me. Not so. Whereas the prints and enlargements were practically instantaneous - they printed right there at the kiosk while I watched - the photo book took an hour to create.

I simply did a bit of shopping, came back... and fell in love. Take a look at the three photos below, and you'll see why:

Maxie's eyes as the photo on the cover of the photo book

 

Omigosh. Let me tell you about my photo book experience!

You can select the style of book  - the kiosk offers you a choice of either single or double page. You have several choices for the color of the cover, the design of the photo on the cover, and the design theme of the inside pages.

There are several different themes such as celebrations and events, or everyday designs. Three of the everyday designs are pet-related. I chose the Furry Friends one but you could choose the cat one or the dog one, as well.

Next, the kiosk will load all your photos so you can select which ones you want included in the photo book.

The kiosk will automatically find your memory device and it'll ask you if you want to load by folder or by date, or heck, why not just view everything.

I chose 'by folder', since I'd done a bit of pre-selecting at home.  The interface was easy to follow: simply tap on the photos you want included in the book.

Next you can rearrange and resize - even rotate if the orientation isn't right. I took a short video of the process so you can see how easy it is:

Bottom line, I love these photo books. The quality is great, and the turnaround time cannot be beat.

I can totally see myself creating memory books from vacation photos, holiday get-togethers and the next BlogPaws conference. They'd make wonderful gifts, too!


Giveaway Time!

Kodak has graciously offered to give one lucky reader a $25 CVS gift card, to use in a CVS store in their area that has a Kodak Kiosk. All you need to do is confirm the CVS store in your area has a Kodak Picture Kiosk by checking the store locator at this link here.

Then comment below, giving us your email address so we can contact you. Then come back up and click on the big green "I Commented!" button in the Rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You have until midnight on Wednesday, August 7th to enter. A winner will be announced on August 9th, next Friday's post.

***

Rules and Disclaimer:  

No purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Winners are chosen using Rafflecopter and will be notified by e-mail. The winner of the giveaway will need to give us a physical address to which the prize will be mailed within 72 hours.  (no P.O. boxes please) 
If a reply email containing the physical address where the prize should be mailed is not received by that time, an alternate winner will be chosen again by random. The winner will be announced in a separate post following the drawing.
We were given a gift card for the Kodak Picture Kiosk so that we could review their products and services, but were not compensated for hosting the giveaway. All opinions in this article are our own.