In case you’ve been away from the internet for the last few days, you might have missed the latest time waster for cat lovers: cat bearding. Yes, it’s a thing. It’s actually defined as follows:

Cat bearding (verb): To compose a photo in which the head of a cat is positioned in front of a person’s nose and mouth so that the image resembles a human with a luxuriant beard.

Since cat bearding involves photography, I couldn’t resist. We’ve been having a little fun with it over on the Hauspanther Facebook page. Several readers submitted their own cat beard photos and I tried a couple myself. It’s a lot harder than it looks!

Come on, you know you want to try it!

Love these cute kitty salt & pepper shaker designs from industrial designer Victor Barish. It doesn’t look like they are available for sale anywhere, they’re just a design concept, but I’d definitely buy them if they were!

Catissa is a brand new modern cat climbing structure designed by Russian industrial design studio Mojorno. The angular boxes stack on top of each other and attach to the wall at any height providing a climbing and perching structure that takes no floor space. Brilliant!

Catissa is so new, they aren’t available at the moment, but you can pre-order by emailing the company. Shipping outside of Russian will most likely be quite expensive.

via coolforcatsuk.com

This week’s giveaway will help some kitties get in style! Three lucky winners will each get to choose two different designer cat collars from Pugs2Persians! They offer a huge variety of adorable, handmade cat collars, all with adjustable breakaway buckles and little charms or bells.

There’s a style for everyone, check out the selection in the Pugs2Persians Etsy shop. Their cat collars come in two sizes, small — perfect for kittens and petite cats, and large — just right for most adult cats.

ENTER TO WIN!

To enter the weekly giveaway, please visit the Hauspanther Giveaway page and complete the entry form. The deadline to enter this week’s giveaway is midnight Pacific Time on Sunday, May 26, 2013. This giveaway includes free shipping to addresses everywhere!

Congrats to Lance S. from Warwick, RI, winner of the Red Tango prize package!

Etsy seller Mima the Muse creates these unique and very stylish cat bed covers using durable upholstery fabrics and wool felt details. The bed covers come without the inner pillow, allowing you to stuff it with your own pillow, an old cat bed, or even old clothes or linens. This is also saves on shipping costs.

Choose from several mod styles and colors. Each one is made to order and ships from Spain. Available from Mima the Muse’s Etsy shop.

These simple cat face wall clocks from Purrfidious will bring a smile to your face whenever you check the time. Made from stained wood or acrylic, you can choose a ticking mechanism or one that floats silently.

Available from the Purrfidious Etsy shop.

German company Cat-on creates the widest variety of designer cat scratchers and lounges that I have ever seen, each design cooler than the last! They offer a seemingly endless number of sleek modern shapes and beautiful contemporary graphics and colors, I wish I could fill my entire house with these cardboard works of art (and boy would that make the cats happy, too!)

Check out their entire line, including smaller more affordable scratchers, medium size scratchers, large creations, and extra large pieces that really make a statement. They have also recently added some designs that can be attached to the wall.

Cat-on delivers primarily to countries in the EU, but I believe they can ship to other countries as well. Visit Cat-on.com for more details.

Here’s Alison Rose’s hip kitty graphic on a cute summer tank top or a slouchy pullover top. Both are available from Alison’s Etsy shop.

Here’s another toy that will give kitty a way to forage for her food or treats. The Snack Box for Cats by Trixie is a dome-shaped box with three openings on the sides. Place treats or dry food inside and curious cats will use their paws to retrieve the goodies. The egg crate bottom makes it more challenging to grab the treats. The Snack Box is dishwasher safe so you can keep it clean.

Available from Amazon

Here’s a giveaway for all the RedTango fans out there! This week you have a chance to win a pink and black RedTango Bubble Kitty long sleeve tee PLUS a matching pink RedTango watch! How cute is that? The winner will get to choose M, L, or XL for the shirt. Let’s hear it for RedTango!

ENTER TO WIN!

To enter the weekly giveaway, please visit the Hauspanther Giveaway page and complete the entry form. The deadline to enter this week’s giveaway is midnight Pacific Time on Sunday, May 19, 2013. This giveaway is limited to addresses in the US.

Congratulations to Laurie S. from Houston, Texas! Laurie is the winner of the $40 gift certificate to the online cat boutique CatFeats.com. Keep an eye out for a message from the folks at CatFeats and enjoy your shopping spree!

Kitties love this all natural crocheted cotton cat bed, designed and handmade by Gerda Lobo exclusively for Hauspanther. The curved sides are perfect for snuggling and the textured surface is immediately attractive to cats.

The Cuna cat beds come in two sizes, regular measuring 15″ in diameter and large measuring 18″. Both are machine washable and can be placed in the dryer. Available from the Hauspanther Etsy store. Please note, Gerda only makes a limited quantity of these at a time so if we are sold out, please check back in a week or so.

Hollywood Franklin is having a special Mother’s Day sale! All Hollywood Franklin cat furniture products are 10% off this weekend only. Visit franklincatfurniture.com to check out the selection.

When looking back at the past decade of pet design, a handful of products come to mind as true innovators. The Sleepypod pet carrier is one of them. The Sleepypod designers took a fresh look at the pet carrier, especially as it relates to cats, and introduced some excellent design features that resulted in major improvements to pet transportation.

The Sleepypod functions as both a bed and a carrier. It becomes your pet’s personal living space while at home, then easily converts to a safe, stylish, and comfortably-familiar carrier. This is a big advantage when transporting cats. The carrier becomes a familiar place, making it easier to load the cat into the carrier and more comforting when outside the home.

The other innovative features of the Sleepypod include a mesh dome top that can be easily opened and closed or removed completely, machine-washable plush bed liner, water-resistant foam liner, and luggage-grade nylon outer covering. It has both a carrying handle built into the dome top and a removable padded shoulder strap. You can even purchase an optional electric warming pad that fits snugly under the bed liner and can be used with a 12 volt car adapter.

Safely securing a carrier in the car is of utmost importance and with the Sleepypod, it’s a snap. Simply wrap the seatbelt around the base of the Sleepypod and latch in place, then pull the shoulder belt through the carrying handle and Velcro the handle closed.

The Sleepypod is available in six designer colors and also comes in a smaller size, the Sleepypod Mini, for kittens and smaller cats. The Sleepypod Mini is designed to fit under an airline seat.

Visit Sleepypod.com for more information on this innovative pet carrier. You can purchase the Sleepypod and Sleepypod Mini directly from the Sleepypod website, as well as from Amazon and many other online retailers and local pet boutiques.

San Francisco-based Drip Module creates limited production modern minimalist designs for living, including these raised pet feeders. Streamlined modern designs raise kitty’s food to just the right height while adding an elegant design element to your kitchen.

All feeders include removable stainless steel bowls. Prices range from $39 to $89. The Drip Module raised feeders are available online from ModPetLife.com.

These beautiful ceramic works of art are not just another pretty piece of sculpture, they are lovely little drinking fountains designed just for cats. Ceramic artist Keith Davitt has been refining his drinking fountain design for years and he has several styles that cats seem to love. What a great way to keep kitty hydrated, while adding a lovely fountain to your home.

These fountains are very simple, making them easy to keep clean. Each one comes with a unique glazed bowl, a pump, and a decorative ceramic piece that hides the pump. All materials and glazes are certified food safe.

Keith sent us a fountain to test and, as you can see below, Simba loves it (and so do all the others!) The fountain was very easy to set-up and it looks so nice on the ledge above the kitchen counter. You can see the three simple pieces included in the package: bowl, pump with cord, and pottery cover for the pump. I adjusted the pump to create a little bubbling fountain because I like the sound of trickling water, but the pump can also be adjusted to keep the water moving silently.

Keith also makes copper tube accessories for his fountains. These “cat taps” can be added to certain fountains to crate taller falling water features, which many cats love. The cat taps are ordered separately from the fountains.

Keith is constantly developing new designs and adding new glazes. Keep an eye on the CatFountains Etsy shop to see what’s currently available.

Hepper wants to wish all the cat moms out there a happy Mother’s Day, so they are offering 10% off just for Hauspanther readers now through May 13! Just use discount code mommacatdayhp13 when shopping at hepper.com. Cat moms deserve to celebrate, too!

These felt litter box hiders and cat beds are showcased on the Dutch website Molitli, which features unique, handcrafted items as an alternative to mass produced merchandise. There’s only a little information about each item, but it looks like you can order the beds and litter hiders in a few different felt colors. A bit pricey, but each one is made to order.

Visit molitli.nl for more info.

New York-based artist and illustrator Dan Golden created the new Nerd Cat Tote Bag exclusively for Modko. Are you a nerd who loves cats? Or is your cat a nerd? I guess it works for either.

Natural cotton, made in the USA. Available from modko.com.

We’ve got another shopping spree to giveaway this week! One lucky reader is going to win a $40 gift certificate to the fabulous feline design shopping site CatFeats.com! If you haven’t visited CatFeats yet, definitely head on over to the site and check out all the chic items they have for sale. Everything is for the contemporary cat lady who knows how cool it is to love our feline friends. You’ll find apparel and accessories for you, fun items for your cat, and adorable art and craft items celebrating cats. Check it all out at CatFeats.com and decide how you would spend the $40!

ENTER TO WIN!

To enter the weekly giveaway, please visit the Hauspanther Giveaway page and complete the entry form. The deadline to enter this week’s giveaway is midnight Pacific Time on Sunday, May 12, 2013. CatFeats.com can only ship products to addresses in the US. The $40 gift certificate cannot be applied toward shipping costs or tax.

Congratulations to Janel Z. from Canon City, Colorado! Janel chose the Abby Cat t-shirt from RC Tees! Wear it with pride!

Square Cat Habitat just added a sleek new wall-mounted cat feeder to their line of beautifully designed modern cat products. The Chow Meow can be mounted on the wall at any height to accommodate your cat’s size. It attaches using super-strong removable adhesive strips that won’t leave any marks on your wall when you decide to move it.

The Chow Meow is made from birch plywood with black or white laminate on the top. It includes two removable stainless steel bowls and it’s priced at just $30. That’s a great prices for such a stylish feeder! Visit SquareCatHabitat.com for more info.

KittiCraft is having a spring sale! All products on the KittiCraft website are 15% off now through May 15, 2013. Take advantage of this special savings and indulge in one of these beautiful pieces of feline design!

www.KittiCraft.com

Paper artist Matthew Ross has some fun new creations in his Etsy shop. His intricate hand cut paper sculptures are now available in a larger size. Matthew regularly creates ACEO sized sculptures, which measure 2.5″ x 3.5″, but now you can get his incredible work in 5″ x 7″.

Matthew just added several new styles of ready-made cat sculptures to his store, or you can always order a custom sculpture with exactly the coloring, background and details you want.

Visit the Paper Matthew Etsy shop for more details.

Special Discount for Hauspanther Readers

Get 33% off your entire order from Matthew’s Etsy shop! Just use coupon code HPSPRING33 at checkout. Offer expires May 10, 2013.

We all know, cats love cardboard! I know mine certainly do. They love to scratch it, lie on it, rub against it, and chew it. I’m always looking for new ways to use this simple material because I love the natural look and feel of it, so we decided to make our popular Atomic Flyers and Stacks cat toys using cardboard.

The results are several fun new little toys that cats love. The cardboard makes the toys light and easy to toss around, and once kitty is done devouring the toys, they can be tossed in the recycle bin.

Our new Eco Flyers are now available in the Hauspanther Etsy shop, $6 for a package of 12 toys, three of each shape. These toys are great for shooting across hard floors and carrying around. Andy is a big fan of the cardboard Eco Flyers!

The new Eco Stacks are also now available, two for $6. These are fun because they bounce around unpredictably and kitty will love to grab the little cord.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to help your older or arthritic kitty reach the bed or the sofa, check out these cardboard pet steps from Imperial Cat. Very affordable and easy to assemble, the Step ‘N Play Pet Steps also have a cutout in the side so kitty can go inside to hide or nap. Designed to support pets up to 25 lbs.

Around $20 at Amazon, that’s a great deal, plus the cardboard can be recycled when you don’t need them anymore.

Here’s another interesting cat puzzle game from German company Trixie. It’s the Trixie 5-in-1 Cat Activity Center which includes five different modules, each with a game designed to stimulate one of your cat’s five senses.

The globe resembles a fish bowl and requires cats to scoop out treats with their paw, the peg board allows cats to identify treats from a distance and map out a hunting strategy, the alley is a playful option that allows cats to earn treats while lying down using their paws, claws or toes, the “tongue” area is for liquid treats since the slits hinder kitty from using his or her paws, and the tunnel has a mouse hole for hiding toys and treats.

Includes an instructional booklet with tips and tricks to stimulate your cat’s sense of curiosity through play. Available from Amazon.

Karma Products is offering a screaming deal on their popular Scratch Log cardbaord cat scratcher! Their value pack including six Scratch Logs is currently on sale for just $29.95 with free super saver shipping. That’s just $5 per log!

This special deal is available from Amazon and there are only a limited number, so get it while you can! This would make a great donation to your favorite cat shelter!

Several of my cats like to curl up in cozy hideaway beds, and this Bamboo Kitty Hut Cat Bed from Meow Town looks like something they’d love. We have one that is very similar but I haven’t been able to find it online to share with you, so I’m pleased to find this version available from Naff’s Kingdom Cat Shop. This drum shaped kitty hideaway measures 12.5″ x 12.5″ with a 7″ opening, so it’s suitable for small to medium cats. Mine is the same size and my average size (10 lb) cats love it. The Meow Town Kitty Hut comes with a soft cushion inside, too.

Available from Naffs-Kingdom-Cat-Shop.com