A Cat. Not a Dog.

I received, as one of my house warming gifts, a "Cat Emergency Kit." (I'd had it on my wish list for some time.) I mean, I wanted an emergency kit for myself, but the Cat one promised to include all feline necessities.

Now, here's a link to a website selling both the Dog Emergency Kit and the Cat Emergency Kit. (Mine wasn't bought from them, but it looks to be the same product.)

If you look at the website, the photo does make it look like they're exactly the same product -- which is to say, the Dog kit and the Cat kit are nearly identical. Which is my point.

When I opened the kit, I discovered exactly how identical. I took out a packet of freeze-dried food. And it was labelled "Emergency Dog Food." And I thought, "WTF? I'm gonna have to call these people and complain that they screwed up and gave me dog food instead of cat food." And then I turned the pouch over, and the back was labelled "Emergency Cat Food." Well, not entirely. There were pictures of cats on it, and it said "Cat Food" in one place, but in another, it said, "Emergency Dog Food" and the word "Dog" had been blacked out, as with a marking pen. Yeah, I'm sure my cat will eat that.

There's also supposed to be a collar and leash in there. I was innocently expecting a cat leash -- which is really a harness. Instead, I got a little rhinestone (flexible) cat collar (which is totally useless because, although it has a little buckle on it, there are no holes in it to stick the pointy part through) and the leash is, like, six feet of metal chain. Which, y'know, is perfect for attaching to your flexible rhinestone collar (with non-functioning buckle) and taking your cat for a walk.

I took a closer look at the Emergency Kit descriptions. With the exception of a cat toy (a catnip mouse with the words "Catnip Mouse" stamped on it) instead of a tennis ball, and the omission of three chew sticks, the Cat Kit is exactly the same as the Dog Kit.

Don't get me wrong, it's still useful. The pet first aid kit seems solid, the foldable bowls are a nice touch, and the water could be useful. But, with a little bit of thought and effort, they could've put in actual cat food, a real cat leash, and maybe replaced the "poop bags" with one of those disposable litter boxes, and it would have rocked.