Another month, another Paws & Play box. Actually this is the last box of our 3 month subscription and it was going to be the determining factor if we extended our subscription or not. I was hoping that it would blow me away and I wouldn’t be able to resist re-subscribing (you can read our review of the February and March boxes here and here). To find out if it convinced us to stick around or not, keep reading!
Paws & Play is a Canadian monthly subscription box for your furkid; each month you receive a variety of high-quality products for your pet and you can personalize your box based on your pets preferences (i.e. strong chewer, soft or crunchy treats, gender, etc.).
This month’s “box” came in a bag again, I’m not quite sure why as I feel it would have fit in a box. As a result the product card was a little worse for wear.
The total value of the box came to a total $51.95; I found most of the listed prices pretty reasonable, aside from maybe the toy. As mentioned, we purchased a 3 month subscription for $109.95, which calculates out to each box costing $36.65.
They also included a separate card this month showcasing a rescue pet and their story – this month’s being cutie Tika.
First up was the Hyper Pet Gnarly Gnaws Bone. ($14.95) It had a squeaker in it and I think these are met for strong chewers (which she is not). Maggie doesn’t really destroy her toys (unless they have fur on them) and unfortunately she didn’t much interest in this.
Next was the Petcurean Catfish Barbue Jerky for Active & Opinionated Dogs ($16.95). Love the opinionated dogs thing – that’s a good way to describe Maggie. I knew she’d like these as she likes jerky treats and fish and she gobbled one right up. These were a hit!
Our third item was Northern’s The Big Biscuit ($4.95). This is a hard crunchy treat and our profile was set up not to receive crunchy treats so I was a little miffed to see this included. I broke Maggie off a piece but as expected she turned her nose up at it. There’s that opinionated dog thing kicking in.
Also included was a Fur + Body Revitalize & Sustain Dog Refresher ($12.95). This is a spray that can be used to deodorize your pet’s coat if it’s getting a little less than fresh and you don’t have time for a bath. We don’t have anything like this so I thought this was kind of neat. I gave it a try and it smelled pleasant and seemed to work pretty well. I like that its made with organic and natural ingredients too.
Lastly was a This & That Duck Wing ($1.95). Looks appetizing doesn’t it? 😉 I was a little concerned because there was no packaging on this, it was just loose in the bag. I had to reference the product card to determine what it was but it didn’t give any details as to to where it was made. In addition, I googled “This & That” and couldn’t find anything about them online so that was disappointing; I like to know where the products I’m feeding Maggie are coming from. I’ve never given Maggie wings to chew on before and the shape of this made me a little nervous, but she was going crazy for it. So I gave it to her and as you can see, she really enjoyed it at first:
Thank goodness I was watching her because within a few minutes of her chewing on it, she started coughing and I had to pull it out of her mouth because she had started to swallow it yet it wasn’t completely chewed. After that I chucked it right in the garbage (much to her dismay). I know there’s a choking hazard with any type of chew but this didn’t seem to be breaking down like a bully stick normally would, which is why she nearly choked on it. Scary moment for me and I definitely won’t be purchasing any duck wings (or any other kind of wings!) for her going forward.
And that was this month’s box. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be renewing our subscription. I really like doing these unboxings with Mags, she gets so excited when we go to open them up. But on the other hand, I find we’re only using about 50% of the items that we receive and I’m feeling a little frustrated that our profile preferences have been ignored twice now. I might do some more investigating on other pet subscription boxes just to see if there’s a better option for us. If you have any recommendations, please let me know below!
Aw that sucks they sent you items not suited for Maggie! Why do they even ask you to fill out a profile if they’re not going to use it?
And it’s better to be safe than sorry on that chew stick – don’t want her to end up at the vet because of it. I thought dogs weren’t meant to have any poultry bones because they’re choking hazards?
I think you’re better off just picking and choosing your own toys and treats for Maggie on a monthly basis! That way, you don’t have 50% unused / unsuitable items. You could wrap it up and open it so Maggie will get excited to receive them! lol
Yah I don’t really understand the ignoring the profile thing either. Annoying.
Maggie’s day is made when she finds a stray chicken wing bone on walk, while I am panicking and trying to get it out of her mouth by holding her upside down so that she drops it (because I made the mistake of trying to get it out of her mouth once). So I don’t even know why I gave her the duck wing in the first place. She broke me down I guess.
I totally thought about just scrapping the whole subscription box idea too and just putting that money towards treats and toys that we pick out at the pet store. Makes a lot of sense! 🙂