1-16-15

38 thoughts on “1-16-15”

1. I can’t see the video (Safari browser on my iPad)

   1. …and on Firefox, from my desktop, I can see it. Until my flash plugin crashed at the end of the video (which explains why I can’t see it on my iPad, it being flash)

2. For Sherry:

   I have successfully transitioned my five cats to 100% canned food in the last few months. My fatty boombalatty kitty immediately lost weight in the first month. She’s got more energy, breaths easier, and is more comfortable now. Also, her fur got a lot softer, like when she was a kitten. It can be a pain feeding all five them a can of food twice a day, but the results are well worth the effort.

   After trying pretty much every brand that comes in small cans (at Petsmart), I’ve settled on Fancy Feast. Specifically, their Classic recipes. My cats tend to not like chunks of food in gravy, so I get what I call the “mush” kind. I give them whatever flavors they like, with the exception of chicken because it makes one of them sick. I believe it’s priced around 75 to 80 cents per can here in Arlington, TX.

   1. I, too, use Fancy Feast, either classic pate or flaked. This winter, to get more water into both kitties, I rinse out the can with about 1/3 can of warm-to-the-touch water, then pour it over the food, which helps warm the food as well. The girls go for the ‘gravy’ before the food.

   2. I also feed Fancy Feast classic. Sam’s Club carries it by the case, and all of mine seem to like it just fine. One of my cats is diabetic, and Fancy Feast Classic was one of the few commercially available foods outside of raw diet that is truly grain-free according to what I read.

3. To Sherry for Felix. Canned prescription c/d for urinary health has been excellent for my Pinky. You can supplement his diet with some of the dry c/d as well. Good luck and God bless.

   1. SCience Diet prescription stuff is unholy expensive though. When I had to put Pumpkin on m/d it was $45 for a case of 24 cans.

   2. Although I had a cat that I fed dry c/d to for many years, I would really not recommend the dry food now except maybe as a treat–the first two ingredients listed are brewers rice and corn gluten meal. He never really liked the canned version. He died in 2002 though, so I’m not sure if their food has changed since then.

4. I think I mentioned the other week that I use Trader Joe’s can cat food. It comes in 3 flavors and my 4 cats like them all. I think they are 79 cents for the small cans. I feed 1/2 a can to each cat in the evening but they get dry in the mornings.

5. Oh my gosh, Jake has the serious loons tuning even in black and white!

   For Sherry: For us, dry or wet didn’t matter as much as getting him off fish! If the problem was crystals, then fish is a big problem. Finding food without fish is not so easy, but without it, the problems disappeared and he can have wet or dry, whatever he wants, as long as there’s no fish or fish oil.

6. I’ve got Jasper who has had urinary problems in the past. His brother Otis sadly left us at 5 years old due to problems.
   Jasper though refuses any wet food completely and has never had it and wont even try. He has dry but we have to buy urinary care food which has high acidity to reduce any crystal formation.
   I’m from the UK so even if I did suggest brands I doubt they would be the same ones available. Good luck.

7. As for UTIs, cats can get them from not drinking enough water. I bought a water fountain bowl (yes, a fancy-schmancy one). It is EASY to clean and beautiful. I also have the original bowl out for them to use. ALL of my cats flock to the fountain and drink way more than they use to. This helps flush the kidneys and bladder. Here is the link to the manufacturer of the one I bought. They have many styles and colors to fit any décor. Of course, you can go the less expensive route and buy one from PetSmart or Amazon.

   https://www.etsy.com/shop/CatFountains?ref=listing-shop-header-item-count

   Good luck!

   Also, Ragdolls should not be 30 lbs! Facts:
   Altered males may reach 20 pounds, with an average range of 10 to 16 pounds. Females may reach 15 pounds, with an average range of 8 to 12 pounds.

   My altered male is 14 lbs. He is muscular, not fat.

   1. I have this one: http://www.chewy.com/dog/drinkwell-lotus-pet-fountain/dp/48097

      The filters are available on Amazon, and I like it fine. My cats reject plastic drinking fountains, and I’m told that’s not unusual, so you might want to consider going ceramic. Going ceramic also lets me sterilize everything in the dishwasher! 😀

      1. Yep, mine is ceramic!!! So is the standard water bowl.

8. For canned food, I buy primarily Wellness. What I would recommend is comparing prices at your local pet stores (and if you have speciality pet stores that carry brands that aren’t Fancy Feast et al, check those too, because sometimes they have better pricing), and then asking the stores if they do discounts if you buy a full case. Once you figure out which canned food your cat likes, of course 😉 My local one does 10% off if you buy a case, and they’re already one of the cheaper places to buy cat food. It’s saved me a bundle over the years. 🙂

9. My cats free-feed dry Purina Pro Plan and get a can of Purina Pro Plan every other day or so. (Not Purina One from the grocery store.) They prefer the pate or ground-type wet food, not chunks or flakes. They have a water fountain that they drink out of a lot. Highly recommend getting a water fountain if you don’t already have one.

10. wait – will the Sheriff take calls from foster kittens about foster-lady shenanigans?? we had NO idea 🙂

    good luck girls – just remember….you will get adopted faster if you sit close to the windows and act all cute

11. Wishing you the best Sherry and Felix. In regards to canned food I have 7 cats, purchase all their food at Chewy.com, and use the following:
    Earthborn Holistic (chicken)*** This is loved by the most cats but not all
    Tiki Cat (chicken & turkey)
    Against the Grain (chicken & pumpkin)
    Weruva (chiken & turkey)
    Natural Planet Organics (chicken)
    Dave’s (chicken & liver)
    None of these are exactly cheap but I’ve seen a dramatic return to health in my cats since switching to canned food.

12. Sookie could and should be an Internet celebrity cat with those adorable crossed eyes. That girl needs her own facebook page!

    For Sherry and Felix, the best thing we ever did in regards to UTIs and pet food was to stop buying anything with fish in it. No salmon, no whitefish, no fish period. We’re lucky everyone here loves chicken. We hope you find the best answer for you!

    1. I love her eyes!!!!

13. I have a suggestion for the pill problems: buy a pill crusher (for humans) at any drug store. It pulverizes the pill into a powder. Mix this powder into a small amount of the kitty’s favorite wet food or treat. Works every time.

    1. Good idea – but check with your vet first with each prescription – some pills should not be crushed (such as those meant to be time-released).

14. I started feeding mine EVO which is 95% meat. They seem to like it.

15. One of mine gets canned food exclusively. He prefers the Fancy Feast classic pate ones. He’ll go through stages of what flavors he’ll eat. I’ve also tried the Whiskas brand just recently and he seems to like those even more. But I can only find them at one store that isn’t exactly convenient. But if he’s better at eating them then I just have to do it.

    He used to have an upper respiratory issue. And we’ve noticed that in less than a year of canned only he’s gotten well. We switched him to it because he stopped eating the hard; we figured because he couldn’t smell it anymore. Since he no longer seems to have the problem we tried to go back to the hard but he’s too spoiled now. But that’s ok, if this is what’s keeping him well we’ll endure.

    Man, what we do for our babies. LOL

16. My cats have been eating a wet food diet for almost 5 years, since my older boy was diagnosed with diabetes.

    The vet wanted them on Science Diet, but they refused to eat it. I found the Feline Diabetes Message Board who were wonderful-so much useful information. They have a printout of all the commercial brands of wet food that is broken down by nutritional value. They taught me that as long as I stay with one that has 10% or less carbs, the diabetes will be managed, which helped alleviate the stress of giving him insulin and him not eating.

    Basil was able to come off insulin after just 9 days on Fancy Feast classics. They are pretty costly, to feed both of them twice a day. I had gone to Friskies for a while until they added rice to their cans. Since them I have gone with both Walmart Special Kitty pates and President’s Choice pates as well. (President’s Choice is from a Canadian Grocery Store) I too add water to rinse out the can and give the boys extra water content.

    I randomly check Basil’s blood, and he has maintained a healthy weight. Monkey has only ever ate wet food, and although it is a pain to have to be there at meal times, they are both healthy, happy boys.

    Once I got a little concerned as Basil’s glucose readings were higher then normal (which I learned was from the rice added to the Friskies) ad we took a trip to the vet. The vet basically told me exactly what I had told him when I walked in there(new vet)-that my cat was borderline diabetic but could most likely be controlled by diet. He then laughed at me when I explained that I only feed them wet food, as dry has too many fillers and grains, and told me that there were plenty of healthy dry food options,and the cat had also tested positive for crystals.

    When I asked what causes crystals he simply said ‘poor quality food’ and went on to tell me my other cat most likely would have them too. I then asked what symptoms I would see for crystals, and he said urinating outside the litter box, and perhaps blood in the urine and discomfort. Neither of my boys have ever gone to the bathroom outside the litterbox, and are poked and prodded relentlessly, and have never shown signs of any discomfort.

    I stopped feeding them Friskies, but do from time to time, experiment with other brands. As long as they are the pate variety, and do not have any grains (why is the ingredient list SO DAMN SMALL!!) it’s hit or miss.

    1. YES! FDMB is a /wonderful/ source. I also have a diabetic cat, and I also feed Fancy Feast pate — and my baby’s about to come off insulin. I’ll be feeding canned the rest of his life, thanks.

17. I’m feeding five cats an all wet food diet. For budget reasons I buy the large cans (12 or 13 oz), so my options are a little limited. I order from Chewy. I’ve been doing mostly Wellness, but this month I noticed some of the prices of the cases had gone up pretty sharply (from $23.40/case to over $30). I also rotate in Dave’s and Evo 95%. When I lived near a Trader Joe’s I’d also get their turkey and chicken flavors.

    I did just discover that Tractor Supply Co (not sure how widespread they are–they are definitely in the northeast and mid-Atlantic areas) does their own line of food called 4Health. It’s a slightly cheaper version of Taste of the Wild, but both are made by Diamond, which of course was involved in a couple of recalls, so you may be leery. Then again, so was the manufacturer of Evo, I believe. Large cans are only 99 cents, and I tried it for the first time last week and got the paws up from all of the cats.

    All of these are pate type with no gravy. Thing is, if you’re budgeting, gravy is just more water in the can, and you’re paying for that. Probably better to add a little water yourself like someone else mentioned.

    Edited to add…I mostly buy chicken and turkey flavors, with the occasional beef or salmon flavors thrown in (which usually still have chicken as the first ingredient). I bought Wellness salmon and trout last month but that got the paws down, they ate it, but reluctantly. Too much fish is not good for kitties for a variety of reasons, so just keep an eye on the ingredient list. Chewy lists them for each product.

18. Keeping fingers crossed for adoptions of those sweet girls!
    I have been feeding NuLo dry food, along with Wellness wet and Trader Joe’s wet foods. One of the girls had several teeth pulled and needs more wet than dry, but still crunches down the dry. I didn’t realize crystals came from fish-based foods, will keep an eye on that if that situation arises.
    Chewy’s been my go-to food supply, they offer pretty good prices on the 12-oz cans of Wellness (I use the Turkey and Salmon most, haven’t tried the Core Wellness ones). The ‘girls’ love it! btw, there is a chicken and lobster flavor–the cats DO eat better than we do sometimes!!

    1. My cats get the chicken and lobster flavor too! They really like it, and yes, they are eating better than me. What we do for these creatures…

19. One of my kitties is a drooler, but it’s not actually drool, it’s moisture from her nose leather dripping down. She only does it when she’s kneading on me.

    I’ve got two purebred ragdolls I’m taking care of, and they’re both about 12 pounds (both are boys). They look much larger because of their immense floofage.

20. Many thanks for this delightful set of pictures and captions — it’s amazing how far these lovely girls have come under your — and Fred’s — tutelage. May there be some swift adoptions very soon! Ditto for the Crooked Acres grads and all animals needing families.

    As for canned food, mine get Wellness grain-free turkey — and the large tins are reasonable. I also mix it up with just-boiled water to keep them as hydrated as all get-out. From time to time they also get a little bit of Orijen (I wish that company made wet food).

21. Well, if we’re talking food, I’ve been giving mine Royal Canin Satiety for years.

    Between a big boned gal who needed the fibre rather than carbs, another who needed to lose weight but wouldn’t touch wet no-carb stuff, and a little slip of a kitten with anal gland issues, it seems to be the best bet for all three over the years.

    The vet once gave me a recipe for a weight-loss diet. It had fresh vegetables and meat that I don’t buy for myself. I’m not about to feed them fresh spinach and lamb on a daily basis when I’m eating canned spinach and smoked sausage from Dollar Tree.

    Yeah, the Royal Canin stuff is still pricy but fingers crossed they’ve never had any recall issues and everyone’s stayed healthy.

22. As to Felix with the UTI- my cat is prone to them as well. He had flare-ups two years in a row on pretty much the same day. I noticed he was at the box quite often with only a couple drops coming out each time. The vet said that when a cat has a UTI, the infection makes him feel like he has to pee, but in actuality there’s nothing in his bladder to empty. I’ve had UTIs, and that’s exactly how it feels. So there’s usually nothing in the bladder to collect for a sample. My vet prescribed antibiotics as well as a prescription food-Hill’s C/D. He said that cats with chronic UTIs, if fed ONLY that, almost never have flare-ups. Well, I have 6 cats, so it’s hard to feed them only that, but he’s been eating that more since his last flare-up, so we’ll see. Just be careful, I was reading that commercial urinary tract foods aren’t actually helpful to your pet, and I did have a cat that was fed only pro-plan’s urinary tract food at the shelter, and his kidneys failed. What is good for the bladder isn’t always good for the kidneys.

23. Thanks all of you for all the suggestions! I’ve made notes and will be trying them out to find out which ones he likes best. I’ll also be buying a ceramic fountain as all we have now is a plastic bowl.

    1. Hi Sherry,

       I am late to the party, but I have two cats that blocked with urinary crystals, and one of those two is so sensitive that we have had recurring issues.. it has been a nightmare..

       What I have learned.. (and I so need to do a blog post on this so I can stop typing it out because this is seriously one of the most popular issues with cats)

       Science has never explained why some cats get crystals and others do not, but they do know that once you have them there are a few things that are really important to treat them. Keeping the cat well hydrated so the urine does not become concentrate allowing the crystals to bunch up and keeping the cat’s urinary PH in the ‘ideal’ acidic range of 6.0-6.5 (with neutral being 7) When my cat is showing he is having issues, his urinary PH is usually 8.0

       So, looking for wet foods will keep him better hydrated than dry. Cats have a very low thirst drive since they were originally desert creatures. That is why fountains work to help keep cats better hydrated, as desert creatures they recognize running water as fresh faster than stagnant water sitting in a bowl. When you think about it, it makes sense. if you come upon two sources of water, one a running brook, the other a stagnant pool, which one are you going to drink out of first? One maker of Rx urinary food thinks hydration is the most important issue and addresses it by adding all kinds of extra salt into their food to encourage the cats to drink more. I haven’t come across a study yet that says extra salt is bad for a cat, but I have a feeling it just hasn’t been studied yet.

       the other issue is keeping the PH in the right range. Science shows us that plants are *generally* alkalizing.. (driving urinary ph up to the 8 range) and meat is *generally* acidifying (bringing it back down to the 6.5 range) So you want to find a canned food that has as few plants as possible. Low glycimic greens are better than other fruits and veg and grain. I’m not opposed to some parsley and what not, but apples and squash.. I tend to forgo those. Spinach is right out for me because it’s high oxalate content – which can risk oxalate stones which are harder to get rid of. It is very hard to find a food that says it uses good quality meat that isn’t full of fruits and vegetables. The foods that don’t tout their high quality meats – like your supermarket brands – tend not to use as many plants in their foods.

       Be aware that certain types of canned food NEED plant based binders in order to form the chunks or shreds, etc. There are very few brands that don’t use them.

       The best food for your kitty is the one it will eat. Do not stress over finding something… because if you bring that stress to the cat it will sense it and be less hesitant to try to eat it. the resistance to trying new foods is biological, so your cat isn’t being stubborn or pig headed in not eating the good food you just got them. Cats learn from their mom which foods are foods, if mom didn’t bring it home it obviously wasn’t edible because she needed to hunt a lot of food to provide for a family. You can overcome this instinct, but it takes a lot of patience. Remember, it is in your cat’s best interest to not be willing to just eat any ol thing in front of it, so be glad for it (says the woman who has cats who grew up in the foster system eating anything and everything and are now so food motivated it can be a problem)

       There are herbs and supplements you can use to help keep your kitty’s bladder happy, but this comment is getting kind of long as is.. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have, because I really spend way too much time looking into this sort of thing and would hate to not share what I’ve learned 🙂

24. Went to see the girls at Petsmart last night. Molly was under the cat bed with Stevie and Lita. Pat was still in the litter box. Lizzy however lay in the catbed taking it all in. Never ceases to amaze me that Lizzy, whom we feared would not adjust well, actually seems to be the best adjusted of them all. Hope they learn to ‘work it’ soon and get adopted into loving homes. They all deserve that.

25. I am amazed at how many of your cats (above in the comments here) eat Fancy Feast. My cat does not like it. She free feeds on dry Purina (Walmart $8 a small bag will last us a while). She only really eats it if we are out the whole day and not there to give her the wet or if she for some reason is STARVING! (Hormones I bet too-even though she is fixed). Anyway, we got into the habit of feeding her at our breakfast lunch and dinner times (so the kids could help and we wouldn’t forget). She gets a 1/3 of a can each time of Friskies pate. The ground stuff. She does not like chunks or gravy or anything fancy. She also prefers the liver flavor the best. We always have a water bowl out but I rarely see her drink from it.
    P.S. thank you Elaine for letting me know about the playset toy. I’ll keep checking their site.

26. Newt, who is Not Our Cat.. well as long as you give him the nippe.. I’m sure it will all work out in the end.. 😉

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