Itchmo’s forums and Pet Connection and Howl911, all links I got from Michelle‘s page. We’ve talked about going to a raw food diet for the cats but – and I know I’m going to hell for this – I just don’t want to fucking deal with grinding up raw chickens for the cats or ordering expensive raw food for them. I’ve ordered sample bags of a couple of high-protein dry foods, and we’ll see how that goes. I’d just like to be able to feed my cats without worrying that I’m killing them, is that too much to ask for? It seems so. (I’m keeping a close eye on all the cats, and they’re acting perfectly fine, for the record.)
Things I should have done this weekend but did not: use the gas-powered trimmer to trim around the house, in the ditch, and around the various outbuildings. Mop the floors in the downstairs. Move the guest bed to the guest bedroom. Scrub the upstairs shower. Weed the front flower bed, put down black plastic (to thwart further weeds), put down red mulch, figure out what I want to use as edging around the front flower beds. Been any kind of help while Fred sprayed weed killer in the ditch and poison ivy killer around the poison ivy (weed killer and poison ivy killer might have been the same stuff, I’m not sure).
Things I did do this weekend: Used the push mower to mow the areas of the lawn that cannot be mowed with the riding mower. Used the riding mower to mow the rest of the lawn. Deliberately drove the riding lawnmover around the edge of the chicken yard so I could guffaw at the flock o’ chickens running to get away from me (yes, cruel. But funny!). Made chocolate chip zucchini bread (which I found lacking. Got a good recipe? Gimme.) Vacuumed the entire house, twice (once Saturday, once Sunday). Straightened the kitchen and put a bunch of dishes away. Brushed Spot, twice (that is one shedding, hairy dude). Took recyclables to the recycling place.* Took several walks around the back forty with Fred. Did a lot of Snood playing. Checked on Fred’s stoop-building progress (progressing nicely, for the record). Planted two hanging planters full of Million Bells Petunias and two big planters full of the same, then spent the weekend trying to decide what else I want to plant to put on the porch (suggestions welcome – something easy to take care of, will thrive in part shade and is purty). Swept the porch. Pruned one of the winter honeysuckle bushes. Considered pruning the spirea bush, but gave up because it’ll be a big undertaking – that spirea bush is seriously overgrown.
I consider it a weekend well spent.
*We don’t have curbside recycling here, but there’s a recycling place in the next town, and you can recycle a lot more stuff there than we were ever able to in Madison (ie, glass and junk mail). Very cool.
“Ah hets them country kitties. They’s jest too durn salty.”
Miss Maxi makes herself at home in the garden.
Keeka just sat up and looked around for Newt. 🙂
I feed Pickle some indoor cat dry food, and then at night, I give him a chunk of ground turkey with some Missing Link powder added. I pay $3 for the turkey, and it’ll last about 5 days. Fyi.
We too are concerned about the food recall. We use Meow-Mix Market Select Wet Food Cups and then Purina Indoor Cat dry food. Jojo is 13.6 pounds and Aimee is 9.6 so we don’t give them too much dry food (1/2 cup between them) as the vet said it’s like feeding them potato chips because it’s all carbs. Who knew?
try this pet food, I use the dog food, and my dog really likes it, not affected by any recalls yet.
http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/cat_index.html
I get it at the feed store.
I use the Purina Dry, and the Friskies sliced in the can. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that neither makes the list. Love that picture of Newt – looks like he’s laughing. Poison Ivy is a bugger to get rid of.
I became completely obsessed with the pet food recall as well. We don’t even feed our cats wet food at all but I still freaked out. I was feeding them Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Indoor Formula. But when Nutro wet food got recalled, I got pissed off. I thought I was paying considerably more money for higher quality pet food. But if they are getting ingredients from the same place as Winn-Dixie and Old Yeller brands – what’s the point??
I decided to find food with no corn, wheat, or soy products at all. SO now I am paying even MORE money for SUPER premium (I hope) cat food. We now use WELLNESS Indoor Health.
“The Wellness formula instantly created a revolution in the pet food industry by taking a holistic approach that incorporates human grade deboned chicken and fish, hormone-free lamb, healthy grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Containing only whole foods, with no animal by-products, rendered animal fats, preservatives, fillers, or artificial colors and flavors, Wellness continues to represent a new generation in pet food.”
I only have 2 cats though. I can’t imagine how expensive it would be to feed 6!
And be careful doing a raw food diet with cats. (Not that you wouldn’t!) I hear it is rather simple to do for dogs, but cats are much trickier.
I am switching our cat to Wellness dry, and I’ll probably throw in a little meat in place of wet food. I know a couple of folks that show dogs, and they RAVE about Wellness. I am now cooking for our 4 dogs, but cats have very different needs and it seems more difficult. So I think using a dry with some ‘real food’ supplementation is a good compromise.
You are not overreacting. I never realized just how crappy even the “good” foods were. And the fact that apparently this stuff was poisoned to try to fool the companies into thinking the protein content was higher is outrageous. I cannot in good conscience support this industry.
Funny, my vet says that the cats are way better off with ONLY dry cat food. Every time we bring in our cat, he looks him over, looks at his teeth, and says “You only feed him dry food, don’t you? Excellent!” The soft stuff messes with their teeth, he says. When we got our cat, he was already 2 years old and was raised by a pet store owner who only fed him dry. He still (the cat) doesn’t seem to even care about real meat, it’s like he doesn’t know what to do with it. He’s a mostly outdoor cat and is now about 14 or 15 years old and is healthy and sassy. He does eat an occasional bird, or at least attempts to.
Dry food here, too, for Candy (18 years old) and Ricky (16 years old). Both eat only Purina or Meow Mix – will not eat anything else, believe me, I’ve tried to give them the “good stuff” – and both are still very active with no health problems whatsoever. Wr’ve had them since they were each about 6 wks old – we have a pet door and live in an area where it’s safe for them to come and go.
Chris Rock actually said that? What a sick creep.
Yeah, Alec’s tantrum. I’m reading a lot of parents of teens defend him, so I guess raising a teenager justifies a lot worse behavior than I originally thought. I still feel sorry for the kid, though.
Pleased to see people recommending Wellness food. We’ve fed our five cats and four dogs Wellness for over a year. The cats eat dry food all day long, and get wet food twice a day (which cuts down on any throwing up, as they aren’t gulping a ton of wet food at once).
Wellness/Old Mother Hubbard states on their website that they don’t import anything from China. The only thing they import is lamb from New Zealand.
Robyn, I haven’t read your whole entry yet so forgive me if I’m treading on shaky ground, but there is a company here in MN that makes it’s own dog and cat food and ships directly from their warehouse. It’s called Nutrisource and is completely free from the recall. Here is the link: http://www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/viewimage.php?id=19&catid=11
Now, back to read your entry.
FYI…the wet/dry food debate is one that will be waged forever. My husband was a nutrition specialist for a verteranarian and swears that dry is best especially for teeth health. However, I know of a woman who is a cat specialist and she insists on wet food: http://community-2.webtv.net/getcathelp/thecatlady/(Scroll to the middle of the page for articles on feeding wet food to cats).
Also, be careful on what you feed your cats. Pork products are very bad for them so no ham, bacon, sausage, hot dogs, etc. Also, cream and milk aren’t good for cats and should be avoided. And anything with bones in it should be avoided because of the danger of swallowing them.
That is all.
I just about did a spit take with my V8 when I read the Chris Rock reference (that would have been messy, eh). When I played the TMZ clip for my husband the day it came out, he was not nearly as dismayed as I was. And I think the second or third thing out of his mouth was, “I’m not saying he should have done that BUT I UNDERSTAND!” in an unmistakable amateur impression from “Bring the Pain.”
On the cat food thing: I think I’ve heard the same advice about dry cat food being the healthiest. When I was a kid we bought a pair of cats from a breeder…they were a brother/sister Burmese mix, so we did what the woman who sold us the cats told us to. We fed them cut up beef heart, liver, and kidney. I cut it up and it was gross but I got used to it. We tried to get them used to other foods but it’s nearly impossible to go back once they’ve had fresh, raw. My only thought about your situation is that since you have so many cats, I’m guessing there would be an economy of scale. You might have some luck with a local butcher or perhaps a meat packer who would have a surplus of organ meat left over. Maybe they’d chop if for you, just to get you to pay a little more to take it off their hands.
The pet food recall has us freaked out too. With two cats, one of whom is very prone to urinary tract infections & crystals, and one very old dog who also has dietary issues, it’s been a challenge to feed them lately.
I’ve started feeding the dog frozen raw dog food (that I thaw, obviously) and a cup of this dry:
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Solid-Gold-WolfKing-Bison-Dry-Dog-Food/140013.aspx
He devours it.
The cats get only dry as I haven’t been able to find a raw food that they like:
http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/cat_wellness_dry_complete_health_salmon.html
They eat this food like it’s a treat–they’re little cat vaccuums!
If you’re interested in raw, I found this product:
http://www.felinefuture.com/payments/?action=step1&shipping_to=USA
It seems to be a good balance of cost and hassle (can you imagine planning nutrition for your cats “From scratch” pardon the pun? Where the heck are we going to get amino acids?) with minimal effort. You still have to grind the meat to add, though.
We feed our cats Wellness as well. What I like is the ingredients are all human grade. At this time the FDA has no regulations for pet food nor inspected.
I contacted Wellness when this fiasco happend and was told that all food used in Wellness is inspected by a independent food inspector. This company also inspects some of the food supply in the US for us as well.
I found out a few years ago that the pet food industry was not regulated, and what I learned about it grossed me out!
Our kitty crew (we have 6) have been doing well on this diet for the last 7 years. Everytime we take them into the vet, she comments on how healthy they are and how great their coats and eyes are. Two of our cats have medical conditions as well. We havent had any problems since switching.
The pet food situation drives me nuts also. The dogs are on Purina Fit-n-Trim dry food, and the cats on a mix of Science Diet regular adult dry & kitten dry. So far, so good, but like you, I’m watching them anyway.
Apropos of nothing, I saw these and thought of you.
Ooopsie. Just checked that link and no go. This is the same thing on ebay (fingers crossed).
I was also horrified when I heard the Baldwin rant, and then I tried to get my teenager to clean her room and had a moment of clarity. My husband had the same response, he said it was bad, but he could relate.
Someone once said… “Only mothers of teenagers understand why some animals eat their young.” At eleven my kids were still able to see the look on my face and understand that whatever they were doing was unacceptable, but at 14 and 16? They have lost all sense of reason. Damned hormones!
Some zucchini bread recipes – I haven’t made any of them, but I’ve had good luck with other recipes from them:
http://www.kjsl.com/~beanmom/recipes/ChocZukeBread.html
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2004/04/chocolate_zucchini_cake_imbb3.php
Also, if you scroll down to the comments in the second post, there’s a recipe printed out there as well.
My two cents on recommended pet food. Small company that produces their own products. Human quality ingredients. Canned dog food (I don’t have cats) has no unpleasant odor. Finicky dog loves it. Available at feed stores.
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
This is my favourite recipe for zucchini bread:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/breakfast/ZucchiniBread.html
I guess there’s no reason why you couldn’t add choc chips to the recipe. I have substituted half a cup of flour for half a cup of cocoa to make it more chocolately and oh my goodness… so good!
My husband and I switched to raw feeding after meeting with Tom Lonsdale, who very graciously examined our cat as she was dying of a very rare liver cancer. We changed her over to a raw diet (which was difficult after 8 years of dry food), and noticed a change in her, which I believe gave us an extra couple months with her. Unfortunately it was too late to save her, but our new cats have eaten only raw food from the start. I suggest anyone considering the benefits of a raw diet look at rawmeatybones.com and decide for yourself. We have found it works out cheaper, and our babies have never been sick. Chewing raw chicken necks keeps their teeth in good condition without the need for cleaning.
We still feel the dry food was the contributing factor in the death of our 2 previous cats (within months of each other). To quote Oprah “when you know better, you do better”
Oh, I should mention we fed our previous cats a “high quality” popular cat foor available only from your vet. It’s a good money spinner for vets!
We started feeding our cats Wellness wet and dry foods and they seem to really like them. No one is throwing up, so I’m taking that as a good sign.
Also! We’ve used the litter keeper with good luck. Three cats, two of whom sometimes potty outside, seem to work out just fine.
And in closing, I love Newt the most.
This whole recall thing has about drove me into fits.
I’m still sticking with the Hill’s X/D for dry, since they seem to be doing fabulous on it. It does have corn gluten, and it’s expensive as hell, but for the moment, I’m taking a wait and see approach.
I haven’t moved back to wet food yet. I’m considering Felidae, which supposedly (and I use that word strongly) doesn’t use glutens NOR do they import ingredients from China.
And I am so with you when it comes to the raw food diet. I will not spend more time preparing my cats’ meals than I do my own. And I don’t want my cat wondering if I taste just like the raw chicken he had for dinner, either 😉
The wet vs. dry diet is the cat eqivalent of formula vs. breast feeding. I’ve seen cats last 20 years on dry food diets. I’ve heard of diabetic cats thriving on raw food. It’s just a matter of what your particular cat’s health is and what your kitty thrives on.
At this point, as long as it’s not poisoning them with ingredients imported from China, I consider it a good choice.
Heck, we’ve TRIED giving the cats that expensive raw food — they won’t eat it. My two alleged carnivores don’t like wet food — it has to be kibble or nothing (or raisin bran for the black velvet purrmonster. Don’t ask). I’ve been giving them Castor and Pollux Feline Formula — it’s organic, they like it, and the company hasn’t been hit by any of the recalls.
Try pansies on your porch, or impatiens, or fuschias. They all do well in the shade.
You two totally have two extra cats. Who ya foolin’? 🙂
We feed our dog and cat Fromm’s – they are ok so far in this pet food fiasco – http://www.frommfamily.com/contact-recall-info.php
I’d like to feed raw too, but it seems like a lot of work. It’s so scary to not know what the heck is in the food you feed your pets. I’m lucky though, my cat will eat anything, even vegetables.
we feed our dogs solid gold dry food http://www.solidgoldhealth.com
we rescued both dogs and this is the only brand the rescue will feed their dogs. our dogs love it and i feel good knowing there are no fillers (wheat gluten, etc..) and only good grains used.
we also use the wellness brand treats. these dog treats contain no wheat, which is good for the digestive tract as wheat makes our terriers VERY gassy!
we planted begonias in our very shady backyard and they have done well in the past and are very pretty.
You love that cat because he’s YOUR CAT! You have 8 cats. Hee Hee!
Nemesia, which smells a little like oranges, will handle partial shade, but it looks prettier when you mix it with other flowers because the blooms are tiny. Try snapdragons mixed with it–they’ll grow anywhere. (I’m fond of flowers that aren’t fussy.) Oh, and begonias are good in shady/partial shady spots, too. I love the hanging baskets with GIANT begonias. The blooms look like big roses, and the colors are gorgeous.
Thanks for posting the links to those sites with pet food recall info–nice to find a site that gets updated more than the FDA site!
My cats are on dry food only for the time being. I’d give them treats of canned food and luckily that Friskees isn’t on the recall, but I’m not taking any chances. If I need to give them some wet to feed them some hairball medicine, I’m going to give them some raw stuff. Don’t know what yet. . . I hope they eat it.
Also, I never realized how ugly those tin light fixtures were until I saw the pictures on eBay. I did not think they looked too bad in the house pictures, but boy they are ugly. I would have spent the money to replace them too. I hope you recoup some money with your eBay sales. Hopefully, someone who is looking for a house full of tin will see them and buy them up!
Hi Robyn!!
I completely agree with the Wellness recommendation-amazing quality food.
We give our cats that wet; and then for dry-we give Innova Evo which is also amazing http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1500
The dry food contains NO grains whatsoever and is supposed to mimic a raw food/found in nature diet.
Our cats love it and their coats are brilliant-and their solid output is GREATLY reduced too!!
I cannot recommend this Innova Evo highly enough….but it’s very expensive.
Hi Robyn!
So good to see all the “Wellness” recommendations here. We’ve fed our cats their wet food for years and it’s phenomenal.
In addiiton-we feed them Innova Evo (dry food)-
http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1500
It is all human quality food, also and it contains no grains whatsoever-which is great for dry food.
It’s supposed to mimic their diet in the wild (or something like that).
I’ll tell you-since we’ve switched to the Evo their coats are amazing (people comment on how silky they are!) and their solid waste has reduced in quantity as well (not so odorous too!).
Big downside-the Natura is VERY expensive though.
Take care-
Diane