question for cat owners

[dexterhead]

question for cat owners

Mrrowwww. My cat is passed out cold and conveys that he could care less about any of us
but thanks to all of you from me, not him!

[LVT25]

question for cat owners

Dex--With pet food you usually get what you pay for. Premium pet foods are def the best (Science Diet or Iams) but some get along fine on the mid-grade brands (Purina and such) just please stay away from the real cheap stuff. We always recommended dry food unless the animal has special needs--the canned is mostly water.

[SKendall]

question for cat owners

Dex, it's tough feeding cats on a budget. I feed my home cat a mixture of wet and dry, but for the past 6 months we've had between 1 and 3 cats living in our garage. I can only feed them the dry stuff, so not to invite larger critters. They eat when they want to, and I'm sure they supplement their diets on small rodents.

Sometimes, you can find dark tuna for 3 cans for a dollar at WalMart sales, I wouldn't eat it myself, but I will feed it to the cats. If your are really struggling to feed the little kitty, please p.m. me and I'll help you.

[spottydingo]

question for cat owners

Dear All,

I know theres so many opinions out there and its really hard to choose. In general I'm all about natural stuff (natural health products, cleaning products, food, vitamins, etc) and my dog is on raw diet. That being said my 4 cats are currently eating Fancy Feast!!! Before you call me a hypocrite, let me explain: Ms. Tiffy (according to her records) is 22 years old and has kidney issues. I have tried everything from all the Rx brands for kidney failure to raw food, and this is what she will eat. At one point she wasn't eating at all, but she's at a healthy weight now and is more active than she's been in a few years, plus her kidney issues are fine so I'm sticking with it -- though I hate it. My 3 others, Charley, Maisy & Madeline are much younger, all under 4 years old, and are eating that too ... mostly because I free feed and can't sequester them ... they always want what the Tiffmeister has. But, when she leaves us they will get a rude awakening when they are put on something much better for them ... Probably Innova or something else grain free. They do eat Innova dry food, but sparingly.

One thing I read recently and then talked to a vet about is that both dogs and cats are lactose-intolerant to some extent. So, the fallacy of giving kitty a nice bowl of warm milk might not be a good idea. My Tiffy-Pop was constipated and it was suggested I give her a bowl of milk or some plain unsweetened yogurt. Guess what? It worked.

Hey Dex -- RE your first post: we used to joke about the rocket fuel poops in our house. We used to have a flat in San Francisco with a really long hall, and one of our 2 kitties then (Boris & Natasha) would take a big stinky dump and then shoot up and down the hall at rocket speed. We used to joke that they must feel a lot lighter (like they had taken a load off, heee hhee). Now one of our cat boxes is next to the toilet in our master bath and I swear Charley waits until one of us is ... ah ... ahem ... a captive audience .. to liberate a radioactive cat squeeze and then leave. Nice. At least there's a exhaust fan!!! Also helps when hubs has been in there for a while ... LOL.

xoxox

[Carmac]

question for cat owners

Dex -

I feed Ali a combo mix of EVO (very high protein, all natural) and Iams. Evo is very expensive, hence the mix. As for wet food, she's ocassionally treated to it but the puff ball would turn into a blimp and would indulge too much. Ali is a feral cat acquired in Jordan and has more than just a "thing" about food. She self feeds and should her bowl ever get bellow 10 kernals, she howls - morning noon or night for a refill!

Suggest you do what you can for now on the food category and Wally is right, being outdoors and near cars is by far the greater danger.

As for the rocket fuel dumps, Spotty? Every morning like clockwork, I head to the bathroom where the lietterbox is stored, Ali trounces in, leaves her little skunky packet and returns to bed to polish off her morning nap. What a lovely AM treat for Mom!

[Evie.Lou]

question for cat owners

Our little tortoise shell (ROSLYN) was doing well on IAMS.Growing strong,shiny coat etc.Lately she has developed a fetish for lizards.She has a pet door and as soon as first light comes,shes ready and screaming to go out in HER YARD.She is the only cat that I have ever met who never wanders.She has stacked out her boundaries and captures kills and eats anything that moves with in it.We have a French Restaurant next door so they attract mice.3 or 4 times a day,she brings live lizards,bugs and sometimes even mice into the house,lets them go,returns outside to be the mighty hunter again.When we force her to come in at Dark,she now has an indoor supply of prey to hunt at night.I am so sorry that we ever let her have the outdoors.as a kitten,she only layed on the porches,in the sun.There is no living with her now...She wants OUT.She wants lizards.She is like a raging alcoholic that has to have the booze.I am at my wits end.This is not healthy diet or life style..I do not recommend it...

[YoungAtHeart]

question for cat owners

I have not been able to afford the more expensive cat foods, but my cats have done fine on Purina One cat foods, even though they do have some of the filler. It's one of the better "store" brands. All of my cats have lived well into their teens on this diet (in fact, I used to feed them Meow Mix), the oldest living until 18 years. I also have given them 2 cans of Friskies cat food, split among them 2X a day. I am going to wean them down to once a day now though and have them eat more dry food. I have gotten samples of Evo and some other specialty brands, and my cats have loved it. I am looking forward to moving up to using those foods.

My cats also get leftovers from the table, although I don't feed them at the table. Whatever meat I have leftover becomes a meal for them (unless it is highly spiced, of course).

[hart]

question for cat owners

Cats can sure vary. One of my cats is over 25 lbs, always eating. One of my cats is about 7 pounds, he has the same access to the food as Frosty, yet, he is much more active. I have been shutting the other two cats in a room and feeding Boop some canned food. She always leaves some but at least she's getting some added calories.

I hear you about bringing in prey. Boop brings in birds! Live Birds! Then Joe and I must run around the house, moving furniture and trying to trap the poor thing w/o harming it, while stopping Boop from pouncing on the bird again!

I luv my cats and dogs! I could talk about them ad nauseum, but I'll stop now....

[Evie.Lou]

question for cat owners

Roslyn is to slow for the birds(she is practicing so maybe soon)Do you use a net to caught them???Maybe they are in shock and just sit there like the baby squirrel she brought in..

[WaitingToExhale]

question for cat owners

I've had my guy on dry Purina since he was a kitten. He is now 19 and going strong! Had to start with a bit of wet food after I had to have someof his teeth removed .. they were just old and falling out at his age. Otherwise he's really healthy.

[dexterhead]

question for cat owners

THANK YOU all so much!!! It helps to read varying views. I think I will start mixing Purina with a bit of the more costly stuff, starting slowly of course.
Dexter hasn't done one of his No. 2 plus rocket gallops yet today; i'm sure that's coming soon! He is, however, rather violent, much like the guy on "Dexter" the TV show. He gets these terrible urges to attack my feet; I can tell he is trying to resist but often gives in. He gets away with so much by being cute!

[dexterhead]

question for cat owners

I forgot to ask: Has anyone else ever heard of a cat who worships canned pumpkin ?

[Carmac]

question for cat owners

Dex -

I'm planning to make pumpkin bread this weekend so will try Ali on it. what an experiment!

[Rags]

question for cat owners

Hi,
Take heed of what Dexterhead says about dry food...................it is bad news to have a sole diet of that. Dry food does NOT clean their teeth as the manufacturers love to tell us, as when the cat bites, the food splinters. Cats (and other pets) more or less have to eat what we feed them else they starve, and I certainly would get extremely bored eating bloody dry biscuit every day... but it would make my dentist very rich! Same with your cat. Why not the occassional bit of cut up meat (not mince). Or chicken neck (raw), and the odd bit of vegetable, or mix the dry with a bit of tinned to soften it a bit for the poor animal.
Vets recommend those scientific diets as with what a lot of people feed (or not) their pet, I guess the vet is takeing the easiest option, knowing that most people won't listen to /carry out a whole heap of instructions about varied diet. etc.

[KatieSmiles]

question for cat owners

Dex
I put Iams dry cat food out all day and feed him 1/2 tin of Friskies, the shredded type with gravy mixed with 3tbsp of water twice a day. The water helps with his urinary tract.

He won't touch a table scrap, no raw or cooked meat, no cheese, eggs, none of it. Little bit of an oddball I'd say, he doesn't hunt either, which suits me just fine