I'm such a sucker for a furry face....

[Lisa0825]

So, I am down to one foster kitty now, Leo, my favorite from day one. Now that he doesn't have a playmate, that duty is squarely on my shoulders. Hence, at his usual 5am wakeup, I became the object of his obsession. No rolling over, placing him on the floor, or pulling the covers over my head would stop him from showering me with affection and attention... purring madly, rubbing noses, pouncing on feet... 3 hours before I needed to wake up. I wouldn't have minded if this went on 30 minutes, and then I got to snooze, but it was for the entire 3 hours!LOL

Of course it's really my own fault. I didn't have the heart to close the door on that adorable face, even as annoyed and sleepy as I was. :loveya:

He does need a new playmate though. Apparently falsely diagnosed as pregnant, June Bug went back to the volunteer who had rescued her last month. Jennings, Leo's buddy, is off to get fixed and will most likely go take residence in the kitty palace at Whiskerville. He was a sweetie too, and I'm half tempted to ask for him back. I think I'll probably keep Leo as long as I can.... which could be forever, or could be 2 or 3 years, depending on what course my future takes. Wydell assured me he'll always have a home with her if I do indeed go away.

So, other than the 5am wakeup call, it was a very quiet night at my house. I need more kitties! I miss the sound of a stampede when I get home from work!

[joanski0]

1. Yes, get more kitties. I have a

stampede at my house too, but only at suppertime when they all gather in the kitchen. I have dry food out all the time, but in the evening, I give them all a little canned food. It was surprising to me to see how their skin and coats improved with the addition of the wet food. I have seven cats now.

[AirmensMom]

3. Seems like many people are surprised when they start feeding wet.

We feed ours wet (raw) now. We used to feed dry food, but our Abys developed IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) and renal problems ... not yet renal failure. They both lost so much weight that the younger one almost died. He also had a lot of skin problems. They couldn't tolerate most canned food, either, because of the grains and veggies. They had very runny diarrhea and vomited all the time. Within a day of changing their diet, the diarrhea and vomiting were gone. A few weeks later, the renal problems cleared up. Talk about being surprised! They've gained back all of their weight and it's pure muscle, not an ounce of fat. But the added bonus is that their skin and coats are gorgeous. Even their teeth and ears are cleaner. The two kitties that weren't sick look great, too.

I'm glad your kitties have better skin and coats with the wet food. It makes perfect sense to me. :)

[joanski0]

4. When you say raw food, are you

talking about raw beef hearts, liver and kidneys? Thanks.

[AirmensMom]

5. No, no beef.

The Abys can't tolerate beef at all. (When was the last time you saw a cat take down a cow? :)) We get rabbit or chicken, sometimes game hen. The bones and some of the innards are ground up with it. It looks like ground beef. We add taurine powder, B complex, and some water. We get most of it ground from hare-today.com. (Rabbit's very expensive locally.) Occasionally we get free-range chickens or game hens from Whole Foods and grind it ourselves -- we cut the breast meat into chunks and grind up everything else that's in the package (gizzards, hearts, necks, etc.).

Our old vet discouraged raw feeding, as many do. But she had 7 years to try to get a handle on the IBD (Satchmo had it from the time we brought him home and Sabrina developed it about a year ago) and failed. Our new vet encourages it, so I'm comfortable with our decision. Besides, it's hard to argue with success. :)

[joanski0]

6. Raw chicken sounds horrible, but cats

do eat raw birds. Years ago, I had a black cat who climbed a tree and stole a baby dove out of a nest. He brought it down, and my neighbor started cussing my cat out. He said "now he won't even eat it". Well, the black cat gobbled it up -- all of it.

[AirmensMom]

7. My dad's cat used to hunt rabbits.

She'd eat the whole thing. That's what they do. Raw, ground chicken and rabbit look similar. It's not as horrible as it sounds. The first time I heard "raw food", I thought we had to dangle dead mice in front of them.

:silly:

[Lisa0825]

8. My last cat went NUTS for canned food, so I have always used it as a treat

I give him about a teaspoon of a seafood mix with chunks of fish and little shrimp in it, in the morning and evening. He starts purring and meowing as soon as I step into the kitchen, and then he follows me from in front of me all the way down the hall, slowing down if he gets more than two feet in front of me.

[AirmensMom]

2. One kitty is never enough.

We have four. It's impossible to walk through the kitchen at mealtimes (we only feed them twice/day) and we end up dancing with the cats. Sometimes a tail gets underfoot, but they forgive that as soon as the food is put down. :loveya:

[Lisa0825]

9. My favorite part about having 5 kitties at first was

waking up in the morning with alll oof them sprawled out on my bed!

[AirmensMom]

12. Cute kitties!

:loveya:

[demnan]

10. Interesting

my grandfather always insisted on feeding his cat Baby raw kidney or liver. She lived to be 20 and he lived to be 98 because he was always eating things that were healthy for him like oatmeal and black strap molasses. This was in the 60's - early 70's. I never have heard of a cat living as long as his did, especially back then before they had good vaccines.

[AirmensMom]

11. My vet says there's no reason they can't live to be 30

if we feed them the right food. He has a client with a 22-year-old that looks 10.

[superconnected]

13. my vet said 30 too.

I have an 18 1/2 yo. i keep saying 17, but I got her when I was 21. Yep, I'm old. Anyway, she's still young.

The only problem is since Christmast I've introduced so many new cats to the house. Before that she was an only pet for 17 years.

She's MEAN. She got that way after the homeless cat I took in that had kittens, that I kept.

She gets wet and dry. She used to be indoor/outdoor but now she only goes out for a few minutes, if at all, when my door is open each night.

[AirmensMom]

14. If you're old, so am I.

:)

Ours are still young (5,7,8,8). Hopefully, we still have a lot of time with them. It was pretty scary when the two Abys were sick. We don't keep dry in the house anymore, but we do back up the raw with cans in case the power goes out and the food thaws.

We have a screened patio for them to go out to. So they don't really see the big world.

How many is "so many"? We almost tipped it when we brought home Sashka (the 5-year-old). I don't think ours would tolerate another one. As it is, Sashka wants to be an only cat. She's a daddy's girl.