I know, I know! This is boring stuff! But kitties do have to take a little time off from mayhem to eat. How else do you think they fuel the destruction?
“Yum! Yum! Yum! Crunchies taste so good!”
Dougy and Andy just had their wet kitty food less than an hour ago….
I’m beginning to leave out food for my dog, like I used to do for my cat. It worked for me, and whenever they need the carbohydrates they have them readily available. Some are opposed to this, but it works because it’s dry food and she eats it all before it loses its freshness.
I think the problem with leaving it out is some cats and dogs will over eat and become fat or obese. I watch my two closely. They are neutered, so I was concerned they might become fatties. I feed them a high protein wet food and a dry food formulated for adult indoor cats. It’s lower in fat, among other things. The thing that amazes me (or maybe it doesn’t) is that there is so much disagreement on what constitutes a healthy diet for pets. You run into the same sort of ambiguities you run into with human nutrition: lots of information, but little consensus!
My cat lived to be 24, and he at Hill’s Prepscrition Diet, high in fiber and low in Ash (what causes UTI’s in males). He once became obese, and after he lost weight, I just left him on the high fiber diet. To my surprise, he almost broke a record for longetivity in cats!
Twenty-four is pretty amazing! I know the indoor adult cat food is meant to help cats form becoming fatties, one of those things that causes other issues, from diabetes to issues with rheumatism. I’m going to check the bag for any other information it might have about UTI, for example, or ash content specifically. You’ve piqued my curiosity!
From what I can remember (and it’s been more than 15 yrs.), male cats are susceptible to UTI’s, at least mine was. They have a narrow urethra, so they can get a blockage and go into renal failure if their diet is high in ash (which produces crystals in the urine) . So the vet told me to always watch whether the cat was straining to urinate, or whether only drops came out. This is a sign of blockage, so action must be taken.
I’ve heard that. Also, it seems Persian cats are also more susceptible to UTIs. It’s something I keep an eye open for. One other thing that helps is I keep fresh water in a fountain available to the boys,m and both have been good about drinking water from this type fountain since they were barely big enough to reach over the top of the basin!
A diet low in ash is what helped my cat with his UTI’s , and most dry food is very high in ash. So that mix did the trick; Hill’s makes that food. He died almosr 20 years ago! 😢
The one they eat at this stage of life in one their veterinarian recommended. I know they will have to go to another formulation when they are older, one that helps them deal with issues older cats have. I presume the UTI issues and low ash are part of that change they will need to deal with. I always ask their veterinarian about health issues specific to Persians and generally to cats of whatever age they might be.
Fueling up and getting ready for action!!
Yeah, a nice nap! LOL!
LOL, Kiara calls her kittens demons of destruction.
And so they are, Jeanne! The new apartment rules where I live include a one time $1000 non-refundable pet deposit (up from $100 when I got my first kitties in 2009….!). Though I think that is excessive in some respects, I also know it probably is more realistic that $100.
YEOW!
Yes, little old retirees are flocking to the veterinarian to have Fluffy and Snowball put down. I’m grandfathered on this, but future pets better hide from the front office assholes. (Ooops! Did I write “assholes”? Yep. Sure did.)
That is terrible!
I exaggerate (I hope), but the reality is many elderly people have elderly or older pets that would be difficult to place. I fear for those pets!
I suspect you were more accurate than either of us would like. I know for a fact that my sister has her 3 cats in her will because if disaster strikes, I get the cats… actually, IMHO, they are her prize possessions, though I know a lot of people would disagree.
I talked with my attorney about making provision for the boys in my will, and he said it was possible, but there was a higher rate of contesting such wills by others. I’m counting on out-living them, just in case….!
I hadn’t thought about anyone contesting the wills. I think my sister not only has a will, but a trust fund for her 3 furbabies… very complicated, but her health is not the best.
That was what I hoped to accomplish when I talked with my lawyer. I suspect part of the problem is not all people (or lawyers) see the point of looking out for one’s furbuddies if one dies first. Perhaps I need to look ofr a new lawyer more sympathetic to my desire.He was great with matters of my mother’s will, but it was fairly straight forward.
My sister’s lawyer is ‘owned’ by a dog, so seemed capable of transferring my sister’s issues and coming up with a good plan.
Mine is a competent but young guy who may or may not have a pet.
That explains a lot.
Yeah, I think probably so, too!
They are WHAT? No chance for them to give Fluffy and Snowball up to a no-kill shelter?
Yes, but one needs to realize elderly people downsizing to an apartment probably have older poets, the sort that might be difficult to place. My hope is they would try, but exigencies and expediency might imperil some cats and dogs.
I really hope one day the USA wake up to the fact that you cannot kill a pet just because it has no home right now …
It’s slowly getting there. There are more and more “no kill” shelters, for example. I know my sister in Seattle found her second cat at such a shelter (an older female cat) and her cat that went missing for several months had been at the same shelter for a period of time before my sister located him there, after she saw a photo of him in the shelter website postings for cats available for adoption.
Every no kill shelter is a success – but they really need a ban of kill-“shelters” – those hardly deserve the name “shelter”.
I agree. They also need to make sure that people who adopt are adequately prepared for a new pet or whatever breed.
I am a strong advocate of spaying and neutering. There are people who raise cats and dogs. Andy and Dougy, though pedigree cats, are neutered.
Other than those people (who should be regulated to assure they raise animals in humane circumstances, not cages and pens), there is no reason to add to the over-population of cats and dogs, a tragically huge number of which are killed every year because there aren’t home for them all.
I actually think it would be a good thing if people had to take classes in care for cats, dogs, horses, whatever animals they hoped to have so they not only chose an appropriate breed of dog or cat (for example) for their circumstances, they understand what medical issues those pets are likely to face at each stage of life.
I also believe strongly that dogs and cats should be kept safe inside. Cats can handle being inside pets if they have the appropriate attention, toys, and environment.
Dogs may need to be walked each day, not just when the person feels like it, so a dog may not be suitable for all people.
Very sensible attitude you have there. Yes, lets try to neuter as many feral cats as possible! And apart from breeders cat owners should for their own sake not have a fertile cat. Males spray urine and females go through phases of fertility when they get very loud and annoying and their ovaries fill up with follicles and stretch the ovaries – until they can nearly tear! So for the sake of the females one should neuter those.
I’ve seen too many feral cats where I live, the result of idiots getting pets, getting tired of them, and just diserting them. A friend of mine was the animal control officer here at one point. ventually, she transferred out of that job, not because she didn’t love animals or love helping them find homes, but because many of them had to be killed when they were at the shelter too long. It was more than she could handle: killing healthy animals that would have made perfectly fine companions for someone if they could have been matched up with the right people! The shelter changed policy since then.