My cats (and kittens)... all 12 of them
- Thread starter Fester
- Start date
Al Today
The Living Force
Way to go Fester.!.!.!
Kitties are very cool. Cats are quite smart but sometimes the attitude cracks me up. We have nine(9) rescued kitties. All our critters are rescued.
And I bet you have many many stories that would have us all laugh, smile and cry. Pets are one of the best antidepressants in existence because you sure don't have the time to waller in self pity. They NEED You and more importantly they LOVE you.!.!.!
Kitties are very cool. Cats are quite smart but sometimes the attitude cracks me up. We have nine(9) rescued kitties. All our critters are rescued.
And I bet you have many many stories that would have us all laugh, smile and cry. Pets are one of the best antidepressants in existence because you sure don't have the time to waller in self pity. They NEED You and more importantly they LOVE you.!.!.!
Miss.K
Dagobah Resident
Thank you Fester for sharing.
I am very happy to know you have 12, as I thought I was officially crazy now as I adopted 9 cats (had 1 cat already) and a dog this summer when some neighbors moved away all of a sudden leaving them, and 10 cats is a lot..Now I feel that I can even get 2 more before reaching crazy limit :P
I must say I love them all dearly, and am very happy that no matter where I look there is a beautiful cat. Only minus is that they are quite expensive to feed (I feed mine fish and chicken), and there is 4 females that will be reaching fertile age in about a month, and at 150 Euros pr. cat for spaying that is a lot of money going out.
But in return I get a lot of purring therapy. One night when I went to bed and had the dog and 3 or 4 purring cats around me, and I had just read something about that purring was good for the heart, so I thought "this must be good for my heart" and the moment I thought "heart" one of the cats (his name is Nino and he's the master purrer) got up and sat on my chest and started to massage my heart. And with experiences like that I can't help feeling very happy, and thinking that the money is well spend.
A thing about these cats, that I haven't experienced with cats before is that when I walk the dog, some of the cats walk with us. The walk I take is usually about a half hour walk, and some of them only walk half way with me. Then they stop and call me, and I think they tell me that we have reached the end of their territory so they are scared to go further, but 2 of them go on if I call them (mew back) and follow all the way, out and back.
I wonder if it is because they figure that when I go, it must be to hunt the chicken (as they don't understand the concept of sitting by a computer to earn money, and then buy chicken) so they go with me to help me hunt. Anyways it feels very loving, so it is helpful :)
I second Al Today that:
I am very happy to know you have 12, as I thought I was officially crazy now as I adopted 9 cats (had 1 cat already) and a dog this summer when some neighbors moved away all of a sudden leaving them, and 10 cats is a lot..Now I feel that I can even get 2 more before reaching crazy limit :P
I must say I love them all dearly, and am very happy that no matter where I look there is a beautiful cat. Only minus is that they are quite expensive to feed (I feed mine fish and chicken), and there is 4 females that will be reaching fertile age in about a month, and at 150 Euros pr. cat for spaying that is a lot of money going out.
But in return I get a lot of purring therapy. One night when I went to bed and had the dog and 3 or 4 purring cats around me, and I had just read something about that purring was good for the heart, so I thought "this must be good for my heart" and the moment I thought "heart" one of the cats (his name is Nino and he's the master purrer) got up and sat on my chest and started to massage my heart. And with experiences like that I can't help feeling very happy, and thinking that the money is well spend.
A thing about these cats, that I haven't experienced with cats before is that when I walk the dog, some of the cats walk with us. The walk I take is usually about a half hour walk, and some of them only walk half way with me. Then they stop and call me, and I think they tell me that we have reached the end of their territory so they are scared to go further, but 2 of them go on if I call them (mew back) and follow all the way, out and back.
I wonder if it is because they figure that when I go, it must be to hunt the chicken (as they don't understand the concept of sitting by a computer to earn money, and then buy chicken) so they go with me to help me hunt. Anyways it feels very loving, so it is helpful :)
I second Al Today that:
when the kittens were small, they would make me cry by pure cuteness overload. Love them all, and looove the doggie too. Best friends one could imagineAL Today said:Pets are one of the best antidepressants in existence because you sure don't have the time to waller in self pity. They NEED You and more importantly they LOVE you.!.!.!
Fester said:They cost me about $15 a day in roo mince (the kittens are complete gluttons- I think they only stop eating when it hurts)
FWIW feeding only raw mince to cats is no better then feeding dry food, i.e it is a recipe for the disaster. In a long run cats fed this way will develop serious health problems.
Main reason being meat is rich in Phosphorous and you need to get P:Ca ratio right. You also need to add Taurine. For detailed information visit _www.catinfo.org
Fester
Jedi
Z said:Fester said:They cost me about $15 a day in roo mince (the kittens are complete gluttons- I think they only stop eating when it hurts
FWIW feeding only raw mince to cats is no better then feeding dry food, i.e it is a recipe for the disaster. In a long run cats fed this way will develop serious health problems.
Main reason being meat is rich in Phosphorous and you need to get P:Ca ratio right. You also need to add Taurine. For detailed information visit _www.catinfo.org
My bad. I was answering a question regarding the cost of feeding them. My cats get roo mince, chicken hearts, chicken liver, fish... I read that site a year or two back. About the only change I had to make was to make a mental note to get some bones for them every now and then.
Miss.K
Dagobah Resident
Z said:
I was wondering about Taurine. Isn't there enough Taurine in meat/bones/intetines? As I had understood it, the whole Taurine is important to put in cat food, came about because cats got very sick from eating "catfood" (vegetables) and so they added Taurine to the "catfood"
But if cats eat their natural diet (whole mice an small birds an insects) wouln't it have what they need?
I give my cats whole chickens chopped in mice size pieces. They eat the meat and the bones that are small enough for them to chew (the dog cleans up after them and eat the larger bones), sometimes I give them liver, and I give them small whole fish that they eat whole (sometimes they leave the head) Sometimes scrambled eggs with cod eggs (they don't like chicken eggs much but love cod eggs but they are expensive) I would guess they eat mice and birds too, though I've only seen them eat a mouse 1 time and a small lizard another time, so maybe they are to lazy and fed to hunt much.
Their looks have improved since I got them. They look better, the fur is better. Specially the one who had kittens (the kittens were about a month old when I got them) She was very skinny and had no shine in her fur, and she has completely transformed to being strong and beautiful with shiny thick fur. In the start they all ate as if they had never been fed before, and most of them got fat for a period, but now they are all slim and strong looking, and will not be such gluttons unless they are very hungry.
There is one problem though. When I got them, all the kittens an one "teenager" had severe eye infection. And the teenager ha a bad cough, I got rid of the eye infection with anti eye infection cream from the farmacy, and the teenagers cough got better, and eventually went away after I gave him a vitamin D (I searched online and found a page of someone who cured cats cough with vit D and who had since found out that it seems that cats with kitten cough are lacking vit D, but I don't know any more about it)
But lately there has been cough and eye infection going around, and this time it seems as it is very contagious as when one has eye infection or coughs then soon another and another. I have given them vitamin D for the cough and it seems quite effective (cat coughing, I give vitamin D, cat don't cough, the day after I think "it worked" then cat cough just when I think that, and I give cat one more vit D and cat don't cough anymore) , but last couple of weeks there is always some with runny eyes (I've cleaned around the eyes with coconut oil, and it helps some, but not enough) Now that I think about it, they haven't gotten fish for a month or maybe two, as the fish shop closed, so I have to find a new fish source.
It is on my list of very important things that have to be done yesterday rather than today (the list is as long as my arm) to make sure that they are properly fed, but I assumed that it wasn't too bad what they get, as they do get bones and intestines.
I'd be happy to hear your thoughts..
Unlike other amino acids, Taurine is not a constituent of any protein. Instead, it exists free in intracellular fluids. So unless you are going to feed whole mice or whole birds it needs to be added grounded meat.
Vitamin D on the other hand if overdosed can be very toxic to cats, if fed proper amounts of liver and heart this should be enough, the level of vitamin D in these tissues is not very high but should be sufficient.
Vitamin D on the other hand if overdosed can be very toxic to cats, if fed proper amounts of liver and heart this should be enough, the level of vitamin D in these tissues is not very high but should be sufficient.
Al Today
The Living Force
Fester said:
I apologize up front if I offend but this had me smile thinking about all the blood-fests, fur, leftover parts and lots-o-trophies found when opening the front door many mornings. As well as being food, sometimes seems that killing is a sport. But I can't help but notice that the gizzards or something like that are usually left on the ground. Probably a nasty taste with all that acidic bile i guess. sorry, my bad...
Unfortunately every now and then is not enough. The P:Ca ratio needs to be balanced all the time.Fester said:
Always think of their diet in the nature which is whole pray model ( whole mice or whole bird) which we are trying to recreate, they need to have ground bone ( or for cats who used to it - small bone chunks) with every meal. Also feeding any other meats apart from poultry or rabbit on a regular bases should be avoided. Sardines and other small blue fish every now and then is ok - but on the whole feeding fish to cats is not a very good idea.
Fester
Jedi
Z said:
Again, my bad. I was simply making a short answer. I am feeding my cats very well, thank you for asking... oh, wait, you didn't. You simply assumed I wasn't because I didn't include a detailed description of their entire diet for your approval, with appropriate footnotes and links to websites backing me up.
I'm not doing that now either.
(Btw, cats seem to be atheistic. I sincerely doubt they pray at all, wholly or partially. As for preying, my cats don't do much of that either. They're too well-fed to bother.)
When I wanted to know more, I researched. The website you mentioned was one of the places I went, as a suggestion from here.
I was not asking for dietary advice, nor do I need any. I was estimating how much feeding them cost me in answer to someone else's question. If you had asked if that was all I fed them instead of assuming that this was the case you would have avoided lecturing someone already well-educated on the subject. I certainly don't need to be lectured on the dietary requirements of small obligate carnivores.
AL Today said:
Offended? not at all... You're not making assumptions about my level of ignorance ;)
At my previous address, (close to shopping centre, hungry jacks, 7/11 and with over grown yards) there were rats. Not an infestation, but they were around. Before I found and read that catinfo page, I had only been feeding them roo+chicken heart+chicken liver, and fresh whole sardines once or twice a month. No bones. (I only had 2 then). At that time, if either caught a rat, the most I would find would be the tail, sometimes a bit of fur or a foot- they'd eat everything else. Since I started getting them chicken necks regularly (also the mince is fortified) they stopped eating them, and just left them dead after they'd finished playing with it. They do the same now if they catch a bird. (3 times in the last 6 months, not too bad) Had me wondering if they were maybe supplementing themselves, craving what they were missing.
Miss.K
Dagobah Resident
Fester said:
Fester I think Z was partly answering my questions (I was asking though it might not have been obvious)
I'm sorry for hijacking your thread, and also I forgot to say that I think your kitties are beautiful :)
Z, thank you again, I guess there is no way around having to invest in an electrical meat grinder (so many things to buy and so little money) as there is no way I can grind bones by hand for 10 cats..
Miss.K said:
I know, that's the biggest problem for many raw feeders. Sometimes you might be able to to find a friendly butcher who would be willing to grind it for you, if buying your own grinder better save a bit more and buy heavy duty grinder. Some people use the old fashion hand grinder and they say its quite easy even for rabbit bones which are a bit harder then poultry bones , there is quite a big selection on ebay.
