Why I feed raw

Time to make the cat food again...

I have talked about feeding raw food to my cats a few times on this blog, I've even done a few 'watch me make raw food' posts because my cats amuse me every single time we make food.

I will admit, this is probably one of my least favorite chores. I would strongly prefer to buy it and leave the meat grinding to someone else, but with the FDA regulations of zero tolerance of bacteria or pathogens in raw food to almost to the point of being insane (they do not seem to have the same zeal when testing cooked commercial foods)  and my cats don't like HPP (high-pressure pasteurization) foods... So, we make it.

We use the recipe from catinfo.org but I do not cook anything. I used to cook the egg whites because of the enzyme in them that inhibit biotin absorption, but with the high amount of biotin in the yolks as well as the biotin in the B vitamins we add, I am not worried about the small amount that is bound up and is unusable because we don't cook the whites.

But why would I go through all of this trouble? Why do I feed raw? Years ago I had one diabetic cat (Em) and two cats who had blocked with urinary crystals (Jack and Eli) while on a 'high-quality premium' dry cat food. Em was on seven units of insulin twice a day because of the food we were feeding. We were originally encouraged to switch her to a high fiber food (W/D) because the belief was that the fiber would slow down the absorption of the sugars in the food and keep a cat's blood sugar stable. It works for humans and for dogs to some extent, but it has been disproven to help cats. Her transition to W/D did not go well, so we kept her on the food she liked, which the vet said was fine. Why no one (of the multiple vets we saw) balked at the idea of giving a cat seven units of insulin twice a day, I have no idea.

I found the felinediabetes.com message board and saw cat after cat enter into remission with a diet change to a low carb high protein diet. I was floored at the idea. By this point, Em had been on insulin for years and I didn't think it was possible. I picked a low carb canned food (Fancy Feast Classics Turkey and Giblets) and put her on that while testing her blood sugar levels regularly. Her insulin need dropped dramatically, from seven units to two and eventually to one. I was stunned. I started feeding Em separately from the rest of the cats and she was fine with that.

Then Eli blocked. So Em was on special food, Eli was on special food and the rest were still being fed dry.

Then Jack blocked.

So we had a devil of a time herding cats twice a day. Getting Em into her bathroom to eat her food, then get everyone else into the basement but Jack and Eli.. well at least not Eli since touching him then was questionable, Jack would follow the food anywhere.. It was frustrating having three feeding stations for five cats.

The more I learned about why the food helped Em, the more I learned in general. When I realized that leaving my cats on dry food would most likely mean that they too would one day end up with medical conditions that would need an Rx food, and that feeding them a low carb, high protein, high moisture diet would mitigate that, I was converted.

My husband and I went to pet food store after pet food store looking for cat foods that had a named meat source (chicken, beef, turkey) and each animal-based ingredient was also named (chicken fat vs poultry fat) and that had no plants in it and no carrageenan.  I was shocked how hard that was and by the fact that some food makers at the time put garlic in their foods.

We finally ended up with the conclusion that making the food was our best option.  I was completely ready to throw in the towel before I even began. I can not stand touching raw meat. I decided I needed to wear plastic gloves to do it and that helped a lot. The fact that my husband is willing to do clean up is another factor that has helped a great deal over the years.

this is relevant to my interests - Fleurp

Getting Em on raw was easy initially. Her insulin need dropped to almost nothing. Sadly, it was about this time that she started developing cancer and she decided she wanted nothing to do with the raw, I speculate that was because she associated the new food with the discomfort that was taking up residence within her.

I was beyond lucky/blessed/super skilled at getting everyone else on it. I offered them ground raw chicken, which they all said was super awesome, so I said, "okay, this is your new food" switching it with the raw food we had made and they ate it. I suspect it had a lot to do with the fact that they were all fosters and had grown up eating a wide variety of foods due to eating whatever was donated to the shelter. (this is why I recommended feeding kittens anything and everything while they are young)

Additional benefits: My cats eat less food on raw.. 2-3 oz per meal vs the 4-6 they used to of conventional food. Their stools are also much smaller and drier and barely smell - unless you collect them and cut them up for research.. then you smell them just fine

Eli and Jack went years without another incident of crystals. Each has had flair ups over the years when stressed (or when Jack broke into bags of dry food I brought into the house for foster kittens). I can't imagine what they would have gone through if I had kept them on regular food.

Skippy, the only kitty we adopted since converting to raw, is in amazing health. He has never needed a dental and his teeth are still very clean - granted he is only five, but a lot of cats start with dentals before this point. Fleurp was mostly raw raised and except for her annual spring anemia (goodness, I wish I knew what causes that) she is in good health as well.  Time will tell if this holds up, but from what I have read and learned, I am guessing it will.

I wonder what happened to Kit and why her cancer popped up so quickly and I have my theory, which I'll probably touch upon when and if I do a year in review post. I know perfect nutrition (and I'm not saying my diet choices for my cats are perfect) isn't a full and complete preventative to disease, so I imagine I'll be facing more difficult situations as the years progress.. but giving them the most highly digestible and least inappropriate diet I can is the least I can do to help mitigate whatever I can.


So, TL/DR, Why do I feed raw? It 'cures' diabetes, It 'cures' urinary crystals, I know what is in it. I know how highly digestible it is because of size and smell of my cat's stool.

My new grinder for making raw food is AWESOME!!

Jack waiting for me to drop pieces of chicken for him while making cat food,
affectionately called 'chicken raining from the sky day'

So making raw food for seven cats is not fun but it is completely worth it.  I credit a good diet as a major reason why Jack is still with us, as well as a few other of our cats, and my younger cats having amazingly clean teeth.  I wish my cats would eat 'frakenprey' and I wouldn't have to grind it, but I have at least one cat that won't eat even muscle meat, let alone chew on a bone, so I could never be sure my cats got a balanced diet, not to mention I don't think my husband would like the idea of dishing out livers every day (because I know I don't) or kidneys, or other organs... so we grind.

Which is one reason why I am a full supporter of 'do what you can'.  Feeding mice and chicks appear to be the healthiest way to feed a cat, frakenprey (bits of meat on bone a bit of organ) would be the next option, ground raw, canned, and then kibble (not sure if I should put freeze dried food before or after canned, as I think it is pretty subjective). I also believe if you know better you do better.  Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but at some point you'll find yourself questioning things and hopefully because I and others talk about it you will be more willing to do it.

So.. we grind.  When I first started making raw food years ago I purchased a basic grinder that was recommended. The idea of raw food was so overwhelming that I didn't want to dive into the middle of the ocean (aka way beyond the deep end) so I bought the lower end model. It works well enough, but in order to get the chicken thighs (which I do not cook, but I follow the rest of the recipe at catinfo.org) in the grinding tube I would have to cut them in half or in thirds. I would cut near the bone so I would have one side with bone, and one side without. I HIGHLY recommend you spend money and get yourself a fabulous knife*, this isn't something you want to hack your way through especially if you are making 60+ pounds of food. I would grind the bones first, add the supplements (and something green - because without a very small portion of green veg {parsley, or cooked green beans or cooked broccoli} which generally comes out to about 2% of the recipe) then grind the meat.

Doing it this way it would take an hour or more of just grinding. For a month of high quality food for my cats it is totally worth it, but every month I would dread it more than going to the dentist.

For my birthday I asked for the 3/4 HP model, and OHMYCOD.. I am actually sad we didn't do this years ago.

I know that is a horrible photo, but I was in the middle of making food, and I had to stop and take a photo for this love letter to my Weston Electric Meat Grinder.. Oh how I love thee, let me count the ways..

Okay, honestly there is only one way, that it grinds the entire freakin thigh!!  There were a few very large thighs that I would have previously had to cut into thirds that I only needed to cut once, but that was rare. This round I added some boneless skinless thighs to round out the thigh weights to five pounds per batch, some chicken breasts cut up into cubes for chewing on for my cats who are willing to do that, and some green beans. I found some 'canned' beans that were not in cans so I didn't have to worry as much about BPA, although they were in plastic bags, so I'm sure there was some chemicals in there I wish weren't, but I can't micromanage everything... and considering everything I know I've weeded out by making my own, I will allow myself to make choices that make this easier for me.

This went so much faster, that we are planning on filling up our freezer next time. We are going to have to buy more containers to put the food in, and we need to eat up some of our own food that is in the freezer, but I'm actually looking forward to that.. and that alone was worth the price.

Although Jack might not be happy that there will be fewer "chicken raining from the sky' days..



* seriously, even if you don't make raw cat food, you need to own a really good quality knife, I mean a $100+ knife, it will change your life, it really will.

Eli and the very bad no good day

So as I mentioned on Saturday, Eli was the first of my two urinary boys to block.  He was about three years of age, and we were feeding dry food at the time. We put him on C/D canned and he liked it well enough, but when Jack blocked a few months later we thought we would try them both on just a regular canned diet instead of dry. I went to the store and found a urinary diet, but oddly it was a chunked food (if I knew then what I know now I never would have purchased chunked food)

Eli did fine with that, Jack did not and blocked again. This started us on our journey through feline nutrition and what constitutes a healthy diet. At the time I also had a diabetic cat who was on one type of food, Jack and Eli who were on another, and two other cats who were still eating raw. Mealtime was a complicated mess, especially since Eli was so skittish back then that touching him was near impossible.

So we got them all on a raw diet and Eli hasn't had an issue since.

Until now.

Why is he having an issue now? I do not know. I can speculate - I'm very good at that. Click here to jump down to if you want to hear more about Eli without listening to me speculate.


It might be due to food insecurities. We were feeding Bravo. Bravo was completely raw, it had a good texture and it was well received by my crew. The FDA imposed a zero tolerance level for ecoli and salmonella and Bravo had a batch test positive for it after leaving the facilities (they say the batch tested negative when it left the manufacturer). To comply with the zero tolerance, they started HPP (High Pressure Pasteurization) which kills pathogens. It also completely changed the texture of the food, it was denser and didn't seem to have nearly the moisture content that it used to.  This change in texture was not well received by my cats. Proponents of HPP say that the food is still raw, but since it does kill pathogens, I can not see how it wouldn't change other things. I complained - as did many other consumers not only about the texture but the fact that HPP really isn't raw.

Bravo then went to a new type of "organic rinse" that is supposed to take care of pathogens. It is a very interesting concept but it took quite a bit of asking on my part to get the information.  Since the implementation of this 'rinse' the food has had a different smell... one my cats weren't particularly fond of.   Very quickly after that they had another recall, and getting our hands on more product was near impossible.

We went back to an old brand I used before, Oma's pride.  I liked Oma's well enough until we had an issue - including a  big chunk of bone that got stuck on Eli's tooth and some diarrhea in the house. I contacted Oma's about it and was really completely and utterly turned off by their reply to my multiple inquiries. I was polite and simply wanted to know if they had made any changes to their formula and I was ignored and rebuffed.  That was years ago and since then I have heard several great things about their customer service, so I though what the heck.  Well shortly after feeding it, a big bone fragment got stuck on one of the kitten's teeth. It was also not well received by The Crew and a lot of it ended up in the trash.

I spoke to my local source for Bravo about our options and while having the conversation he called his distributor and found some cases for us. They came in with that same near chemical smell to the food... The Crew will eat it, but they are not happy about it and much is left behind.

I imagine all of these food changes have been stressful. Stress is a problem for cats with urinary issues.

I also started giving some "vac detox" from Spirit Essences.  It was suggested a while back that Fleurp's anemia might have roots in her being vaccinated, so I thought I would give this a shot. If this does help the body deal with the issues of being vaccinated, it might have stirred something up in him... which along with the stress of the food, the stress of Jack's recent issues, my going away last month, etc... maybe..

But that is all we have, a bunch of maybes.. oh if only cats were algebra instead of biology.. *smile*

anyway.. so I knew he was uncomfortable and I knew he was not blocked because he was peeing, so I set about trying to catch my boy so I could 'pamper' him. He is far from the skittish boy he used to be, but he still is not a fan of being 'caught' and since my husband is out of town and there is only me and it was NOT easy.

I caught him once, and locked him in the back bathroom while I prepared the bedroom for observation... which means kicking everyone else out of prime real estate, getting a litter box, food/water and getting him the supplements he might need. I was lucky enough to get one of Jack's urinary tablets in him when I caught him, so that was on board, but when I went to get him out of the bathroom he escaped. I figured it was hopeless, but went after him anyway, just long enough for him to figure out I REALLY wanted to get him... and he was having NONE OF THAT, thankyouverymuch. I immediately gave up and went and spent some time with the kittens.

When I was done, I came out and Eli was sitting there waiting for me just out of reach. He knows I can help him, but his fear is so very powerful. I went very slowly.. playing ninja and only walking towards him when he wasn't looking at me. Other cats showed up, and I sat down and gave them some attention hoping Eli would walk over wanting static but no such luck. I laid down on the ground, I texted my husband.. still he would not come closer. I figured I better get up and give it a shot and hope for the best, and going very slowly I was able to get my hands on him. He meowed in protest, but thankfully didn't squirm. His belly was tight, yes he was uncomfortable. I put him in the bedroom and he immediately ran under the bed but came right out again which was a very good sign. He ate the baby food I had put some supplements in - another good sign. He climbed into the litter box and went pee.. also a good sign. I knew I had until morning and didn't need to run him to the emergency clinic.  I gave him a dose of buprenex and called it a night.

He woke me up several times digging around in the box. Broke my heart because I knew that he must be so uncomfortable. I got up much earlier than normal and thanks to a lack of internet (Thanks Time Warner - ugh) and TV I had little to do but watch my boy. He is not a fan of being watched, so when he realized I was doing it he would jump out of the box. Fortunately he was still peeing so I gave him some more supplements which he gobbled right up and some (new to him) food which he didn't. I gave him some time to eat it but he wasn't having any of it so I left him with a can of FF and went off to work with strict instructions to eat it or he was going to the vet that afternoon. This would be Friday.

Eli had eaten his food and when I was able to put my hands on him he felt better - not as tense - so I spent the afternoon watching him. He went into the box about once an hour, each time productive. I got him some more supplements and things continued to improve. My husband came home and Eli climbed up on the bed and asked to be patted and have his belly rubbed.. I thought we were over the worst of it.

Around 11pm when I went to bed he was very vocal at me and jumped in the box and peed. His belly felt a little tense-er than it had earlier.. and he hadn't eaten his dinner, so I had a feeling he would be going to the vet in the morning.

Saturday morning showed up and Eli had signs of improvement but he also had signs that he was still having issues. Being that it was now the weekend, and I still really had no idea why he was having issues (his urinary PH was 7 so it was higher than I would like but not so high to scream crystals) I decided to take him to the vet. The vet was booked up, but they agreed to double book me if I was okay with waiting.. yes, I was very okay with waiting.

Sadly my boy didn't have much of a bladder when we got in there, so they weren't able to get a good sample, but they used an ultrasound machine to find the bladder and it showed some calcifications. The vet then suggested an xray which I thought was a bit excessive, but since this is the first time he has had issues in nine years I didn't want to miss anything.  Since he was in to the vet five months ago I thought it might be a good idea to do senior blood work on him so I wouldn't feel the need to bring him back in another month or so to do a six month check up especially since thyroid issues seemed to be at the root of Jack's peeing all over.

The vet of course wanted to put him on C/D *sigh* and was quite incredulous that I wasn't going to do it... despite that she didn't ask questions about my plan, just accepted that I was going to give an acidifier and recommended a recheck in a few weeks.  She also recommended that I use an ear ointment on him since he had an abundance of debris in his ears.. yeast maybe? She told me at the time and I promptly forgot. so now not only did I have a pill to give him but ear ointment as well... I was having a little internal freak out since again Eli does NOT like it when you try to catch him.

When I got home I put him back in the bedroom and went about my plans for the day. When I got home I was given the report that Eli did not want to be in the bedroom any more. I went to visit him and it was pretty obvious he wanted out, so I gave him a second dose of supplement incase I could not catch him later on in the day and let him out. Yes I panicked, but I do know I need to trust in the process. Before I let him out I told him point blank that he needed to accept these pills and this ear ointment for the next ten days or I would have to lock him up. I explained what the process would be and mentally tried to picture it in my head. I explained why I was doing it and that I loved him very much.

Sunday morning came very early and very shortly after I woke up Eli walked up to the side of the bed and pawed it. I sat up and very easily put my hands on him and pilled him. Sunday night the same. I am both shocked and very very pleased.

I know he is feeling better because he is being playful and very interactive. His ears are looking better than they have in years. His ears have always been a mess because of his tear ducts. I wonder how he is going to be in the morning or in a few days from now when he is feeling better and doesn't think he needs it any more.

so.. as a result.. we are once again making our own cat food.. Fun fun..

Making raw food

I had been contemplating making raw food again for the crew (as opposed to buying raw food) and I've been thinking about it and thinking about it, and dreading it. I stopped making it in the beginning of 2009 (but I didn't make note of when, just a post in August that I'm buying it now) When I first started it was for Em, and how it would help her diabetes (the lower carb) and also for Jack and his urinary issues (citation at http://www.catinfo.org ) My crew took to it pretty easily - except Em.

I was afraid I'd never be able to grind bones, being such a soft hearted person and thinking of the fact that I was grinding up chickens (for a smile, read the post about my cutting up a Cornish hen). It helps that they are already in parts, and I can think of them as meat.. (don't ask how I can justify the difference, but that soft spot in my heart does) Well owning so many cats, we would have to grind 80 some odd pounds at a time. Oh, that was hard. The sounds, the smells, and all that raw chicken (thank goodness for latex gloves!!!)

But.. we have had health issues since going on commercial raw. Jack has mild urinary issues and his ears are all clogged with wax. Fleurp and her licking cement and dirt (is that food related? I doubt it, but what ever is going on can only be helped with better quality foods)

but the thought of the odor, the dread of that smell, kept me from doing it.

As is the case with most things you dread, the reality was almost nothing like I remembered.

I mentioned to my husband I was thinking of making it again, and his answer was "OK". I was sure he was going to put up some resistance because he has the worst part of the job (cleaning the grinder) but he seemed to be right on board and even asked when we were going to buy chicken the next time we were out, so ... we bought chicken.

I wanted to start small. I wasn't sure I had everything I needed (and I was out of fish oil) so I figured 10lbs of "not completely balanced but fresh" diet would be okay, and it would be a good test if I could do this or not. I was surprised how easily it went, how I didn't want to vomit, and most of all how excited Fleurp was.

We couldn't remember if Fleurp ever had home made food. From the looks of it, she might have had some, but not all that much. Skippy never has. His reaction to the food making process was a riot because he eats meat right off the bone. I could tell he wondered what on earth we were doing to the meat and why he couldn't have it 'whole' (quotes because it was just a thigh)

Daddy!! what are you doing?!?!

removing most of the meat from the bone so it fits in the grinder (one five pound package)

MEAT MEAT MEAT MEAT MEAT!!!!

See? I'm waiting patiently, I'm a good kitty!! REALLY!!

Skippy wondering what the noise was

Fleurp waiting again after she ended up clawing me in her excitement

getting a taste and liking it

We gave them a small bit even though they had already had dinner. A few other kitties stopped by for a lick, but Fleurp and Skippy enjoyed most of it.

The 10lbs of chicken along with the eggs and water and supplements ended up making about 15lbs of food, which will probably last us a week and a half. I don't think we'll stop buying premade raw, but I think we might end up making 20lbs once a month and see how it goes for a while.

"The Decision"

This isn't going to be a fun post to write, and I doubt it will not be a fun one to read, but I've been musing this over and over lately and I felt the need to write it out.

Part of owning a pet includes the end of the pet's life.  We all know it, we all hate to think about it, but we adopt these adorable loving creatures knowing that unless something drastic happens to us, we are going to outlive them.

With Ollie's cancer progressing much more rapidly now I fear we are measuring his life in weeks.  I keep finding myself trying to plan for the end, but I know full well that is a decision he is going to make and I just have to accept his timing.  I don't much like that, as it leaves so many "what if's" but my alternatives are not all that great either.

I know it is better to ... what, put them down, let them go, help them cross?  for lack of an acceptable term to me, I'm going to use PTS for the purposeful end of life.

so I know it is better to PTS earlier rather then later.  I don't want him to suffer, and I know full well that what he is dealing with is terminal and there is no chance of his getting better.  With Kodi, I held out that chance, and he was suffing when the decision was made.  Em was also suffering, but she REFUSED to accept it and wanted to stay with me. 

So Ollie has two rather large masses on his body.  Do I put him down simply because of the growth?  That doesn't seem right since he - for the most part - is still his same old self.  Granted he's looking a little scraggly because he's having a hard time keeping up with his grooming, and he doesn't jump up on the fridge any more.  Except for the slight limp you might not even be aware he has cancer unless you look real close (his fur hides most of the horrors of the growth)

If I put him down simply because he has it, then I probably should have put him down two years ago when it first showed up.  But then again I've had over two years with him being his grumpy ol self, keeping the crew in line and being loved by him in his own way.

So I wait.  I wait for that sign from him that he has had enough of this stupid thing on his leg and he's done.  Some pets stop playing with their favorite toy, some pets stop eating, some pets will hide when it is their time.  I don't see Ollie using any of those.  I figure he'll start pulling away or being part of the "family".  When he's no longer Alpha Ollie, I guess I'll know

Until then, it is my mission to make him as comfortable as possible.

and I guess that pet door I put in the bathroom door to help Ollie have access to food isn't going to be a part of that plan any more.  Muffin broke through it once, tearing it right out of the door.  We thought it was because we used small screws.  Well we re-installed it with bigger screws, and she just tore through it again.  That is one food motivated cat.

Raw food study

I feed my crew raw food. I tried to find a low carb high protein canned food that wasn't break the bank expensive and didn't contain fruits and vegetables and didn't contain garlic, and I was left with little options, most of them bank breaking.

So I started making my own through the recipe at CatInfo.org and did that for several years, and then started buying commercial raw. I woud prefer to make my own, but I just don't have the stomach to grind up 50+lbs of chicken parts each month. (the curse of having seven cats)

Vets for the most part, are unsupportive of raw. But a new study might just change all that.

A girl can hope!

Kittens love real meat

I bought a cornish game hen again to cut up and give to my kitties to snack on. Chewing is good for them, so I tried it once before, but I didn't have the chutzpa to cut up the bones, so it pretty much ended up in the trash. The few pieces I did get off were ignored by my spoiled rotten cats.

Well they were on sale, and this poor little hen was only $2 so I figured I'd give it another shot.

yea, I'm pathetic. I could crack the bones this time, but each time I did I apologised to the bird. Those things look so much like a bird (well duh they are) that I got all sad.

I don't think I'll do it again. I'll stick to the bigger birds that are already cut up so I don't think about it as much.

Well my kitties already had lunch, and I gave them some larger pieces of turkey leg to snack on, so by the time I got to the hen they didn't munch much. I'll save it for breakfast.

But in the process of scraping bones and cutting off meat, I had a few smaller pieces, so I saved them for Happiness and Joy. They are having a BLAST eating it. No growling which usually happens with kittens when they get their first taste of real meat, but maybe they are into sharing. Its so cute, you can just tell they are so thrilled by this snack!

Can you feel the love

The down side to six cats, is when most of them miss you during the night and ALL vie for your attention in the morning.

It doesn't happen often, and truely I actually love it when it happens, but it can be a bit overwhelming when you get five cats all wanting to be patted and you only have two hands..

This morning Jack showed up.. Jack often just wants to sit near me and doesn't really want to be patted or cuddled. Sometimes he does.. like the other morning when he woke me up by sticking his nose in my face and when that didn't get me to respond to him, he actually bit my arm (a gentle love bite, but still) But this morning, he was fine just being close.

Then Muffin showed up. She took prime real estate, by firmly commanding the spot created by my shoulder and hip (I was laying on my side) Tweedle showed up, cautiously walking closer and closer (Muffin has issue with the air Tweedle seems to disturb) I distracted Muff and started patting Twee.. Then Eli showed up.. I was starting to feel a bit overwhemled, but seemed to manage, until Ollie showed up. Fortunately Ollie took over and started grooming Twee (I'm so glad someone does.. it used to be Em's job) But Eli shoved his head in there wanting grooming too.. which of course resulted in Twee's leaving, then Eli left, then Muffin left, so I started patting Jack which made him leave, and then Ollie left. So I was kitty-less.. But moments later Kit showed up - sans collar. She has leared to take off her break away collar.. smart little thing - and started prancing around wanting attention. When I wasn't quite as quick to give it to her, she left, found another mouse, and came back and we played fetch for a few minutes. I talked sternly to her this morning about keeping her collar on, and when I finally got up and started making my breakfast, she started playing with her collar, so I put it back on her. If it is off again tonight, I'm not sure what I'll do. I might start by taking the bell off and see if that helps (why do they put bells on decoritive collars??) and if that doesn't work I'll have to get her a non breakaway one like Muffin has. Muffin's collar is so loose though that if it gets caught on anything it will immediately come off.

When I finally left for work this morning, Jack was giving me sad eyes.. I told him not to worry, it was Friday - a short day for me - and I'd be home soon and we could take a nap together. Of course I'm sure when I get home he'll have forgotten all about it and will ignore me till supper time.

Made cat food again last night. I am seriously considering buying it from someone, but I need to find a company that makes a food that I'd be willing to feed (I don't want a lot of fillers) and that won't cost me an arm and a leg to get shipped to me. It's just hard for me to consider plunking down $90 for 20lbs of food.. when we make 40lbs at a time and it costs maybe $50.. ok maybe a smidge more with the supplements..

Patience is at the Vet

Not sure if I mentioned she was getting weird scabs showing up and disappearing, but leaving behind a patch of missing fur. very bizarre, that it all happens with in a day or two. Brought to shelter last night to show them, and they kept her and brought her to the vet today.. probably won't know what it is, but they'll probably want to do a culture for ringworm - which I won't get back for a couple of days.

bunnies are growing like weeds.. they need to get back to the shelter soon too..

Made cat food over the weekend.. 40lbs of it again. Just posting to keep track of how long it is lasting :)

~*warning - rant*~
I visit a couple of different message boards on line. One having nothing to do with animal rescue had a post about rescuing feral cats.. The woman was so very proud she helped to rescue a cat with FIV and mange, and how they had it spayed and are trying to find it a home.

Now this is noble and all, and if there weren't THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of healthy friendly cats who don't have homes in this country - many of which are being put down simply because there aren't enough funds (it cost money to spay this cat and treat it for mange) or space for them to wait out new homes - not to mention not enough new homes for them all. (I have six, I've done my part thank you)

I just wanted to shout "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!!!" but I know it wouldn't be well received - and I'm pretty sure it isn't going to be well received on this board either, but it's mine and I can say what I want :)

I want to rescue them all, but I know it isn't fesable, nor wise to even try. Already neutered, or in a home that loves the cat, that's one thing, but to try to save this stray just hurts... because I know all the wonderful healthy cats out there... (ok not personally, but I know some of them personally)

Sigh

making cat food

Oh how I hate making cat food.. let me count the ways.. *ugh*

but it is cheap and the best diet I can come up with for my cats.. so I do it.. but man I wish it would just make itself.

We decided to do eight packages of meat this time. each package is two batches, and we have been doing four packages which used to last us a month with Em eating canned (and the rest of them helping her) but now that we have six on only raw, six packages seemed to only last us a few weeks.

We made it on Sunday.. we'll have to wait and see how long this will last.

We ran out of food, and had to feed them some of Em's left overs on Sat night and Sun morning. Muffin decided she needed cuddle time after she ate dinner, and OMG cat food breath is gross!!!

I also got some chicken breast to add in. They don't seem to like the chucks of chicken thigh meat, so I thought I'd try the breast. They need to chew the meat to help clean off their teeth, and Eli's teeth are horrid! I'm afraid he's going to need a dental right quick. He's my skittish boy, so getting him to brush his teeth would not be kind - not that a dental would be kind to him either but it is a one day thing as opposed to every other day - and I'm sure in his mind way less tramatic. *crosses fingers that this works well and the next time I'm able to look at his teeth they are much better*

I still need to get the kitten in to be neutered and adopted. I don't know why I'm avoiding it..

Thankgoodness for latex gloves

Time to make the cat food...

Man I HATE doing that, but I am glad to have it, and glad to know exactly what is in the food I'm feeding my cats and glad to know there isn't anything in there they don't need (blueberries and spinach anyone??)

I have always been extremely squeamish around raw meat. I won't cook with it unless it has been processed within an inch of not being raw meat anymore - chicken breasts only - with no skin, no veins, no obvious signs that it used to be an animal; or beef cut well enough to have no fat and no grizzle - I was so certain I would not be able to get through the actual making of it, but somehow - with the help of latex gloves - so I don't have to actually touch the meat - I get through it.

Huge thanks to my DH who does the clean up as well. *shudder*

Today I tried something new.. I put a can of salmon in it. I didn't realize the canned salmon came with the backbone and what not.. *shudder* and the smell - oh my goodness. Now I hate seafood to begin with.. but that stuff was just FOUL! (hubby says it wasn't bad - just strong) Hope the cats like it. They like seafood.

They have food for four more weeks.

I'm considering buying a small freezer and making double what I do now. It takes about two hours at this point, with an hour of that is prep of setup and clean up. If I doubled it, it would probably only take three hours.. and it would be so worth it to not have to grind as often.. and to get the food out of my current freezer so we could buy more frozen food :)

~~~~~~~~~~~
Em is not doing well. I was very scared Friday night when I got home from work because she was bordering on lethargic. Hard to tell with Em in general because she's so sedentary, to begin with, but she wasn't looking at us, was just hanging her head and looking sad. Her nose is horrid.. poor thing. I stopped the antibiotics that night as they aren't doing anything. I fear a tumor of some sort - either in her brain or in her sinuses.. I hope I am wrong!! Saturday morning she was back to her 'perky' self, so I didn't rush her to the vet - since I knew they were booked anyway. We have an appointment tomorrow at 9:30 Hopefully all will be well - or at least treatable.

I also fear she's a little dehydrated. *sigh* Poor old girl. She HATES it when I try to clean off her nose. I'm sure she likes to have it clean. I know I hated it when someone else cleaned off my nose when I was a sick kid.

I guess tomorrow we'll know something more - hopefully.