HOW MANY OF YOU THINK GETTING ENGAGED IS A FAD?

[MichelleCarmen]

It should be canned, and high protein. --

Which brand(s) of canned do you feed your cat? My cat (who's name is Bunni), has severe food allergies and I've been trying different foods to figure out the cause and would love recommendations. We've still got her on dry food, so it sounds like we should eliminate this entirely! okay, no biggy. . . but still, I wonder which kinds are actually GOOD. I've heard many bad things from my PETA friends about Science Diet.

Michelle

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Hest - what exactly are you feeding your cats on their raw food diet? My entire family is entirely whole foods/organic and it's costing us a fortune. . .my husband would have a heart attack if I mentioned our cat needs organic raw liver

lol

Michelle

 

[Hest88]

Michelle, we do indeed spend a fortune on our cats, but it can be done much more cheaply than I do it! Currently they get quail (whole) or ground rabbit mixed with a smidgen of veggies. They also get calves liver, chicken hearts, and lamb kidney once or twice a week.

This has evolved over the last eight years to what I consider the easiest method for us that also matches my current feeding philosophy. However, there are much easier ways to do it and there's definitely no right way. The easiest, and the way I started, is with ground meat supplemented with bonemeal. My sister, who feeds canned (Wysong meat and organ, mixed with various supplements, and/or Innova canned) gives them raw chicken necks a few times a week.

 

[niceice]

A fad is a temporary trend, perhaps you meant ploy? This topic would be better suited for a psychology chat room than a diamond education forum

 

[fire&ice]

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On 1/5/2004 2:16:49 PM Hest88 wrote:


I'm not going to go too much into cat feeding, since it's one area I have strong feelings about. I feed my cats a raw food diet, so that speaks to what a fanatic I am!

blockquote>


Must be a California leaning thing. Many of my Doggie friends from out there feed their dogs the BARF diet. Some here - but not many. I don't know how much that varies from the cat version.

 

[fire&ice]

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On 1/5/2004 1:49:03 PM aljdewey wrote:


He's just 'enthusiastic'.....he 'talks' at me and at Rich if he feels he's being ignored....and he'll go over and pull on the blanket or some other thing just to get attention and be mischevious. When he's revved, he does the 'toro'...scraping his front paw on the floor like a bull....to wind up us. He's quite the comic, my Nicky.
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Then I would call that "interactive".

Sounds like fun to be around - interesting b/c shelties get a rep for being shy. Both of mine are great fun. It's just the male is sooooooooo easy to be around. As I said before, it's the ol' gal that's the b*itch. We do have a cat that thinks he's a dog. I'll have to take a pic of him. He is alien. He sits for treats & will fetch.

 

[fire&ice]

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On 1/5/2004 2:10:04 PM canadiangrrl wrote:


I got to cuddle some 5 1/2 week old GSD pups. Pure bliss.

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AHHHHHHH - Puppy Breath. I wish they could bottle the scent.

 

[aljdewey]

HAH - I LOVE it! Interactive! Rich will laugh his head off when I tell him this!

Nicky is a total spaz....and so is Rich, which helps egg Nicky on. Rich chases Nicky around the house in the morning with the electric toothbrush whirring, and Nicky thinks that's the BEST game!

Interactive. What an understatement....and very appropos!

 

[fire&ice]

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On 1/5/2004 5:45:32 PM aljdewey wrote:

HAH -
Interactive. What an understatement....and very appropos!

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I think that is the Southerner in me. How to get your point across in the most genteel way. Most of the time my tongue is firmly in cheek. We say about my ol' gal. "She has *issues*." or my favorite. "She couldn't be just anyone's dog."

Yeah, I'm with Rich. 101 ways to mess with your dog's head. Our dog waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge "Ace" used to open a pantry door. Finally, we put a stong magnetic strip to keep it shut. But, not before we got on the intercom phone & proclaimed loudly from upstairs, "Ace, this is GOD speaking, step away from the pantry door!" Confused the heck out of the dog. Didn't stop him though. We still laugh about that one. He's chuckling at the bridge, "Silly humans!"

Also, you've got to get one of those big green frogs that ribid when there is motion in front of it. My ol' gal will work that thing for hours if you let her. My male just falls asleep - silly humans - silly dog sister. My male dog is the smartest, mature & most responsible one in the family.

OH, the things we do for/with our critters. Actually, it's more like the things they do for us.

 

[whitediamonds]

Sorry you guys, you all took offense to my poll. I didn't think people would be upset by it. It was just a question.
It "rubbed people the wrong way," WHY? Again, if you are offended by this question, please use this area to keep talking about your cats, I guess.

I'm a serious diamond lover, myself. I've seen hundreds of stupid polls in here, and mine is not the worst!

 

[pqcollectibles]

Hest, Those are some kewl food ideas. Not sure Mithrandir would think so, tho. He is most definitely a cat food cat. When they were little, the cats went fishing with Hubby. Hubby would throw the smaller bluegill out on the bank and Arwen would gobble them up. We tried fileting Mithrandir's bluegill, but he wasn't interested. But he loves his cat food. He gets both wet and dry. I feed the dry to help keep his teeth clean. Cats can get all kinds of diseases and conditions from infected gums.

There were signs of Arwen's Renal Failure, I just didn't know it at the time. She was drinking tons of water and the potty was always soaked. We were changing it waaaay more than usual. That went on for a while and then one day she had a siezure and collapsed. That's when we headed for the Vet. She spent a week in the hospital getting rehydrated and her values stabilized. She lasted another month on subQ fluids injections and a prescribed diet. At least the kids had a chance to adjust and expect the end.

We had a funeral for her. The kids built a rock and flower garden spelling her name with the rocks. She's laying amid a grouping of trees where she can enjoy the birds she always loved to "bark" at thru the patio window.

Sorry WD, that your thread go hijacked. That often happens here.

 

[fire&ice]

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On 1/6/2004 3:27:54 PM pqcollectibles wrote:

There were signs of Arwen's Renal Failure, I just didn't know it at the time. She was drinking tons of water and the potty was always soaked. We were changing it waaaay more than usual. That went on for a while and then one day she had a siezure and collapsed. That's when we headed for the Vet. She spent a week in the hospital getting rehydrated and her values stabilized. She lasted another month on subQ fluids injections and a prescribed diet. At least the kids had a chance to adjust and expect the end.

Sorry WD, that your thread go hijacked. That often happens here.

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Yeah, Gerti symtoms as well except she had some dementia (but then she wasn't quite "right" to begin with). We did go the fluid injections. When she had the final meltdown, we just didn't want her to die at the "hospital". She was uncomfortable any place except her little world. Plus, she was 17+. Her constant kitty companion died shortly after in his sleep.

The pet deaths can be really hard on kids. My friends daughter (4+) kept wanting to dig up the "grave". She could not (and really isn't capable to) understand the finality of death.

BTW, I think the pet discussion is yeilding far more valuable information.

 

[aljdewey]

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On 1/6/2004 3:52:56 PM fire&ice wrote:




BTW, I think the pet discussion is yeilding far more valuable information.
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Let's not overlook the fact, too, that the pet discussions have no less relevance to the poll question than the poll answers do.

 

[fire&ice]

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On 1/6/2004 3:03:12 PM whitediamonds wrote:

I'm a serious diamond lover, myself. I've seen hundreds of stupid polls in here, and mine is not the worst!
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Maybe we should do a poll to determine the most stupid poll.

 

[Mara]

And we should make sure it only has 2 responses that both are different ways of voting for the same thing.




*scratches head*

 

[pqcollectibles]

Arwen's behavior was odd too, thinking about it now that F&I mentioned it. She got really snippy at times, would go off and hide for long periods of time, "cried" almost anytime she was picked up. Odd little things like that.

For the kids, 8th and 6th grade at the time, it was like they had lost their older sister. She had always been with them. A year older than son and 3 years older than the girls.

Their food, water, and potty had always been in the basement. They had those food/water plates with the upside down water bottle. Fill it up and forget it for several days. Probably why I didn't give much thought the amount of water that was "going missing". After Arwen passed, I moved the water and food to the kitchen. I wanted to monitor how much Mithrandir was drinking. For a long time, I measured the water to keep an fairly accurate record. But, eventually I had to give that up. As he has gotten older, Mithrandir spills almost as much as he drinks. Like he can't see the water level in the bowl. He will put his paw in the bowl, checking to see how much water is there.

We do get attached to little critters. Once we adopt them, they become family in every sense of the word.

 

[Hest88]

PQ, I'm so sorry about your baby!

I'm quite a fascist about forcing my cats to eat what I think is best. I didn't have a choice. I, like everyone else, fed my cats dry food and some wet. I started researching raw food and all sorts of other things when my dear deceased Hester started having seizures and the vets couldn't figure out the cause. If you want to know more, we can take it offline since I'm really starting to feel guilty for hijacking this thread and I can talk about pet nutrition forever! I also don't believe that dry food does anything for the gums. The grain matter just sticks to the teeth and cats don't chew it enough anyway for it to matter. Chicken necks, IMO, are the toothbrush of choice.

Whitediamonds, I apologize if I sounded rude, but it's not the poll everyone objected to but the execution. As Mara said way back, it's important when you create a poll to make sure your answers are such that the results are meaningful. Unfortunately, I don't think you thought through the answer choices well enough to engender a meaningful conclusion.

 

[canadiangrrl]

Cats. Yes! More talk about cats.

Tristan went south very, very suddenly. I came home from a business trip of two days and found his litter box drenched in urine and his two big water bowls completely empty...called my mother (a medical editor) and she immediately suspected diabetes.

Took him to the vet, and his blood sugar was through the roof. A simple diagnosis. Took him to another vet who specializes in treating diabetic cats (it is rather common in aging felines) and changed his diet and got a prescription for insulin. Also learned how to test his urine and blood. Did extensive internet research, and found an amazing support group of people with diabetic cats - they were incredibly helpful during this very trying time.

Won't go into the details here but he died two weeks later. He was suffering from ketoacidosis and I had him humanely euthanized. I have done this four times for my pets over the years, and it doesn't get any easier.

I applaud all of you who make the efforts that you do on behalf of your companion animals. They're truly worth it. Can't wait to get my GSD. We are also going to adopt a male cat from a shelter next spring. We've already chosen a name - George Bailey - after my all-time favourite movie.

 

[fire&ice]

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On 1/6/2004 6:17:30 PM canadiangrrl wrote:

Cats. I had him humanely euthanized. I have done this four times for my pets over the years, and it doesn't get any easier.

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It's a heart wrenching thing to do. But, as an adult you realize it's not about you any more. It's about them & they somehow know when it's time. We are fortunate in all cases the vet was welcoming if we wanted to be there. In each case, we were. It helps.

 

[pqcollectibles]

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On 1/6/2004 6:23:56 PM fire&ice wrote:

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On 1/6/2004 6:17:30 PM canadiangrrl wrote:

Cats. I had him humanely euthanized. I have done this four times for my pets over the years, and it doesn't get any easier.

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It's a heart wrenching thing to do. But, as an adult you realize it's not about you any more. It's about them & they somehow know when it's time. We are fortunate in all cases the vet was welcoming if we wanted to be there. In each case, we were. It helps. ----------------

That is absolutely one of the most gut wrenching experiences I have ever been through in my life. We had to put down our family dog when I was younger less than a year after my dad died.

In your youth, you don't want to be there for things like that. And I didn't. But the Vet couldn't get our dog to settle down for him. So Mom asked that I come hold her. It was all over in what seemed a split second and she died in my arms. Now I am glad I was there.

Arwen died in the middle of the night, at home in one of her favorite spots, while we were sleeping. I regret not knowing it was her time, not being with her, not doing something for her. I take some comfort in the fact that she was at home with her family.

 

[niceice]

Glad to see that this thread has turned into something useful

The problem with this cat food thing as we see it is that our pitch black Chinese short hair "Voodoo" turns her nose up at anything that we don't eat first and there is no way that either of us is going to taste raw liver so that she can be confident that we're not trying to poison her... Clearly this one was royalty in a past life, she has it in her head that we only exist to serve her... She's pretty good at picking diamonds though so we guess we'll keep her. She's really the brains behind the entire company you know... And the cat nods her head upward as if to say "finally they understand".

 

[fire&ice]

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On 1/7/2004 12:48:26 AM pqcollectibles wrote:

In your youth, you don't want to be there for things like that. And I didn't. But the Vet couldn't get our dog to settle down for him. So Mom asked that I come hold her. It was all over in what seemed a split second and she died in my arms. Now I am glad I was there.
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I had a similar childhood experience with our Mini Sch. The vet was a tad uncomfortable with me being there. I was around 13. From that experience, I would never *not* want to be there. I felt like they were taking the journey knowing we will always be near. Oh gosh, tears in my eyes. We have only had to put down one cat - they seem to pass on their own more so than dogs.

That said, please please please, consider euthan. as an option when they are in pain. They instincively know when it is their time. They will let you know. It is the greatest act of love you can perform for them. Also, I may catch flack for this - but - unless there is a *really* good chance of recovery to a painfree/normal life - don't subject your pet to extended hospital procedures. You really have to soul search - who is this really for?

NiceIce, cats really are different than dogs. They have that *heir* about them. Believe me, even the alley cats. My mom gave me a towel with the expression "Dogs come when they are called. Cats take a message and get back to you." So true. Except for our alien cat that either is a reincarnated person (in fact I know exactly who he is) or a dog in a cat's body.