Which cat food would you feed feral cats?

[babs23r]

I come from a long line of kitty lovers and I applaud you for feeding the kitties. My sister has two indoor cats, and starting leaving food out for a feral cat that wouldn't come close to her or any other human. she just left food out for him, and even bought him a Tudor cat house so he would be warm in the winter. it took him about nine months ( or longer) to let my sister pet him. now he is really friendly with my sister, and he curls up with me and let's me pet him. He now has a bachelors pad in my sisters basement and can come and go whenever he wants. she feeds him whatever she feeds her house cats!

 

[Shoeless356]

I really want to connect with you. This situation under which I acquired Seth was unusual.

Grandtrill stopped breeding and a "new" breeder took most of her cats. Her name was Evelyn and her cattery was Mammisi. She was a nice lady but I learned she was very inexperienced and a bit overwhelmed. I purchased a silver kitten from her (Moses) summer of 1999. His sire was Grandtrill's Sterling. He came down with FIP and had to be put down at 6 months of age. The breeder accepted responsibility and offered to replace him. I wasn't comfortable with that at the time because I had another kitten (Electra) that had been with Moses for 3 months and had been greatly exposed to the coronavirus that causes FIP. She had a very high titer and, back then, the vets weren't sure if FIP was communicable or a mutation of the coronavirus (now it is known to be a mutation). Nine months later, Electra and I moved across the country and she was very lonely when I would go to work. I decided to take the breeder up on her offer of a replacement kitten. I didn't want to put a small kitten with her, and the breeder had a 10 month old that was about her size (Seth). Linda from Bacamamdit had been helping her out - Linda had Mecca at the time, so I believe Seth was born there but the kittens ended up with Evelyn. Seth was so wild as a kitten, that he couldn't be placed - he couldn't be held at all. But he sounded like a character and I thought he would be a good match for my "high energy" Electra. So she put him on a plane and that is how he came to be mine. Linda and Evelyn had a falling out and that is why I never received his papers.

I emailed Linda a few years ago asking about his information. She replied that she would have to look through her records and then I never heard back.

I'm sorry to hear you never got Seth's papers. I got Goldie and Molly in January 2003 from Linda at Bacamamdit. We flew from Atlanta up to Pittsburgh PA and each brought a kitty home in a carrier under our airplane seats. Molly was a gorgeous silver champion and Goldie was a very scrappy little unhandle-able, edge-of-her-seat kitty for several years. The way Linda explained it, Goldie (perhaps because she was smaller than breed standard?) was "low cat on the totem pole" and would always be swatted away from food, chased off by other cats, etc. So to say she was skittish is an understatement. Poor girl used to (literally) sleep with one eye open. We would approach her while she was asleep and BLAM she was not only awake, but standing up! Sometimes she'd just jump right out of her skin almost because she was ALWAYS on edge. I guess she didn't know any different and always expected to be beat up on by other cats.

In the beginning, Goldie stayed downstairs and Molly stayed upstairs (voluntarily) but after about 2 months of having them both in the house, they warmed up to each other and from then on were absolutely inseparable. I'll attach a pic of them. They were so great together!

It sounds like your Goldie and my Seth share the same temperament. Seth is 14 and I am still the only person that can pick him up. Medicating him is pretty much impossible (ear drops, etc). He is a piggy though, so if he needs antibiotics, etc. it is easy to hide it in his wet food.

Interesting how their temperaments vary so much. Our silver girl Molly was very compliant and easy to handle and in fact, we used to pick her up and do that thing that they do at cat shows where they hold them up in the air and stretch them out and turn them around. Molly just sat there and let us. Meanwhile, the moment Goldie's paws came up off the floor, she would freak. We would pick her up and hold her close like you would typically hold a cat, and try to count to eight seconds like the rodeo. VERY rarely would we make it. LOL... Oh and don't EVEN tell me about medication. Our running joke is that she better just drop dead suddenly one day because there is NO medicating this cat! I've tried to pill her, use drops, and hide meds in her food. NO DICE. She's ridiculous. In fact, she's a spitfire all the way around... heck, we've had her ten years now and I'm just *now* able to clip a few of her claws without her losing her mind. So yes, although Molly was apparently a good show cat, there is NO way in heck Goldie would have ever been, with this temperament! LOL. Although Goldie wasn't fit for showing, I do believe that Linda said both Molly and Goldie produced kittens for her for several years. My guess is that those kittens were not show cats however, because when I Google either of their pedigree names, NOTHING shows up and if their names were on a pedigree as a show cats mother, Google would find it.


Does Goldie have any health issues? I'm just wondering if there is anything genetically I should be on the lookout for. Seth had crystals in his urine when he was 2 or 3 years old. That was very scary but he hasn't had any problem since (better food and more wet food). He does have to have his anal glands expressed kind of often. Other than that he is in good shape.

[i]MOLLY went into renal failure starting when she was about 13 (2007)... so we did a regimen of daily (sometimes twice a day) sub-cutaneous fluids for three years. She loved it and it gave her a wonderful quality of life, allowing us to have her around for much longer than had we chosen to do nothing. We finally had to put her down in January of 2010 a few months before her 16th birthday. It was heartbreaking for us and for Goldie. Oh I forgot that Molly had also had most of her teeth removed a year or so earlier because many were decaying and infected. Sweet girl. She was so fabulous. Just the sweetest cat ever.

As for GOLDIE, she's spry and in good health. She had a few (like two or three) teeth removed a couple years ago during a cleaning, but so far her blood work and kidney levels looks great. I think it's important to note that about five years ago I transitioned her from a grocery store cat food diet to a grain-free diet. She has good body mass, no bony-ness to her spine, her coat is nice, her energy is good (although she can't jump like she used to) and at least three times a week I see her tearing full speed back and forth through the house, up and down the stairs like a banshee. People always think she's a kitten -- I think partly because she's so petite and partly because she's so energetic. She's also VERY vocal which I admit sometimes drives me to the edge. [/i]

ETA - Moses' sire was Sansih Sterling (not Grandtrill Sterling).

By the way, here's some trivia for you: I have Goldie's papers in front of me and Grandtrill's Mecca Maat did not have a feral mother or father. Her sire was Grandtrill's Indi Rajah and her dam was Grandtrill's Sakkara Sunrise. Those two also each had pedigreed parents. The "unknown female/male in Egypt" tag doesn't show up until Maat's GREAT GRANDPARENTS.

Here are some pics our girls together in 2004 otherwise known as the salad (or should that be catnip) days!

 

[LAJennifer]

OMG, Monica! Molly and Goldie were such a beautiful pair! I can't even tell you how much your Goldie sounds like my Seth. I am thinking they may also have the same Daddy. I would love, love, love to meet that cute, petite, spitfire kitty of yours.

I'm so happy to hear that Goldie has good health - I'm sure diet plays a really big role there. Seth was placed on a prescription diet (Hills C/D) when he had crystals in his urine at the age of 3. Three years ago, when I started this thread, I started doing research about their diets and ingredients (thanks to the lovely people on this jewelry website). With his vet's approval, I was able to transition my cats to grain free food with better ingredients and they have all done very well. Right now they are eating Nature's Variety Instinct, Limited Ingredient. Seth has good teeth and gums, but he likes to chew things he shouldn't so he has lost a few of the small teeth in the front and one canine. He has the cutest hillbilly smile.

Regarding the feral grandmother - can you check if you see the name "Giza" on the pedigree? That's the cat I was thinking of and I believe that Len Davidson (Grandtrill) scooped her up from the streets of Egypt (along with a few others) and brought her to the US to widen the gene pool.

I'm so happy you found this thread! Pricescope is a pretty fun place, if you want to stick around - we would love to have you.

 

[LAJennifer]

Also, have you ever seen this website for Egyptian Mau Rescue in Egypt? http://www.emaurescue.org/

The very first photo on that page is a cat on top of a trash dumpster - he/she is Seth's dopelganger. I found that photo years ago, and if I didn't already know better, I would have sworn it was Seth - I can't find a single variance. Seth also likes to go digging through the trash - I have to keep all our trash bins behind closed doors.

 

[Shoeless356]

Jennifer,
Yes, you are correct, Mecca Maat's mother was indeed Giza of Grandtrill and her father was Sansih Tacoma of Summermagic. Both her parents were bronze Maus. As I look over Goldie's pedigree, I see some silvers, black, smoke and black smokes in her lineage. In fact, all FOUR of Goldie's great grandparents were silver.

Goldie definitely looks a lot like Seth but he looks like a boy in the face.


Monica