Being on the road like I am it's very difficult to find this particular brand, so I get the best I can get, without overpaying just to have a "name brand". Some of them are awfully expensive, with decreasing cost vs benefit the higher it goes. Acana has a sister brand though don't remember the name.
First found this particular food at Chopper's Holistic Pet food, and have been getting stocking up when can find it. Got hooked on that particular cat food when I e-mailed the company some time ago asking if they use GMO Alfalfa, as noticed Alfalfa in their list of ingredients. I got back a lengthy e-mail from one of their higher ups directly addressing my question, and giving me all sorts of other information on how the source their ingredients. This endeared me forever.
I do my best to give them the best nutrition, but sometimes that's not enough to prevent an occasional vet visit. Such is the case on Christmas Eve day.
Scatter didn't eat for a good two days, and constantly threw up bile, a clear liquid. Now and then, though rarely, I would see him drink water though never eat. He also seemed to lose energy. I tried to get him in to see the holistic vet, which will mention later, though there were no last minute appointments available. I then brought him to place they recommended, Desert Inn Animal Hospital.
Dr. Nick looked at Scatter, had an X-ray done, and nothing was found. He suggested it was just a passing bug and gave Scatter an anti-biotic, something else, and then a thing to calm him down. I have no complaints about the service. Must say I learned a good lesson that day is that the initial appointment fee was very reasonable ($51), they gave Scatter an x-ray and that was $225+. Granted 3 x-rays, all done on computer.... Wasn't expecting such a pricey x-ray and to say I was stunned is an understatement. Scatter got his first ever Scooter ride!
To that end, I made appointment with one of the holistic veteranarians in town at Animal Kingdom Veterinary Hospital. Am very impressed with this place and happy brought Scatter in here. He didn't want to go, and didn't want to stay, even though the vet was very nice, so much so that used an ear thermometer thing instead of the traditional way to measure cat body temperature (think of one way exit area).
I mainly kept the appointment to ask about overall pet health. She, being Dr. Joanne (so little notepad paper says), mentioned that she feeds her three cats a raw food diet. I have, in the past, thought about doing this with Pia and Mia, even going so far as getting a meat grinder that could handle bones, but never did as they had a lukewarm reception. Dr. Joanne helped me immensely in this and she gave me some detailed feeding instructions that she uses.
While, for the moment, I'm choosing to use raw food for their dinner, this is what she does for breakfast and dinner.
Per cat:
- 1 1/2 - 2 Tablespoon Rad Cat (Chicken or Turkey)
- 1/6 can of typical cat food
- Adjust as needed to maintain appropriate calories for weight
This is going to be a bit pricey long term, but if it can help me avoid another expensive x-ray am all for it.
To this end, am looking around at making my own raw cat food again, not by grinding meat up myself, but by purchasing ground meat (with or without bones) and then adding the vitamin supplements they need. Have found couple places that offer supplements in a pouch that just mix with the meat, which is the route will start with.
On other cat news, Bob is now enjoying the RV lifestyle. He's the kitten I rescued awhile back, and brought into the humane society to be adopted. Well, I dropped him off on a Tuesday, instead of Friday like had wanted to, and then picked him up couple days later. Three cats is a handful, especially around dinner time.... And they're all being cared for to the best of my ability.
This will seem a little strange, but I didn't actually adopt Bob from the shelter.... Someone else adopted him on my behalf. I would've done it in a heartbeat, but at the moment time was of the essence to get him in line to be fixed.
People always say, "oh, you're a cat person"... My thoughts on this is that there are no "cat people" or "dog people" or "rat people", there are just people who like companionship. I would really like horses now, though currently out of my reach. I would really like a dog, yet they are a fair amount of work which don't want to expend right now. So, cats it is, and they're fairly self sufficient, sans changing litter box. Speaking of which...
Am looking at changing Paisley's name, the female cat I adopted in Longmont, CO. This is because her name doesn't seem to fit her, can't explain it. Am thinking of name beginning with J, though that might change, something like Julie, Jane, Jopree, Jennifer, JoJo, who knows.
Best wishes to everyone for the greatest year ever!
No comments:
Post a Comment