Spoiled, Spoileder, Spoildest

In case y'all haven't figured this out by now, my cats are kinda spoiled.

OK... maybe it's not quite as bad as the house pictured above, but it's pretty darned close.

They eat only premium brands of cat food, which range in price from $1.70-$2.50 per can. They get various supplements and treats including omega 3 fish oils, probiotics and dehydrated chicken treats.

They have several scratching posts and houses as well as three kitty trees in different sections of the house, and numerous shelves and lookouts so they can see out of windows on all sides of the house. And for 3 cats we have a total of about 9 kitty beds because, you know, they need options.

They even have their own health insurance plans which cost about $15-$20 per cat per month. And of course they're all indoor-only cats because there's no way I'm taking any chances with my precious babies getting hit by a car, attacked by a fox or coyote, or contracting any of the numerous deadly diseases that afflict outdoor cats in our area.

All in all, I probably spend well over $300 per month on my three little feline friends. Yup... I'm a sucker.

Even so, there are vast differences between the three of them.

First of all we have Jasper.

Jasper is by far the easiest cat I've ever had. He's happy with whatever food you give him. He loves his kitty beds, but is just as happy sleeping on the couch or the floor. He loves to play, but is just as happy playing by himself as with human interaction.

Jasper also loves to snuggle, but isn't demanding about it, and generally speaking he's just an easy goin' soul.

Then we have Jasper's brother Smoky. Smoky, BTW was named after Smoky Quartz, not Smokey the Bear - hence the spelling of his name. Both boys were named after quartz minerals since CatMan is a bit of an amateur mineralogist.

I often refer to Smoky as the adorable, yet challenging Smoky Bear. Let's just say that Smoky is a bit of a handful. He's always on the lookout for something interesting happening outside.

Did you know that cats have different gaits when they run? I never realized this until I met Smoky. Smoky spends hours running from window to window when something interesting is going on outside. Generally I can tell how the level of excitement by his gait. If he's vaguely curious he'll trot around the house, but if he's really excited it turns into a canter or even an all out gallop in certain situations.

The Smokster is a total character who LOVES to climb and play, which is cute and adorable when he chooses appropriate things to climb on.

But somewhat more... um... interesting if he chooses the curtains, television or window screens.

Smoky is a very, very sweet cat, but when things don't go his way, like if his brother decides he's had enough playing and doesn't want to be chewed on anymore, he'll wander around the house howling at the top of his lungs.

And finally, we have Princess.

Princess is perhaps the most accurately named creature ever. Yup... basically, she gets whatever she wants.

The thing is... she had such a rough life before she found me. When we met she was covered with horrible mats and living under the big pine tree in my front yard.

The above photo was taken from inside through a window screen because it took many, MANY months to convince little Princess that I wasn't gonna hurt her.

When she did come inside, she had to be shaved pretty much from head to toe to get the mats off.

Suffice it to say, it's pretty hard for me to deny her anything. She even has several heating pads which I originally bought to keep her warm when she was naked, but which she still loves to sleep on - even when it's 100 degrees outside!

These days, my view of the Princess generally looks something like this, since she's glued to my lap most of the time.

So recently we decided to try a new food called Rad Cat. Rad Cat is, well, it's a tad bit radical because it's a raw cat food. You buy it in frozen little tubs and feed it, as the raw part implies, without cooking it.

I have mixed feelings about the raw food movement for cats. On the one hand it makes me kinda queasy, but the idea is that this is really their natural diet and that the raw food provides a whole host of enzymes that are essential for them... especially for keeping their teeth healthy. And that was really my motivation for trying it.

Sooo... we bought a few of the small tubs just to try it out. The boys... well, they sorta acted like they thought I might be trying to poison them. Jasper sniffed it, but Smoky literally ran in the opposite direction.

Princess on the other hand.... well... I think I may have created a monster!

Seriously, she's kinda acting like this is the first time in years she's had real food to eat, and she literally doesn't want to eat anything else.

I suppose this sorta makes sense because she did spend lord knows how many years fending for herself which, I am quite sure involved killing and eating a fair amount of neighborhood fowl.

Anyhow, the stuff is NOT cheap! Like we're talking it costs around $6/day to feed one small cat - Princess only weighs around 7 pounds.

But... as I said before, I can't deny her anything. And if it helps her teeth stay healthy it will be worth it in spades.

I just hope she doesn't turn man-eater on me!

So tell me... do you spoil your pets? And has anybody out there ever tried feeding their cats a raw food diet?