Sunday, July 20, 2014

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?


38 comments :

  1. My cat gets Purina One (recommended by the vet) and is on a restricted diet because he was overweight for awhile (I think he lost 1 1/2 pounds in a year after his diet began). He, however, is convinced he is starving, so he has become part dog and paces under the table while we are eating, hoping for clumsy human errors. He will eat bran flakes, corn flakes, popcorn, meatloaf (after my son fessed up--he hates meatloaf and found a convenient disposal system!), we have caught him licking out of an empty chili bowl ... he whines to be fed MUCH earlier than supper time ... he's become a nuisance, but he's also friendly and gentle and loving and snuggles on laps and of course, I melt! :)

    Your babies are adorable. So much laughter and fun they give you! Enjoy your furry beasts.

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    1. Good luck with your chubby friend. I once had a cat named Daisy who had starved on the streets for many years, and after she adopted me, she just couldn't get enough food. She porked up to over 20 pounds. Every diet failed, and when she started eating the cat litter I decided it wasn't worth it and gave up. Daisy would have LOVED to have had your son around! :-)

      Have you seen this cartoon? Sorta sums it up, doesn't it?
      http://hoteldetective.org/tornado_kitty/humansvscats.png

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    2. Cute cartoon! Thanks! Actually, Max is about 11 1/2 pounds now so he's about right, weight-wise--but according to him, he's starving. My son HATES meatloaf so apparently he found a solution to his problem (we eat it maybe 3 times a year and I give him about 3 bite's worth on his plate ... ). Not sure who is worse, the kids or the cat. :) I saw your comment below to Live and Learn--the funny thing is, our cat poses for pictures. We have more cute cat pics than I know what to do with. One of my favorites is from last winter. My kids have a toy Nativity set made out of fabric and the cat was holed up in the stable. Meanwhile, the Holy Family was RV-ing ... if you think life is a little chaotic around here, you would be correct.

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    3. My oh my! Sounds like you should start a silly kitty photo website! :-)

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  2. Yep! My cats are definitely spoiled. I feed them fancy dry food and alternate between two wet foods - one middle of the road and the other, pricy. A speciality food store about an hour from me sells raw cat food so I bought some while I was there for people food. Neither of my cats was impressed. Capone eventually ate a little, but he eats all kinds of stuff, so that doesn't mean much. Just like Princess, Dottie is glued to my lap as often as possible :)

    And I love the mini bio on each of your kitties - so sweet! :)

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    1. It's really hard not to spoil them rotten, isn't it? I literally spend more money feeding them than I do feeding myself!

      I tried some raw food with my last batch of cats, and none of them were particularly interested in it either... Princess is the first one I've had who really likes it. Guess her sweet baby doll face just masks the fact that inside she's really a vicious killer!!!!! :-)

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  3. Our cats are definitely spoiled. I joke that when I die, I want to come back as one of them. We have had various foods over the years, but have never tried the raw diet. One of the cats, Lucky, is on a prescription cat food (blocked urethra twice) and now all of the cats are on it. He needs it and it won't hurt the others, so they all get it. When the four of them were on different foods, no matter what we did, they managed to sneak into the other bowls. When Lucky was sneaking some of the regular food, he had a blockage again. The treatment for that was much more expensive than the special food, and he almost died. Thus, they all get expensive food.

    Your pictures are great. I don't get very many good pictures of my cats. I should have you visit and take some of them.

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    1. Blocked urethra is scary. When Sputnik was sick with bladder problems they hoped it might be simple FLUTD that could be treated with prescription food, but unfortunately it turned out to be a tumor. Anyhow, I think in your case prescription food is an absolute must... you're just lucky that they aren't too spoiled to eat it!

      Taking cat photos is a real challenge, and I was never any good at it until I got a digital SLR camera so I could control the exposure and flash because taking photos of cats with a flash is just a disaster. Even so, for every decent shot I get I have to toss out 20-30 crappy ones!

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  4. My boy is a puker, so I have to get him a special chicken, rice and oatmeal food. My girl would eat any kind of dog food, but was very picky about human food. The boy will eat ANY human food put before him. But their dry dog food is only about $20 a month. I don't think that's expensive. And I have little treats that are $2 a bag that last at least a couple of weeks. I think cats are in general more expensive than dogs, no? Because, yanno, you're like their servants? :P

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    1. Yes, well... non-crazy people can feed a cat for a small fraction of what I spend on mine. I earned that "Sucker" tattoo on my forehead!

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    2. @Demandra
      I had a puker, and I fixed that by getting slow-feeding bowls to make him eat slower.

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  5. I don't feed raw food but I'll admit to spoiling. Dougal cat gets biscuits but not normal store ones, expensive cat meat (one flavour as he refuses to eat the others) and normally some cooked chicken each evening. He also gets wee bits of sausage, tuna, or whatever meat my boyfriend is eating. I'll also admit to buying expensive beds with warming pads in but he prefers to sleep on an old blanket in an old washing up bowl (on the kitchen floor where it is in excellent tripping up position), spoilt - very much! on the other hand, I don't begrudge a single penny as he makes me smile every day
    Ax

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    1. Oh yes... bits of people food. Smoky LOVES tuna, but only solid white albacore - none of that blicky stuff they put in cat food! And Jasper... he's my butter ball kitty. Seriously, one time I accidentally left a stick of butter out on the table and he ate almost the entire thing! It makes my tummy hurt just thinking about it. But I totally agree, they are worth every penny.

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  6. Oh! my lads are spoiled. The will not eat canned food, only dry but I'll never give up trying to get them on to wet food. At the moment I throw half of it away when I open a fresh can. I've tried all brands and flavours. They are on a good brand of dry food and Fancy Feast is their canned food....but only certain flavours.
    I knit them mice and stuff it with home grown catnip, I knit and quilt blankets for them, though sometimes they just prefer my hand knitted sweaters as beds.
    While I don't have pet insurance I'll never met a medical problem that I wasn't willing to handle.
    One of my previous kitties had diabetes and I sent to Texas for the insulin, I home tested his blood sugars....those little sticks cost a dollar each and Melle went through 2-3 a day. Sometimes more if I screwed up.

    Simon and Fergus are indoor only kitties. I've had my share of abscesses from fights and car accidents, indoors is much safer

    I love the pics of your group, they look so contented.
    I love the stairs up the walls.....hmmm! I wonder if my lads would like that:)

    Marie

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    1. I totally understand the frustration with cats that only want dry food. I have a devil of a time getting Smoky to eat anything wet. When he and Jasper mysteriously arrived on my back porch at about 7-8 weeks of age (I later found the box in the alley that they had clawed their way out of) even at that age he wouldn't eat anything but dry food - well that and KMR (kitten milk replacement).

      I do have my ways of tricking him into it though. If I put his omega 3 fish oil supplement on his wet food (Nordic Naturals brand) he'll get some of the wet food into him as he licks up the fish oil. And the one variety of wet food that he will usually eat is Weruva - Grandma's Chicken Soup variety - though often he'll only lick the sauce up and leave the chicken. Sigh.

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  7. I don't know if we spoil our dogs or not. I definitely spoil them with the amount of time I spend with them, as I am a true housebody. If I leave for any significant amount of time (like, a few hours), the youngest one takes to destroying things, knocking over the trash can and spreading the contents all over the house before deciding what to eat)...

    I figure the raw food is a pretty good idea for a cat, but that cost is pretty significant. I wonder if a large order might help the cost a bit...

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    1. Yup... my babies are pretty spoiled in the "time with mommy" department too. Fortunately, they tend to mostly sleep when I'm away. Smoky, however, is a destroyer cat. Seriously, he figures that all small objects were created specifically for him to play with. I had to get rid of all of the nick nacks that I once owned because he would bat them onto the floor. He even knocks pictures off the wall! Perhaps he's just trying to help me become more of a minimalist?

      Anyhow, the bigger tubs of Rad Cat are cheaper per ounce - but then there's the issue of using it up before it goes bad. I'm not sure how many days raw meat will keep for. I may be able to order it online somehow, but I'm not sure how that would work since it's frozen - plus, the two stores that I know carry it are both small locally owned operations, that I feel good about supporting.

      But I think Princess may be slowing down a bit in terms of horking her Rad Cat. She actually left a bit uneaten in the bowl last night! Perhaps she's finally getting full! :-)

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  8. I think spoiled is a relative term. To some, animals (even pets) are "lucky" if they get food, period, let alone attention. To others, some would say their cats are "spoiled" if they may not be able to afford anything but the store brand but who live to pet, play and talk with their little guys. Then there's us -- the ones who shell out quite a bit of cash monthly to make sure they're happy in the way that we think pets deserve to be happy. :-) (Then again, there's my husband, who finds the cheapest natural food he can find to feed the outdoor feral cats we can't catch...but, yeah.)

    Side note: I just found your blog and was amazed at our kitty similarities! I, too, have a sweet-hearted Jasper (my little buddy)...a Winston who's the total diva of the house but who shows such a funny, sweet streak from time to time, and Beardslee, who silently rules the roost like an appreciative little papa because of the horrific life he had before (we found him on his deathbed). So glad that I stumbled upon your blog today!

    - Meg @ megactsout.blogspot.com

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    1. Welcome! I'm so glad you stumbled upon my little corner of the interwebs!

      Blessings upon you for feeding and caring for ferals & strays. All of my babies are neighborhood strays/ferals who adopted me. There used to be a lady at the end of the block who was feeding a colony, and since I'm one of the few other houses on the block without dogs, I think the tamest ones all ended up with me. She's long gone - not sure if she passed away or went to a nursing home or what, so the kitty train has slowed a bit.

      But I seriously don't know how anybody can emotionally handle caring for ferals & strays. During the 6 months that it took me to convince Princess that I was OK, we ended up attracting a fair number of ferals and strays, and the whole thing was just heart wrenching. In my attempts to trap her I ended up trapping the mean neighborhood tomcat (a feral) so I took him in to get him fixed, where upon they determined that he had FIV, and since he was a fighter and a biter I had to have him put down to protect the other cats in the area. It nearly tore my little heart out.

      Anyhow, I'm pretty sure that Princess was part of a trap, neuter & release program by the fact that her left ear is clipped. So I am grateful to whomever it was that went to that effort on her behalf. But seriously, I cried my way through the entire winter that she was outside - building houses with heating pads and shoving them under her tree, worrying myself sick about her every night... yadda, yadda, yadda. I just want to take care of them all.

      OK... I'm off to visit your little corner of the blogosphere now.

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    2. We definitely go through those emotions, especially in winter (and this time of the year with kittens popping up, sigh).

      Thanks for visiting "my place"! :-)

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  9. Oh my gosh, your kitties are wonderful! I love hearing their backstories and about their different personalities. Our cat Jackson was also a stray. He lived in a field in Aurora for a month after his owners left in the middle of the night when their house was foreclosed. He was so sad when we first brought him home, but now he is the happiest cat ever. He sounds a lot like your cat Jasper - very easygoing and purrs all the time. I loved this post, and I think it's splendid that you spoil your felines rotten. xoxo

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    1. Awwww... I'm so glad that Jackson found you. I know that people find themselves in terrible situations, but I just cannot imagine abandoning a pet. To me, it would be like leaving a child on a street corner and letting them fend for themselves. I'm so happy that Jackson found a happy home!

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  10. Your kitties are such characters! Cats do have their own unique personalities much as people do. My two were adopted from a shelter 2.5 years ago – one was nearly one year old, and the other was about 7 years. I wouldn’t have thought adult shelter cats would get so spoiled so fast, but I also don’t know their pre-shelter history. They certainly are pampered princesses now - born to be adored and spoiled.

    I have tried to feed them premium, natural, real meat varieties of canned food, but they won’t touch any of it. I have no idea what they were fed at the shelter, but suspect it was some kitty version of junk food – lots of fillers and artificial flavoring. They do like Fancy Feast paté varieties, which at least contain meat as the first ingredient and don’t include the grains that are added to the gravy and other varieties of FF food. I’ve seen the raw food, and will probably try it to see if they like it.

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    1. I think you're right... cats develop a taste for certain kinds of foods, and once they do it can be really hard to get them to change. And the fact that they're willing to go on hunger strikes when they don't like their culinary selections makes it really hard to get them to change their diet! When Sputnik was sick all he would eat was crap grocery store food... but at that point all that mattered was that he ate anything at all.

      Anyhow, good luck with the raw food, but if you can't even get them to eat real meat cat food I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you! :-)

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  11. Side note--I LOVE the rag rug! Did you make it? That's one of my craft projects this year with the 14 million torn and stained sheets I have.

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    1. Ha! Yes, it is a rag rug, and that photo was taken a few years ago when I was just starting it. I'm really good at starting craft projects and, um... well... not so great at finishing them. I originally had grandiose plans for making enough rag rugs to cover the entire house and ripping up the hideous green avocado shag.

      But here's the thing... each time you go around the circle, it gets bigger... so while you can make quick progress at first, pretty soon it takes a seemingly ridiculous amount of both time and fabric to get around once!

      Anyhow, this was intended to be my "starter rug" where I figured out how to do it, and then I was gonna move on to the real ones that I cared about. Well... I did manage to finish that one, but the "good ones" that I had planned are still sitting in heaps of disarray in the basement. Sigh.

      Anyhow, here's a post that I did about it a while back, and if you read through the comments you'll see all of my helpful hints if you'd like to try out this particular variety of insanity.
      http://ecocatlady.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-road-to-hell-is-paved-with.html

      The short answer is... Google "Toothbrush Rug" for instructions, and unless you want to make yourself miserable, start with something SMALL!

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    2. Oh... and BTW, the cabinet that I was so eager to clean out as inspiration for finally finishing the thing... Well, no sooner did I empty it than Jasper decided it was his new favorite place. So... sucker that I am, it now houses a few blankets that I use to cover the windows when it gets below zero outside, and it's Jasper's favorite place to sleep. The sucker tattoo seems to be deepening...

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    3. Thanks for the link! I didn't even think about the round rug taking up more fabric to get around. Ohhhhhh! I'll try a small square one to start.

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  12. All 4 of my rescue cats eat Royal Canin Urinary SO dry cat food (prescription) because one of them had urinary tract issues. It is expensive, especially with 4 cats, but I am afraid to switch. I don't feed any wet food. The best thing I have bought for my cats is a pet fountain. It keeps the water fresher, and they all drink a lot.

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    1. In January I lost my elder kitty, Sputnik to bladder disease. He actually had a tumor, not just run of the mill cystitis, but we tried him on the Urinary SO food for a while. He wouldn't eat it... but it didn't really help him anyhow, and I think he just had general appetite issues as he got sicker. Anyhow, it does come in a canned variety, if you're looking to trick them into getting more moisture, but it's even more expensive than the dry stuff. Sputty had a water fountain too, which he dearly loved, but since none of my current batch will drink from it I've packed it away until it's needed again. Fingers crossed that we don't have any more of those kind of issues for a good long while!

      Anyhow, if by chance you enjoy overly sentimental kitty tribute posts, here's one that I wrote shortly after my sweet Sputnik left us:
      http://ecocatlady.blogspot.com/2014/01/rip-sputnik-vonwhiskars.html

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  13. I love the picture of Jasper smiling. And smoky attached to the patio screen door...ROTF!

    We have 12 fish and now a single gerbil, down from two. When Raisin was alive we spent a lot of time and money taking him to the vet for an injury we accidentally inflicted on him when he got his foot badly mangled in the two-level wire cage we built ourselves (building cage by self? bad idea.) Later he developed diabetes and cataracts and the diabetes required meds and a special diet. The gerbil we'd bought for $12 was now Raisin the Amazing $350 Gerbil. He always got lots of treats because I perpetually felt guilty about building a cage that hurt him so badly. Rye is still alive and gets a treat every day, plus three very specific kinds of chewing items...okay, you can see I'm a little crazy about an animal that weighs 100 grams. But point being, I completely understand spoiling the furry critters in our lives! The pleasure we get out of it is worth it. Your kitties are lovely and please do continue to include pictures!

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    1. Awwww... poor little Raisin - but it wasn't your fault what happened, you were just trying to give him a good home. And when it comes to our furry little friends, size does not matter! I have a friend who took care of a paralyzed rabbit for 9 years!

      And don't worry... I'm incapable of not including photos of my babies!

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  14. My last kitty died a few months ago, and I took in two 12-year-olds that a friend had to re-home when she started having to travel all the time. Older cats, I have found, arrive pre-spoiled (if they came from a good previous home) so I don't have go to that trouble. I just have to give them what they want when they want it. Simple! I enjoy reading your adventures with felines.

    jesinalbuquerque

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    1. Oh Jes, I'm so sorry about your kitty. It's so hard to lose them.

      And you are sooo brave to take in 12 year olds. I'm not sure I could handle adopting a senior kitty knowing that you're only gonna get to have them for a few years. Blessings upon you!

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  15. I'm probably middle of the road when it comes to kitty spoiling- they get good quality dry food and a little bit of supermarket own brand meat. They used to get cheap dry food, but I decided to get them something better. To start with, I let them eat as much as they wanted, but that resulted in chubby kitties! They don't really have kitty beds, but they find themselves plenty of places to snooze! (In the winter, I often sleep with all three of them on or near me!) I've not tried raw food- I suspect Merlin would go nuts for it, as he is obsessed with the dried chicken/fish treats- we call them 'cat crack'- he stands on his back legs and grabs your hand with his paws to get at the treats!

    We have three cats- Merlin is the oldest (5). I first met him when he was a 4 week old kitten, and took him home at 8 weeks old. He had an accident when he was about 18 months old, which paralysed his back legs (temporarily, it turned out). Whilst he was regaining mobility I built little steps out of books etc so that he could get onto the furniture, as he could do a weird frog-like walk, but not jump. Thankfully he could go to the loo himself! When pets are ill, I tend to go all out to look after them and totally spoil them- when they are healthy I am more chilled about it!
    Anyway, Merlin is a lap cat, but also goes outside and sees off as many of the other cats in the neighbourhood as possible! We don't have many/any strays here, so I don't worry about my cats picking up diseases from fights (although Merlin has had an abscess before). He's getting a bit chubby as he's getting older, we tease him about his tummy pouch :). When he was a kitten he encouraged tidiness by peeing on any clothes left in heaps on the floor- a bit like your cat encouraging minimalism by batting ornaments to the floor!

    Tinkerbell is the second oldest- just under 4. She is a tiny black tabby with LOTS of attitude. She doesn't seem to hunt or fight (well, she tries to stalk pigeons twice her size, but with little success!) She is less of a cuddle cat than the others, though she does have an enormous purr. She mostly bustles round the house giving everyone disapproving glances.

    Albus Dumblecat is our youngest and largest cat- definitely the baby- he has a pathetic high-pitched miaow, and often comes running in with a look that says 'mum!! There's a PERSON outside, help!' He loves curling up next to people, but can often be found hiding on the wardrobe if new people are in the house...

    I love how cats have totally different personalities, they keep us all entertained!

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    1. Albus Dumblecat - Best name EVER!

      Wow... I'm so glad that your little Merlin was able to recover from his injury - that must have been scary. Sounds like you've got quite the entertaining kitty family. Isn't it funny how completely different they all are?

      Truth be told, I have no idea whether feeding them expensive food really helps them or not. I mean, my mother always fed her cats dry Friskies brand cat food and they lived an average of 20 years each! But I suppose for me it's more about making them as happy as they can possibly be because they're my precious babies and I want them to be happy!

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  16. I just recently switched my two kitties to an all raw diet and am now spending well over $300 a month on cat food. I may have to give up eating but as long as they're healthy and happy!

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    1. Ha! I know what you mean... my cats definitely eat better than I do! Jasper has now decided that he likes the raw food too, so we're going through it even faster now. But I'm trying to feed them a variety including canned and raw - so hopefully we won't completely break the bank here!

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