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Why having a second pet could save your first pet's life So many homes are filled not only with human family members, but furry ones as well. Pets provide us with endless entertainment, comfort, company, love and friendship – but what happens to your sweet pet if you unexpectedly die? Unfortunately, every day, cats and dogs are orphaned and left without a home or a friend in the world. And sometimes, the stress and depression is so strong in those animals that they just give up and die shortly after their beloved human. I know first-hand, because just days ago I lost a wonderful foster pet who refused to eat after the death of his only family member. All he had to do was eat, but he was just too sad. Not even force-feeding could save him. Can you imagine your own sweet pets succumbing to depression following your own death? I don’t want to think about it, and I’ll bet you don’t either. So what can we do to help our kitties, doggies, birds and other family members find some happiness after a tragedy? Stanley Coren of Psychology Today posits that our pets are unable to understand the finality of death, and that they stay locked in a chronic, depressing state of hope that at some point, the dead person (or animal) will return. This resistance to change could very well explain why a kitty who obviously had a perfectly healthy appetite when he lived with his owner would refuse his meals – he was waiting for the problem to correct itself. Maybe he thought one day soon I would take him back to his apartment, and his mom would be there, waiting with a smile and a hug. Then, he would eat. You don’t have to be an expert in psychology or veterinary science to understand that the loss of one primary caretaker PLUS the loss of one’s permanent home could have negative results. How is a cat, or dog, or parrot supposed to react when everything they’ve ever known is taken away? When they are moved into a strange house with weird smells and sounds, humans and creatures they’ve never seen? For adult pets, it’s clearly an immense burden. The worst part is, no one can explain the situation to them – they have to work it out for themselves, if they can. For those of us with larger families, we can usually rest assured that our pets can stay in the home they know, with people they already love if we pass away. My cats have not only me, but my husband and a few close friends they trust if something ever happens to me. But a shut-in, living in a little apartment alone with a kitty or dog? Who does that pet have to fall back on? Not a soul. If your household consists of only you and your pet, I urge you to consider what might happen if you die unexpectedly. Encourage your pet to spend time bonding with close friends or family members when they visit. Take your pet out of its home every now and then for an un-stressful look at the wider world. Dogs are often gregarious and easy to socialize this way; cats are trickier however not impossible to socialize. Try bringing kitty out on the balcony or porch with a friend or two, or bringing it along for a weekend holiday at your friend’s or family member's home. Also, you might consider adopting a second pet from the Humane Society or another rescue organisation. Their kennels are packed with wonderful, adoptable cats and dogs that not only need a home but can provide you and your existing pet with a necessary new friend. Take your time choosing, and remember that even two animals that are not immediately the best of friends can still become bonded family members. The more good people and animals your pet meets, and the more experience it has with various environments, the better its chances of pulling through the grief of your death and moving forward into a happy life. Give it some thought <3 "Taco" AKA “Jamon” Thanks to the support of the Humane Society of Cozumel, Jamon is able to meet his new family in Mexico, the United States or Canada! His name is Taco, and his nickname is Jamon, or "Ham" in Spanish, (he is a very big boy!) but I’ve been calling him Hammy. This is the SWEETEST and FRIENDLIEST cat that has ever come to stay in my foster home. I can’t emphasize that enough. Hammy was hand-raised by his human mom since before his little eyes were open, and they clearly loved each other very much. They were the only people and pets in one another’s lives. Unfortunately, Taco’s mom passed away very recently and he has no other family to live with. Understandably, Taco was very depressed when the Humane Society came and collected him from his former apartment. They kept him safe at the shelter for a night, but for a cherished house cat it was a scary place to be. The next day a wonderful volunteer brought him to me and I set him up in his very own bedroom, complete with private litter box and a full-size bed. Poor Hammy was too scared and sad to enjoy the perks of foster care, of course. He immediately hid under the far side of the bed and barely moved for several days. I pulled the bed out to check on him and tempt him with some soft food, which he did eventually eat. The poor boy was too upset and confused to even come out to pee. A week or so later, Ham has turned a corner. He has met the other cats in the house with curiosity and is learning the careful art of friendly butt-sniffing; he is trying to eat his healthy food like a good boy, and he will come out of hiding to beg for cuddles. AND WOW DOES HE LOVE CUDDLES! Jamon can sit forever and just let you rub him all over – face, back, feet and enormous belly all included. (We’re working on that belly, FYI.) When I first heard his immense purr, my heart just about exploded. Taco is about 8 years old, and he still has SO MUCH LOVE TO GIVE! He would be a wonderful addition to a home with other friendly cats, or just loving people. He is shy with men but we are working on that! Please consider giving sweet, wonderful Hammy a second chance at his forever home <3 Get in touch with me via the comments or apply directly through the Humane Society of Cozumel website to adopt this wonderful boy! If you can't give him a home, please give him a share! Thank you! Only weirdos don't like ketchup. It's a perfect accompaniment to any kind of cooked potato, hamburger or pseudo-burger, and though the French have banned its use in school dinners, ketchup will surely enjoy a long and healthy life in North America. Most of us snub our noses at anything other than Heinz 57, but personally I'm sick of buying plastic every single month to house my ketchup and other condiments. Tomatoes are just a couple of pesos per kilogram at the little veggie-vendor's place down the street, and it turns out that the rest of the ingredients for a good ketcup were already in my fridge and pantry. Want to cut down on your use of plastic, save money and know exactly what you're eating? Try this recipe! 14 small Roma tomatoes 1/4 cup chopped white onion 3 tablespoons white sugar 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon salt 2-inch cinnamon stick 2 large bay leaves 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon plain mustard 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar Step One: Wash and peel the tomatoes. I soak all my produce in a vinegar-water bath for at least 10 minutes before rinsing and putting it all away. Once you've washed your tomatoes, cut shallow crosses into each end and pop them into a pot of boiling water. Let them sit in the pot for about a a minute before transferring them to an ice bath to cool. You'll see the skins starting to pull away from the flesh of the tomato--when the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, just pull off the skins with your fingers. Step Two; De-seed the tomatoes. You're going to get messy here, so just dive in with both hands. Slice each tomato in half to expose the seeds and scrape them out (toss them in the compost later.) A few seeds aren't going to hurt, but if you leave them in, the texture of the finished product won't be as smooth as it could be. Step Three: Simmer Put the tomatoes into a large saucepan with the onion, herbs and spices (everything except the vinegar.) Bring the ingredients to a boil then turn down to a strong simmer. Cover and stir frequently for 20-30 minutes. Step Four: Add the vinegar When the tomato mixture is condensed and quite thick, pour in the vinegar and stir to combine. Cover and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Step Five: Pureé Let the mixture cool, then place it in a blender or food processor. Whiz until it's nice and smooth, and you're finished! Pour the finished ketchup into a sealable container and keep it in the fridge as usual. This recipe makes about 380 grams of delicious, all-natural ketchup. Enjoy! Three cats, one human; minimal luggage. Is it really possible to wrangle a mostly feline family all the way from Canada to Mexico? In short, yes! Here’s what you’ll need:
*Important Note* Sometimes, it just isn’t possible to find helpers to accompany you on your journey. This doesn’t necessarily make the trip impossible, but it does mean that a few alterations must be made to the plan. Specifically, at least two of the cats will require hard-sided kennels in place of the soft-sided kennels, as they will need to travel in the luggage compartment of the airplane. Since you only have two hands, you’ll need to use an airport trolley to transport your little family through customs, and rely completely on taxis to take you from home to the airport; from the airport to the ferry station; and from the second ferry station to your final destination. Breathe! For the sake of this guide, let’s assume that you have at least one person for every pet. Step One: Make an Appointment with your Veterinarian Before your furry babies can become official expats, they’ll need to be equipped with a health certificate. This is simple to obtain, and generally requires just one visit to your veterinarian. Vaccinations may or may not be in order. The veterinarian will know what sort of information should be included on the certificate, but you can see for yourself here. This certificate should ideally be issued as close as possible to the date of your departure. Step Two: Purchase Travel Tickets Once all the kitties have their paperwork in order, you can go ahead and confirm your travel plans. It’s important to select a flight plan that does not have any stopovers, since a multi-stop flight would only be longer for the cats, and it could mean you’ll have to gather and recheck them at each airport. American Airlines offers pet-friendly flights from Calgary Airport to Cancun International Airport for as low as $200 per one-way ticket, so keep your eyes open for a really good deal. WestJet, Jet Blue and Frontier Airlines are also pet-friendly and worth looking into. Once your flight has been booked, you’ll need to call the airline to purchase tickets for the cats, either as carry-on passengers or cargo. Carry-on is the ideal way to carry your pet since this way they’ll know you are with them - and vice versa. Keep in mind that there are weather restrictions for travelling with pets; for example, AA will only allow your cats on the plane if the temperature at the destination is between 7 and 29 degrees Celsius. Step Three: Ready the Travel Carriers The airline you’ve chosen will have specifications about the travel carrier you need to use for your kitties. Pay close attention to the measurement rules, and find a comfortable carrier that fits within them. No bedding is allowed inside the carrier, so make sure that it has a soft bottom. Kitty should be able to sit, stand and turn around easily within the carrier. Anxious cats may try to cut open the screen material on their carriers, so if you’re concerned about that talk to your veterinarian about giving her a gentle sedative before the trip. Keep a small pouch of food and a fresh bottle of water in one of the pockets, but don’t open either of these until you’re on board. Keep your airline-approved cleaning supplies in another pocket; paper towels or wet wipes are a good choice. Don’t feed or water the cats too much during the flight! Remember, there’s no onboard potty for these guys. Step Four: Pack Light This is incredibly important! Since you are moving from one country to another, it’s safe to assume that there are a lot of items you’d like to take with you. A closet full of clothes, cat towers, books, dishes, blankets, even furniture. Unfortunately, you’re going to need to let go of a lot of that stuff in favour of an easy passage from one place to the next. During this trip you’ll have to manoeuvre yourself and at least one cat through airport customs, a long car trip and a ride on a boat; luggage could turn the whole journey into a near impossibility. Take the necessities with you, ideally in just one piece of luggage, and have any other belongings shipped separately if you really can’t be parted. Step Five: Write Out Your Full Travel Itinerary The journey will look something like this: Calgary Airport - Cancun International Airport - Playa del Carmen Ferry Terminal - Cozumel Island Taxis can be found and hired right outside the airport, just as in most cities, and for a very reasonable fee the driver will take you wherever you need to go. If your particular driver believes that the cats should go into the trunk of the car, don’t be afraid to stand up for their rights to air conditioning and plentiful oxygen (politely!) Ferry service on the eastern side of the country is provided by two main companies: Mexico Waterjets and UltraMar. On the western side, services are provided by Baja Ferries and Ferry Santa Rosalia. It’s possible to book these tickets ahead of time on the phone, but you are probably better off leaving the time slot open in case of setbacks. Buses do not allow animals on board in Mexico, so any overland travel will need to be done by taxi. Step Six: Take the First Step! Planned, packed, prepared? It’s time to move to Mexico! There are just a few things to keep in mind along the journey. Registered Veterinary Technician Jamie Burns lives and works in Mexico, and she says it’s important to keep a close eye on how the change in water is affecting your kitties during and after the trip. “Cats are prone to urinary tract infections, and the change in water due to different mineral types can lead to complications. Research what the water is like in your destination, and watch out for high concentrations of lime. This could easily trigger a UTI. If you will need to switch your cat to bottled water begin this process before the move; mix half tap to bottled then slowly dilute the water with more bottled each week until the cat is completely acclimated.” If your kitties are peeing in strange areas it could be a sign of infection and they need to be checked out right away by a veterinarian. Airport Customs: SAGARPA-SENASICA is the branch of the Mexican government that is responsible for regulating any agricultural or animal imports to the country. You’ll need to stop by their section of airport customs before you’ll be allowed to officially enter Mexico with your cats. An inspector will need to check the health certificates for each cat, as well as perform a quick physical examination to make sure that the animals are clean, healthy and that their kennels are otherwise empty. Some paperwork needs to be done, and an understanding of Spanish will help you get through this phase. If you aren’t confident in your Spanish skills, consider preparing an information sheet ahead of time for the animal customs agent. Introduce yourself and each of your cats, and describe them in terms of age, colours and weight. Be absolutely sure to write down your final destination and a contact number, even if it is for a friend or your soon-to-be landlord. Once this information has been documented, you and your troupe should be on your way. Ferries: Now, here’s the thing about bringing your cats on the ferry - they usually aren’t officially welcome in the cabin. What that means is the crew will probably insist that the pet carriers be placed on the outdoor deck, while you must sit inside. This is a huge inconvenience for concerned cat owners, who will then battle a combination of seasickness and intense anxiety at the knowledge that the cats are out there on their own. Fortunately, not every ferry crew is the same. Ask if you can keep the carriers with you inside. Explain, “No voy a dejar a mis gatos afuera.” In English, that’s “I’m not going to leave my cats out there.” Aside from asking nicely, there is always the option to try camouflage. Volunteers with the Humane Society of Cozumel travel back and forth on the ferry between Cozumel Island and the mainland all the time, and they’ve discovered that small, soft-sided animal carriers are often mistaken for large purses. Think you can pull it off? No harm in trying. That’s all there is to it! One thing is for sure: you aren’t the first Canadian to immigrate to Mexico with cats, and you won’t be the last. Don’t let the process frighten you! Sunshine, sparkling seas, wonderful friends and beautiful food await you and your furry family. Yeah, we tend to talk more about the bowel movement of cats here at the Cat Box, but believe it or not sometimes people poop can be just as interesting ;) Food history is, perhaps, the most elegant of all the anthropological pursuits. It involves piecing together succulent mounds of oysters, documenting the evolution of the humble loaf of bread and decoding all the complex flavours of a royal medieval feast. Anthropologists get to recreate warm winter's stews cooked in kettles in the hearth and mock turtle soup served in the bowls of middle-class Victorians. What a wonderful job, one must assume! When it comes to culinary anthropology, there are two primary resources that researchers rely on to reveal all about our ancestors diets: middens and coprolite. Only deep in the middens of Europe could archaeologists find definitive proof of human's reliance on farmed animals, of the spices that were used in each region and the favoured proteins of each class. Only deep in a preserved barrel of coprolite could excited Danish archaeologists learn the exact contents of their 14th-century forebears' stomachs. For those of you that don't have a human sciences degree, I'm talking about trash heaps and old poop. See? Elegant. Unfortunately, the pursuit of knowledge in the culinary anthropology domain rarely involves anything remotely appetizing. Sure, every now and then someone will stumble upon some nice spiced wine or a pile of fossilized honey cakes, but for the most part they just have to dig through the trash and the latrines to find answers. That's exactly what happened when excavators in the Danish city of Odense on Funen dug through an archaeological find in Vilhelm Werners square. Gleefully, the researchers uncovered several well-preserved barrels, expecting to find salted fish or a hoard of items secured for transport. Instead, they found coprolite. A whole lot of it. Turns out, the barrels had been retired from the transport and preservation industries and turned into toilets. Nevertheless excited by the admittedly noxious find, Maria Elisabeth Lauridsen and her archaeological team got to work examining the 700-year-old poop and found plenty with which to fill the records. Here's a sample of foods that have so far been analysed from the people-droppings:
Lastly, the archaeological team identified moss, leather and small pieces of fabric in each of the barrels. Don't think those items sound particularly appetizing? That's because they were used as toilet paper. Elegant. Yep. I never thought such a thing could happen, until it happened to me. Here's how it went down: my People went away for two weeks. I knew this was going to happen because I helped them fold clothes and pack up the big suitcase. Not overly concerned, I knew they'd have some Temporary People sent in to fill up our bowls and dispose of our poop. So I snuggled with them before they left and wished them Bon Voyage. Then came the Temps. We knew these guys already, they'd been at our house to play games and get rowdy a few times. Nice people, a little unused to cats but very willing to learn. They petted me and cooed at me while Minnie Mew and Aladdin ran to hide, and to my surprise, actually took up residence in the lower bedroom. That was just fine, I thought, more pampering for me. The problem started when Aladdin decided he couldn't handle the stress of sharing his home with the Temps. He's a weird guy, Aladdin-he spent most of his life outside without a family and the strangest things seem to freak him out. Anyway, the first chance he got, he bolted out the front door. The Temps panicked, but unable to catch him or convince him to turn around, they decided to leave food outside the door so he would hopefully be back in the morning. And he was! Except that no, he wasn't. It just looked that way. TITO, the neighbour cat, was actually "back" in the morning. I guess he looks a bit similar, a white cat with splotches on his head and tail. Wrong splotches though, and wrong cat. Unaware, the happy Temps plucked him up and brought him inside. He was "Aladdin." So here I am, in the photo the Temps sent to my People, trying to send a mental SOS: The caption read "I'm making them fat cats!" There's Minnie Mew in the back, me in the front focusing my telepathic powers, and Mr. Tito-Not-Aladdin next to me, chowing down. He has a family next door, by the way. And the real Aladdin? Prowling around the yard and the adjacent roofs, hoping his normal People will somehow be in their bedroom like always to let him in through the balcony door. Poor guy didn't make it inside the entire time our People were gone-but at least my message got through, because after that photo was taken Tito was removed from our house. Don't worry, everything's back as it should be. Here's the joker that hopefully learned to stay inside next time: Mi familia! Ay caramba. So this is basically what my cats' diet looks like right now. On the left you'll find a bowl full of chicken organs (livers, kidneys, hearts) and on the right a much-less appalling plate of plump sardines. I have been buying the sardines in cans with a drained weight of 280 grams; the chicken innards come in packages of about 500 grams. With the help of the USDA website, I've calculated the nutritional value of this feast in terms of how much each cat eats per day. Between the three of them, they share one can of sardines and a few helpings of lightly-fried organs, which I estimate at about 250 grams. This means that each of my cats eats about 176 grams of food each day. Now here's the real issue: veterinarians and other experts can't really agree on the ideal balanced diet for a cat. According to FEDIAF - The European Pet Food Industry Federation - adult cats need a minimum of 25 grams of protein per 100 grams of dry kibble. That's equal to 25%. The Whiskas Complete and Balanced pouch says to give your adult cat four pouches per day. That's 340 grams of food per day, per cat. Here's a breakdown of the Whiskas pouch daily diet: The last commercial food I fed my gang was Nature's Variety Raw Boost Instinct Chicken. Here's how that formula compares in terms of protein, fat and water content, based on the recommended daily amount for a 6-lb adult cat (3/4 cup): Finally, let's compare my Homemade Blend of bone-in sardines and chicken offal (livers, hearts, gizzards.) The daily amount for each cat is 176 grams. One more comparison before we talk about these results - here's how the total Energy for each diet adds up, expressed in kcal: kay. So as you can see, it's important to look at several characteristics of each type of cat food before making a hard conclusion. Though it is very important for cats to ingest water in their food, it is equally important for them to eat a high percentage of protein. The Whiskas wet food is great in terms of hydration, however the relative protein content is incredibly low. This seems pretty inappropriate as a daily, long-term diet. One of my former cats, the beautiful Froggy, became violently ill when I fed her this food for several consecutive days. She loved the taste, but her body couldn't handle it. Could it have been due to the low nutritional content? I wonder. As for Nature's Variety, you can see that like most dry kibbles it packs a powerful protein punch. It's very low in water, so if you're feeding this to your cats it's important to make sure they are drinking enough. I was very happy to feed this to my own cats before deciding that the all-meat diet was the way to go. I may yet add a small amount of it back in, if only as a way to combat constant fish-breath! My home blend is looking pretty good, thanks to a good amount of protein and water, as well as fat. Fat is essential to your cat to nourish many organs, from their eyes to their fur and blood cells. I'm pretty satisfied with the way this diet is going, but there's one more thing I need to keep in mind... Taurine. That tricky little essential amino acid that metabolizes fats. This is the biggest factor when it comes to any cat's diet - in fact, it is the reason most professionals don't believe cats can live without meat. So how much taurine do Homer, Minnie Mew and Aladdin need? The experts can't agree on a number, and that makes my job really tough. I know that taurine exists in all meat, but research also shows that 50% of the taurine in any meat source will be lost during the cooking process. I'm not feeding my gang raw meat for a couple of reasons. First, it really sickens me (I'm a vegetarian, did you know?) Second, it goes bad incredibly quickly. If there are any bits left in the food dishes, it becomes rotten and stinking and altogether unpleasant. The thought of all that bacteria isn't just a little unsettling. So, I fry up the offal and the sardines come already cooked. Just to be sure I've got every angle covered, I'm looking into taurine supplements. Stay tuned! The experiment is going well so far, and every day I'm glad that I started it. Moreover, I'm saving money! A bag of kibble cost me more than 1000 pesos each month; thanks to the new diet I'm spending about 900. It's not much, but when's the last time you spent less money on higher quality items? Exactly. So it's 17:39 local time, and Homer has just eaten his first meal of the day. I say "meal" but really mean "snack," since he barely dented the heap on his plate. SIGH. Sure, the guy looks amazing, but I worry. He used to be a fat cat, now he is like some kind of gym-enthusiast. Aladdin and Minnie Mew already ate three times today! All things considered I decided to bring him to the awesome local vet and have him checked out. My little buddy sat nicely in his carrier, sniffed politely at the other animals in the waiting room, and then threw a temper tantrum once inside the confines of the examination room! This was really weird, and honestly, more worrying for me, because Homer is a likeable and fairly calm little fellow. When friends come to our house, he plays the role of Host perfectly and everyone leaves with a greater respect for him and his kind. Who was this vicious fiend that tried to bite his old friend Dr. Julio and would barely allow his innards to be squeezed and prodded? Not Homer, surely! ANOTHER SIGH. The indominable Dr. Julio (two years ago he cleaned and patched up Aladdin's hugely swelled and infected head wound, despite Al's still being a scared and dangerous street kitty) was not put off, but after determining that there was no internal infection present, suggested something. Noticing a scratch on Homer's dear pink nosey, he put two and two together, and told me that my cat was likely being more aggressive than usual due to his dealings with unfamiliar, aggressive street cats. Oh :( And here I was, so proud of myself for providing a lovely home with such a big yard where my kitties could safely play and enjoy the fresh air. Bam! Sneaky Tito and Mr. Orange strike again. Well here's a shockingly rainy day in the jungle where at least I have a good excuse to keep the door to the yard shut on my boys and girl. What of tomorrow? I will just have to see. Hey now, he finished his bowl! Maybe all's well after all. It's the end of 2015 today (in the western hemisphere, anyway) and the beginning of a new year according to the Gregorian calendar. And apparently, a new beginning for billions of people across the planet that are currently getting in their final vices before the sun rises on a clean and sober, health-conscious 2016. I understand the urge to celebrate the end of a significant period of time, but I have got to admit, all this New Year's Resolution stuff is pretty ridiculous. Here's the thing: If you haven't already made significant steps towards reaching your goals in this year, what's the difference tomorrow? Over and over I hear "this is the year I get in shape." "Starting in the New Year I will write a book." Blah blah blah. These are great goals, but the fact is, if you haven't started working towards them already, you won't be suddenly equipped to do so January 1st. Or 2nd, following the hangover. The point is, New Year is used as an excuse not to do something today. Don't buy into it! I am a cat without New Year's Resolutions, because I make important decisions every day, not just every December 31st. Where would I be if mom had put off feeding us real meat until tomorrow? I would have spent the last few months eating sub-par crunchy food with less flavor and nutritional value. I wouldn't yet know the satisfaction of a mouthful of real, raw tuna. (I did that just yesterday, btw, during family sushi night. Oh. My!) Trust me, there isn't going to magically be extra time or innate motivation come tomorrow. If tonight is your "last steak dinner," your "last box of chocolate," your "last chance to stay out all night and miss work in the morning," well, good luck to you. It ain't gonna last. What's my point? Start right now, if something is important to you. Write a few paragraphs for your book. Find a meatless recipe for tonight's pre-party dinner. Go ride your bicycle to the grocery store instead of driving, and bring home a bag of fruit. Can't hack it? Maybe it wasn't so important to begin with, or your priorities are different than you realized :) Happy 2016, may all your good qualities remain the same! I know mine will ;) Wow, just wow. I can confirm that our star dieter has just been seen in the neighbour's yard stealing Tito's crunchy food! Shameful, Homer. No wonder your poo still smells bad! For a year now I've been protecting my clan from the temper tantrums of their orange and white cat neighbour, only to discover that Homer has had his own revenge. On one hand I'm proud of him for overcoming his fear and realizing that, after all, he is at least twice the size of Tito. On the other hand this is slightly annoying as I'm trying to get all the cats eating non-junk food. I know very well that Homer, Minnie Mew and Aladdin have all been catching and eating geckos outside, but hey, that fits pretty perfectly into the all-meat thing anyway. Why am I so concerned, you might ask? Good question. Processed cat foods (and dog foods) are made with an astounding list of ingredients that generally starts with "meat by-product meal" and ends with a vitamin slurry. Meat by-products are the non-saleable parts of slaughtered animals, basically anything from hooves and intestines to lungs and tumours. Processing plants throw this into vats and boil it for hours or days, then bulk it up with vegetable proteins and carbohydrates. Yum! You can learn more about processed pet foods from veterinarian Jean Hofve. Over-processed foods aren't good for us, and they don't seem to be any good for our pets either. Don't get me wrong, I know the value of junk food! But I think we can all agree that junk food shouldn't make up the core of our diet. Homie scavenged a treat from his nemesis and that probably made him feel pretty good about himself. But his dinner is chicken and liver and that will make me feel pretty good about myself! |
Homer & MandyWelcome to The Cat Box! Homer will be your guides to all things cat, cat and more cat. Things like cat food, nutrition and general well-being, but not the Oxford comma. Because screw that thing. Categories |