My preference would be to give them chicken and turkey more often. If turkeys
were as cheap year round as it is near Thanksgiving, or if I had a freezer the
size of the livingroom, they'd see a lot more turkey.
Gloria Lane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I go thru phases of buying only the
best food I can find, and also buying off the shelf, whatever they'll eat. But
my cats that were fed on Friskies, Meow Mix, etc, have lived long lives, about
18 years, and that's pretty good. Right now I'm buying expensive food, because
the poison packets are not available for my elderly kitties. But I've in
general become more casual about food, and of course trying to not spend too
much.
What does bother me, also, about the pet food industry, is the cruetly of the
testing that they seem to do on dogs and cats. Maybe that's why they use
facilities outside the USA. Don't know but it bothers me.
Gloria
On Mar 24, 2007, at 1:25 PM, Susan Hoffman wrote:
My personal cats average around 18 years (including one who was FIV+). The
canned food of choice is Friskies. I buy it at Walmart or on sale at the
grocery store. I tried upgrading their dry food to something corn-free but,
after I caught them digging through the crunchy bowls to get at the cheap stuff
on the bottom, I relented and picked up a bag of Meow Mix. They get liberal
servings of people food and, again, I shop sales. The fosters all get the same
as my own cats.
18 is a pretty good life for a cat. The diet doesn't seem to be hurting them
a bit. They all get lots of love and have the run of the place, lots of
freedom, soft beds, clean litterboxes, toys and cat trees and each other for
company. I think that's why they live long lives -- life is good, why leave?
Diet only goes so far. Love sustains any of us more than food ever will.
catatonya <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Beth,
Please don't take one person's word as the opinion of the list. We do what
we can. And I applaud you for your rescue work. I have had friends whose cats
lived much longer, healthier lives than my own have who ate supermarket generic
brands. I am sure you do the best you can for your cats, and please try not to
be offended by the entire list based on one person's patronizing attitude.
tonya
Gussies mom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
This is ridiculous. I come to this list because I have a sick baby that I
love very much. A cat that is not even "mine", though I wouldn't give him up
for the world. I'm looking for help and support. Now I'm being told I feed my
cats CRAP because I feed Science Diet because that is what the shelter gives
me. Now I'm being told I should give up my cats to someone who can feed them
better. My cats are all from the streets. They are problem cats that nobody
else wanted. Who would you suggest take them? I do rescue. There are thousands
of people trying to give up their animals. Should the shelter I work with, that
took in 700 animals last year, not take in unwanted animals or pull them from
death row because, after all, we will be feeding them Science Diet CRAP? Should
we not have taken in the cats with the broken legs, the one that needed heart
surgery, the one that was lit on fire, the ones who's teeth are bad and have to
be pulled, the ones who were kept in chicken coops
their whole lives, the ones who are so neglected they are afraid of human
touch, the ones who were sent by their wonderful owners to live out their last
days awaitng the gas chamber because they grew old or became to much work;
because we would have to feed them Science Diet?
I guess we should have told them we couldn't spend all that money on medical
care for them because we needed to feed them more expensive food. I'm sure they
would have understood. Perhaps we should have left Stamp crying in the bushes
at the Post Office. I'm sure someone in that run down neighborhood would have
come along and given him a much better home with better food. I'm sure there
were people just lined up!
My cats are taken care of. They go to the vet when they are sick. They are
loved. That's probably more than most cats in this world have.
I buy my clothes at thrift shops - yes, you can find nice things there. I
just sold an 11 year old car with 200,000 miles and bought a care with 91,000
miles. I struggle to pay $425 per month for health insurance with a 2,500
deductible. I don't go out to eat a lot. I ususally eat yogurt for dinner. I
struggle to fund a 401K every month so I will have money in my old age. . The
last vacation I took (first in about 10 years) was driving a paid for rental
car (someone had hit my car, so I got a free rental) to Florida to stay for
free with a friend who lives by the beach. We all struggle to make choices. I
believe in personal responsibility. If have to take care of myself. Yes, that
comes first. Because if I cannot do that, then I surely cannot take care of
another living thing.
Beth
"[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I'm of the very controversial opinion that no matter how many cats you
have, there's no excuse to feed BAD food. If you can't afford to feed decent
food, then you can't afford to have that many cats. Get less cats, not less
expensive food. There isn't any excuse for anyone to ever feed a food that
doesn't have meat as the first ingredient... if you can't afford to feed a
meat-based diet, then you need to give up your cats to someone that can afford
to take proper care of them. That being said...
Healthwise is the "cheap" food I feed to my feral cats here. I would not
consider anything cheaper than that (it does have corn, but it's pretty far
down the ingredient list). My ferals are OBESE creatures, mind you - something
you generally don't see, LOL! They live the life of luxury though, and lay
around and sleep all day and night (except for food time). Here's the link to
the website for Healthwise, and Natura (the company that makes it) is very good
at getting it to most areas:
http://naturapet.com/display.php?d=product-detail&[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phaewryn
http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html
Special Needs Cat Resources
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