Albert has made a new friend! I am talking about Vince’s Missy She is an adorable pug who loves to play and chase cats. Here is a little movie of Missy chasing Albert in the back yard. Albert climbs up the tree and Missy comes back to cry to daddy.

Albert enjoyed catching the sun rays immensely and was in a very playful mood :

Bruce Lee came to beg for rubs:

Dusty hung out with the black neighborhood cat on the front lawn. I suspect they were trying to catch a poor bird or squirrel. Dusty has brought me a sparrow but thankfully the little thing was able to get away from her teeth and survived.

This was quite funny. At first I didn’t think much of the video but when I watched a second time I noticed the territory and power game going on between LuLu and Moka. LuLu very clearly asserts herself as the matron of the territory. It is quite interesting:

Oh, I came across this video of Mia and Albert chilling together. It’s not great quality but it’s still cute.

We hope your new family treats you well

We hope you have company and never feel alone

We hope you will be loved

We hope you have a long and healthy life

We hope you think of us with love, the way we will think of you

We hope you never felt you were on borrowed time

We love you very much and we are honored to have had you in our lives

Thank you for teaching us unconditional love and patience

We will miss you enormously…especially at feeding time when you will not climb up my leg and terrorize me anymore…and when I make the bed and you won’t jump in under the covers…

Thank you for all the happy moments and all the smiles you gave us

Thank you for being such a good friend to all the other foster babies

We hope we will hear about you again

Here are the last pictures I took of her:

Before Mia left, I told the refuge that she has a bad tooth which should come out to avoid other health issues. I was told Mia’s new guardians were made aware of this and they will make sure it gets taken care of. I gave the volunteer the address to the website so that the new guardians may see Mia’s history and stay in touch. We’ll see

Moka was also supposed to go to the adoption day last Sunday. I couldn’t catch him to put him in the carrier. He was very afraid of the volunteer who came to pick him up so he hid in his room, under the bed.

Albert got his second round of shots yesterday and he has been acting a little weird. Last night he was very tired and sleepy but couldn’t get comfortable. I stayed up with him until 1am when I was sure he was comfortable. This morning he did not eat his meal. I managed to feed him a treat and now he is sitting in the sun in the back yard. I am keeping a close eye on him while becoming more and more convinced that these shots are very bad for little kittens.

When we got home, we found Dusty waiting for us…she smelled a bag of Greenies I had, stole it from my shopping bag, and here is what happened next:

We then took a stroll to the back yard and found this little fellow hanging around:

And when we came inside the house, this was waiting for us in the spare room:

Isn’t life beautiful?

Mia and Mocha taking a nap together. How cute! Dan told me he had seen Mia and Mocha play around the house, but I wasn’t so sure. Then he brought me proof:

These are all the foster babies playing on our bed. Mia is on the left, Mocha is in the back and Albert is the tiny white baby. And here is Albert helping me with the website:

We have some suspicions that Mocha may be in heat. He is not eating very much, maybe half a meal a day, and he makes meowing and purring sounds. They are not as loud and aggressive as Sweetie’s but I have a feeling Mocha may need to be fixed.

That’s it for now, I just wanted to show proof that there is a beautiful black cat in our house. Stay tuned for ‘kittens play rough’.

An alarming title, right? But canned food doesn’t necessarily mean synthetic alien-grade sludge, which is why I am defending it, well, defending certain kinds. A lot of commercial canned pet food is barely recognizable as food, or even an excuse for food, at best. My husband and I used to feed our cats and dog that stuff until we decided to become a little more aware of our impact on the environment and the creatures who live among us.

We bought the usual brands you can find at any super market and always felt bad about it, but the stuff is cheap and when you’re on a budget, you’ll take the deal. We did, anyway. When I decided to go vegan for a month (and am now happy to say that I will remain vegan indefinitely), we decided to examine different aspects of our lives, and our animals are a big part of our lives. We visited a local pet store and considered getting the animals on more natural kibble (I know, Irina, you’re so seething at my ass right now) and all-natural canned food. It’s no easy feat trying to find something they all like.

Maverick, our rescued canine, does not like dog kibble. He loathes it, but he loves cat kibble (maybe because of the higher protein) and there’s no convincing him that cat food is only for cats. And if his vet, who is highly-skilled in his profession and has a sincere love for his animal patients, says it’s OK, then it’s OK. If Maverick starts to react negatively to it, then we’ll get him off it and onto something better.  But as it stands, he is a happy, healthy, middle-aged mutt who loves his food.

For wet food, we give him Almo Nature two to three times a week mixed with Natural Balance vegetarian dog kibble for his carbs and veggies. We don’t feed him canned food everyday as he gets a little IBS if he has it too often. I also give him fresh red and green peppers, lightly sauteed carrots, cooked lentils and rice from time to time. For treats, we give him wild Pacific salmon skin rolls, which help with his already-shiny coat, and these little all natural minty biscuits to help with doggy breath; it makes his poo-poo green.

What I love about Almo Nature is that each can contains no more than 3-5 ingredients. The dog food usually has stewed beef, chicken or something else, with rice and some veggies. That’s it. No preservatives and other unpronouceable chemicals. Their cat food is the same, except there is no more than two ingredients: meat and the water it was cooked in. The cats love it! Our little one, Cloe, gobbles down her own, then what’s left of her sister’s share. We are so glad that we made the transition to a healthier all-natural diet and we think they are too! They still get their kibble, but none of that Whiskas crap. We give them Holistic Blend which also uses all-natural ingredients and has all of the vitamins and minerals necessary to maintain your animal’s health.

However, this stuff is not the cheapest, but it’s worth the expense. Since we’ve cut animal products out of our own grocery order, we’ve managed to save a little money. We seem to spend way less on groceries now, so we spend the left-over cash of better food for the animals.

On another note, we took our cats off clay litter and started using Yesterday’s News recycled newspaper pellets to decrease the health risks associated with clay litter and to revoke our support of an environmentally destructive practice called “strip mining”. Since newspaper pellets are better for our cats and the environment, we feel very good about the choice, but nothing can completely expunge the stinging smell of cat piddle. But the pellets do help quite a bit.

Now we are not perfect animal guardians, but we do what we can to take the best care of our animals’ health. They are all robust and content (despite Cloe’s slight Napoleonic Complex – she’s was an abandoned runt). They all have juicy wet noses and clean, strong snow white teeth. And they’ve never been to the vet for reasons other than a check-up – except for Kitty, who had crystals in her urine a few years ago due to some kibble that disagreed with her; she pooped on the kitchen chairs to let us know she wasn’t feeling well. Needless to say, we got her off that stuff immediately. With all that in mind, I think we are doing right by our animals by paying more attention to the ingredients in the food we feed them and by being more conscious of their needs.

As much as we would love to get them on a raw diet, we’re just not  there yet. I’m a vegan and I do not feel comfortable buying meat at a super market. I cannot buy anything that I suspect comes from a factory farm, so I’d rather go with the pet food brand that assures that they have a cruelty-free policy. As a vegan, cruelty-free means “no meat”, but we’re talking about animal food, so cruelty-free probably means that they do what they can to get their meat from trusted sources that do not employ cruel measures to slaughter their animals. I’m not sure if places other than small family farms do that, but I’ll write to them and ask!

What I’m trying to say is that it’s OK to feed your animals canned food; it doesn’t make you a bad person. As long as you make informed choices and take into consideration your animals’ best interests. My animals are doing well, so I feel no need to fix what’s not broken. And to avoid giving something potentially dangerous to my animals due my lack of know-how in animal food, I feel more comfortable leaving the animal food production to those who know what they’re doing.

But to those of you who have the know-how, go for it! I’m sure your own animals love it!

Chicken Meal – is the dried rendered product from a combination of clean flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from  the parts of whole carcasses of poultry or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet, and entrails. It shall be suited for use in animal food. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind, it must correspond thereof.
Ground Brewers Rice
Ground Wheat
Corn Gluten Meal – is the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm. It may contain fermented corn extractives and/or corn germ meal.
Poultry Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols) – is obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of  free fatty acids or other material obtained from fats. It must contain, and be guaranteed for, not less than 90% total fatty acids, not more than 2.5% unsaponifiable matter, and no more than 1% insoluble impurities. Maximum free fatty acids and moisture must also be guaranteed. If the product bears a name descriptive of its kind or origin; i.e., “beef”, “pork”, “poultry”, it must correspond thereto. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words “used as a preservative”.
Sprayed Dried Hydrolyzed Chicken Protein Concentrate – whoa! I’ll let you figure that one out on your own!
Oat Fiber
Natural Chicken flavour - As per AAFCO Regulation PF3(d)(3) substantiation of the flavor designation, the flavor claim, or the ingredient source is provided upon request.
Vegetable Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols)
Natural Poultry and Fish Flavour - As per AAFCO Regulation PF3(d)(3) substantiation of the flavor designation , the flavor claim, or the ingredient source is provided upon request.
Sodium Gluconate
Brewer’s Dried Yeast
Calcium Carbonate
Potassium Chloride
Glucono-delta-lactone
Citric Acid
Choline Chloride
Taurine
Vitamins: [Vitamin A Supplement, D-Activated Animal Sterol (Source of Vitamin D3 Supplement), dl-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate (Source of Vitamin E), Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement],
Minerals: [Zinc Proteinate; Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Iron Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide], Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract, DL Methionine, Chlorophyll.

This is what  could find. As usual, I encourage you to also do your own research. If you have a specific question regarding a specific ingredient and you would like me to look it up in the AAFCO publication, I will gladly do so.

Last night Sweetie was taken away to be fixed. I hadn’t gotten much sleep the previous two nights, and she also looked very uncomfortable. In the evening, she was making loud sounds at the window, at Bruce! And then he started making them back at her…from the middle of the court! Luckily no neighbors complained. I was sad to see her go, especially when she had a bad reaction to being placed in the pet taxi.

A new cat was brought to us. His name is Mocha and he has yet to come out of the spare room, or eat…He is gorgeous; I caught him on top of the dresser and served him treats but he looked scared and he did not eat. By the time I got Dan to come in to see him, he had hidden under the bed again. He had been adopted but his new guardian brought him back, I guess it must have been due to his shy nature…so now I am researching shy cats. Oh, did I mention he is black?

Also, I have added more content to the website. Check it out:

Homemade Cat Food Recipes
Books On Cats
Commercial Cat Food Regulations

We have not found an equally eloquent name for the lovely girl but we have some suspicions that she may be in heat. Dan says she was overly affectionate with him this afternoon. I have been calling her Sweetie, because she is a total sweetheart.

Tomorrow I am going to make cat food so I bought all the meat at METRO. While I was there I picked up some extra chicken hearts and liver as well some fresh beef chunks. When I got home I decided to serve my critters a platter of raw goodies so I chopped up the hearts, the liver and a bit of muscle meat and I mixed it with warm chicken broth. They LOVED IT! Here is the proof:

And we have an update on Mika! I received an email from her new guardians letting me know she is as sweet as ever, she plays fetch with the two young boys and even though she is not yet grooming the older cat, they seem to get along. She has adjusted well and fast and is healthy and full of energy as well as affectionate as ever. We are relieved and happy she has such thoughtful  guardians.

The two new cats don’t have names yet. One of them is a little boy of 4 months. He is a little shy and likes people more than cats. He hisses at Mia, but then again, she plays rough so they are still adjusting to each other.He was found on the street and his ears are very dirty so I don’t think he ever had a human guardian. Last night I cleaned his ears with sweet almond oil and a cotton pad. He enjoyed that and then fell asleep on my chest. Tuesday night (the night they arrived) the little boy fell asleep on Beth’s lap while staring at her. As young as he is, there is a mature air about him, like he’s seen a lot…similar to Bruce Lee.

The second cat is absolutely adorable. She is very friendly with humans; she follows me around the house and begs for rubs. She is a female, about 1 year old with long calico hair and tabby face. She was found abandoned in an empty apartment around the Verdun area. The lady who rescued her noticed the moving van and then the lonely cat in the window and after a week decided to break into the place and rescue the poor baby who had been left behind without water or food. She still hisses at the other cats but Mia is working hard on bringing her out of her shell.

Neither of these two cats have been placed on my raw food diet. We tried feeding them the chicken chunks recipe Tuesday night but, probably due to nervousness, only the boy tried it and had a bit of a hard time with the chunks. If they do not get adopted this coming Sunday, I will try mincing it for them. They both shed heavily and have yukky breath.

LuLu is very unhappy with the current living situation. She cannot stand the cats and constantly hisses at them. I think I will take a break from fostering after these kitties. Last Sunday, while I thought the house was empty, I heard LuLu purr for the first time since last year…we need some time alone, me and her. Her well being is my responsibility.

The babies had constant diarrhea and were not gaining weight. A couple of them had to be injected with sodium chloride because they were dehydrating. I thought the food had something to do with it.  I was feeding them powdered milk, feline mammalac. I wasn’t crazy about this because it had to be mixed with water, and not having enough time to boil, I used tap water, which is not good for little critters. So I looked up a kitten food recipe in The Natural Cat:

Mock Nursing Formula

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk – goat’s milk is best
2 raw organic egg yolks – or 1 yolk and 1 teaspoon warm coconut oil
2 tablespoons protein powder
6 drops liquid vitamins for children
1 teaspoon mixed intestinal flora (e.g. Jaro Dophilus + FOS Powder)

Beat with a fork or whisk. Warm to body temperature in hot water and serve using a doll bottle. Kittens under 4oz should be fed 1/2 teaspoon every 2 hours. Kittens between 4oz and 8oz should be fed 2-4 tablespoons/day every 3 hours. And kittens between 8oz and 24oz should be fed 6-10 tablespoons/day every 4 hours.

I bought all the ingredients at the health food store on Queen Mary, across from Snowdon metro called Nature Sante. I had a hard time finding goat’s milk, however. The health food store only had one 1l box and it had expired March 17th. Metro was completely out. The health food store on Monkland was also completely out and the Provigo on Monkland had a full shelf expired March 17th! Luckily the gentleman responsible for filling the shelves was there and when I asked him if they had any fresher goat’s milk he brought in the new batch they had just received. Good thing too because I was running out of options.

This is one the last pictures we took of the 4 babies. We miss them a lot and we really hope they are doing well in their new home.