Caturday ~ Fleas

 

 

Welcome to Caturday, where we talk all about cat issues!

Today we need to talk about a big one. It’s that time of year again! FLEAS! YUK!

I often get asked about how I deal with keeping our house flea free having 14 cats. Cats that have access to an outdoor cat enclosure where they could get fleas.

Well, the answer is simple, I use Frontline Plus. And I am ashamed to say I do.

Truly. Honestly. Ashamed.

As a natural cat mom I try my best not to put anything harmful into our cats bodies or environments. But fleas are one issue I have never won using natural treatments. I have tried them all. If you have read it or seen it on the internet or heard about it from a friend… we have done it. But we have always ended up with fleas.

I think a lot of natural treatments not working has to do with the fact that we have so many cats that do have access to the outside, albeit an enclosed space that they can’t escape from, but fleas can still get in. So our chances of getting fleas are much, much higher than the average household. And our cats all go out to the enclosure, and we are surrounded by other people who own pets who all roam bring fleas into our area.

The fact in our house is this… natural treatments have never worked for us and I will never again chance another infestation while attempting to go natural.

Ashamed? Yes. But also flea free.

I pick my battles and with fleas I use WMD’s knowing full well that they are terrible chemicals. But I guess I just have to take my chances. Okay. I am done explaining myself and trying to defend my decision. Even I struggle with this one as I know even in my own head it makes no sense and it endangers my cats. Sigh. But again… we haven’t had fleas in years.

The one thing I want to be VERY clear about here though is that I only treat my cats 2 times a year. Spring and fall. I do not treat monthly. I have found it’s unnecessary. 2 times a year works as well as monthly in our situation. So keep that in mind when treating your animals.

I would not treat at all if I had just 2 cats that never went outside. You would be treating for something that had no risk. No need to put chemicals into your cats body if they aren't even going to get a flea.

 

Next question I get is this:

How can you afford to treat 14 cats with Frontline Plus?

The answer to that question can be found here.

http://www.lisaviolet.com/cathouse/advantage.html

I have been using this method for minimum 10 years. It’s true. Check the package ingredients yourself.

 

 

Question: I flea treated my cat with a spot on but it still has fleas. What can I do? 

You can buy Capstar. The Capstar will kill all the fleas on your cat almost instantly and the frontline will prevent re-infestation. Use the Capstar right away. It will kill all fleas on your cat with in an hour. It is imperative that you do not skip this. I have used this product many many times in rescue.

Frontline (or advantage, revolution, promeris, etc.) is only effective if the flea bites the cat. Fleas have a 3 week lifespan and only feed for a few days of those three weeks, so you must use Capstar to kill all live fleas on your cat instantly. After you Capstar add on the Frontline Plus and it will keep fleas future fleas off your cat. Any eggs that hatch will be killed when they feed by the Frontline.

Information:

Capstar http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11744

Treats flea infestations on pets. Starts killing adult fleas on the pet within 30 minutes. One dose lasts 24 hours. Use when pets are likely to be exposed to fleas. Also may be used prior to surgery, boarding, or grooming. Active ingredient is Nitenpyram, which interferes with the normal nerve transmission of insects, effectively killing them. Not a preventive. For pets over four (4) weeks of age. Package of 6.

Frontline http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3261+1991+7160&pcatid=7160

contains fipronil, which spreads via the body oils killing fleas within 24 hours and ticks within 48 hours. Ticks are generally killed before they bite, decreasing the risk of tick-borne disease transmission. Approved for use on kittens 8 weeks and older.

Frontline Plus also contains (S)-methoprene, an Insect Growth Regulator, which prevents an insect from maturing or reproducing. Approved for use on kittens 8 weeks and older.

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So that’s my flea advice for Caturday.

Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Caturday ~ Feline Nutrition Q & A

Hi Friends,

Yep, it’s that time again!

Let’s talk more about what’s in a raw feline diet and what a proper diet can do for your cat.

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Would a raw food diet for dogs be similar to one for cats?

Not really. There may be some similar ingredients but over all cats have much different requirements than dogs.

Dogs are omnivores and can utilize plant based matter such as veggies and grains. Cats are obligate carnivores, the only strict meat eaters on the planet, and they can not and  do not utilize nor digest plant matter in a useful manner.

A cat should be fed a strictly raw meat, bones, and organ diet while dogs diets can vary greatly.

A very readable scientific paper on a cats specific requirements can be found here:

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/DrZoran.pdf

Another large difference between dog and cat Raw diets is that cats must have a lot more Taurine in their diets than dogs, again pointing to the obligate carnivores that they are. Taurine is found largely in the strong muscle meat of animals. It is found in all muscle meat but the stronger the muscle the more Taurine in it, which is why it is so important to feed a proper whole prey model diet consisting of meat, bones and organs. The most Taurine enriched muscle in the body is the heart because it is the hardest working muscle int he body. 

Without taurine (Meat) a cat will die.

Cats are obligate carnivores.

Dogs are omnivore’s.

Ergo, no. A cats diet is different from that of a dog.

A dog can live off a cats diet but a cat could not live on a dogs diet.

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How important are grains, vegetables and fruit to a cat's diet?

Grains, vegetables and fruit are completely inappropriate for a carnivore. 

Cats are obligate carnivores, strict meat eaters and can not utilize plant based matter. They are meant to eat meat, not vegetables and grains such as corn, peas and rice which are common in many manufactured cat foods.

As confirmed in “The Carnivore connection to nutrition in cats”, by Dr. Zoran, found at http://www.catinfo.org/docs/DrZoran.pdf, cats can not derive the proper nutrition from plant matter, either grain or vegetable. Cats bodies are created to absorb nutrients from meat only, not rice and peas. 

Cats even lack the digestive enzyme to digest plant matter, further scientifically proving thier lack of need or want for these matters. That alone should prove the importance of meat in your cat’s diet.

Furthermore, cats have absolutely no use for the carbohydrates that grains provide and they end up suffering from obesity, diabetes and other diseases because they can not utilize the sugars these foods load them down with. 

A fantastic essay written by Michelle T. Bernard on why cats don’t need vegetables and grains can also be found at  ttp://www.blakkatz.com/catsarentweasels.html . Her book is also a fantastic resource.

I own it, use it and highly recommend it!

http://www.raisingcatsnaturally.com/ She has been raising cats on a raw meat diet for over 20 years.

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What types of issues with cat’s would switching to a raw diet cure/prevent?

I have marveled many times at my cats and the miracle that happens when you feed a cat raw. From life threatening IBD (Irritable Bowel) and FLUTD Feline Lower Urinary Tract disorder) to the simple vanity of a perfect shiny dandruff free coat. My husband and I, along with our vet, have seen the improvements happen in our 14 cats with our own eyes. We also cured 3 of our cats fully of diseases that were about to end thier life. Raw feeding SAVED Meow, Phat Boy and Baby Bear. Saved them from death.  

Deadly feline illnesses such as diabetes, kidney disease, obesity, allergies, Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), bladder stones, kidney stones, urinary tract blockages and Urinary Tract Infections (FLUTD), with and without deadly crystals can all be treated and cured with a species appropriate raw diet and the guidance of a vet that has taken the time to educate themselves about feline nutrition.

I am glad to know that my cats likelyness of getting the above diseases is very very low now because I am feeding them the way nature intended. 

Both of these websites cover a lot of information specifically on how Raw diets cure ailments. 

http://www.catnutrition.org and http://www.catinfo.org.

A proper diet, quite simply, is the basis of all health and wellness. A feline body that is fed an appropriate diet of what nature intended it to eat will have the absolute best chance at fighting off any illness that could possibly befall it.

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I hope you enjoyed today's Caturday!

Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Caturday ~ Feline Nutrition Q & A 3

 

What is the first step I can take to introduce raw food into my cats diet?

The first step of feeding raw is educating yourself about what cats need in their diet. A great place to start is www.catinfo.org and www.catnutrition.org.

 

The next step is “accidentally” dropping a bite of raw chicken onto the floor to see if your cat will eat it. That is my favorite trick and works quite well in getting cats to try raw. (Don’t freak out… you can wipe the spot right after!)

 

Let your cat get a feel for the meat. The larger pieces the better. Just offer it up and see how they take to it and then go from there.

 

Remember that your cat may not, or more likely won’t, understand that meat is food because they have been fed “cat food” all their lives.

 

As a hunting wild feline, their mother cat would have taught them what was and was not safe food. So it’s logical that your cat may not appreciate that raw meat is a good food.

 

Some cats take to raw meat right away and will no longer eat manufactured cat foods at all… while others may need time, patience and bribery.

 

A great source of info from a vet on how to switch your cat to a raw meat diet can be found here:

 

http://www.catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dry_Food_Addicts_to_Canned_Food_

 

 

Here’s Smokey eating straight from the grinder on cat food day. Noms!

 

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When should I start Raw Feeding?

The best time to start is as soon as a kitten is ready for it’s first taste of “real” food, just like when it’s mother would bring it it’s first mouse in the wild. Between 4 to 6 weeks. Never feed a cat anything other than what nature intended if you are lucky enough to be given that opportunity.

 

I have not been that lucky yet. I started raw feeding a year after we adopted the 6 torties. I wish I had been a raw feeder before so that they never would have eaten manufactured foods. I look forward to the day we get to raw feed a cat it’s whole life.

 

Kittens get their teeth in very early and are ready to start chewing meat as soon as those first teeth come in. If you have even had your finger bit playfully by a kitten you know that they have super sharp teeth and it is very painful for them to gnaw on you. That’s because those teeth were engineered by nature to shred that finger of yours if they wanted to. So as soon as they get those teeth… it’s time to start feeding them raw meat. Don’t wait… you will be wasting valuable impressionable time that you can never get back.

 

Kittens learn what is and is not safe to eat from their mothers. However, when we take them away from their mothers it becomes our job to teach them what they should be eating. You don’t want to steer your cat wrong here. If you offer them only watered down kitten kibble, as so many so wrongly recommend, they will think that is the only safe thing. If you offer them only canned food, they will think that is the only safe food. So use this early time wisely. Offer a variety of meats and small crushed bones to your kitten.

 

Another important aspect that I have learned myself is that if you don’t have kitten hood to help your cat build up their jaw muscles you will run into issues trying later to get them to eat whole pieces of meat. It is such a priceless period of time during which a kitten learns to rip, shred and crunch up whole animal parts when they are growing and learning how to do these things also helps them have healthy teeth and gums throughout their lives. If a kitten is denied this precious window of learning, YOU are going to have to work 10 times as harder to teach your cat about what foods are safe and how to eat them as an adult. And we all know how hard it is to break adult habits, don’t we?

 

By feeding raw from birth you are building a priceless foundation of health for your cat. If you use kitten hood wisely, you are offering your kitty the best possible foundation for wellness there is. You wouldn’t feed a human child chips and hotdogs for the first 4 years of their life and then expect them to grow into healthy adults would you? Of course not. And you can make the same choice not to do that to your cat.

 

Any age cat can be transitioned onto raw, I have worked with 5 month old kittens all the way up to a 15 year old cat, but the earlier in life you start them the better and the sooner you start them the easier it is on both you and your cat.

Thanks for stopping in this Caturday! I hope you have gained some valuable knowledge for your feline companions today!

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Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Lilies and Cats a NO NO!

 

Hi Friends,

With Easter just a week away I thought it wise to send this reminder out there.

Lilies kill cats!

This is not to be taken lightly!

Don’t chance it!

Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Caturday ~ Feline Nutrition Q&A 2

Hi Friends,

Welcome back to another Caturday with the Primcats!

I hope you have been enjoying learning about feline nutrition. I am really enjoying all the interest and questions I have been getting. Keep them coming!

Lets talk about food safety this week.

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Is Raw meat safe for my cat to eat?

Absolutely! If it weren't the entire feline species would be extinct.

Think of a lion, a tiger, a panther, a bobcat… would you feed them anything other than the animals they spend their lives hunting. Domestic housecats are just mini big cats. Everything from their pointy carnivorous teeth to their digestive tract is designed the same a their larger counterparts. Cats, both big and small, were designed by nature to derive their nutrition from only animal based protein.

Of course you need to follow safe meat handling procedures, just as you would with preparing your own meat dinners, but raw meat is what nature intended cats to eat and they are designed to digest it raw with little to no danger.

I have been feeding raw for years and never had a cat suffer any negative side effects from it. I have never had a cat get worms or parasites from meat, and I have never had a cat suffer from salmonella either. Furthermore, in all my sharing with hundreds of other raw feeders I have never once heard of another raw feeder having to deal with any of those issues. In speaking with my vet he has not been able to personally confirm any cases of either worms or salmonella from raw meat fed to a cat.

 

In fact I have only seen improvements in all aspects of their lives. Every cat I have ever transitioned to raw has had their over all health improve, from curing something as life threatening as IBD, and urinary tract problems to something as simple as creating the most beautiful coat you have ever laid eyes.

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Should I be worried about Salmonella or E-Coli?

Salmonella? Ecoli? I won’t tell you that it could never happen, but I don’t know a single raw feeder that has ever had it happen or had it happen to anyone they know. I also don’t know any vets that have ever seen it or had it happen. Of course you need to follow safe meat handling procedures, just as you would with preparing your own meat dinners, but raw meat is what nature intended cats to eat and they are designed to digest it raw with no danger. Even their digestive tracts were designed shorter than other animals so that food borne illnesses do not have time to take effect in them.

 

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Nutrition is the key to good health… no matter what living being you are. So feeding your cat what nature intended it to eat is the first step in giving your cat the best chance you can at a long healthy life. Now… if only I could learn to follow this advice for myself and eat as healthy as my cats do!

Until nest time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Caturday ~ Feline Nutrition Q&A 1

Hi Friends,

Happy Caturday!

A little Q & A time for Feline Nutrition.

What do you mean by Raw feeding?

Feeding raw food for the feline consist of feeding a species appropriate diet of raw meat, organs and bones. There are many different ways to achieve this natural diet. The raw feeding spectrum goes from feeding ground meats, bones and organs, to feeding bone in pieces of chicken, to feeding whole prey, such as a mouse or chick. As a raw feeder it is up to you to choose which type of raw food you will be offering your cat.

I personally feed our 14 cats a diet that contains ground whole chicken with bones, hearts, livers, and gizzards. I also buy pre-ground whole rabbit for variety. Due to the sheer number of cats we are feeding, we have to be a bit more economical in what meats we feed so chicken is the base of their diet; however for variety we also offer duck, turkey and mouse occasionally. Someday, when we are not caring for so many, we will be able to offer a much larger variety more often.

There are a huge variety of resources out there to help you decide what is right for you and your cat. Some good places to start your research into raw feeding are at the following links.

http://www.catinfo.org/

http://www.catnutrition.org/

http://www.rawfedcats.org/

http://www.felinespride.com/

http://www.tcfeline.com/

http://www.felineinstincts.com/

http://www.raisingcatsnaturally.com/

http://www.blakkatz.com/index.html

http://www.holisticat.com/

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Why do you feed Raw food and not feed cooked foods? 

Is it true that the best nutrients in cat food are cooked out of them?

It is a scientifically proven fact that has been known for decades that cooking foods depletes them of the nutrients. Cats fed raw diets often thrive, while cats fed cooked meat diets or manufactured cat foods will suffer a number of ailments.

A very useful and important study was published by Dr. Frances Pottenger in 1945 about feline nutrition.

http://www.ppnf.org/catalog/ppnf/Articles/PottsCats.htm

While studying the effects of cooked foods for humans using lab cats, Dr. Pottenger stumbled into the first published feline nutrition study about raw food verses cooked diets. It was the first scientific study that proved how important a raw diet is to a cat.

Over 9 years 900 cats were studied and fed either a diet of raw foods or a diet of cooked foods both including milk, cod liver oil, meat and bones.

Today it is certainly not the surprise it was back then that the Raw fed cats were healthy throughout the study. However, the cooked food cats suffered from a terrible array of diseases, parasites, bone infections, skin lesions and allergies. The third generation of cats fed a cooked diet were so sickly that they could not even reproduce and the strain died out. All the while the raw fed cats thrived.

While the Pottenger cat study may be a little time worn on the edges, the information that Dr. Pottenger provided to us through his study confirms that cooked foods are not an appropriate source of nutrition for felines.

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What would a cats diet in the wild be?

Cats are obligate carnivores, which means that they are strict meat eaters. Therefore they are hunters and their diet is fairly simple. Meat! Meat! Meat!

A small wild cats diet consist of mice, rats, rabbits and birds. Bugs are also on the menu and one of my cats favorites! Any animal they can catch and eat is on the menu.

Almost as important as what cats do eat is what they do NOT eat in the wild. They do not eat grains or fruits or vegetables as these food sources are not appropriate nutrition for an obligate carnivore.

As confirmed in “The Carnivore connection to nutrition in cats”, by Dr. Zoran, found at http://www.catinfo.org/zorans_article.pdf , cats can not derive the proper nutrition from plant matter, either grain or vegetable. Their bodies are created to absorb nutrients from meat, not rice and peas. Cats even lack the digestive enzyme to digest plant matter. I think that alone proves the importance of meat in your cat’s diet.

Furthermore, cats have absolutely no use for the carbohydrates that grains provide and they end up suffering from obesity, diabetes and other diseases because they can not utilize the sugars these foods load them down with.

While you sit here and absorb all this information please keep in mind that all dry foods are laden with excessive amounts of carbohydrates for a cat and inappropriate for a cat’s diet. Cats should always be fed a wet diet consisting of raw meat, bones and organs or a high quality canned.

A list of good canned foods can be found here: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=cannedfoods#Commercial_Foods

You can further your search for the proper diet of your cat at www.catinfo.org or www.catnutrition.org.

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Until next week…

Carmen and the Primcats

It’s cold for the furries too!

Hi Friends,

It was a FREEZING 4 degrees here this morning!

Don’t forget to take care of your outside furries when it’s cold like this. They can easily suffer frostbite or freeze to death if you don’t provide them proper shelter.

Don’t forget about water either. It freezes quickly and will need changed many times per day.

You can also purchase heated water bowls.

Here is an easy build your own insulated cat shelter.

Quick, cheap and easy.

And don’t be afraid to buy them heated pet beds.

Please take care of them… they can’t fend for themselves when it’s this cold.

Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Caturday ~ What do you feed the Primcats?

 

Hi Friends,

Welcome to Caturday with the Primcats!

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I am about to get deep into a raw food discussion here but please understand that I do NOT for one second think that you have to feed raw food to improve your cats health. Canned works too.

But please stick with me and read on.

 

I’m just sharing our story not pushing it. Raw feeding is not for everyone. But it is for us. And just you knowing this may someday help you save your cat or someone's cat you know.

Knowledge is power.

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The second most common question I get:

 

What do you feed the Primcats?

We personally feed a Raw Meat and Bones based diet to our cats and they are incredibly healthy on it.

(recipe at www.catinfo.org)

We have been feeding this way since 2006 with no problems, only improvements in their health and well being.

Before raw feeding we had a major illness monthly and our vet bills were $3000+ a year. 14 cats adds up fast. After raw feeding since 2006 the only cat who has needed medical attention is Tracy for her Asthma and now Fefi for cancer.

Seriously. Think about that. The only thing that changed was their diet. That’s it.

We started raw feeding because we almost lost two of our cats to Urinary blockages, bladder stones and kidney stones. Phat Boy and Baby Bear we both on their death beds a week apart.

Phat Boy had emergency surgery on a Friday night due to a crystal created stone blockage the size of a nickel in his bladder. His blood had turned to poison and he was going to die with out surgery.

A week later Baby Bear was experiencing the same symptoms and we rushed him in only to find on multiple x-ray's that he had the same type stone in his kidney and there was nothing they could do. I am not much for “nothing you can do, take him home and make him comfortable until he dies.” So I got on the internet and almost immediately learned that kibble had done this.

Read last weeks Caturday for why.

We started raw feeding all 14 of our cats that weekend. Bear too. He recovered over a few weeks and 30 days later we went back in for more x-rays. That kidney stone was gone. Yep gone. Dissolved by a proper wet food diet and nothing more that forced his own body to break it up and dispel it saving his life. My vet was shocked. Has never seen that happen in his years of service. But he had also never had someone treat an animal’s blockages with raw feeding.

I HIGHLY recommend it. But I DO know it is NOT for everyone and I don’t expect it out of anyone. It is easy though. Once I got the hang of it and felt comfortable with it, it's a snap to prepare.

Cats are obligate carnivores after all and must derive ALL their nutrients from wet meat based sources. They are unable to absorb them from any other source. Despite thousands of years of domestication they remain strictly carnivorous. True and honest meat eaters and that is what they need most. Protein from meat!

It’s also extremely inexpensive once you source your ingredients properly. It costs me between $8.00 to $10.00 a month to feed one cat a completely natural raw food diet consisting of meat, bones, organs and supplements. You can’t even buy cheap food for that anymore so it makes monetary sense to feed raw. It's something you might want to consider someday if you are willing to devote a lot of time to educating yourself and a little time to preparing.

If you are interested in feeding a raw diet (or just educating yourself about feline nutrition overall) a great place to start learning is http://www.catinfo.org/ .

If you would like to try raw with your cats and don’t want to get all technical about it but want to try a trusted, time tested and balanced raw diet you can order from www.felinespride.com . I purchased this myself when I first started and my cats loved it! Another premade Raw you can try is Natures Variety.  I personally have never used this but know many people that do and it’s pretty easy to find. Pet stores, grocery stores and smart vets often carry it.

If you have any questions about today's topic please ask. I am happy to help.


Until next time...

Carmen and the Primcats

Caturday ~ What should I feed my cat?

Hi Friends,

Welcome to Caturday with the Primcats where I answer all your burning cat questions. Ha! Not really burning, but important none the less. ;)

Lets jump right in with the most common question I get asked…

What should I feed my cat?

Well, lets start with what cats eat in nature. Mice, rats, birds, bugs, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, snakes, lizards, etcetera.

Keep those prey in mind as we move on…

All small domestic cats descended from desert cats. In the wild these desert cats derive their entire liquid intake from their prey. They have a nearly nonexistent thirst mechanism because they don't need it when eating a species appropriate wet prey diet. They were designed to get all the water they need from what they eat. Additionally since water was not readily available to them in their desert climate they did not evolve as drinkers. Regular ol' house cats have descended from those same wild desert cats. Their nutritional needs remain the same. They need to receive water in the food they eat. 

Cats were never meant to eat dry food, also known as cereals or kibble. We, humans, make them eat it for convenience to us. It has nothing to do with them or their nutritional needs. It's completely species inappropriate.

Modern kibble was only created as late as the 1970’s when we really started full time living indoors with our animals. Modern kibble was created to accommodate our needs. Not theirs.

In fact the first manufactured cat foods killed tons of cats due to the lack of knowledge that cats are obligate carnivore’s and can not receive proper nutrition from any other source than meat. Muscle meat contains taurine and without the life giving amino acid taurine cats die. The first manufactured foods were overloaded with carbs and lacking meat (taurine) and killed so many pets. Sad.

A great article about this can be found here:

http://blog.onlynaturalpet.com/2008/02/16/the-importance-of-taurine-for-dogs-and-cats/

In a home environment, your kitty does not get the moisture it needs from dry food and it’s almost always in a constant state of dehydration which takes a very serious toll on your cats body. Imagine the state of your body if all you ate was dry food such as pretzles and rarely drank. You skin and hair and nails would look terrible. That is why so many pets suffer terrible skin conditions and poor fur quality. Water fountains are encouraged to TRY to get your cat to drink more and your kitty may even enjoy it, but it will never meet its water intake needs drinking from a bowl. I don't care how much you tell me your cat is drinking, it's not drinking enough. 

Deadly feline illnesses, all caused by improper diet, run rampant these days.

Diabetes, kidney failure, obesity, allergies, Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), constipation, bladder stones, kidney stones, urinary tract blockages and Urinary Tract Infections (FLUTD), with and without deadly crystals and vomiting to name just a few. 

Prior to the 1970’s cats rarely faced any of these deadly issues because they were not being kept on such inappropriate diets. Manufactured kibble is killing our cats. 

And lets not forget what you see on the outside. Dry skin, dandruff, lackluster coat condition, patchy fur... I could go on and on.

Cats are not taking in enough water to prevent these illnesses. Proper water intake through a species appropriate diet alone can prevent most of these conditions.

Wet food, either canned or a fresh balanced raw diet is the best diet for all cats. They should never be fed dry cereal kibble if we wish to most closely match their wild nutritional and dietary needs.

Kibble meets only our needs… not our cats.

What do I feed the Primcats? I personally feed a Raw Meat and Bones based diet to my cats and they are incredibly healthy on it. We have been raw feeding since 2006 with massive improvements to our cats health. While I HIGHLY recommend it I know that I am neurotic about caring for my cats and providing them the closest life and environment they would get in the wild. Know that I understand it is NOT for everyone and I don’t expect it out of anyone. We will talk more about this next week though.

So we have established that your cat needs a high protein, low carb (grain), wet meat based diet.

The quickest way to do that is a quality canned food diet. No kibble.

Easy peasy. Pop the can twice a day. All done.

You have just improved your cats life 10 fold and given it a few extra years. :)

Yep. Just. Like. That.

Years!

It also helps to vary the diet with a constant rotation of 2 to 4 different brands of canned foods that your cat enjoys. If you do this, and allow your cat the same assortment they would have in nature when eating mice, bugs, birds and rabbits, your cat’s digestive system won't be so sensitive, making them less likely to vomit, and you won't have to run around looking for a specific brand when your store is out. You will have a nice variety to choose from instead.

A high quality meat based grain free brand is best and you can find them at your local pet store. I will delve into how to choose a food based on ingredients and brands I have used at a later date.

Remember that when adding in a new food or changing cat foods please remember to switch your pets food slowly over a period of 10 to 14 days, if you can. Start by mixing 25% new to 75% old, then 50/50, then 75% new to 25% old, and finally switching over to 100% new. Take it slow as they need as not to upset their digestive system.

I hope you have found some useful information to help you help your cat here.

Next Caturday we will be discussing what we feed our cats. A raw food diet. Even if you never intend on doing this I hope you will read it. Our story is interesting. And I think it’s beneficial for everyone to gain knowledge even if it’s not for them.

If you have any questions about todays topic, ask away!

Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Caturday’s with the Primcats are coming!

Hi Friends,

Most all of you know that Primcats house is filled with the two things I love… Prims and Cats. When I started this site I intended to use it as a place to share my home and as a tool to educate people about their cats. Somewhere along the way I got lost on that second part. 

With everything that has been going on recently with Fefi Le’ Purr and Tracy I feel like I need to share what I have learned about Feline health to help others avoid the things we have dealt with over the years.

I think the most important thing I want to share is that I am a Feline Wellness Advocate. I want nothing but the best for every cat in the world. I want them to be happy and healthy and have enjoyable lives. My husband and I strive to give out cats the best in every aspect of their lives.

I have been learning from cats all my life but the last 15 years I have really spent devoted to them and their health. Mostly because I was dealing with health issues that I later learned could be easily prevented. I also have amassed tons of useful tips and tricks having lived with 14 cats for so long. 

So I have decided to start 2012 with Caturday's… where I will answer cat questions about my cats, your cats, and cats in general. I will share what I have learned and hopefully help you out with your cat.

I will be covering everything from nutrition to fleas to behavioral issues to cleaning to medical problems and so much more.

So if you have a question… Feel free to ask. I would love to answer it and maybe help out someone else out there who is having the same problem you are.

In the beginning I am going to focus on nutrition because I get so many questions about “what should I feed my cat?”, “Is XXXX a good food?”, “Your cats are amazingly healthy. What do you feed them?”.

But before we delve deep into that I want to start by sharing my cats and their lives. I’m reposting my Meet the Primcats page here into this post in case you aren't familiar with my cats and their lives.

Here we go…

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Here at Primcats House we live side by side with 14 wonderful cats. They are our children and we treat them as such. Everyone is spayed and neutered and they have the best of everything.

All 14 were at one time unwanted unloved strays who were rescued by us. They all went from being unwanted… straight into the lap of luxury! They have a huge outdoor cat enclosure, homemade raw food, distilled water, a home visit vet, 2 huge indoor cat trees, toys galore, and all the love they can stand. It’s all purrs around here.

There are two groups of cats in the Primcat Pride. 

The Mini’s and the Biggie’s.
The 6 mini’s came to us as a litter of 3 week old fosters from our local humane society in 2005. The humane society was over run with rescue animals from Hurricane Katrina and we took them in temporarily. My heart is far to big though, I am no longer foster mom material, and I fell in love and could not give them up. We adopted all 6 Tortoiseshell kittens. 4 black tortie’s and 2 dilute gray tortie’s.

Tracy was an addition to the mini’s and though she isn’t really a part of their litter she fit right in. She is a dilute tortie and is small like the mini’s. She was dumped by her old owner in down town Columbus, Ohio on January 3, 2008. I spent 3 weeks walking the streets in the dead of winter searching for her, working with homeless in the area to help me find her, putting up fliers and visiting humane societies and rescues hoping she would pop up.

By the grace of God and an angel on Tracy’s shoulder she was found and returned to me by a good Samaritan via way of one of the thousands of a lost cat posts I had put out on the web. It was a miracle. 

Meet the Mini’s…

Tracy – The Cat-Dog.


Ebby – The Queen



Gizzy – The bed hog.

Chennifer  - The lovey licker. 




Punky –The talker.




Poofie – The cutie pie.

Katrina – The bad cat.

The Biggies are the other group within the pride. They all came to us via a feral cat that lived on our property when we moved here in 2000. All the biggie’s were born to a feral mom in the brief time that it took me to trap her and get her to the Humane Society to be spayed. They are all very, very large cats and shock all who meet them because of their size. They are all big, tall, long, muscular cats.

Pierre’ is the only outside cat we have. She is Mr. Primcats shop cat. Her job is to keep his shop free of mice and she does her job well. She also has access to the house garage and spends a lot of time up there with us too. She is her feral mothers daughter… not fully feral but easily snaps at the twitch of a whisker for no reason. Everyone who spends time with her ends up with a war wound from her. lol. She’s a bad little one eyed pirate cat but we love her and spoil her just the same.  She has it good here at Primcats House too.

 
Meet the biggies…

Pierre – The one eyed pirate cat.




Phat Boy – The snuggler.




Smokey – The jester .

Rascal – The rascal.




Dottie – The neurotic one.




Baby Bear – The baby.





Fefi Le’ Purr – The sweet one.


 

Where do the Primcats live?

Inside Primcats house…





And outside in a 2,100 square foot cat safe enclosure where they love to spend time catching bugs and sunning themselves. They are free to come in and out as they please.







The cat trees…


In the living room.  

You can see the cat door to the enclosure here.



In the kitchen…



So that sums up the Primcats and their home. I hope you enjoyed meeting them.

Come back next Saturday for the first official Caturday with the Primcats!

Until next time,

Carmen and the Primcats

Fefi Le’ Purr update with Reiki…

Hi Friends,

Just wanted to give you all an update on

Miss Fefi Le’ Purr.

She’s doing well.

She is still on all her supplements.

They have given her a new life.  She is so much more active and happy now. Perked her right up.

We have been back to the vet for a recheck and she is healing nicely from her surgery.

She even got a nice little chiropractic treatment.

Spoiled kitty.

So far the tumor has not regrown in that spot, which is good.

However, the kind of cancer she has is a cancer of the blood vessels, Hemangiosarcoma, so tumors will pop up out of nowhere and anywhere in her body where there are blood vessels, which is everywhere.

Dr. Carlson has given her a very very through exam both times he has seen her and he feels her all over, deep tissue to check for tumors.

Our only hope is that when one comes up we will catch it before it’s to late. And that one never develops in an organ which is what makes this cancer so deadly. The tumors that grow are made up of blood vessels and the problem is that if not caught right away they rupture. If we had not caught that first tumor and removed it so quickly it would have taken her. And it grew so fast. In a week. That is our biggest concern. Not catching a new tumor or it being inside an organ that we could never detect.

The goal with the supplements is to build up her immune system to fight off another tumor growing.

Her next appointment is December 14 for a feel up as I am calling them.

She has also been getting healing energy treatments called Reiki on Tuesday evenings.

What is Reiki you ask?

Go here for a brief explanation.

http://www.reiki.org/faq/whatisreiki.html

She enjoys these treatments VERY much. It is plainly obvious that she can feel the energy by how she reacts. It’s awesome. She just loves it.

For anyone wondering, I also get Reiki treatments (have for a very long time on and off) and Fefi and I really enjoy getting them together. While I am getting it I like to lay my hands on her and I believe it allows me to give her my positive energy and she needs that so much.

Fefi also likes to help our Reiki practitioner give me Reiki too. It’s really amazing.

Here’s the scenario. I lay on my bed on my back with Fefi on the bed where ever she wants to be, and our treatment begins with Danuta meditating then laying her hands on me where ever she feels it’s needed. She often lands on my stomach because of my Crohn’s. Fefi knows when the energy starts because she will get up every time and come help. Danuta will be standing at the side of the bed and I will be laying down and Fefi will push herself directly between both of Danuta arms, between the two of us. Circle around until she is ready to start ( I call this Fefi’s meditation)and then without a second thought she will lay paws on me!!! Exactly where ever Danuta is working on!!! She will set her butt on the bed then lift he paws onto my belly just like Danuta is doing. It’s quite incredible!!!!!

Anyhow… basically this is where we stand right now.

We are just giving her all the love and hugs she can stand, which is A LOT. :) She is such a sweet kitty.

Please keep her in your prayers and pray that the cancer stays at bay so we can keep her with us for many more years.

Until next time…

Carmen ad the Primcats