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For over twenty five years... I’ve had cats. On my morning’s
journey to the coffee pot, I’ve had to endure a trek that would have made climbing
Mt. Everest a walk in the park, blizzards and all. Trying to make that desperate
attempt to the can opener before a houseful of cats realize it’s breakfast time
is a perilous adventure never told in any book or novel ever written. No one has
ever recanted the frenzy that ensues with the sounds of an electric can opener.
This is the task of warding off prying paws and swirling tails in their dance around
a myriad of empty feed bowls in anticipation and expectation of yet another morning’s
breakfast. For years, I have danced …no, more like….stumbled through that gauntlet,
ever faithful in that glorious morning chore. Burning out a few, so called “life-time
warranteed,” electric can openers would offer an air of temporary despair. Through
emergencies, power failures, mechanical failures; acts of God; (which household
insurance policies never cover); my trusty, old manual can opener was there to the
rescue. For without it, I surely would have met an early demise and an untimely
passing before an unforgiving, furry audience. I often conjured up the ultimate
repercussion for failure of being hauled up into the rafters, mauled
and eaten; with my dismembered carcass scattered onto the kitchen floor. I was outnumbered.
After all, there was a lot more of them, than there was of me. The one thing I always
paid attention to was the mission....getting food in the bowl before I became a
victim of prey myself. I never paid too much attention to what was being served.
I figured what was ever in a can, so long as it said, “nutritionally complete,”
or had a seal of approval on it, I’d serve. Same went for what “kibble” I could
find at commercial feed stores. Someone else had figured out the why’s and where
fore’s; the rights and wrongs of what to feed. It never occurred to me that maybe
that wasn’t the case and maybe something might be critically wrong with what I was
unwittingly feeding them
Poor coat condition; dry flaky skin, and constant
reoccurrence of loose, runny stools. Not to mention coughs, colds and other malevolent
symptoms. Someone in my troupe wasn’t up to snuff…. and that bothered me! These
animals lived in a nice, warm house and were getting sick. The situation was alarmingly
becoming totally unacceptable. It became more incredible when premature kidney failure
took two very sweet souls of mine and nothing could be explained to me other than
vets were seeing more and more of this type of failure and found it professionally
unexplainable themselves. That’s when I became suspicious and started reading the
fine print on the back of those cans and bags. That’s when my curiosity led to determination
to give them what they should be eating and not what came out of somebody’s “grease
pot.”
Curly as himself
What motivated me further, was when my grey, shorthair, “Curly,” became diagnosed
with I.B.D.
It’s an insidious disease affecting more and more cats every day. Inflammatory
bowel disease is treated with a variety of so-called medicinal cures of questionable
efficacy and can sometimes exacerbate the problem to a whole new set of health problems.
The disease usually manifests itself with loose runny stools, dehydration and with
your cat beating on your bathroom door looking for that extra “paper roll.” In other
words, “miserable all the time!”.. would be a mild way of putting it. As far as
“Curly” was concerned, he would strike poses resembling the famous sculptor,
Rodin’s; “The Thinker”. The only difference was “Curly” was warmer than
marble and was extremely more pensive with his poses. For those of you who have
had the misfortune of having a furry friend of yours diagnosed with
I.B.D., my heart goes out to you. Fortunately, for me, “Curly” was a key
motivator. I had a healthy, furry soul for five years and then out of the clear
blue, boom!… , the shoe drops and he’s loose as a goose. I searched high and low
for an easy solution to an increasingly, complex problem. I became entrenched in
researching something that would provide a promise of at least making his life’s
situation bearable. Fortunately, I happened upon a website,
Cat Nutrition, graciously hosted by
 Anne Jablonski
and supervised by her “Duke” and “Nettie.” This site is something that everyone
who has a cat should trundle off to with a picnic lunch.. Spend some quality time
preening over everything she has to say. Anne promotes feline health by offering
two raw food recipes for our furry friends and a wonderful discourse on how to prepare
this diet yourself. Her recipe works for most
I.B.D. cases and works wonders for many other health issues your cat might
have. It worked for my “Curly”. He was a happy camper 24 hours after he chowed.
Curly Up a Tree
A couple of days later I was yanking him out of trees. He was back to making a general
nuisance out of himself again with me and his crew. A few days later, 22 others
of my clan were wondering what the heck was in their plates. A few licks here and
few licks there slowly began to remind them of something they instinctually knew
they should be eating. Anne’s
testimonial page will enlighten all of you as to the phenomenal, beneficial
results of feeding a carefully prepared raw food diet for your cat. Another quality
site is Michelle T. Bernard’s web site. The
author extols the virtues of this raw food feline diet in her book “Raising Cats
Naturally.” The book is a must read for every feline addict. Mind you, there are
many other sites and books out there to preen over. I find them of interest and
hope that your curiosity takes you there as well. I hope you can find the time to
review what Lisa Pierson D.V.M. has to say.
She’s a professional and has seen the effects of nutrition and can substantiate
the benefits of this raw food diet. Her suggested food diet is a little different
than Anne’s but basically the same. She knows what she is talking about through
professional experience and has the credentials to prove it. I encourage you reproduce
these recipes and try them for the benefit of your cat’s health. In the long run,
it’s your cat’s health and well being that I am concerned with. We are engineering
a food similar to what nature intended your cat to eat…simply put…. a mouse! If
you haven’t got the time, or just plain too busy to “whop, chop and grind” or got
a million other reasons not to make it for your buddy.....maybe we can help here
at Feline’s Pride.
For more information about the food, please see our complete
nutrional analysis. |
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