lolcats

When I first saw a lolcat, I didn't get it. It took me too long to figure out what the captions said. The pictures were cute, though. If you don't know what I am talking about, go to icanhascheezburger.com (Finish reading my blog first please.) There you can find funny pictures of cats and other animals with clever captions. You can also create a lolcat with your own photo or one of theirs.

One drawback to icanhascheezburger.com is the amount of time it takes to page through all the photos. I am not that patient. They do have a vista gadget that I am going to try. For "people with short attention span", like me, try icanhasdoublecheezburger.com. There you will find 104 thumbnails on one page. As you roll over the photo, a larger picture pops up. Very cool, and efficient!

Here are some good ones. I may post more of my favorites from time to time.








MySmartyCat  - Test your cat's intelligence!

Wet is Best For Cats

Cats are obligate carnivores. That means that they only eat meat - mice, birds, chipmunks, whatever they can catch. Their bodies are equipped to metabolize protein and fat for energy. Cats don't naturally eat grains. Grains are carbohydrates that are not processed well and are stored as fat. If you look at the ingredients on a bag of dry food, often you will see that corn is listed first. Cats that eat only dry food have a good chance of becoming fat. This is also true of the "light" dry foods. Corn, wheat and soy can also cause allergic reactions in some cats.

Canned food is about 70% water. Cats in the wild would get most of their water from their prey. Cats need plenty of water to stay healthy. You could provide water in bowls, but some cats don't drink enough to stay hydrated. Lack of sufficient water could result in a urinary tract infection, especially for the males.

Check the ingredients on the bag of dry food you use. Chances are some form of corn is listed first or close to it. Many canned foods also use corn as a protein source. I recommend that you change to the best food that you can afford. Some would say that the worst wet food is better than most dry food. I would say that is mostly true. At least your cat will get the water she needs.

I feed my cats a combination of canned and dry. The canned food I have chosen does not contain any grains. The dry also does not contain grains. Both of these foods do not contain fish. I do that because Daisy cannot digest it well (shhh...Diarrhea). I would love to feed them strictly canned, but with five cats, it is cost prohibitive.

Here is Jack and Baby sleeping in the Cubs bean bag chair:



MySmartyCat  - Test your cat's intelligence!

Food Is The Reason For This Cat Blog

Now that you've met all my cats, let me get to the reason I started this blog. Food. Cat nutrition. Of the five cats, three of them have issues with what they eat. Abby has been diagnosed recently with possible Irritable Bowl Disease. Daisy will get diarrhea if she eats fish or dairy. Jack cannot tolerate corn. And Simon will vomit right after he licks a breakfast bowl clean of leftover milk. (Simon doesn't count as one of the three because as far as I know, he can eat any cat food without a problem).

Do you know how hard it is to find a decent food without fish, or corn? I've done a lot of research on the nutritional needs of cats, and I have concluded that a wet diet is the best for my cats. It can be expensive to feed them all canned, so I supplement with a good quality dry. A raw diet is another good option, but I am not ready to make that commitment.

I will share what I know about what cats need to eat to be healthy, and I will explain the ingredients found in cat food.

MySmartyCat  - Test your cat's intelligence!