Worlds Best Litter - Part II

With over a week of testing, we have switched back to our trusty "Yesterday's News" litter.

While Meow the cat seemed to enjoy scratching around in his new litter, it just didn't work out in several areas.

1. Meow pees like a girl. I don't know why, but he does. Maybe its something with fixed cats, but when he goes, he squats so close to the litter, that the urine-soaked litter got all stuck the fur on his back-end. If this weren't bad enough, it would then "clump" there making for an interesting cleanup process! This would happen almost every time to Meow, and although it is not a fault of the "Worlds Best Cat Litter", it wasn't suitable for our cat.
2. Once Meow was done, his feet were covered with this beige powder. Although not toxic, I was able to track my cat to where he was by following the little beige footprints from the litter box, to wherever it was he was sleeping.
   

Yesterday's news does not have those issues with my cat, so while it does not absorb as well, and I can not flush it, Yesterday's News is actually a better litter in our situation.

I will give kudos to the Worlds Best brand in that it did everything it advertised. No odor, easy to scoop, clumped well (when not on my cat's rear!) dissolved when dumped in the toilet, and we were easily able to keep the same litter for a week because we were able to remove both #1 and #2. With Yesterday's News, you simply can not remove #1 as it does not clump.

So there you have it. For now, its Yesterday's News!

Worlds BEST Cat Litter???

In a recent post, I pondered what the best cat litter was for my cat. I had a few things I was looking for in a litter, neatness being among the most important to me! Will it absorb, and minimize the amount that follows it out of the litter box on his feet!

Normally, I'm not drawn to "best" or "most awesome" kinds of product advertising, but I happened across a product called boastfully enough, the "Worlds Best Cat Litter". OK, you got me to look, but is there any substance to the claim? Let's see.

At first glance, this product seems to hit upon many of my ideals for a worthy cat litter. Hmmm. OK then, what makes this the "World's Best"? The packaging claims it is...

• Scoopable
• Clumpable
• Flushable
• Silica-dust free
• Safe for kittens
• Veterinarian recommended
• all natural
• earth friendly
• biodegradable

Well, that's nice. They also claim that cat urine odor naturally bonds to corn stuff, so there is no need for fragrance or masking agents. In addition, if you cat wanted to taste some, it would likely not hurt him.

From the "stuff" standpoint, this cat litter looks promising! So, I bought an 8lb bag to let my cat perform various dump-tests on.

My impressions are initially very positive. Meow the cat seemed to enjoy scratching around in this corn-based stuff. It's kind of powder-like, and feels (to me) like powdered Ovaltine. It does leave a trace of dust on my hand and my cat's feet, but it isn't silica dust so that's acceptable.

One of the other differences between this and Yesterday's News, our current litter choice, it this does clump. It doesn't clump right away, but soon enough, and then because it is flushable (Y.N is not) I can just scoop, dump, and flush. I theory, if I can scoop out the pee clumps in addition to the cat turds, this litter will last longer than the Yesterday's news does. Y.N. kind of absorbs urine, but then dissolves into some stuff that can't really be removed until the box is changed.

So far, I like this. Is it "The World's Best Cat Litter"? I don't know, and I don't think I can possibly find out, but it is good. Aside from the dust that my cat can track out, it is all that it says it is.

Meow the cat seems to like it, and so we'll test it and post on it in a week or so.

Pet Food Recall - another update

This recall has really been big news for pet owners over the last few weeks. While the "official" number of deaths caused by the contaminated pet food remains low, the unofficial numbers coming from various sources are much higher. In addition, the list of recalled pet foods seems to grow longer each week.

These are some of the resources I have been using to get good information on the pet food recall situation.

ASPCA Pet Food Recall FAQ's

FDA Pet Food recall site

Menu Food's Recall site

I'm keeping a close eye on Meow, but thankfully I haven't fed him any of the recalled food except maybe one Neutro pouch. From what I have been reading, this is something that takes a little time, and one serving would not be enough to do any harm.

Personal rant...This whole situation has me pretty angry. I understand that companies turn to China to keep their costs down, but I don't see how Menu Foods is coming out ahead of the game financially as a result of this contamination from China. How is this going to benefit the company, the shareholders - anyone? What is the point? Seems to me that greed is firmly holding the top spot on Menu Foods priority list.

If they really cared, they would have done something to ENSURE that the ingredients used to make the food for our beloved pets was SAFE. They didn't. I'm sure the market, and the pet owners will see that Menu Foods has cut corners and in doing so cut their market share permanently.

Cat Litter

House cats have a few essential needs, water, food, love, and a place to poo! Some cats are picky about where they will do their business, but not Meow. He's been willing to soil any type of litter we put down for him to use, which makes life for his human servants (me and my wife) a little easier!

So, the key is...what do the humans prefer to use? Well, I have a few things that I look for when selecting cat litter, and here is the list I threw together off the top in no particular order.

• Is it absorbent, or will my cat track his dirty little feet all over the place because his "business" is not absorbed somehow.
• Does it have a pleasant scent, and how long does it remain pleasant? I don't necessarily expect it to smell like a flower-bed for a week, but the litter should have a neutral scent that generally absorbs or masks the poopy smell a bit.
• Is it scoopable and/or flushable? When possible, I like to get in there right away and scoop out those offending packages and flush them away. I do not like clogging my sewage lines, so it is important that it will not do so.
• Will my cat track it all over the house because the litter is too fine or light weight to stay in the litterbox?
• Is it environmentally friendly? To me, that's a plus.
• Will Meow use it? So far, he's used everything. What a guy!
• Is it reasonably priced? I'll not pay $50 for a pound of litter - no matter how good it is!

So, generally those are some of the things we look for.

Yesterday's News is what we currently use (hey, that rhymed!) Generally, it is pretty good in all of our points above except it doesn't absorb as quickly as we would like, and it isn't flushable. Sometimes, when Meow has a big, looooooooooong pee, he'll go and cover it like a good cat, except it's still a puddle at that point and hasn't absorbed. So, we end up washing his feet right there so they don't stink like pee! Its strange because the bag claims "3X more moisture absorbing than clay" - I think that it is, just not right away, and that's my main problem with this product and the reason we're looking to try something else.

Yesterday's News is also "low tracking" because it has pellets instead of little sand-like particles, so it doesn't stick to his little feeties when he's done. As I mentioned, this stuff can't be flushed so you just have to sift the pellets from the poops when you clean the box, and you should be OK. When wet, the newsprint pellets kind of puff up and slowly mutate into a messy, grey, semi-stinky pulp type stuff, and it does not clump. We change the box twice per week with this product, but we scoop the solids as they are left for us. Such suckers!

We have also tried something called Feline Pine which seems like a nice, natural product, but it really didn't work for us. Its made of pine, which for the most part is a nice-smelling substance that should absorb orders. It does, but we found that it was quickly overwhelmed by Meow's massive and odoriferous droppings. In addition, as soon as it got wet, it turned into this highly-trackable sawdust type stuff that got all over the place. More of a mess than we hoped, and you actually need a special scoop with this product. I don't think we even finished the bag because it turned into such a mess. Hey, we tried.

So, that's where we're at for the moment. I'm going to poke around and see what the "masses" say about litter, and try something else that absorbs a little more quickly than the otherwise excellent Yesterday's News and post about it here.

Watch your Cat in Coyote country!

It was interesting to see recently the story of Adrian the Coyote
wandering into a downtown Chicago sub shop. Hailing from the 'burbs of NYC, I'm accustomed to seeing deer in unusual settings, but I wouldn't expect a coyote in the local sandwich shop!

The point to this post was to warn people who might let their cats or small dogs out unsupervised in areas where coyotes are more common, that there is a greater risk of pets becoming coyote food at this time of year. According to an article on The Times News, "Cats and dogs may be more at risk of being snatched away by coyotes now than at other time during the year because the animals are out hunting to feed their pups..."

Now that's a pleasant thought! Obviously coyotes need to eat too, so it isn't strange that this happens. That's what coyotes do! It is however, another good reason to keep Muffy and Tiger indoors where they belong, and to keep an eye on you small dog if you keep him outside.

Cats more popular than Dogs?

I came across an interesting article today that was so timely it spooked me a bit! Just last week, I was discussing with a coworker that I thought there were more pet cats in the US than dogs. My coworker, having two dogs of her own, didn't see how that was possible - "EVERYONE has dogs!" - she said. Well, yes, but apparently MORE people own cats, and now someone has numbers to support that claim.

Now don't get me wrong, I love dogs too. I had the privilege of growing up in a house that had cats AND dogs, so I know that cats and dogs are different types of pets with different pros and cons. I'll also admit that I am (was) a reluctant cat owner. My wife and I happened to be in the right place at the right time when we adopted our adult cat from the Vet, and a cat was the best fit for us considering our lifestyle.

We live in a small house, and as much as I would love to have a dog for a pet, my experience with them taught me that they require a higher level of care than cats (time we didn't have) - typically dogs need more room, more exercise, trips outside in all kinds of weather to do their business. I just wasn't ready for all that! We did, however want a pet, and so a cat fit our lifestyle perfectly.

Cats are smaller, quieter, cleaner, neater and less in need of interaction which is a good thing if you work, or are in school or whatever. Our cat Meow pretty much sleeps all day in his little basket, and so I don't think he really cares where we are during the day - so long as we come home with some treats for him!

Cats, for many of the reasons I just listed, are more likely to be allowed as pets in places like apartments or condos - and people often have several cats whereas most dog owners I know have only one. So, to me, it seemed completely reasonable that more cats were pets than dogs. Cats are accepted in more places!

There are many good reasons to choose a cat over a dog, but, the most important reasons for choosing one over the other should concern whether or not you can properly care for the cat or dog, and provide it the love and attention that it will need. Cats can be less demanding on your personal attention level to them than dogs, but cats need to be shown love and affection as well. You just cant get a cat and forget about it!

I try to make time each night to play with Meow. Either letting him chase the red dot from the laser -pointer, or throwing a cat toy around with him - I give him time and attention. Dogs, from my experience, need more than that - which is fine - it just has to fit. If you can not spend the time needed with a dog, think about a cat.

It breaks my heart that there are pug rescue organizations,or border collie rescue organizations because people buy pets that do not fit their lifestyle. Its a shame. People really need to think it through. I adore border collies, but I know I would never be able to spend the time that it required to keep one healthy and stimulated.

So, even though I still consider myself a "dog person", I have no regrets whatsoever in having Meow as a pet cat. He's been a great addition to our lives and, for our particular lifestyle at this time, a perfect fit!

Lactulose needed!

I know this is getting old, but in Meow's life, its BIG news!

The whole effort to relieve Meow's constipation situation was not really helped with the fiber and wet food additions to his diet. Oh well. Time for professional cat health assistance!

We took Meow the cat to our beloved vet and explained to her our situation. Meow the cat was pooping, but it was obviously uncomfortable for him, and it looked like it would become even more uncomfortable if we didn't act soon!

The Doctor gave Meow the standard once-over - eye check, ear check, listen to his heart, look at teeth, squeeze belly, check weight....Meow did fine in all areas of general health, except he's a "little chubby" now according to the Vet. Another problem and another post! Poor Meow!

The Doctor listened to us and then decided to check Meow for stuck poop I guess, because she took a thermometer and well, inserted it. Needless to say, Meow the cat did not like this intrusion but he endured like the good cat that he is (I hope he doesn't mind me posting this about him!) and let her "probe".

Somehow by examining with this thermometer, our Vet indicated that his poops were too hard and she would like him to get something called "Lactulose" that would have to be administered twice per day. This lactulose stuff is a liquid, and would have to be administered to our cat orally. THAT should be fun!

Another post for another day!

Petmate Pet Fountain assembly

In my last post, I described my initial reactions to our newly acquired Petmate 24960
"Pet Fountain". I won't rehash the whole thing again, but so far I am impressed with the quality and its function.

I thought I'd post a little pictorial of what it took to go from the box, to the floor.

The box showed up about 5 days after I ordered it, and in custom form, Meow had to mark the box as his possession by scratching his little face all over it. I suppose the box corners are a good place for a cat to itch his face!


Anyway, I opened the box and spread the parts out to make sure that I had everything necessary to put the Pet Fountain together. Meow, being the nosy and curious guy that he is, got between each piece and myself for closer inspection, and if there were any good scratchy parts, he itched his chin with them! Must be tough going through life with an itchy face all the time!

Here we can see the basic components of the Petmate Fresh Flow Pet Fountain, laid out in all its plastic glory! I numbered the parts in the picture for easy identification.

1. Water dish/water and filter reservoirs/screener
2. Extra Filters (3-pack purchased separately)
3. Filter that comes with product
4. Top Cover
5. Pump/Power Supply
6. Instructions

Fairly simple. One could probably put this thing together without the instructions, but I didn't want to break anything so I followed along. The instructions are basic, but as usual, some of the pictures are a little tough to figure out.

The first step after unpacking is to remove all the protective cardboard packing stuff that protects the unit during transit. I didn't photograph this step because, well, it didn't seem to need one!

After that, you are instructed to remove both the water reservoir, and the filter reservoir so that the pump can be installed. The water and filter reservoir are where the water is held, and to remove them from the unit, you simply lift them straight up. They need to be removed so that the pump can be installed properly.

TIP- It doesn't say in the instructions, but once this thing was unassembled into its main pieces, I quickly washed them in the sink with some cold water and dish detergent - rinsing well. The item appeared to be perfectly clean, but I don't know who or what came in contact with it during its manufacture, so I washed it as a precaution. It is not recommended that any of the parts be placed in the dishwasher! Hand-wash only!

Here is a top-view of the product with the reservoirs removed, (compare to item #1 in previous picture) and the pump placed in the proper location. There is really only one way to place the pump correctly, and it has little suction cups on the bottom to hold it in place - no screws or adhesives needed! The red arrow shows the proper placement of the pump, and there is a word "PUMP" marked in the proper location. You simply can not do this incorrectly!

The instructions talk about the "Pump Intake Cover" and the need for it to be snapped on firmly. I got a little confused as to what this meant, and I thought I was missing a part. The pump intake cover is simply the slotted opening on one side of the pump where (obviously) the water is pulled in. It was already securely attached to the pump right out of the box and was not a separate part. I guess they just want you to be sure it is attached after shipping before it it installed. Mine was fine, so I moved on.

The next step is to install the grommet on the power cord, and then slide the grommet and cord into the notch built in to the Petmate fountain. The purpose of the grommet is to secure the wire so that it does not move around, or if the wire is tugged somehow the pump is not pulled out of the water. Nice feature.

In the picture above, the yellow arrow indicates where the grommet goes, and what it looks like close up. The grommet kind of snaps onto the cord, and then it slips into the notch as shown.


After the pump is installed and the grommet to hold the power cable is in place, we can move ahead by replacing the "filter reservoir" which in the picture to the right is indicated by the yellow arrow and yellow spot. This part basically snaps right in and there are several tabs they need to be correctly aligned.

Once the filter reservoir is snapped back into place, we filled the main water bowl to about 1/2 capacity. This I suppose is needed so that when the pump is finally plugged in, there is some water in place to prime the pump and help it get the water circulating. It all made more sense as it went along!

Once the water bowl was filled 1/2 way with water, the charcoal filter can be unwrapped from the plastic package it came in. It is recommended to give the filter a rinse off under some tap water to remove excess charcoal dust. I'll admit, I forgot to do this step!

The filter is then placed into the filter reservoir with the conspicuous tag "up" facing up, and then you can go ahead and fill the filter reservoir up to the top of the reservoir ramp.

TIP- For water, I used filtered water and here's why. In my tap water, there is a high mineral content as proven by the white spots left on my car when I wash it with the hose in the driveway! Lots of fun having to rewash a car that was just washed! I think that the minerals in the tap water will gunk up the pump more quickly than filtered or distilled water would, so I try to avoid that by filling the Pet Fountain with water from my Brita pitcher. If you can use filtered water, do it. I think it will extend the life of the pump. Seems to be that way with my coffee machine!

After that, you can go ahead and fill the clear water reservoir (with filtered water if possible) and put that part back into place on the left side of the water ramp. This reservoir just sort-of seats itself when you guide it in. Its a little slippery when wet, so be careful not to drop it! At that point, your Petmate Pet Fountain should look like the picture to the left.

Bowl is 1/2 full, filter and water reservoirs filled and put in place. All that is left really is to put the little crescent-shaped top on, and plug that sucker in!


The instructions mention that it might take a minute or two for the water to get going, but I did not see that. My unit started to circulate water within seconds of plugging it in. It seemed to work nicely from the get-go. Barely any noise, no smoke, no new-parts smell. Very nice.

The instructions described how to "introduce" your pet to the new pet fountain. Each animal will likely have a different reaction, and you know better than anyone how your pet is. My cat Meow, is a really, really, really mellow and curious guy. He's not skittish at all and very friendly. I didn't bother desensitizing him to it, but I was a little surprised by his reaction to it.

Meow (as seen in the picture) was a little wary of it, and was interested to know what the little tinkling sound was. He looked at it all funny, looked behind it, walked around it. He thought it was a little strange and he didn't run up to it and guzzle down water.

It wasn't until the evening that he finally took a drink from it, but now it is just fine. No problems. There are suggestions in the instructions about how to introduce it, and in hindsight, its probably worth a read and some consideration.

So, how do I rate my Petmate Purifying Pet Fountain after about a week of ownership? I'd say it is great. Its a little more work than a bowl, and you need to buy filters periodically, but for my Meow I think its worth it. He's getting filtered water that is circulated, and hopefully the water drinking experience will be better for him.

On the other hand, its hard to tell if he is actually drinking more water or not because more water evaporates from this system than a bowl, or from the static reservoir we used to use. (see picture) I got it hoping he would be enticed to drink more, but there is really no way of knowing for sure.

Oh well. Overall, Meow and I really like it, and would give the Petmate Fresh Flow pet fountain 4 1/2 hairballs out of 5!

Petmate 24960 Fresh Flow - so far, so good!

Well after ordering the Petmate 24960 through Meow's Squidoo page last week, it arrived and I got to put it together and test it.

I took some pictures, and hope to post them later, but I'll post my impressions now.

The first thing that caught my attention was all the positive reviews that people made about the product. 28 reviews averaging 4 out of 5 stars. Pretty good! In addition, if I added a 3-pack of replacement filters, it qualified for the Amazon free-shipping deal. So, I got this nifty water dish and 3 extra filters for about $30. Not bad.

To review, my Meow has a bit of a constipation problem, and so I'm trying to get him to drink some more. I postulated that because cats are from arid areas of the globe originally, maybe they are designed to survive on little water.

Anyway, I had read that some tricks to getting more water into a cat were to entice the cat to drink more by presenting them with a water supply that was "alive" in contrast to the stagnant-puddle look of a typical water bowl or dish.

So I did some research and found this product by Petmate that seemed to fit the bill. It was relatively cheap, had a filter, and many people seemed to like it.

The package arrived and we (me and Meow) got started setting up his new water supply! Like everything else that Meow gets involved with, he needed to thoroughly mark this new box by rubbing his chin and face all over the corners. Once that process was completed, we could actually open the box and begin!

The components of the item (let's call it the Pet Fountain from here on) were all there as prescribed by the multi-lingual instruction page.

There was the bowl, a water supply reservoir, a lid, a filter, a power supply and a strainer. It went together in about 6 easy steps, and I had it pumping water in just about 15 minutes from opening the box! Nice.

When I turned it on, I was really impressed with how quiet it was. The pump was barely audible, and the only sound you hear is a little quiet trickling from the movement of the water.
It reminded me of the filters that I had as a kid for the 5 gallon fish tanks - but even quieter!

There was no splashing of water or buzzing. Nothing. I think one could even put this in a bedroom and not be disturbed by the sounds it makes it it that quiet.

The only issue I have is the water supply reservoir is a little slick, and so if your fingers are wet, it is a little hard to lift it up and out to refill. Not a big deal. I'm thinking of putting a piece of masking tape, or friction tape on it to give it a little more grip.

The other surprise was I had to refill the reservoir each day. This isn't a bad thing, (fresh water is always good), but you really have to keep an eye on it because if the pump comes out of water when it is running, it could be damaged. I attribute the need to refill to evaporation.

Meow was at first a little spooked by the new Pet Fountain. He looked at it in his special inquisitive way, and walked wide around it for a bit. I was afraid he wouldn't use it! Later that night, we saw him drinking from it without any signs of being freaked-out. Meow's a pretty laid-back guy, and he adapts easily to new stuff.

I can't say yet that he is actually drinking more. Its hard to tell because the water level varies so much as compared to the last water supply we used which was like a mini water-cooler. With that, we could gauge more easily how much water was being consumed, even if we didn't see him drink.

So, for now, I give this Petmate 24960 a positive rating. Even if it does not entice him to drink more, I think it is worth it because the quality of the water is certainly better than before (which wasn't bad, really).

Check back for assembly pictures!

Water. More water.

Meow needs to drink more, and so I dove into history to try and find an answer!

Cats apparently are little desert guys. They originate from arid places and it is widely accepted that cats had an important role in ancient Egypt where the mythical cat Bast was goddess of the home.

Recently, a 9,500 year-old burial site was discovered on Cyprus, that held the remains of a human along with a cat! This seems to indicate that cats as pets predate the Egyptians by at least 4000 years!

So people and cats have been hanging around together for a LONG time!

I am still trying to figure out why cats don't drink enough water, and so I thought history might help. I was thinking that cats, originating from arid areas such as Egypt, might not get the "urge" to have water. Maybe their physiology is programed to assume water is not always available, so over the eons that urge to drink has been dulled. Maybe.

I'm sure I'm way off - but its interesting none the less!

I've been reading about how other people get their cats to drink more, and there are some ideas that seem to work. The first idea is to put out more water bowls. For some reason, cats might not be thinking about water, but during the course of their travels if they happen upon a bowl of water, they might stop for a drink. Kind of like an impulse shopper, influenced by a creative advertisement!

The other idea is these new fountain things. Makes sense. Cats seem to like drinking from dripping bathtub or sink faucets, right? So maybe water is more appealing to them if it appears to be moving rather than as a stagnant puddle like in a bowl. Another trick?

I found one that I think I am going to try. Its a fountain by Petmate that gets pretty good reviews. If you would like to see it, there is a link to it from Meow's Squidoo cat page! I'll see how he likes it and do a review here!

Have any tips that have worked to get more H2O into your cat? Post it here!

Cat Food Recall - Part II

After week or so of hearing about people's cats and dogs slowly dying as a result of eating various Menu Food's products, it was finally determined what was causing the animals to become ill, and sometimes die.

According to various reports, a cancer drug called Aminopterin, was developed in the 1950's as an anti-cancer drug is the poison in the pet-food. Aminopterin is banned in the U.S, but apparently, it is still used in some parts of the world as rodentcide (is that a word???) to kill rats.

So far, there have been thousands of calls to the FDA regarding sick pets, but to date, only 14 pets have died as a result of the poison. Considering the millions of cans that were in circulation, I think that the number of pets that died as a result of eating the food will be a much larger number than 14.

Menu Foods has updated their website with contact information, and has also posted that they will pay for any treatment needed as a result of a pet eating contaminated food. It seems like they are trying to do the right thing, but I wonder if this could have been detected or announced sooner.

The people at menu foods do not think the product was tampered with because the same problem exists for foods produced at two seperate facilities, in two states. It seems that whatever is the common source for their ingredients needs to be looked at carefully.

In addition, if this rat poison is banned in the US, how the heck did it get into the food product? What is preventing this substance, or worse from getting in to OUR food supply? The food supply has always been a concern - could it be tainted by terrorists? I suppose that it is possible considering what is happening with the pet food.

Pet Food Recall

If you have been reading this blog, you will know that I'm trying to soften my poor Meow's stool by adding some wet food to his diet. It seems to be working!

Over this weekend, news broke of a major recall of pet foods manufactured by Menu Foods with popular brand-names like Iams, Hills, Eukanuba and Neutro - all "top tier" foods for pets. In addition, Menu Foods apparently makes pet-food for store-brand labels, like America's Choice, Wegmans, and whatever brand Wall-Mart labels.

This is scary stuff. People have reported that their pest have sufferd organ damage as a result of eating the food, and in some instances, deaths of pets have been reported.

It is not, however, a total recall of all the foods with a particular label. It seems to me that MOST of the problems are in wet foods that are in those foil pouches. I tried one of the Neutro foil pouches on Meow last week, and while it might have been one on the recall list, I am not sure. He has shown no signs of distress, so I think he is alright. (Whew)

Please check the recall list at the Menu Foods website, to see if what you are feeding your cat or dog is included in the recall.

Keep a close eye on your pet, and if you notice anything unusual, it is suggested that you take your pet to the Vet as soon as possible for treatment and observation.

It's interesting how some of the brands on this list are considered "top-tier" and healthier than others, and somehow some of the products can potentially kill you cat or dog.

Signs of Progress

Meow has never been a fan of the wet food. I know he likes a particular brand when he eats most of a portion - which usually is 1/2 of one of those little cans of cat food.

Of all of the brands I've given him, he seems to like the Hill's Science Diet Beef and gravy, and the Maxpro Beef and Egg the best. He'll eat most of it and then go back to finish it a little later. Most of the other brands he'll lick one or two times, and walk away.

I've been adding a little bit of the fiber powder to the top of the food and not mixing it in - he seems to like licking off the "savory" juices, so I know even if he doesn't eat, he's getting a little more of the dietary fiber. Which is good!

My poor cat gets to have me observe him when he would probably like a little more privacy, but i need to see if "going" has gotten any easier since my diet experiment. I will say that we still have some work to do, but I do think he is having an easier time going poo in the litter box - which makes me happy.

I'm going to continue with the wet food, fiber, and additional water, and keep a close eye on how he does.

This is a great link to a description of constipation in cats.

Cat constipation?

Poor Meow. I feel bad writing about him like this - I'm sure its embarrassing. Well, it seems the poor guy might be a little constipated, and I'm starting to get a little worried.

He still "goes" each day as usual, but it seem that there is such effort needed for him to do it. He runs around like a nut meowing for a few minutes beforehand, which tells everyone to "Clear out of the bathroom!"

Without going into the gory details of the process,he just seems to strain beyond what I would consider normal. I'm worried that he'll stop going to avoid the obvious discomfort, and then we'll have a serious problem.

What to do? Well, for one, Meow was never a fan of wet food. So, we're trying to find some food that he will enjoy and eat. People are telling me it will help to soften his stool.

We've also been giving him Petromalt, (yummy fish flavor) which is essentially for hairballs (which thankfully is not a problem with him) but may help the "flow" of things.

Another tip I got was to put another bowl of water down someplace in the house, in a different location. It would be like an impulse purchase for him. He'll see the water as he's traveling around the house, and hopefully stop for a drink, even if he didn't plan to!

The last thing we were going to try is giving him some pumpkin filling. At first, I didn't know why, but apparently its the FIBER that would help. Just like in people, I guess cats need fiber too! We're going to try Fibercon powder instead of pumpkin, and sprinkle some onto his wet food.

I've tried it (the fiber additive, not his food!) and it is tasteless (just like this post!) and more importantly it does not thicken, so maybe this will add to his fiber intake. Th

Cat Entertainment

OK, so I'm looking into ways to stimulate my cat mentally that I haven't tried yet. I'm not a big fan of television anyway, and I never thought the "boob-tube" was an ideal tool for learning or interaction with kids, so using it to entertain my cat was a new concept for me as well.

Cats are watchers by nature. I know my cat will sit at the window for hours, motionless, watching anything and everything that passes by his field of vision. Birds, squirrels, flying bugs, leaves blowing by - they are all great fun for him.

That got me wondering if any of these cat entertainment videos would be fun for him to watch. He does watch the animal shows on TV when there are birds or geckos running around, so maybe a video would be fun too.

I did some research, and its hard to say what to expect. Most of these videos are still on VHS, and if you read some of the ratings for them, well, it seems people either love or hate them.

I'm going to order a cat entertainment video, I won't say which just now because I want to be fair after I and more importantly, Meow watch it. Then, we'll post a review to let you know what we think.

In the meantime, do you have any cat entertainment favorites? Any DVDs or VHS tapes the your cat simply loves? Let me know!

Cat with Rabies

I don't want to get stuck on this issue for too long, but on today's Suffolk News Herald web site,there was a report of a stray cat that was tested for rabies and fount to be infected with the deadly virus.

The report indicates that three people who may have come in contact with the infected animal, are undergoing treatment. I think that the treatment for rabies is a little better nowadays, but I am pretty sure that previously, one would have to get a series of painful needles in the stomach to be treated for exposure. Ouch!

This is another example of why people need to keep their pet cats inside, and to also make sure that their cat's rabies vaccinations are up to date. This is important because even if your cat is kept indoors, there is always a chance he could get out either accidentally, or for some other reason. (BTW, picture is not of rabid cat!)

Rut roh - Rabies

I didn't think rabies was really something to worry about, especially here in the Jersey 'burbs, but according to an article in the March 7 Bergen Record a raccoon was found to have the deadly viral disease. I didn't know this, but apparently there have been more than 5,000 rabid animals identified in NJ since the late 80's.

Rabies, without treatment, is 100% fatal. It is not joke, and as far as I know, only one person in history survived rabies without treatment. Rabies can be transmitted to humans through biting, scratching or direct contact with saliva from an infected animal and so it is important to be aware of animals that are behaving in an unusual manner. (Chillin' raccoon in the picture is more typical behavior!)

For example, in the article, a man was trying to put his car in the garage and he spotted this infected raccoon. He stomped his feet to shoo it off, but instead of leaving, the raccoon attacked the person and actually scratched his leg. This, is unusual behavior for a raccoon!

The happy ending is that the man luckily was not infected.

So why is this on a blog about cats? Well, for some reason, people still think that it is OK for them to let their cats wander about outside. Well, it isn't. If you have a cat as a pet, that cat should be kept indoors. Period. Nothing good can come of a pet cat allowed to roam about outside, especially around here where getting run-over is also a real possibility. Cats, like dogs, should be under the constant control and supervision of their human keepers, end of story!

Welcome!

Meowtopia.

One one hand, the name sounds extremely cheesy. On the other hand- tantalizing! I think its a name that might have some mental-stickiness, we will see as time goes by!

You can see the picture of my cat on the right over there (at least until I change the template) if you want an idea about how he looks. He's all black, and to me looks like a small panther. Oh, and his name is Meow.

Meow has an interesting story. We (my wife and I) didn't really plan to have a cat living with us. We were friendly with the local vet who had taken care of our pet hamster until he died. We had stopped in to say hello, and she introduced us to this beautiful black cat that was abandoned. Well, actually his previous owned died, but someone stupidly just let him out to fend for himself. Grrrrrrrr.

Long story short, he was the sweetest cat I had ever met, and my wife and I decided right there to adopt him. He's been a part of our little family for about 2 years now, and he has really enriched our lives. Adult cats can make for great adoptions too!

Well, that's it for now. Hopefully, as Meow gets through some school, he will be able to manage this blog for me. I don't know what he'll talk about. Maybe how he hates when the toys escape under the couch, or what new sleeping position he found. Who knows! Come back and see!