Vegan cats after all?

Okay, the cats are starting to like the raw duck. Now that the first packet of it is finished and I have to go buy a new one or...(ugh!) go to the natural butcher nearby!

The "expert" opinions run the gamut. Some vegans say it's cruel to kill animals and feed them to cats. Some raw food experts say commercial cat food is dangerous and made of dead cats and dogs, road kill, plastic and other stuff. No doubt this one is true. I've pretty much written off commercial cat food with the possible exception of Royal Canin (the babycat kibbles they love) and maybe a few organic brands.

But here's my question. Is it really necessary for cats to eat only raw meat? And is it really harmful to give them grain? I've recently read on wikipedia that purely raw meat for cats has too much phosphorus and something else. (if you look under "vegan cats" on wiki you'll find it.)

My question comes from this. I can't see that there have been any studies done on cats eating exclusively raw meat, exclusively vegan food, or exclusively commercial food. There are studies of cats eating vegetarian, and cats eating commercial food. They test the blood of the vege cats but not the commercial ones! This is no study! If you don't compare apples to apples there can be no distinction. Otherwise "studies" I've seen are anecdotal from one person changing their cats' diets to raw meat and seeing the difference in them. A lot of other things can change at the same time. They could be putting more love in the food (seriously, this matters!), and overall the "raw food" diet cats could be healthier simply because the SOURCE was pure, regardless of whether it was meat or vegetable.

My personal suspicion is that if there WAS such a triple-blind, unbiased study, the commercial cat food group would fare the worst. It's all full of euthanasia drugs, plastic, hormones, GMOs, mold, ecoli and other crap. So forget about grain being the problem, maybe the real problem is the QUALITY of what goes into it?

So, my quandary here is, regardless of what "experts" on all sides say, (I don't consider scientists paid by pet food companies to be experts, they are simply profit henchmen) WHAT IS THE HEALTHIEST DIET FOR CATS?

In an earlier post I mentioned about seeing Fidget scarf down that piece of beef liver. Otherwise, she was fed the cheapest possible commercial cat food, in dry and canned form, milk, various bits of raw and cooked meat as available (even "splintery" bones), corn on the cob, an occasional bit of cereal or rice, and lots of fresh, pure well water. In her lifetime, hormones were not an issue in the meat (they had not been invented yet), GMOs were not an issue in the grains that were in the cheap cat food (they weren't invented yet either) and I'm guessing they didn't use dead cats and dogs yet in cat food. Maybe no stryrofoam either. And "by products" were probably not as goary--the meat industry had not degenerated so much by then. It has been 15 years.

If anyone wants to post comments, I welcome them. What do you think is the healthiest diet for cats? Why?

I'd like to see the raw-organic-free-range-meat enthusiasts and vegan-cat enthusiasts do a study together, test all the cats' blood for several years, answer the same questions, and be evaluated objectively by a 3rd party. In fact we should add the "commercial cat food" people into the study too, by brand! Every brand will yield some different results. Now wouldn't that be fun?

Benjamin and Tigger's new Cat Tree

When Violet got adopted, the cat post went with her. So, Tigger and Benjamin have been having fun running around the house, scratching their very small post in the livingroom (to prevent rug and furniture scratching) but there was nothing like having a "cat display platform" such as the one that got adopted out with Violet.

Even the timid, formerly-feral Benjamin would be happy to sit there and purr, and let you come and pet him, when he was on his display platform. (I made a typo and put playform, that would be a good name too.) Deva, David and I could all come right up to him and he'd sit there and purr as if he's the tamest cat in the world! The little livingroom post, our bed, the couches, the dining chairs--none of them seem to have the same taming effect on Benjamin as him having his very own little place. I guess it also helps if it's in a sunny spot from which he can comfortably snooze, observe the world, snooze, observe the world. The couches do that to some extent, but maybe it's really true? Cats are not people? ;)

So...I was in search of a new cat tree. I didn't realize how lucky I'd gotten the first time--I got a covered litter box, some food, some nice cat dishes and the cat treeall for $12 with easy porch pickup in Columbia City. It was a great excuse to go eat at Tutta Bella and then get stuff to make the cats smile and purr afterwards. This lovely cat tree came complete with sitting platform on top and sisal post--a must if you don't want to "train" your cat to claw your carpets.

I wondered if I was nuts to drive all the way to Kent yesterday afternoon to get one. What made me decide on this one was that it had not one but THREE sisal posts, and the requisite kitty display platorms. It was going to be huge--more than 3x the size of the other one--with a hidey hole in the bottom, a rounded open platform and 2 round display perches. It seems very much designed with feline in mind.

It *barely* fit in the car, even after moving Deva's car seat to the other side and working it around several moves. However, Judy, Sarah's mom (who we bought it from) figured out the right geometry in the matter and finally hoisted it in the back of our Suby with no rope and no cat-tree-on-a-ski-rack required.

We got it home and I hoisted it into David's office, aka the cat nursery.

Now comes the fun part. Tigger and Benjamin spied me hoisting it in (it's HEAVY!) and came right over sniffing. Getting used things for cats is even better than new, because it's so much more exciting when they get to sniff whoemever came there before. In this case, this "kitty condo" belonged to a big Tuxedo kitty with a cute crooked mustached (named Motoboat because he purred like a motorboat when he was a kitten) and a Jack Russell terrier named Jack that Moto was generous enough to share his space with.

So, they sniffed. And checked it out. And kicked its tires. And sniffed some more. Benjamin's face lit up when he even saw it there, like "really, is that for MEEEE?" and he came scratching straight up the tallest post, and sniffing things along the way until he got to one of the platforms and stood still to sniff, then jump down and make some more rounds again.

If you are a cat person, then the sight of seeing 2 cats (well, 2 kittens really) sniffing, eyes bugging out, all around and through a glamorous new cat tree is hilarious. Enough to make you split your sides laughing, or at least have a good hearty inner titter.

I went outside to talk to the neighbor (who was taking pictures of her beloved big maple tree on the last day of it's life--it is actually being cut down right now as we speak) and then went in the backyard, and through the window, saw that Tigger and Benjamin had completed their circling of it and were happily sitting and playing on it. Within 10 ninutes it was all their own.

May every cat experience the luxury and bounty of a dedicated cat tree!

Vegan Cat Food and Obligate Carnivores

In this photo, Benjamin has a certain look that reminds me of Fidget as a young cat. I've always loved cats, and always had them. Fidget was born when I was 5, in 1975. She lived twenty years.

Recently, I was looking online for non-GMO cat food (certainly wasn't an issue in Fidget's day!) and discovered, among other things...vegan cat food. Of course, being a vegetarian this piqued my interest. And I've heard that in India (a largely vegetarian country), people feed cats lentils and rice and milk--whatever they eat themselves, and the cats eat that and like it, and they hunt, and they are fine and healthy.

This may indeed be the case. I've also heard from many other sources--very popular right now I might add--that cats are "obligate carnivores" (I love the term obligate, it's quoted in every post about giving cats a raw food diet, and it sounds like someone just made it up once and then everyone else decided to quote them.) The meaning is understood though.

Being curious, I went ahead and ordered 2 small samples of Amicat, (made in Italy) vegan cat food. It's GMO Free, supposed to be "nutritionally complete," with all the bells and whistles and synthetic taurine, and cats supposedly love it. I didn't think I would necessarily force my beloved pet "obligate carnivores" to eat it if they didn't like it or didn't thrive, but, hey, why not give them a chance to prove everything wrong? Many times our own experience can lead us to "know" things deep within ourselves that conventional wisdom and all the scientific "evidence" would dispute. So began the experiment.

What they have been eating is Royal Canin Babycat. I love the name. "Babycat" used to be one of Bean's nicknames. (Bean came along in 1995, the same year Fidget died. More about her later.) Anyway, in 2009 (now that Bean is deceased ;) Babycat is a young-kitten-specific, pretty top of the line cat food. It supposedly contains no by-products, it has "chicken" as the first ingredient, but corn gluten meal is second. Corn gluten? I thought corn was supposed to be a gluten-free grain! I've also seen "potato gluten" on cat food labels and I wondered what this is? Potato flour is also theoretically (at least in human food?) gluten free. Aaaah, the mysteries and intricacies of food, so-called food, and labeling.

Anyway, they love the Babycat. They scarf it. It's supposed to entice young kittens to munch because of the tiny kibble size, so they'll eat cat food and not just pine for their mommy's milk. They also get canned cheap petsmart kitten food (supposed to have no by products) mixed with Diatomaceous Earth (more on that later) and a little probiotic supplement. I pour a little raw cow milk over everything and they really scarf the canned stuff too. Yum! (cat) Ick! (me).

Then all of a sudden, Benjamin developed a wiry-hair patch, then in its place a BALD spot on the back of his shoulders! Of all the things that could make a stunningly beautiful, seemingly well-fed cat unaesthetic...!

I wondered what could be the problem? Okay...in all fairness, he had been through stresses (two moves in a week), two food changes, (Babycat, then Science diet, then back to Babycat), too many different flea products--One month frontline, then next month Advantage, then an OTC Sentry product not too long later (don't get me started on this!)--because the Advantage had stopped working. To boot, he had been feral to begin with, so things that might stress a "normal" cat a little bit, might stress him to the hilt.

So I emailed Dr. Glen Dupree (I had found him on the Oregon Tilth website--while looking into organic certification for Prana Pancakes...), a veterinary homeopath. Homeopathy is supposed to be very effective in cats. Maybe the subtlety of both just goes together. I emailed him and asked about the problem. He emailed me back it would be hard to recommend a homeopathic treatment not knowing more, but sent a RAW MEAT diet that I should switch them to! Ugh!

Being a vegetarian myself, I have always been grateful for the convenient (though smelly) canned and dry cat foods available. So I don't have to cook anything for my cats! Ugh! I'd need an outdoor kitchen and hazmat gear! Ha ha! So Glen joked exactly that...I should get on a hazmat suit, get an outdoor fridge and separate utensils, and go and make them their fresh raw meat diet, because cats are...(da da da ta!)...obligate carnivores.

Well, first things first. After picking up Deva from school 2 days ago we stopped at Mud Bay Granary (a great pet store, by the way, they even give you free samples to let your pet try them!) and asked about raw foods. They carry them of course. I'd imagine them to be very expensive (and they are!), pre-ground with bone in (cats are supposed to eat bones and raw bones don't splinter), sized into proper daily kitty portions in a frozen packet. You just take one chunk out and leave it in the fridge overnight, then give it to kitty for yum yum at breakfast. ;) They had one interesting looking "duck and yam dinner" and that was the one the sales girl grabbed, so I figured it was meant to be. And it's organic and naturally raised. That's important. That started this whole quest. Well, and Benjamin's bald spot.

I also grabbed a bag of Ziwipeak jerky-like "kibbles" --sort of a "raw kibble" if you will, made of air-dried venison (naturally farmed in New Zealand) with blue and green-lipped mussels (for taurine) and some hoki fish (probably to make it smelly and entice the cats.) I figured I could use this as an introduction or a backup if my tenacity for natural feeding of my obligate carnivores somehow dissolved.

I got home and put the duck and yam dinner (gingerly) in the freezer. Wrapped in another plastic bag of course. And I put it with the batteries (on the bottom, closest to being OUT of the freezer), as far from the people food as it could get. ;) At nightfall I (gingerly) opened the bag (ugh! I had to use the kitchen scissors! Then I sterilized them) and placed one chunk (again, gingerly, not even touching it with my fingers) into a separate ziploc. Being that it was pretty late when I remembered, I just left it out at room temperature in the cat room. It wasn't going to putrefy overnight and maybe their chances of adapting to it will be better if it's not too cold?

Meanwhile, in the middle of the afternoon, the Amicat vegan kibbles had arrived via UPS. I thought, "oh, how fun, now we can let them experiment and try the whole spectrum...vegan kibbles and fresh raw meat."

I had opened one sample-sized bag and sprinked a few of these new Amicat kibblies on top of the Babycat. At first they just sniffed them, but I came back a little later and all the Amicat was gone, and the Babycat remained! Uh oh! What if they like the vegan cat food better? Now that I had the full spectrum at my fingertips I was going to let them make their own choice.

I had also sprinkled a few of the Ziwipeak "jerky kibbles" into a separate bowl, then set aside the bag and resealed it. Nice, it comes with a portion-sized scoop in it, and a resealable ziploc-type bag. Don't we love convenience. Anyway the cats seemed to like it. They sort of grabbed them in their teeth and tore into them like they were fresh prey. That's always fun to watch--a cat eating its food like it's alive.

Now comes the fun part. In the morning after sending Deva off with his school lunch it was time to turn to non-vegetarian, obligate-carnivore food preparations.

I took out the ziploc from the top of the table where I had left it in the cat room overnight and plopped it (dividing with a plastic fork) into two portions (we have two cats) into the bowls.

They came over looking very curious. They were already waiting as are very friendly in the morning when they want to eat. They sniffed it and immediately began to scarf--for a couple of seconds--probably the look and keenness in their eyes that would cause someone to call them obligate carnivores despite their better angels telling them to leave a small environmental footprint...etc. (ha ha...) Then, suprisingly, they turned away, and started to sniff around in their babycat bowl, and look up at the table where the smelly smelly cans are kept.

One good thing about raw cat food from a vegetarian's perspective--it hardly has any smell at all. The smell it does have is more, ahem, "primal" and in a delicate way creepy--but it surely doesn't reach into the next room like the very undelicate stench of canned cat food.

So, they don't like it so well after all. Huh. I thought I'd give them a few more days or try mixing in other things they were used to. While cats thrive on variety, sudden complete changes often aren't welcome. Who knows, maybe their best option would be raw duck mixed with the vegan Amicat? ;) ha ha! At least it would be GMO free!

I had called Royal Canin, and asked about the corn in their cat food. They said they request their suppliers to use only Non-GMO ingredients but it also depends on availability and supply... That's a good intention at least. I asked if they test for it? They don't, of course. But they 'request' it. Okay. It's not a guarantee. If it's GMO (most likely there IS GMO corn in it to some degree if it's not regulated--and Royal Canin at least has a quality standard better than most pet food manufacturers) this COULD be causing the bald problem. Meanwhile I asked if the chickens are naturally raised and fed GMO-free food (gee, I was dreaming they might even be free range?)...as expected, no such luck.

Anyway, the cats suddenly abandoned it, sniffed around, and walked off. One possibility that had occurred to me is that they don't need to eat as much because the food is more nutritious for them. Maybe they scarf the Babycat because they like the "sweetness" of the corn (cats love sugary milk) even if it isn't really good for them. And maybe they know instinctively that they need to eat more of it because half of it is useless bulk. Or maybe they're just used to the smell. The raw duck hardly has any smell.

***
I remembered Fidget, my oldest cat, gnawing on and purring through a whole piece of raw beef liver, when I was growing up. I didn't grow up vegetarian. Sometimes when buying meat, my parents would ask the butcher not to throw off the giblets (stomachs) or hearts of the chicken, they would ask him to include it, and they'd bring it home and feed it raw to the cats.

Fidget would get this incredible look on her face, when offered something like that. Her eyes would light up, her coat would glisten, her whisker pads would get a special perkiness, her face would shine and plump, and she'd literally look like the cat about to eat the canary.

Fidget was the matron of our whole cat clan. She was the mother, the matriarch, the queen. She would hunt sometimes and give the mice to her babies. (All the other grown cats, around five of them, had been her babies.) So when that particular piece of so-memorable-in-my-mind liver came, she hunkered in front of it, with a look of satisfaction and a big gleam in her eyes, and confidence that none of the other cats were going to horn in.

Sure enough, they left her to it. She hunkered over it and first pricked it with her teeth, and made a nice "incision" from which to take bite-sized chunks of the rest. She gnawed at it and managed to work through it, sometimes it dangled from her mouth all in one piece. While she ate, she made a "hhrrraaaah, hrrrraaaah, hhhrraaaah," sort of almost purring sound, rhythmic with each bite. She chewed it sideways. She chewed it from the other side. She chewed it allllll up.

That liver looked so big in its plastic container--as big as half of her middle body. But she ate it all. And with a look of immense satisfaction (possible only in a cat) she "smiled" and began to clean and groom herself.
***

So, back to the cat room. Wake up from daydream. I took up the remaining raw duck bits (as directed with raw feeding) after Tigger and Benjamin left the room and put it in its ziploc bag (wrapped in a second bag) back (ugh!) in the fridge.

Tigger in the pillows...

And one of Tigger in his little burrow/hideout under the bed pillows.

Benjamin loves Tigger

Well, now that Benjamin is home, it's a real blast to watch them play. Wrestle, play, chase, eat, sleep. Here's a photo of them sleeping.

Violet's new parents

Here are Violet's new parents, Christine and Matt.

And last but not least, Violet...

Well, in the beginning, we were going to keep Violet. Then Benjamin came along. And then we were going to keep Benjamin and Violet. And then one thing led to another and Deva decided he wanted to keep Tigger. So we were going to keep Tigger, Violet and Benjamin. Well, one fine day we decided three was a crowd, so we decided to adopt one out. I'd promised Deva we'd keep Tigger. So...I bit the bullet and posted Benjamin and Violet online. After all, I guessed we could have just one cat, and Benjamin would do better indoors anyway. So after a long and arduous decision (from my side), a nice couple, Matt and Christine came and adopted Benjamin and Violet. After all they were more or less bonded, even though they weren't brother and sister. Just look at them here! (and, would you believe, this got made a feature too?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIZpwkkrhs0

Not sure exactly why. Maybe just the way the "zzzzt!" sound hits right when he's licking her fur with his rough, bristly tongue. The music fits. ;)

Anyway, after a few days I couldn't stand it anymore and asked Christine and Matt for Benjamin back. So, hallelujah! He's back home. They are very happy with Violet and she's the perfect cat for them. She's a nice, spoiled indoor kitty, and in her new home, has blossomed into a sassy, confident little queeny-cat. :) Go, Violet!

Miss Clara the dear mama kitty

Well, miss Clara, the dear Mama kitty, was not to be outdone by her children. She went to live with a lovely girl named Susie, who lives in Queen Anne. Susie has a dog and now one cat. She was smitten by a mama cat once and now could have no other kind.

Daisy went to live with Willow

Dear little Daisy went to live with a lovely girl named Willow and her tuxedo kitty. Willow had lent her carrier to a friend, so Daisy got to go home in a box. No problem. They usually like it dark in scary moments anyway!

Next went Daisy...

Daisy doo-dah, the little spitfire runt, was a ton of fun. She's the little black/calico one and she was feisty enough to bat Benajmin (the older kitten) out of the way of the food dish! Okay, seven cats CAN share a food dish (okay, seven cats can share three food dishes) but Daisy wasn't having any sharing! Not till she was done, that is. Who could resist that face?

Anders adopted Little Bear

This is Anders with Little Bear. Anders came all the way up by bus, twice, just to reserve Little Bear and then take him home when he was old enough. He wanted a kitten just like little bear, to go with his older cat and his dog, and (of course) to entertain him too.

Next was Little Bear

Little Bear was next. He is so cute. He was the biggest, the most confident, the alpha kitty. Whenever we packed them up and took them to the vet, he would sit at the front of the cage, unperturbed by anything going on around, even noisy big dogs. Little Bear is a cool, confident kitty.

Kristen with Vesu

Here's Kristen with Vesu (formerly Sunny). He was six weeks old when she first came to meet him, and she came back to get him 2 weeks later. She's his new mom now and they live happily together in Bellingham.

Sunny's New Mom (Cats Adopted Part 1)

The first one to go was Sunny. He's the cutest little thing. Kristen from Bellingham came all the way to Seattle to get him. She loves orange kittens. But, who wouldn't love this face? ;)

Be sure to check out Sunny's video on youtube, too. He's even a feature now...how do you like that!? :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbfCMPnkuDc


Oh, and Sunny's name has changed now. It's now Vesu, short for Vesuvius. :)

Clara and her kittens

Even though it starts with Clara, this is actually the story of Benjamin. I'd tell you what all happened and why it's so elating right now that he's on the bed, purring, with Tigger (well, Tigger might get a new name), snuggled up to David. But I'll save that for later.

This summer, not having many travel plans, we decided to have a summer of cats. Well, I did, really. Actually, I took over David's office and became a cat lady!

Bean, our dear old beloved kitty, died last year. We waited (well, sort of...a story for another day) till we had grieved. Now that Bean is a loving memory, we decided to go whole hog, and foster a mother cat.

Secretly, I wanted to get a girl kitten, let her grow up and have kittens. But, the shelter and rescue people got to me when I hinted coyly enough times, asking if there was a way I could get a kitten before she was spayed...they'd bark and growl at me and tell me it was mean to let a cat have kittens because so many would have to die so mine could live...

So I caved to the pressure. Instead of going the full natural route, I "adopted" well, fostered, a mother cat with five three-week old kittens, found on Craigslist.

The mother cat was Clara, and her kittens were: Violet, Daisy, Little Bear, Tigger and Sunny. Originally I had called up the lady, (Amy) and asked for just the girl siamese kitten. Part of my secret plan still trying to carry itself out. In the pictures it looked like she had white paws. Bean had white paws. I always had tuxedo cats. This time I'd try something different and exotic. A siamese with white paws.

After a couple of phone calls I ended up meeting her and taking the mother cat with all the kittens. ;)