I'm amazed that it took me this long to join a cat forum!
I'm 18 and live with my mother and sister. I think the longest we've gone without a cat was a year or so.
Sparkle is our eldest. She's 14 years old and was born under the shed in our backyard. We caught her mother and other siblings, but she somehow escaped from the cage (earning her the nickname Houdini as a kitten) and was left behind so we kept her. She's very shy. She eats wet and dry food.
Charlotte is 7 years old. Not a healthy cat
She's currently on medication and special food for her kidneys. She's apparently in the beginning stages of CRF. Exclusively fed kibble.
On New Year's Eve we let in a young cat to our house. I guess she's about a year old. We named her Mooch. As it turns out she was pregnant! She gave birth to 6 kittens (one dead) under the couch when no one was home on March 4th. My mom and I were on a cruise and my sister was out with friends. My sister came home that day to be greeted by a slim Mooch! 4 kittens are females (Rajah, Abou, Shiloh and Chanel) and there's only one male (Toby). Mooch hasn't gotten along well with Sparkle at all so my sister's friend may potentially take her instead of Chanel. We'll be keeping 1 or 2 kittens from the litter. I'm really hoping 2 since I love Chanel. My sister gets to keep Rajah.
The kittens' first food was cooked chicken yesterday. They aren't remotely interested in kibble or even wetfood but mobbed me for the chicken. I've been reading a lot about raw lately and really want to feed them (and all the other cats) a raw diet instead of the processed junk everyone is currently getting. I am worried about salmonella and other pathogens. I wouldn't feed ground meat from the supermarket, but I'm wondering if the meat that isn't grounded would be okay? I think the chances are pretty slim and I know kibble can also be contaminated. I'm just concerned that if I feed them raw my family will blame me for any possible sickness whereas they'd blame a petfood company and not themselves if the cats got sick from their kibble. I think Charlotte's diet is what's largely responsible for her issues. She was pretty dehydrated at the vet's - her heart was smaller than it should be. Can you feed a cat starting CRF raw? I know they tend to be put on low protein diets, but I've heard a lot of conflicting advice on this.
This has turned into a huge introduction with questions that belong in other sections! Haha. I'm happy to be here and looking forward to learning more from everyone
These are the kittens at 4 weeks. The black one (Toby) is hidden. From left to right it's: Shiloh, Abou, Rajah and Chanel.
I'm 18 and live with my mother and sister. I think the longest we've gone without a cat was a year or so.
Sparkle is our eldest. She's 14 years old and was born under the shed in our backyard. We caught her mother and other siblings, but she somehow escaped from the cage (earning her the nickname Houdini as a kitten) and was left behind so we kept her. She's very shy. She eats wet and dry food.
Charlotte is 7 years old. Not a healthy cat
On New Year's Eve we let in a young cat to our house. I guess she's about a year old. We named her Mooch. As it turns out she was pregnant! She gave birth to 6 kittens (one dead) under the couch when no one was home on March 4th. My mom and I were on a cruise and my sister was out with friends. My sister came home that day to be greeted by a slim Mooch! 4 kittens are females (Rajah, Abou, Shiloh and Chanel) and there's only one male (Toby). Mooch hasn't gotten along well with Sparkle at all so my sister's friend may potentially take her instead of Chanel. We'll be keeping 1 or 2 kittens from the litter. I'm really hoping 2 since I love Chanel. My sister gets to keep Rajah.
The kittens' first food was cooked chicken yesterday. They aren't remotely interested in kibble or even wetfood but mobbed me for the chicken. I've been reading a lot about raw lately and really want to feed them (and all the other cats) a raw diet instead of the processed junk everyone is currently getting. I am worried about salmonella and other pathogens. I wouldn't feed ground meat from the supermarket, but I'm wondering if the meat that isn't grounded would be okay? I think the chances are pretty slim and I know kibble can also be contaminated. I'm just concerned that if I feed them raw my family will blame me for any possible sickness whereas they'd blame a petfood company and not themselves if the cats got sick from their kibble. I think Charlotte's diet is what's largely responsible for her issues. She was pretty dehydrated at the vet's - her heart was smaller than it should be. Can you feed a cat starting CRF raw? I know they tend to be put on low protein diets, but I've heard a lot of conflicting advice on this.
This has turned into a huge introduction with questions that belong in other sections! Haha. I'm happy to be here and looking forward to learning more from everyone
These are the kittens at 4 weeks. The black one (Toby) is hidden. From left to right it's: Shiloh, Abou, Rajah and Chanel.
