The Un-finicky Cat

We (myself & my friend) have 7-cats in a relatively small living space after taking in a mother and her 5-kittens to join our resident year old female.  My friend’s daughter recently went out of town for a long weekend and asked us to check in on her large female dog and male cat.  The dog is very good with cats and it was suggested that we bring her over to stay with us (and the 7-cats!).  I vetoed this idea, since I thought there would be a problem with our cats, and not the dog.

Instead, I suggested we bring over the adult male cat to join our 7-cats.  Now this male is a great cat that one can easily handle, pet, etc.  He is a healthy indoor/outdoor cat.  I was vetoed from bringing him over, since I was told that he is a fierce fighter of other cats and  would tear our cats up.  I obviously did not want to risk the chance of this happening.  So our plan was to regularly go to her daughter’s home to feed the animals and let the dog out.

We were instructed to keep the cat (Niles) locked in her bedroom which has an adjoining bathroom.  We were told to keep the door locked to keep the dog from pushing the door open and eating all the cat food.  Niles definitely could not be let outside, since we may not be able to get him back inside.  We were told he would be perfectly fine that whole time in the bedroom.  He had a large supply of food, water and his litter box.

Curiosity was killing the cat lover (me), however, and I just had to get into the bedroom and check on Niles the cat.  To do this, I had to pick the lock on the door with my pooper-scooper & pail in hand.  Okay, here is the main point of my story:

I like buying the best (and expensive) dry cat food for our cats.  I mix the ingredients from 4-separate brands and feed this blend to our cats.  I supplement this with occasional canned wet food as a treat dinner.  Well, I was curious to feed Niles some of this really good cat food too.  Now Niles is fed by his human parents, I was told, cheap dry cat food.  My immediate thought was to do a side-by-side cat food taste test.  I placed equal sized bowls with equal proportions of my premium blend in one and the cheap stuff in the other.  When we came back the next day I was surprised to find the cheap stuff bowl was empty and he didn’t touch my expensive stuff!   Is there a lesson for me here??  …HA!

Just like people, cats sometimes prefer junk food.  Unless you can get his owners to gradually change him over, that's probably what he's going to eat.

All of mine turned up their noses at Merrick's, Newman's Own and California Natural.  Of course, they did this after I'd bought a case of each.  Ouch!  But my friend's colony cats were happy! 

What I find the strangest aspect of this story is that they would lock the cat in the bedroom the whole time and not have you check on him or clean his litter. It is pretty easy to prevent dogs from getting into cat food you just have to place it where the cat can jump and the dog can't. Or why didn't they give you a key so you could let him out and play with him when you came over? I feel really bad for the cat and hope he wasn't locked in there for too many days. 

Honestly neither premium dry food nor cheap dry food is best for cats. I fed my cat expensive dry for years which I believe contributed to his GI issues and now he is so much healthier on a wet diet because cats need moisture and do not need grains or rendered meats. See www.catinfo.org and http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-dry-food-is-bad-for-cats-and-dogs/

I believe the cheap brands coat with more animal digest than some of the more expensive kinds so that is probably why he didn't eat it.  

I hope that dry food bowl was empty the day his mom was due home.


And yes, there's a lesson. :nod: Most children will choose Captain Crunch over shredded wheat, especially if they have to eat it dry. It is up to more responsible parents to get them eating fresh, wholesome food.