kitty-wearing
March 31, 2006 l 1 Comment
It’s been over a month since the three youngest cats have had any sign of urinary problems. Which may not seem like very long, until you realize that from the end of December until the end of February, every two weeks there would be at least one cat at the vet.
But a month ago, after it seemed like we would never get to the root of these issues, the vet thought it was time for a radical diet change. I agreed. Only I had a very different change in mind.
Raw food isn’t a universal solution. But has worked for us, and marvelously. The cats are sleeker, have softer, shinier coats, and absolutely no signs of ill health.
Our vet is somewhat anti-raw food (and by ’somewhat’ I mean that he thinks it’s stupid and dangerous). So it gives me no small amount of pleasure to think about the next time the cats have their check-up (many, many months from now), when I will have the opportunity to educate the vet about what has been working for us.
update from the zoo
March 28, 2006 l 2 Comments
Mice: Chuck and Martin are doing well and keeping themselves quite busy by alternately trashing their cages and begging for treats. Not that the little porkers need anything extra, but they’re just so darned cute I find it hard to resist. Their round of antibiotics was completed last week, and Chuck’s eye infection has cleared up, which means that for the first time in several months I’m not medicating animals on a daily basis. Cause for celebration indeed.
Rabbits: Sweet as ever, and growing more mellow in their golden years. Peanut seems to have a very sensitive tummy, and we are still going back and forth on the issue of excessive soft poops. We switched to a lower protein pellet, and that helped a little, but not entirely. Now we’ve cut out all fresh greens in the hopes of bringing things back into balance. If all goes well, we can try reintroducing greens at a later time. They sure do love their parsley.
The rabbits are also heading into their spring molt, which means dust bunnies galore. Rabbit hair is such a tasteful fashion accessory, don’t you think?
Cats: It’s been nearly a month since the start of their raw food diet, and they now eagerly await each meal (aka, cry for half-an-hour before mealtime). Even Beeper, our old Fancy Feast-addict, loves the raw food. Considering her advanced years and failing health, we have to be very careful about the safety of a raw diet, but it seems to be doing her some good. The three younger cats are more active, and look quite sleek and shiny. But being their ‘mom’, I naturally think they are the most gorgeous cats in the world.
~ Emily, the animal slave
Happy Birthday Rex!
March 13, 2006 l 5 Comments
My lil’ man is seven years young today.
A bunny, though, is never heard
He simply never says a word.
A bunny’s a delightful habit,
No home’s complete without a rabbit.
- from “A Poem in Praise of Rabbits”
(Marshmallow, Clare Turlay Newberry)
oy
March 12, 2006 l Leave a Comment
Did I mention the fact that my mouse is allergic to hay?
Despite a round of antibiotics (which cleared up his chest sounds) and applying ophthalmic ointment twice a day, Chuck still had a runny eye and was sneezing frequently.
That is, until I removed the hay from his cage.
Both the mice like to nest in pre-bagged field grass hay, and I honestly never thought that Chuck’s symptoms (unrelated to the upper respiratory infection) would be tied to the hay. But he showed improvement within hours of taking it away.
It figures, really…I would be the person to get a mouse with allergies.
