Cat food shortages

a reply to: tamusan

We used to free feed, but we got one little porker who couldn't handle it. Some cats have a thing where grain-based foods won't satisfy them and they just eat and eat. That's her.

So we had to move to portioning. We did get her down under 10 lbs once, and then we got the kittens, and between her advancing age and propensity to sleep and their richer food + her inventiveness in stealing it, she's blown up like a little balloon again. But we still portion feed.

The boys tend to beg something awful, but she doesn't.

originally posted by: TrollMagnet
Your cats will never starve. They will eat and kill anything they have to if you do not feed them. Unless you are in an area infested with coyotes, they are fine. Even with coyotes, cats are still top tier predators when it comes to North America.

I got Enoch and Sylvester at about 5 weeks. Their mother was a barn cat, and their father was some stray feral.

I got them as porch cats, but they are comfortable on the porch or in the house.

They are quick as greased lightening. Their hearing is better then their Husky siblings. Please don't tell them or the Huskies that they are not equal members of the pack.

Enoch is a bit lazier than Sylvester, but they all seem to defer to him. He can eat from any bowl he wishes, but no one dare eat from his.

Sylvester is the jumper. They say a cat can jump 5 to 6 times their height. Sylvester is 15 inches tall. So according to the reporting, it would be easy for him to jump 6 to 7.5 feet. But Sylvester jumps a bit higher then that, without any effort.

Sylvester is not a big eater. He eats only what he has to. Enoch has to show off his status, so he eats his food, and has to taste everyone else's.

I find dead lizards all over the porch and in their water bowl all the time. I guess if they were hungry enough they would eat them. Though not the safest thing for them to do.

I live in woods. I have no doubt there many things they can catch. There are many things that can also catch them.

So far, no shortages of cat food, but thanks for the heads up. I will store a bit away, just in case.

a reply to: lux666

We have one plenty of eggs. Between my neighbors and my Brother, there is rarely a shortage of eggs, but my Huskies and my cats don't like them. Raw or cooked, they will eat them, but only if they are really hungry and mixed with something else.

I guess it is a pack thing.

a reply to: ketsuko

"Little Porker"!!


Canned food went scarce here in Oct. But because my hairballs will pester you relentlessly I can't even give it as a treat anymore. It's not worth the drama. Dry food supplies are still good, but I stocked up like normal just cause I hate shopping & hate it more in the snow & dark.

From what I've seen all summer/fall is stores will be out of cat litter but have canned food, then run out of canned food but have tons of litter. At this point I grab whatever cause I'm tired of guessing what will be in stock. Changing cat litter brands can get ugly quick but if this keeps up they're going to be using play sand from Home Depot as a last resort an get over themselves!!

Nothing sadder than the pity stare you get when the cat discovers you're having just veggies for dinner.
Things have sucked for everyone & Shhhhh!!! my cats think my veggie kick is because we're all in this together. Not because I'm a lazy weeknight cook!!! GRINS!

a reply to: Ellie Sagan

Easy solution.

As things to hell in a handbasket and more s417 hits the fan, I predict that the rodent population will increase as basic sanitation becomes a luxury, trash piles up due to infrastructure breakdown, and people just turn really, really sh*tty.

So, turn your cats loose and let the little useless turds earn their keep for once. They can kill and eat the mice and rats that are certain to proliferate! Win-win situation.

And any that won't do their God-given duty will just have to be removed from the gene pool.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

in my experience here:

here, the cats dont like raw eggs:
I only had one that liked both: scrambled and raw eggs.

cats love scrambled eggs:
here all the cats like scrambled eggs without salt,
they dont like salty eggs.

fat, margarine, butter, or oil:
they like eggs cooked with fat or butter or margarine or oil.
it is very easy to prepare the eggs using fat, margarine, or butter.

fat is good as they like the aroma and flavor, some ones likes to eat the fat directly.

if you use oil:
wnen I use oil, I use a no-transgenic oil, and the eggs have just in the point, recently cooked ( when cooked: YES colorr yellow. no brown colour), cats dont like overcooked eggs (brown colour in the fried egg is hard for them to cut and eat).
be careful when cooking with oil:
with oil you have to be careful of the temperature, as it cooks faster.

do not use olive oil,
here the flavour of the olive oil in the eggs dont like it.
they like olive oil raw, but not when it is used to cook the eggs.
it is very easy to prepare the eggs using fat, margarine, butter.
the flavour of the olive oil in the eggs doesn't like them.


in fact, here some of the cats prefer only eat scrambledd eggs for breakfast, and during the day, they eat some cat food.
there are others, that wait a little, and eat the rest of the scrambled eggs in the next hour. (sometimes they do that)

in the top of the plate:
I put the eggs in the top, because when the eggs is mixed, with the cat food, then they dont eat it. (kind of lost eggs between the cat food).
because:

temperature:
they dont like cold eggs:
when I mixed the eggs with the cat food, i realized that the temperature of the eggs gets cold faster, and then the cats dont eat them.
they like warm eggs:
in the top of the food the eggs together remain warm longer time, and the cats like it.


small sizes:
cats like the food in small bite sizes:
I cut the eggs in small sizes, so it it easy for them to eat it.
I realized that the size of the eggs pieces is important, because they eat the food when it is cut in small sizes-
with longer sizes they dont eat it.

no salt:
they like to eat a lot eggs in small sizes an without salt.
they dont eat the eggs when they have salt.


If the hot/warm scrambled eggs, without salt, cut in small pieces, all in the top of the food,or in a plate, they devour it.

pepper or cheese:
here they like it.

with practice it is very easy.

in fact, i put first fresh cat food every morning, and most of them wait until the eggs are served to the plate, and start eating the scrambled eggs.

it is easy and fast

maybe you could try

We keep four bags of cat food in stock at all times, in rotation. They are a little over five pounds, they are expensive but the cats like it and since they aren't puking all the time, the cat food lasts quite a while. We get the Dr. Tims cat food.

We only have two cats though, we used to have five and they ate a cheaper food, but about five years ago the cats started puking a lot, and we tried many types of cat foods, both cheap and expensive and it did not help till we got this one. I hate cleaning up cat puke. The three other cats died, two cats, father and son were very active and twisty and they hurt their backs and got a blood clot in them which paralyzed their hind end...no cure, we made them as comfortable as we could, and were there when they passed away. The father was around eighteen or nineteen, the son was thirteen, the mother passed away about three years ago at the age of 22. I am getting tired of having cats, it is harder and harder on us when they die, when you are living with an animal for many years like that it is hard not to get attached.

originally posted by: incoserv
a reply to: Ellie Sagan

Easy solution.

As things to hell in a handbasket and more s417 hits the fan, I predict that the rodent population will increase as basic sanitation becomes a luxury, trash piles up due to infrastructure breakdown, and people just turn really, really sh*tty.

So, turn your cats loose and let the little useless turds earn their keep for once. They can kill and eat the mice and rats that are certain to proliferate! Win-win situation.

And any that won't do their God-given duty will just have to be removed from the gene pool.

Same shortage problem with cat food here in SE US. Now I buy 2 bags of dry & 2 cases of canned instead of usual 1 of each, in case they don't have it on next trip to store.

I have a blind, slightly disabled 2 yr old cat that was dropped off on doorstep of Vet's office with head injury when 5wks old. He's adapted well to inside life - NO Way he'd make it outside though!! He's fought for his life enough already & has come so far recovereing from his injuries, in my eyes, deserves to live the rest of his life inside.

yes, the cat food sometimes damages the cats because of all those ingredients and chemicals they contain.
also tuna with water is not healty for cats, as tuna with water can kill cats.

tuna without water, tuna in oil, are better,
sardine is ok.

when I switched to scrambled eggs I saw 2 things:

1) cats are more saludable

2) almost no balls. no threw balls of hair.


Until I read the post I remembered this point, I haven't remembered in years the puke threw balls.
obviously sometime there were a ball of hair, but not as puke ball to clean.

I have some cats recovered from streets and they cured and were healthy with scrambled eggs diet, and tomato.

a reply to: lux666

That's something about what we've been feeding.

Our two boys are two going on three, and aside from an obligatory spring hair ball that's minimal, they don't throw hairballs on the mix we feed them. Our older gal is prone to them and the only stuff she won't touch is the raw. We can sneak a little bit into her food, but any more than mere scraps and she gives as the side-eye and picks around it and looks injured.

I think if we ponied up for either frozen broth or goat milk to rehydrate it with, she might get into it, but that would be one more thing we'd be stuck having to buy.

i forgot to translate a word into english, and the time limit has passed:

typo:

1) cats are more saludable

means:

1) cats are more healthy


thanks

You are allowed to the let cat outside, they are mart animals, wont run away, and knw how to naturally and insticntlvy hunt for mice and birds.

They will even leave it on your step or porch as a sign of sharing or good faith to there loving owner

Well when everybody buys more than what they need what do you expect? You admit you’re taking more than you need for your... 10 cats... sounds like hoarding to me.

a reply to: Ellie Sagan

originally posted by: ContractedMercenary
You are allowed to the let cat outside, they are mart animals, wont run away, and knw how to naturally and insticntlvy hunt for mice and birds.

They will even leave it on your step or porch as a sign of sharing or good faith to there loving owner

Not here, between the owls at night, the hawks during the day, and the Coyotes at all hours, the cats don’t stand a chance of making it over two days tops.

No cat foo shortage here in SW US.

a reply to: lux666

That's a good idea to supplement with eggs. Eggs are pretty cheap. It sounds like you take good care of your cats.

a reply to: wasobservingquietly

I got in the habit of giving canned food with extra water mixed in, then treating them with some dry food. I started that because I had a cat who always had urinary tract problems and the moist food helped by making sure he got more fluids, hence a more smoothly running urinary tract.
I'm seriously thinking of switching it up now and doing more dry food because he's no longer around and so far none of the other ones have that problem.

a reply to: incoserv

It's a no win situation here. There's people that say cats are bad for the ecosystem and we need to not let them loose. Can't let them out, shouldn't keep them in. Everyone has an opinion about it. There's a huge discussion that's ongoing on my local Nextdoor about it.

I love cats. They make me happy, and I'm happy to take care of them. In that way, they do earn their keep.

a reply to: rickymouse

Oh yeah I hear ya on the dying thing. I have had many we have had to put down to stop them suffering. I have cats that puke too, I wonder if it is the food. They had worms though and I think that can cause the vomiting also. Took care of that, so we'll see.

a reply to: Skepticape

Are you one of those people who has no extra food in your house? Do you really not buy things ahead of time to have them when you need them? If so, are you a hoarder?
Not that I need to defend my choices to some rando on the internet, BUT I will here. All of my cats have come from the streets. Only 2 of them were feral, one was pregnant and we kept the 4 kittens she had. The other ones where strays. It's a sick world when jerks think it's ok to just dump cats when they no longer want them. Some get lost. We take them in if they look sick or they tug on our hearts. It IS a lot of cats, but I guess I can't turn off my compassion for them. Too many people are mean f*cks to them.

originally posted by: 38181

originally posted by: ContractedMercenary
You are allowed to the let cat outside, they are mart animals, wont run away, and knw how to naturally and insticntlvy hunt for mice and birds.

They will even leave it on your step or porch as a sign of sharing or good faith to there loving owner

Not here, between the owls at night, the hawks during the day, and the Coyotes at all hours, the cats don’t stand a chance of making it over two days tops.

No cat foo shortage here in SW US.

We have plenty of owls, and coyote out here in the woods, and we still have feral cats, barn cats, and porch cats.

Most people either ignore them or they supplement their diet, because a weak unhealthy cat does not keep the rodents away from your garden and eggs.

Country folk have to stock up. It takes at least 30 minutes to get anywhere, when 20 minutes of that is spent just getting off the dirt roads.

I know when the coyote are close by. My Tamar can smell a coyote 5 miles out, and she will let you know it.

The rest of the pack go quiet and get packish. Not Tamar, she is going to let you know they are too close for comfort, because she is not going to go past two steps from the porch, and you are going to have to fight her to keep her out.

My cats are porch/house cats. They prefer being indoors during the day, and on the porch at night.

They rarely leave the porch at night.