October 07, 2000

WOW, it's October already! Where did September go? Maybe it has to do with getting older, time flies. That's a scary thought.

Things have been changeable here, but sometimes change is good, even if it doesn't feel good at the time.

I am no longer working full-time as a paralegal. Having your job pulled out from under you is never a good experience. In light of the direction my life is heading though, I think this is a good thing. I'll work in temporary positions for the time being and continue to look for something different. I've been working in a law firm environment since 1982 and a change is long overdue.

Kitties are all doing very well. Charya is coming out of her shell at the nursing home. Hopefully this change in attitude will transfer itself to the show hall. We'll find out next weekend. Moon is entered in the show as well. Moon just turned three years old and looks so darn good I couldn't resist entering her as well.

I almost purchased a red tabby male from California. In fact, I went so far as to have him shipped here two weeks ago. Due to the job situation, his breeder and I agreed that it would be best for me to send him back to her which I will do tomorrow. Everything happens for a reason and I don't think I was meant to have this cat. Now is not the time for me to be breeding.

When it comes to the diet I feed my cats, I am not always as careful about it as I preach. It came back to haunt me. All of the cats, except Rooney (my nine year old domestic shorthair) eat their food without complaint. Rooney was on commercial (dry) food longer than any of the others have been. He is still quite hooked on junk food. He'd much rather have whatever I'm eating for dinner. I was giving in to him and feeding him from my plate. Usually what he got was cooked chicken.

I've been mentioning to my homeopathic vet for some time now that Rooney needed attention. I could feel that things weren't quite right with him. There wasn't much to go on beyond my feelings though. As they always do, the true symptoms eventually surfaced.

Rooney was getting more and more stressed by the females in heat. Being a neutered male who had never bred, he didn't know why they were acting the way they do when they were in heat. When in heat, the females will throw themselves at anything remotely male crying "do me do me do me." If only all males could be so lucky. Rooney would first lick them, then maul them. He did the same thing with Wiley and Yukon when they approached him.

Rooney is a very large cat with a dense double coat similar to a British Shorthair. He loves to be brushed but will often become over excited and turn around and bites me or mauls a nearby cat. This was getting worst. He had been doing some over grooming and licked the hair away between his back legs and belly.

In his agitated state he'd often walk a few steps, then stop and frantically lick. He stomped when he walked. Stomp stomp stomp, lick, lick, lick. He was frantic. My homeopathic vet told me to comb him and look for fleas. I knew he didn't have fleas, but I did what she said. No fleas. He also had developed a stud tail-like condition on his back near his tail. Stud tail is grease build up at the base of the tail common in unneutered males. When I was combing him and examining him for fleas I noticed a discharge from his anal glands. He was impacted! Very uncommon in cats. It certainly shouldn't happen to a cat on a natural diet. Nothing bad happens to a cat on a natural diet (or nothing much). Remember though, Rooney was eating a lot of "junk" food (my food), not his natural diet.

I spent a lot of time combing him and pulled out a lot of the thick under coat. Then I bathed him. I decided to give him a dose of Silicea (homeopathic) in a high potency (1M) and to keep him from eating my food.

A week or so later, he was much better. He hasn't been mauling the other cats to the degree he was, he's not frantically stomping and licking and the stud tail hasn't returned. Thank you homeopathy. I was thinking Rooney would be a candidate for kitty-Prozac.

I really couldn't address his condition at first. I needed more to go on than just not acting right. I am so intimately familiar with my cats that I can tell when they are off. I watch them carefully. Usually they return to their normal state in a few days. If not, I treat them with homeopathy. It seems to work every time.

October 26, 2000

I apologize for the lack of additions to NRN this month. My life was turned upside down recently and it's been taking a lot of my energy righting it again. Things are much better now. I am learning to live through the downs and appreciate the ups.

On a good note, I believe my breeding program is going to be put on a good solid track with the addition of a black seven-month-old son of GC, NW Oreno Gummy Bears of Jo-Ni and GC Karibe's Whodo Voodoo? of Blakkatz. This cat was bred in Kentucky (by Jo-Ni Cattery) and was to go to Japan (as have almost all of the sons of Gummy Bears), but the contract on him fell through.

You may remember from a past issue of NRN that I had agreed to buy a red tabby male from California. I did, he came to Boston on September 23, but with the multiple tragedies that occurred from September 28 on, I telephoned his breeder and I asked to return him. In retrospect, I am glad I did. While he may have been good for my breeding program (as an outcross) I did not like his look (he was a "California-type" cat), nor did I care for his temperament.

After sending the red tabby back, I wasn't even certain I was ever going to breed again. I said to myself, "I'm not going to look for a replacement male cat anymore." Every which way I turned in that search ended in heartache. If someone dropped a suitable black or brown tabby male American Shorthair (the only two colors I'd consider) on my doorstop, then maybe I'd breed again. I didn't ask for the black Voodoo son, as far as I knew he was still going to Japan. When the sale fell through and because of everything that had happened to me in my breeding program and in my life in general (which the breeder in Kentucky knew of), he called and offered him to me for a very reasonable price.

First I said yes, I want him, then, after looking at my finances, I called to say no I couldn't take him because I didn't have the money to have him shipped to Boston. I thought about it some more. This was probably the last remaining whole (unneutered) American Shorthair son of Voodoo left, and he was black (my favorite color). I couldn't pass him up without regretting it later. I had to find some way to scrape up the money to ship him here. I called and told the breeder in Kentucky not to sell him to anyone else that I'd find a way to get the $200 to ship him.

Luck was on my side. The breeder from Kentucky is coming to a show in Philadelphia. A friend of mine who lives in Massachusetts is going to bring him back for me. He'll arrive late Sunday night. I'm trying not to think about it too much. With all the disappointments I've had recently, I don't want to get too excited. I expect I'll like the look of the cat, but maybe not the temperament. Charya (who came from the same cattery) is just starting to come around, but she may never be 100% sound in temperament. Also, he may end up too short in the muzzle to show even if his temperament was suitable to show him. I can live with not being able to show him because his pedigree alone is worth breeding him for. Hopefully it will come together.

I am on several natural cat food and natural cat care mailing lists. I recommend three of them, both available through egroups.com - the CatBARF list, the Rawcats list and the AlternativeCat list. There are several others, but I do not care for them for one reason or another.

NOTE 12/21/00: I am no longer on any of these lists. In response to the misinformation that was being passed around on these lists I started a list to support the feline future recipe. It is at , do a search for felinefuture and you'll find it. END NOTE

There's always talk on the lists of how to make the feline future recipe. One woman on the list sent her husband to a very undesirable section of New Jersey to buy a large quantity of chicken hearts. The feline future recipe calls for one and a half pounds of muscle meat, one half pound of heart and one quarter pound of liver, all from the same animal. Chicken hearts are difficult, if not impossible to source. The poor husband ended up at a very nasty slaughterhouse and returned covered in chicken blood, with no chicken hearts.

The recipe states that if you cannot find chicken hearts (or heart at all), then 2,000 MG of L-taurine can be substituted. If you cannot source liver, or if your cat(s) cannot tolerate beef liver (many cannot), then two tablespoons of cod liver oil can be substituted. I am not a fan of cod liver oil. I am not sure of the amount of Vitamins A and D two tablespoons of cod liver oil provide, but if you can figure that out, you can substitute the appropriate amount of Vitamin A and D in gel capsule form. There are times I don't add liver to my recipes, I don't add cod liver oil nor do I add Vitamin A or D. I just "make it up" next time. I question a quarter pound of liver in a recipe that makes two and a quarter pounds of food. In my rabbit butchering experience (see below), I know the liver doesn't make up that much of the whole rabbit. I trust feline future's calculations to be correct in providing a nutritionally complete feline meal, but the proportions seem off. Perhaps the extra liver (or cod liver oil) is to bring up the Vitamin A and D balance.

I also question the necessity of adding L-taurine to a raw meat diet, as do many holistic veterinarians (mine included). Chicken is quite high in L-taurine; beef muscle meat is not; beef heart is. The natural prey animal of a small cat, a mouse, is very high in L-taurine. One KG of mouse carcass contains 7,000 MG of L-taurine. No other conventional meat source (chicken or beef) is that high. It's not an exact science, no matter how you do it. There is no question in my mind though that this diet is a million times better than any commercial food diet.

The feline future (www.felinefuture.com) diet guidelines are just that, guidelines. While the recipe should be followed as close as possible, if you deviate from the recipe once in a while, it won't kill your cat. For example, if you are unable to obtain dulse right away, then omit it until you get it. Bone meal should not be omitted on a regular basis unless you grind meat with the bone or feed chunks of meat with bone. Calcium is very important to cats. I would rather see bone meal added as a calcium supplement as opposed to crushed eggshells. Bone meal is a more species-appropriate calcium substitute. I have received some questions about whether bone meal (from bovine sources) may be dangerous because of mad cow disease. I've been using bone meal from Solid Gold for a very long time and haven't had any concern about using it.

Adding supplements to the recipe such as Vitamin C, brewer's yeast, garlic, blue green algae or the like is more problematic. Just because these supplements are good for humans, doesn't mean they are good for cats. Cats are very different than humans in their nutritional requirements.

Take Vitamin C for example. Cats manufacture their own Vitamin C (humans, monkeys and guinea pigs do not). Unless the cat has a serious autoimmune disease like cancer or Feline Aids (which could interfere with the natural synthesis of Vitamin C), there is no need to supplement with Vitamin C. I see Vitamin C recommended for all sorts of conditions from allergies to dental problems to urinary disorders. Vitamin C is probably not the answer. If a proper diet (and the feline future diet is a proper diet) doesn't eliminate the condition(s) for which Vitamin C (or other supplement) is recommended, then the cat should be seen by a qualified homeopathic veterinarian.

I have seen, both in my cats and in cats belonging to other people that a proper diet takes care of most ailments. If diet alone doesn't do it, then homeopathy will. A wild cat living without human interference, hunting wild prey animals would have no need for Vitamin C. The wild cat would remain healthy on its own, or would become ill and die. Granted, we don't want our cats to die, and we can hopefully prevent that with homeopathic intervention. Vitamin C isn't going to do it. Cats don't like the acidic taste of Vitamin C. Why force it on them?

Brewer's yeast is suggested because of the high content of B Vitamins and to repel fleas. Raw meat is an excellent source of B Vitamins and a proper diet for a cat. Brewer's yeast is a fermented product and can cause bloat. I understand a good way to get rid of ants is to mix brown sugar with brewer's yeast and put it where the ants are. The ants will eat the brown sugar/brewer's yeast and because of the brewer's yeast, bloat and explode. I doubt it will make a cat explode, but bloating isn't comfortable for man or beast. Many cats crave brewer's yeast. Giving brewer's yeast tablets as an occasional treat is probably not a problem, but keep it to a minimum.

Garlic is used to repel fleas as well. It may very well repel fleas (and of course vampires), but at what expense? Cats can become anemic from ingesting members of the lily (onion) family (onions, chives, scallions and garlic). Why chance anemia? It has been my experience that a healthy cat will repel fleas. My cats (mainly Wiley) have spent time outdoors (with my supervision). He's never brought back fleas. When I go to get rabbits from a local breeder, I'll almost always bring Wiley and usually another cat. They run around on the grounds, in the barns, under the barns, etc. No extra critters come home with us (except frozen rabbits.) I don't feed garlic or brewer's yeast. As with Vitamin C, cats usually don't like the taste of garlic, so why force it on them?

Blue green algae can cause indigestion. Because of their carnivorous nature, cats are not able to digest "blue green" products anymore than they can digest vegetable matter. Blue green algae products can be expensive. Take blue green algae yourself if you care to, but don't feed it to your cats. Plant-eating animals may benefit from this supplement, but not true carnivores like the cat.

Many, many companies and individuals are jumping on the natural health bandwagon. They will try to sell you anything and everything to improve the health of your cat. Even for humans, there's a new miracle vitamin or supplement on the market every day. Miracles are few and far between. Think about what is in the product before you buy it. If it is not something that a cat would naturally eat in its wild state, then it's probably best not fed.

For example, Celeste Yarnell's VM+ Feline Supplement ($19.50) contains bone meal, trace minerals, kelp, garlic, vitamin C, bioflavonoids, barley juice concentrate and lecithin. Except for the bone meal, trace minerals and kelp, the ingredients are probably not necessary for cats. The feline future Instincts TC powder ($11.50 per container that makes five pounds of meat) contains freeze dried egg yolks, bone meal, gelatin, kelp, dulse, psyllium husk powder, taurine, freeze dried glands, vitamin E, vitamin B complex and salmon oil. The psyllium husk powder added as fiber (the prey's hide or feathers would constitute fiber.). The kelp and dulse is added as a source of minerals. Gelatin is derived from bone and cartilage. Everything else would occur in a predator's diet. Supplementation with vitamins B and E is probably not necessary, but they are included because of the depleted nature of modern day life stock (i.e., they are usually not allowed to freely graze on grass in the sun, instead are fed weird food and kept in crowded barns.)

Spend your money on good quality meat and supplements from a reputable distributor (like The Vitamin Shoppe). If you really want to do something healthy for your cat(s), find a source for naturally raised rabbits, or small game birds and feed them to your cat(s). Most of my cats really love the rabbits I've been getting for them. They also love the small free-range Cornish Game Hens I purchase for them occasionally.

The rabbits I've been getting have been a godsend. I was buying locally raised rabbits from the butcher in the North End of Boston. He was giving them to me at a very good price, but it was still pricey meat. The cats didn't get them often. I had the brainy idea one day — I wonder what the breeder does with the babies or adults that die of natural causes? I assumed they were simply disposed of. I conveyed my request to the rabbit breeder (Sonny) that he put any rabbits that died of natural causes in the freezer for me (to be fed to the cats). It wasn't until the end of August of this year that I was able to connect with the breeder.

Since then, I've become a professional skinner and cleaner of rabbits. Young rabbits tend to overeat and become impacted and die at around eight to ten weeks old. There is nothing that can be done to prevent this. An eight to ten week old rabbit is a perfect size for a small cat. I skin the rabbit then grind most of it (including all of the organs and digestive tract) adding what I don't grind in chunks as well as some of the fur for fiber. The cats are so enthusiastic about getting rabbit they'll often try to pull the rabbit carcass away from me while I am skinning it. The breeder does charge me a nominal sum for the rabbits, but it's well worth the price. I also get from him some squirrels and once a chicken that a hawk killed. I can do without cleaning chickens, but the squirrels are a big hit (although they are tough for me to cut up). Now that I have access to such wonderful meat for my cats, I feed little beef. That suits me (and so it seems the cats) very well.

My cats eat very simply, but very well.

I have mentioned in past issues of NRN that I think the hardest thing about making a natural diet for your cat(s) is warming the food to body temperature without cooking the meat. I think I have found an excellent way to do it. I put serving-sized portions of the recipe in cheap one-gallon size food storage bags. When it comes time to feed the cats, I run very hot tap water into a pan or a bowl, then let the storage bag containing the food sit in the hot water for five or ten minutes. It warms very nicely without cooking the meat. My cats have been eating their warmed food voraciously.

Lots of people on the natural cat lists and who write to me have been concerned because their cat(s) vomit their food. My cats rarely vomit. There are many reasons why a cat newly introduced to raw food would vomit.

Cats vomit easily. If the food is new to them, they may simply vomit because it's new (and maybe a shock to them). Just try again later and see what happens. Don't put a cup of food down at once. Offer a tablespoon or two initially. If it stays down, then offer more. Cats often don't like changes and it may make them nervous initially. If you are somewhat anxious about feeding raw meat, then you may be conveying this fear to your cat(s). Cats are able to tune in to our feelings with amazing accuracy. Try to keep calm and have positive thoughts when you feed your cat(s) this excellent diet.

If the food is completely ground, the cat could be eating too quickly which would result in vomiting. I do not like feeding ground meat. It is not the proper texture for a cat. The gum and tooth friction and exercise a cat would get from eating its natural prey source is what keeps teeth and gums in good condition. Ground meat does not provide friction or exercise and a cat that is prone to gorging (eating too quickly) for whatever reason will gorge on ground food.

Some of the diet (using the feline future recipe) needs to be ground so that the supplement can be mixed in so the cat cannot pull out the chunks of meat and avoid the supplement. If you use organ meat, in order for the cat(s) to get some organ meat with every meal, you need to grind the organ meat so it coats the chunks of muscle meat. Ideally, I like to grind the organ meat and maybe a bit of the muscle meat, then mix in the rest of the muscle meat in chunks. When I feed chicken I use chicken drumsticks or thighs, cut the meat off the bone, grind the bone, then chunk the muscle meat and mix that in. If I use liver I grind the liver as well.

A cat accustomed to eating dry or canned commercial food is going to have a difficult time maneuvering (and that is what they do with chunks of food) into position so it can cut the food into digestible (or small enough to be swallowed) pieces. I have never seen a cat get into trouble and choke on a chunk of meat. Often my cats (especially Yukon) will be so enthusiastic about attempting to inhale a piece of meat they'll try to swallow whole a piece that's simply too big. They gag it back up, simple as that. A cat's gag or vomit reflex is very powerful. I always tell Yukon not to try to swallow anything bigger than his head, but he doesn't listen.

I remember one day I was cutting up a small rabbit. That little bugger (Yukon) swallowed (much like a snake would) the whole front leg of the rabbit. I could see the muscles in his neck and stomach constricting to get it down. He's fine. Now, I suppose there's always the chance that a cat could choke to death, but I've never seen it or heard of it. I usually watch my cats eat so I'm there if there's ever a problem. Not that I want to be sticking my fingers in the mouth of a cat to pull out a piece of meat that is stuck. I'd probably lose my fingers in the deal and the cat would hack up the piece of meat as well as my severed fingers.

When my cats were eating mice, they would often swallow them whole (again like a snake would), but usually they'd be cut in half by the cat's scissor-like carnassials teeth then swallowed.

Many cats being introduced to a raw diet will need to have the food ground initially. Ask your butcher to grind it in a chili (or coarse) grind using the grinder attachment with the largest holes and to only grind it once. Ground beef (hamburg) that you purchase in the grocery store is not appropriate and should be avoided if at all possible. Gradually mix in small chunks of meat and work the size of the chunks up to small mouse-sized pieces.

Chicken wings and chicken necks are always recommended to provide gum and tooth exercise and cleaning action. If your cat will eat chicken wings or necks then by all means keep feeding them. Many cats will not eat (fryer or roaster) chicken wings or necks. An alternative is a cut up Cornish Game Hen (buy the smallest ones you can find). This is a more species-appropriate size bird for a small cat. The free-range CGH that you can buy in natural food stores make a wonderful meal. No supplements need to be added when you feed cut up CGH with the bone. Obviously these are very expensive, but feeding them few times a month will be a nice treat. Squab or other small game birds are also great to feed.

If the food is warmed too aggressively and some of the meat is cooked (even slightly) with the rest of it remaining raw, that could cause stomach upset. Mixing cooked food (canned food or baby food is cooked food) as a bribe into raw meat may cause vomiting.

Beef liver can be too rich for some cats. If you are just starting to feed your cat raw food, you may want to add just a pinch of raw liver at first and if it is tolerated, then increase it to the full one-quarter pound. Calf liver may be better tolerated. If beef or calf liver is not tolerated, then resort to cod liver oil or Vitamin A/D supplementing. I understand feline future will be marketing in the near future Instincts TC with freeze-dried liver included in the powder. For the most part, my cats, even those newly introduced to raw food, have had no problem with beef liver. As mentioned above, I'm not feeding a lot of beef these days.

I am somewhat troubled by feeding beef to small cats. While I know nothing of the chemical structure of beef as it compares to the chemical structure of small animals, it simply does not seem to be species-appropriate for small cats. This is why I have chosen to feed a lot of rabbit (and squirrel when I can get it) instead of beef. Rabbit sold in grocery stores or butcher shops can be very expensive. Do some footwork and see if you can't find a local rabbit breeder or a hunter who will give you rabbit (or squirrel) for a reasonable price. Don't go out and buy 40 pounds of rabbit before offering it to your cat(s) to be sure it is accepted.

I did have one cat that couldn't tolerate raw food. It was the red tabby from California. I had a hard time with him. When I knew he was going back to California, I put him back on dry food (which was what he was fed) so I wouldn't have to deal with his vomiting or diarrhea. In my opinion, a cat that cannot tolerate raw food is suffering from chronic disease (which could be addressed with homeopathy). This was another reason why I chose to return him.

Mixing protein sources (i.e. mixing beef muscle meat with chicken liver) can cause indigestion (or vomiting). Adding ingredients other than those called for in the feline future recipe can cause vomiting.

Some cats cannot tolerate or just don't like certain types of meat (such as chicken). When I first got Charya she refused to eat chicken or turkey. I tried to force her to eat white meat (by withholding red meat and just offering chicken or turkey). Eventually she'd eat, but then she'd vomit it back up. Warning bells were going off in my mind over this behavior. I've had Charya now since the end of March. She's been treated with homeopathy from the time I got her. Her most recent remedy was Thuja (a "vaccinosis" remedy). Don't give your cat Thuja if he or she won't eat a particular type of meat. She had been on Sulphur previously. A week or so ago I offered cut up chicken breast (something I usually don't feed, but it was on sale) mixed with supplement. I saw Charya over by the chicken plate (there was red meat offered as well) and I thought she was eating, but I didn't believe it. I looked closer and sure enough, she was eating chicken breast. "It will come back up later." I thought to myself. It didn't. What does this mean? She's getting healthier!

The more varieties of meat you can feed your cat(s) the better for them. If your cat is otherwise healthy and refuses a particular type of meat, then let the cat go without a meal and offer the meal again. Usually that is enough encouragement for them to try the meat they previously turned away from. Cats get very, very hooked on particular types of meat, flavor and textures. Charya had received raw meat as a kitten, but it was only beef, which is all she'd eat for a while. Eventually she turned on to other red meat like rabbit, lamb and goat, but wouldn't eat white meat (chicken or turkey) until recently.

October 30, 2000

Things are much better now. I met my friend, Pam, in Sturbridge last night at the ungodly hour of 11 PM (which with the time change was 12 PM) for a black cat exchange. It is always good luck to get a black cat close to Halloween. Sure beat having him shipped from Kentucky.

Pam's been dabbling with the black cats lately. She had with her the cutest little Bombay kitten I think I've ever seen (besides Wiley of course).

Can't say much about what the new kitty looks like. I got home at about 12:30, got him settled, watched a bit of TV, then peeled my over-anxious females off the wire of the front of the new cat's cage to go to bed. They were very happy to receive a new "boy toy." At least he's the right color. That red tabby business was a bit weird for them.

The new kitty's name is going to be Jo-Ni Nocturne of Blakkatz. I had to look up "nocturne" to be sure what it meant. I came across the name when reading a newspaper. A new vampire film with the title, Nocturne, is coming out. Nocturne is a painting of a night scene; or a romantic musical composition intended to suggest or evoke thoughts and feelings of night. I think it's a great name for a black cat.

Nocturne is scared. I can't blame him. He's seven months old and has never been out of his birth home. He traveled from Kentucky to Philadelphia, spent the weekend in a show hall, then was put in a strange carrier, given to a strange person and carted to Sturbridge, then put in another strange carrier, given to another strange person and hauled to Boston. Poor thing. He'll come around. I kept telling him all the way home he was going to "kitty heaven." Oh, maybe that wasn't such a good thing to be telling him. (grin)

I'll examine him closer tonight, if he'll allow it. He's not used to women handling him. I have to give John Philpot (Jo-Ni Cattery) he breeds nice cats. The head type on this baby is beautiful. He's my kind of cat, that's for sure.

I've wanted this cat for a long time now. He had been slated to go to Japan for most of his life though, so I couldn't have him. The Cat God smiled on me when the contract for his sale to Japan fell through. Now he's mine, mine, mine. I don't have to send him anywhere (as I did Voodoo). I just have to pay for him, somehow.

The job search is going well. I'm now waiting for offers to come through from two different firms. I'm going to miss being a temporary seat warmer. Wish I could afford to work at $19 per hour and continue to temp. It's easy and I've been getting a lot of writing done.

It's been a month since my calm little life was almost destroyed and I've made great progress. In retrospect, getting fired was a good thing. It looks like I'll soon be in a job that will pay a lot more money and be more interesting. My breeding program had been trashed time and time again over the past six months or so. That has been straightened out better than my wildest dreams. The pedigree on Nocturne is so good and he's black and he's a son of Voodoo and he's mine, mine, mine.

Not that I have the right to "own" any of my cats. I don't "own" any of my cats. They share my space and we take care of each other. I don't "own" Nocturne but on paper. What I mean is that I don't have to send him anywhere for breedings nor do I have to bring other cats into my house to breed to him. In fact, he cannot be used for any other American Shorthair breedings other than to my own cats. He can be used for Bombay breedings which I'm sure Pam will take advantage of.

I have elected to stop following the natural cat lists I mentioned in my last posting of NRN. I am not telling you that because I'm not reading them that you should not as well. You should, however, take care not to believe everything that you read on these lists. I got tired of monitoring the lists. Not that anyone hired me for that job, they didn't. I would answer questions, for example, someone posted this morning that they had heard that feeding egg whites could interfere with Vitamin B absorption in cats. Yes, there are studies that suggest that. Yes, in the wild, a cat raiding a nest of eggs would eat the whole egg, white and all. Eggs are not a large part of a wild cat's diet though. If you follow the feline future recipe, two raw egg yolks are added to every recipe so eggs are eaten every day. Egg yolks are added as a means of rounding out the protein and amino acids in the diet. Egg yolks contain all known amino acids. If eggs are fed every day, then using egg whites, when they might interfere with Biotin (a B Vitamin) absorption is probably not a good idea. Egg whites have little nutritional value. A woman on the list who is an "authority" on feeding raw food countered my post. She said that she thought whole eggs should be fed because the egg yolk is rich in B Vitamins and that would counter any absorption problems from the egg white — yea, but if biotin absorption is interfered with by the egg white, how will the biotin be absorbed from the egg yolk???

A few days ago there was discussion on constipation. This same woman stated that she didn't add water to the recipe even though she was using psyllium husk powder. Well, you need to add water otherwise the psyllium husk powder is going to get clogged up in the digestive tract. Apparently she adds vegetables to her diet, in addition to psyllium husk. That, in her opinion, provides the necessary water. Yea, but if you are adding vegetables in addition to psyllium husk to a recipe calling for two teaspoons of psyllium husk powder to two and a quarter pounds of meat, you throw off the protein levels.

Maybe this woman has been successfully feeding a raw diet for 25 years or however long she has been doing it. I believe that if beginners are not provided with an exact detailed recipe, they may be providing a raw diet that is not balanced. Maybe this woman adds more meat to her recipe, maybe not. Maybe her cats are doing just fine. Who knows, but it's not my problem now.

A person on the alternative cat list suggested to another member to add flax seed oil to her cat's food. Flax seed oil is a rich source of Omega Fatty Acids. Commercial cat food is low in Omega Fatty Acids. The problem with this suggestion is that flax seed oil is from a vegetable source and cats cannot use vegetable sources. A better source of Omega Fatty Acids for cats is from salmon oil, a protein source. Well, according to another member salmon oil is too rich for cats and her cats get their Omega Fatty Acid from avocado oil. Another member posted that once the oil is expressed from the flax seed it becomes a non-vegetable source. Okay.

Everyone is free to do what they think is best (as long as it doesn't harm my cats or me) and I have no control over that. I have chosen not to be involved in discussion of cat diets on Internet lists. I also got tired of answering questions when the answers are available on either this site or on the feline future site had the person taken a little bit of time to read. When you are researching an alternative diet for your cats or you, it is important that you do your homework and read everything there is available on the subject. There's a lot of misinformation on the Internet (some of it is probably here).

I am completely confident that I'm doing the right thing for my cats. They eat the best possible diet I can feed them. There's not much more I can do.

October 31, 2000

I've been able to examine Nocturne. He wasn't too happy about it, but he'll come around. He's a male after all, all males love to be fondled. He's beautiful. Every bit as nice as Voodoo was, only larger and with a better pedigree. After all that's gone on here this year, things have turned out better than I ever could have hoped.

Be nice to all black kitties today!

Pictures will come. My camera stopped working. My wonderful friend John, who has a black kitty, fixed it for me. See, people who have black kitties are the best!

Until later ...

Back to the September, 2000 Issue

© 1997-2000 Michelle T. Bernard
Blakkatz Cattery
All Rights Reserved