A Happy Cat-instance

I went out of town and came home to a kitten. This happened to me twice. Seriously. My mother did not like cats. It is one of those questions I wished I had asked her before she died. Why didn’t she like cats? Growing up we only had dogs, no cats. By osmosis I suppose, I haven’t been very fond of cats. Indifferent at best.

While at the Brimfield Antique Show in 2010, my phone pinged and there was a cute kitten picture from my husband, with the text, “look what the girls found”. I immediately called him and was told the girls were playing in the yard and they captured this kitten. I promptly asked what we were doing with it? The response was, ” We will find it a home.”

I returned a few days later and the kitten had a home…..ours. There was a new litter box and the kitten had a collar and a name. Sigh. But she was a cute little thing and the girls were SO excited. I agreed, as long as I didn’t have to clean out the litter box.

About a year later, I was out of town again. This time I received an angry phone call from my husband. He thought the girls were playing nicely and happily running around the yard. But unknown to him, they were trying to capture another kitten. Whaaat? This time he was NOT happy about it and we definitely agreed that this kitten had to go to the rescue shelter. When I got home, the kitten had a name, a collar and a new home…..ours.

At that time, we had 4 dogs, chickens, ducks, rabbits and now CATS!?!? God made kittens cute for a reason. I must admit that these furry creatures did worm their way into my heart. Donovan, a Maine Coon male, is so people friendly and not afraid of anything. Tippy is our prissy, aloof female.

The cats and dogs get along rather well. Donovan loves to play with Cooper’s tail. When the house is cool, they all snuggle together.

Last year, Donovan suddenly became very ill. He was fine in the morning but by dinner time we couldn’t find him. After a lengthy search, we discovered him huddled behind the washer/dryer. I didn’t realize cats could get gravely ill so quickly. Being indoor cats with restricted access to the entire house, I couldn’t imagine what he had gotten into. This is what prompted me going down the rabbit hole with my Google search into cat food and illnesses.

I was surprised to learn that cat food is commonly recalled. And there are numerous articles about the deficiencies of dry cat food. It was rather terrifying to read all the problems with cat nutrition. I was already making our dog food (see blog post here), so how difficult was it to make healthy food for the cats?

Many of you have asked for my recipe for fresh cat food. I have sourced this recipe from The Whole Pet Diet by Andi Brown. I make it monthly and freeze it. We add a big spoonful of this to their kibble twice a day. We also add a few drops of the Beautiful coat oil (see previous blog post here), which helps prevent intestinal blockages.

The cats LOVE it! They lap it up and there is never any left over in their bowls. And we haven’t had any further emergency visits to the vet.

I have to thank the girls for being such good trappers. The cats are wonderful additions to our menagerie. As much as my husband was adamant about not keeping the second cat, Donovan loves him the most.

When I finally get off my feet at the end of a long day, this is a typical scenario. The cat(s) and dog sit on me/my legs and settle in for the night.

The cats have enriched the childrens’ lives as well.

Do you like cats? Out of all our animals, they are the least labor-intensive. But they have added such value to our lives. It’s been a good lesson for me to understand old prejudices, make my own choices and to give cats a chance.