Journal allism's Journal: 49 pounds of cat and a skinny dog 3
Just for background - we have four cats and a dog:
1. Snoball - black female cat, 9 years old, 9 pounds. Originally from Colorado, was brought to me in Oklahoma, moved with me to Kansas, then back here to Colorado. House matriarch.
2. ZZ - grey Turkish Angora-type female cat, 11 years old, 8 pounds. My husband's kitty. Wears a "Please kick me" sign.
3. Queso - orange tabby male, 10 years old, 16 pounds 12 ounces, extremely mellow.
4. Phoenix - black male kitty, 3 years old, 15 pounds 4 ounces, nicknamed Alton for his habit of begging in the kitchen.
5. Bella - Australian Shepherd mutt mix, 5 years old. Hit by a car before we got her, almost died, had been living off the land and had *very* bad nervous problems, including diarrhea and vomiting whenever she got excited, but she seems to have overcome it. Blind in one eye, 80% vision in the other (due to genetics) and is forming cataracts which will have to come out in a year or so (in the good eye, anyway). 42 pounds, needs to be more like 47-50, but she was only 35 when we got her.
And now, for the real story:
Queso has been limping for a couple of months, but we've been busy and sick and haven't managed to take him to the vet until Friday. Turns out, he has osteoarthritis in both elbows.
Since we were already there, we took Phoenix in for a weight check too, since he seemed much larger than when we got him last Thanksgiving (from the same vet, incidentally). He weighed nine pounds then, but he'd been hit by a car, had been living as a stray, and had tapeworms, so we expected a little weight gain.
Soooo...we're having to go on regimented feedings. We have been free-feeding our kitties up on a large ledge so the dog doesn't eat the cat food, and free-feeding the dog too. Phoenix gets into the dog food, so we have to stash Bella's food, too. Queso and Phoenix on diet kitty food, Queso getting Metacam for the arthritis (not approved for cats in the US but it is in Europe) and glucosamine (which he isn't interested in), Snoball and ZZ on their regular hairball food, and Bella getting fed when she is outside and during the morning and evening feedings because she is still about 5 pounds UNDERweight.
Queso had gained half a pound from his last checkup 6 months ago, which is why he gets to go on a diet too. I am surprised he had gained weight - Phoenix has been like a breath of fresh air, and he and formerly sedentary Queso constantly wrestle and play like kittens. We joked that Phoenix was just trying to get up to a competitive weight.
I am really glad I work from home. I would have a heck of a time getting all this done in the morning before going to work.
While we were at Petsmart picking up additional food bowls, diet cat food, and outdoor food bowls for Bella, I saw kitties that were twins to Queso and Snoball. We almost ended up with six cats instead of four. My husband had better outlive me, because I think I would end up being one of those old ladies that have fifty cats.
And I am sad that we have moved past the point of being able to have the neighbor's pre-teen kid come over to feed and love the animals when we are out of town. He loves cats and so he hangs out for about an hour in the morning and evening when he pet-sits, and he's *really* smart and pretty mature for his age, but I think we've moved past the point of something a twelve-year-old can handle.
We've just got the 2 cats and the dog... (Score:1)
We free-feed, too.. but the dog keeps eating the cat food when we're not looking, and the cats won't eat high up. We tried.
The cats are a bit flabby, but they get enough chasing from the dog that I think they'll both lose a bit when the summer comes (they're on the 'light' hairball-preventing cat food now).
Re:We've just got the 2 cats and the dog... (Score:2)
Can you put the cats' food in a box with a hole that is big enough for the cats, but small enough that Nulla (am I remembering your dog correctly?) can't get through it? I've seen your (or your husband's) woodworking on your site - you could try it with a heavy cardboard box at first, then build a nice feeding station, I bet you could do a good job of it and then sell them on your websit
Re:We've just got the 2 cats and the dog... (Score:1)
Nulla's not very big herself, is part of the issue... she's only 16 lbs.
I'll have to take that into consideration... see if Ben can come up with something. The dog's sneaky, and if we hear her eating and stand up (to look through the 'window' to the kitchen), she goes to the middle of the kitchen and sits down (so we can't tell what she's been eating.