A Rant - Don't criticise me!! Pedigree cats, Raw Pet food and Catproofing

This week I have had to defend the choices I have made over certain things even when I have not requested the conversation.

Harvey BSH Cream Colourpoint

Reuben, BSH Lilacpoint

Monty, Selkirk Rex Curly Shorthair

Bertie, Selkirk Rex Curly Longhair

Luna, Selkirk Rex Variant

 Firstly, I find it interesting that if you have a hobby no one will criticise you if you spend a bit on equipment. No one will comment. If you choose to own horses or dogs no one will comment should you get a specific breed, if fact you would be deemed to be sensible. Yes indeed, if you are buying a horse for a child you want a breed of horse with a specific temperament and whose adult size you will be able to accommodate. Similarly if you wanted a dog to be family companion you would not choose a dog bred for guarding or with a suspect nervous temperament, you would choose a dog that would fit your house and your household. However even though I have done a similar thing and chosen 5 pedigree cats that are my own hobby and fit into my house I have been criticised for not having taken on rescues and insisting that I have added to the cats that have been abandoned in shelters. No mention that only 7 percent of all cats in the UK are pedigree hardly hitting the heady heights of pedigree dogs!! No mention that responsible breeders have invested so much time and cost into their cats i.e. paying for yearly tests for genetic and other diseases for each of their cats, investing in vaccinations, treatments and costs of feeding that they would do their best to ensure their cats would never find themselves in a shelter, in fact most have a clause in their contract stating that if the cat needs to be rehomed to tell the breeder first and they will take them back. I chose pedigree cats because I wanted to know their temperament, their health and their size. Nobody asked if I also supported/adopted a cat in Cat Protection!!! All I got was someone trying to demean me. Why? I never started the conversation and why do they not question pedigree dogs and specific breed ownership of horses.

Pheasant and Mallard  

Coarse mince 

Chicken hearts left whole

Separately grind chicken liver and kidney coarsely 

To the fine grind add eggs

Supplements, TC feline and Felini Complete

Add supplements

Mix together, supplement fine grind and offal

Add all the good chunked meat i.e. over shot breast

Mix together with lots of additional water

That was my first rant but  in the same week I have had to justify what I feed to the cats and explain the costs. I feel as though I am the odd one out. We are constantly informed that we are what we eat, Jamie Oliver has managed to get the dross of school meals sorted out however when I choose not to feed my cats artificially extruded carcass meat, boiled and dehydrated with sugars and carbohydrates added kibble I am the one who is criticised! Apart from the fact our original cat years ago died at the age of three due to a blocked urethra caused by stones created in urine which was so artificially concentrated due to the permanent dehydration he was in as he could not drink enough to hydrate his body from all the dry kibble!!!

Basics of feline nutrition    http://www.catinfo.org

The pet food manufacturers do not have to follow great standards, there is a base level which they pride themselves on exceeding sometimes. No long term studies. Now we have exploding rates of obesity, diabetes, cystitis and urethral blockage - now where have we seen exploding rates of obesity and diabetes in our society maybe those who have a poor diet. I am happy to feed them a healthy diet to ensure I don't see them in pain at the vets because of the convenience  of dry food. Also I would prefer to use human grade meat and prepare it in a pristine home environment not having to worry about the pet food recalls due to salmonella contamination plus other items such as plastic etc due to the meat having been bought through a Pet food meat broker.

Petfood brokers     http://truthaboutpetfood2.com/sellyourrottenspoiledwastefoodto-pet-food

Petfood recalls       http://truthaboutpetfood2.com/?s=recalls

I then had to argue the costs on top of the health benefit, why? Yes I can feed my cats cheaper than Sheba tins at £5.00kg although my general amount I work on is £5.50kg. I feed five DOCs or 5 mice daily( some will go uggh but that is what we can get closest to their natural diet), the DOCs are 6.5p each and the mice 22p each. Meat can be trimmings or cheap cuts i.e. lamb breast, beef skirt, over shot pheasant, in season game ( rabbit), or special offer super market meat ( Morrisons pork £3.59kg, Beef £5.59kg). All game is frozen for two to three weeks before feeding. The heart, kidney and liver is all offal and really cheap, heart making up around 20% of the meat , liver 5% and kidney another 5%. Cost on top of this are the supplements. So there is my justification, I'm not preaching I did not bring it up but these are my reasons.

An article on costs of kibble, tinned premium, commercial raw and homemade raw -

http://catcentric.org/nutrition-and-food/raw-feeding/how-much-does-it-cost-to-feed-my-cat-or-i-can-afford-to-feed-commercial-raw/

Catproofing

Secure side path

Last of all I even had to stand up for the reasons why I don't let my cats out to roam the streets and have a cat proof garden. Again someone bringing up the subject then almost mocking me as if I was weird. This is a very cultural thing, it seems to be the norm here to let cats roam but not elsewhere. There are many reasons why I don't want them out to roam, we had a cat called Louis who dragged himself back through the cat flap with his whole stomach having been slashed down. I don't want my cat to get involved in an accident with a car either for the injuries he will sustain nor the horror which an accident would cause the person who was involved in it. I do not wish to have to treat abbesses on my cats for when they have been involved in cat fights. Nor see them poisoned with sweet antifreeze that seems to entice them, I don't want hormonal matcho men try to torture my cats nor do I want my pretty cats being picked up and nicked. Also pedigree cats are not bred to have the best car awareness!! None of my cats know what it is to roam so they do not miss it. They have access to a reasonable sized garden which has a variety of plants, shelves and objects to keep them investigating, they have free access through a cat flap and the run of the whole house. They are not terrorised by cats as none have ever got in and none of ours have ever got out. As a result we have the most amazing relaxed cats around.

Comparing indoor and outdoor issues -

http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/adoption-pet-care/caring-for-your-pet/indoor-cats-vs-outdoor-cats.html

Cat proofing hardly obvious in the background

So this is my rant for now, I don't mention or force my opinions on anyone, what I do is research and do what I feel is best for my circumstances if you disagree keep it to yourself.

Cat Proofing the garden

The garden involved was a standard detached back garden, taking into account one side return to the back door it covered approximately 17 6ftx6ft  panels.  I knew I wasn't happy for the boys to be roaming the streets, even though we lived at the end of a Cul de Sac there were too many cars around, free access to a canal and lock where our original cat had cut open a 6 inch gash in his stomach, and it had a public footpath straight down the side of the house.

Angled metal brakets and soft small square netting

We had kept our three cats in intending to keep them as house cats however on reading a forum where cat proofing was mentioned and visiting a show where cat proofing of different types were on display I realised it was an option. One system was exceptionally neat and preferred however when we got a quote it was an exorbitant price, £3,400 for supplying, fixing and fitting. How do they get any customers?? I then got a quote from a company that fitted brackets and netting around the top of the fence and this brought the price of cat freedom to within reason, especially as I felt it was a good use of some of my mother's estate, she would have appreciated it. At £680 and one days fitting we accepted the quote. All we had to do was send photos and from this he was able to tell us if any work needed to be done before he came, and oh yes it did. We set about cutting excess ivy down from the top of the panels and generally pruned down to around two foot below the top of the trellis and panel.

Side gate with Protectapuss protection.

The gentleman from 'Protectapuss' came promptly and carried on working consistently throughout the day. It was interesting to note that he had been a High School teacher but when this sideline took off he decided to continue with this line of work. I can only describe him as a 'gentle man'. At the end of the day we perused the whole garden for weak areas and found none, he kindly left a bit of everything for running repairs if they were needed. The cat proofing extends over a shed as well as a side gate, which has  a neat method of entry.

That evening the cats went out for the first time without us observing them and guarding weak areas. Harvey, as was typical of him, tested the proofing quite a few times. I could see the netting vibrate from inside the house when he had an escape bid. The next day he tried a few less times and since then has only tried the netting occasionally. We've had the proofing in since early April and we can state it has been a complete success and in fact it has all the benefits in that it is not overly obtrusive at all, we don't get any territorial issues from neighbours cats as they can't get in,  nor do we get their 'gifts', and the cats feel very secure in their terratory.