Addiction Canned Food 3

THE BIG THING: Well, I didn't have any great expections for the 3rd Addiction flavor "Unagi and Seaweed" mixed with Friskies Chicken. And I was right. None of the cats would go near the stuff. They sniffed, Iza licked it, but not even Iza would so much as eat any...

I know that some cats like the Addiction canned foods, but mine sure don't. And I made sure they were hungry when I offerred it. I gave them 1/2 the regular canned food for breakfast each time, and they still didn't want to eat the Addiction canned foods.

Maybe they are just too used to the Purina and Fancy Feast, but I have to say that they just didn't want anything to do with the Addiction canned foods. LC and Ayla had the same aversion to Merrick and Evo canned food.

They like the Addiction dry stuff just fine, though. Apparently, they are all less fussy about dry crunchies. LC considers Hill's Science Diet dry food to be treats, so I reserve it for that purpose. None of them like standard kitty treats (dry or soft).

But they don't seem to like the Addiction dry crunchies any BETTER than Meow Mix or Authority, so I won't be bothering to get the the Addiction dry stuff once it is used up.

Food Review Experiment

THE BIG THING: OK, I have other "Primo" canned cat foods to test along side of the Addiction cans.


On the Addiction side is "Brushtail&Vegetables", "Unagi&Seaweed", "Salmon&Potatoes", and "Venison&Apples".

The other contenders are: "Pro Plan Ocean Whitefish&Salmon", "Nature Salmon, Mackeral, and Sardine", "AvoDerm Ocean Fish", "Blue Spa Select Turkey and Chicken", "IAMS Turkey and Chicken", "Hill's Science Diet Seafood Entree", "Authority Chicken and Lamb", and "Natural Choice Chicken and Lamb".

I will try them each night with a small pure portion of each first , mix it with 75% mixture of regular Friskies Chicken flavor if they don'r like it "pure", and give them pure regular if they don't eat the mix. Don't worry, no cats will go hungry by only being given something they don't like to eat.

The purpose here is to see what they LIKE to eat; not what they are WILLING to eat if starving. I wouldn't do that to them. If we waste a bunch of food for a couple weeks, well that's life. At least I will know what they PREFER to eat.

And I plan to try to incorporate a few home-made foods into the process if I find any good recipes. A local newspaper vet has a recipe for home-made cat foods that would take hours to find all the ingredients for (my area is not big on health-food stores that carry the weird ingredients), but I see no reason I can't try them on poached chicken breasts all minced up, hamburger, ground lamb, and squished whitefish.

Oh my, I seem to be talking myself into a more complicated feeding arrangement than I expected. I better hold off on the REAL MEAT food til later...

I'll stick with the canned food comparison for now...

Tummie Tuesday

IZA: Tummy Tuesday again...


I'm on The Big Thing's lap this time...

Softness

AYLA: I do think I have achieved the ultimate softness. It did take some werk, but I have been directing The Big Thing with firm suggestions ("firm" suggestions for "softness" - I crack me up, MOL!). I have been gradually accumulating improved napping space with available houshold goods...

First, there was The Mattress. Very soft, but not sufficient for my Princess sensitivities. I been sleepin on a pile of socks on the matress fer several Big Moons.


But that wasn't soft enough...

Then I found the "old undershirts". Washed clean, of course. I directed that they be added to The Mattress.


But then, I noticed Skeeter's old kitty bed. No one was using it (not a respect thing, just no one used it). Tonight, I had The Big Thing wash and dry it (gentle wash, no bleach; tumble dry low heat.)


Finally, I instructed that the pile of used socks (again, washed of course) be added to the kitty bed.


I don't think it can get anny softer than that. Besides, anny higher and it might fall over when I hop up on to it fer a nappie. An if Iza tries ta get onit, I will bite her ears...

Ahhh...

Noisey Noises all Evening!

AYLA: It was terrible noisey last night! Oh we hate that. Happens every year at the the start of the hot times! Big Bangs an POPS and Sizzle noises an stuff. We all go run unner the beds an hide. We discuss the cause sometimes. LC thinks the Beins are shooting the food what goes inta the cans for us ta eat. Skeeter used ta think Beins were celebratin his birfday, but she dint think so cause they dint celebrate her birfday that way. Well, shes been around a long time an been watchin Beins a lot, so shes probly right. She does know stuff!

But she hides, so we do too. Experience is important!

The Big Thing sat next ta the bed wif us in the noisiest time and said it was "OK", that he wouldn't let us be hurt. That was good. After it stopped, he crawled unner the blankies and we eventually all came out an curled up around him. We slept good.

LC: Plus, we kept Skeeter in our thoughts all day yesserday, cause it would have been his birfday... In honor of that, The Big Thing was cookin chickens and he kept one piece free of weerd flavors just for us. It was very good! Iza nefer met Skeeter, so I told her what a good brother he allus was ta me and of some of the adventures we had. She liked that and said it would be nice ta haf a brother...

New Foods

AYLA: We hadda new food taday! It was Natural Choice Chicken an Lamb. We aint nefer tasted lamb afore, so we kinna backed away fer a moment. But we kept sniffin it . We all looked at each other like "is this OK ta eat?" Iza started eatin it, then I did. LC watched us carefully. When it was clear we liked it, she at some too.

It wasn't exactly like our Friskies, though. We felt full quicker. And we kept moving around from one bowl to a other.

The Big Thing allus puts our food bowls a little more than a cat-length apart (cause who wants anothers kitty tail swishin in yer face while ya eat?). But we allus eat in the same place. LC likes the left end, I like the right end and Iza eats in the middle. Iza been allowed ta eat wif us again cause she has stopped trying ta eat all our foods. I defended mine, but LC used ta leave when Iza wanted more food. Well, Iza has learned ta be polite and LC has gotten more assertive in protectin her food bowl. So we can all eat tagether again!

Our opinion was that this stuff was pretty good. Almost all meat, ya know? We usually clean the bowls of Fiskies, but we didn't quite with the Natural Choice. But we sure did eat it. And not mixed wif our usual stuff. Just straight from the can.

We could get used ta Natural Choice...

A Nice Day Out Onna Deck

AYLA: Lounging... I love ta jus sit on the deck rail an go half-sleepy. Awake enough that I know when the hummerbird comes ta the feeder and when the squirrels are running round, but half-nappin too.

I was a bit zoned out, though my ears were awake fer innerestin noises.

As ya can see I was slowly noticin The Big Thing was takin pictures.

I tried ta ignore him...


Its not easy bein so photergen, um phottoergen, drat, picture-friendly as I am...

LC: I totally nap-out on the deck. I dint even know about these pictures until I saw them on the computer. I was totally snore-city-kitty at the time...

Annything Can Be A Toy

IZA: Annything can be a toy ifen ya put yer mind to it! The Big Thing has these boxes of nose-blow tissues, and sometimes they get empties. He usually stomps them flat and adds them to the big box of old noospapers. But He dropped one a few days ago and I pounced it afore he stopped on it.

Ya see, it got a neat slot fer pawin into and I hadda blast doin that fer 2 days. TBT was amazed.

So he watched me fer awhile, and got the great idea of pushing a ball inta it. WOW, 100 times better toy! I pawed inta that box fer hours tonight. But I kept pullin the ball out (it was a practice "golf ball" wif slots init and I hooked it out wif my claws). So he changed that fer a smooth rattley ball. That was funner. But I finally got THAT out. So he put it back in an taped cardboard on the opening ta make it too narrow ta get the ball out.

That is my favrit best new toy ever!

Addiction Canned Food 2

THE BIG THING: This morning, I tried mixing 25% of the Venison flavor with one of the standards. LC and Ayla ate a small amount and Iza ate a 1/2 bowl, though she kept walking away and returning to it. It was clear she was hungry, but didn't like the Addiction Venison added to the regular food. She made covering pawings at the bowl. I relented and gave them some regular unmixed Friskies. They ate it all.

Tonight, I tried the "King Salmon&Potatoes" flavor on the cats. None of them would eat the least bit of it.


Again, I tried adding a 25% to their regular stuff. No go! Not even a few licks. That surprised me, I figured salmon would be a hit. After a half hour of begging from them, I rinsed out the bowls and gave them pure "regular". Friskies Turkey and Giblets this time... They licked the bowls clean.

It might be the strange vegetables mixed with the meat. What cat wants to eat apples or potato?

Two flavors down, two to go. I think I will wait a few days to try the others... I still have 1 of each Addiction flavor and I have an idea. I will buy individual cans of other "primo" (expensive) brands and see if they fare any better with the cats. And I will use a standard chicken flavor of Friskies to mix it with each time.

Well, maybe they are all just addicted to Friskies... ;) At least that would be a control factor to the experiment.

But so far, the Addiction canned foods are not popular here.

Addiction Canned Food

THE BIG THING: Well, I finally opened one of the canned Addiction foods. This one was "Venison with Apples". Keep in mind that LC is a picky eater in her old age, Ayla is a pretty enthusiatic eater, and Iza will eat ANYTHING (and all that is available).

LC sniffed it and walked away.

Ayla tasted it and walked away.

Iza sniffed it, nibbled some, and walked away. But she was hungry (perpetually) so she came back. She took another nibble and walked away again. I tried to encourage her to eat it, but she wouldn't.

I finally opened a can of some regular stuff that isn't their favorite and they all chowed down on it.

The Addiction Venison is a "paws down" by all of them. And quite frankly, if Iza won't eat it, it can't be much good.

Tomorrow, the "King Salmon&Potatoes" flavor...

Sparrow Toy/Foods!

[THE BIG THING: Warning: If you love baby birdies, don't read further ...]

LC: Oh Bast, you bountiful goddess... The Big Thing brought 4 baby sparrows into the house (and he fergot ta take anny pictures) and dumped them into the bathtub... He hates those invasive English sparrows that nest in the Purple Martin houses.

It sorted out who was the lethal hunters. I got 3 of them. Ayla got 1. Iza had no clue. Oh she batted one around fer a couple minutes, but she didn't know what to really do with it. So I had to take it away from her (and whapped her hard fer being so dumb). That was my 3rd... They screeched SO nicely.

Baby birdies are SWEET!

Iza The Chewin Machine - Part 2

IZA: I love ta chew on stuff. One day The Big Thing woke up and found toofmarks all around the flaps of a box.

But I specially like noospapers, magazines, an tablecloths.

I got caught in the act taday! I dont get punished fer it or annything, but The Big Thing says mebbe I better start leaving the table clothing alone.

Plannin my attack of the fuzz unner the plastic table clothing...


My attack! I pull fuzz out.



Then I start pullin down noospaper.


Chew, chew, chew...



I finally just shove my face init and chew away... Ahhh.


Nothin better than chewin noospaper. Well, mebbe The Big Thing's Fingers...

Iza The Chewin Machine - Part 1

IZA: I love chewin on stuff. Magazines are especially fun cause they make noises when I chew and tear. Thats why one of my nicknames is "Chewmaga"! Annyway, The Big Thing tries ta protect his magazines.

He dint know that I dragged one inna corner where I couldnt be seen. I made a mistake though. I started werkin it over good when he was in the room. I stopped as soon as I realized he was there, but it was too late.

He reached unner the place I was hiding it an pulled it out. Its a good thing it wasnt a "keeper". He saves most of them fer some reason. [TBT: I save 2 woodworking mags plus Consumer Reports and Organic Gardening. The weekly science mag is not that useful to save] Here is what he found!


I went over ta show him my teckneek.


When he said I might as well have that one, I settled down ta admire my werk (and guard it from Ayla)!

Iza Box Trap -Part 2

AYLA: I gotta NEW idea, heh,heh...

If I cant trap Iza INNA box, I'll get her UNNER a box. The Big Thing was talking about a way ta get bunnies days ago, an I suddenly realized I might catch Iza that way...

If I cant trap her INNA box, mebbe I can trap her UNNER a box. An then jump on it...

Afternoon: So I dragged the box out ta the livin room, wrapped some string around something ta hold the box up, pushed a toy unner it, an waited out of sight.

She almost fell for it, but she pulled the squiggle out instead of pouncing it as usual; the box fell. That dint werk...


I set it back up and looked it over carefully. I figured there was some flaw. I checked the pull string. Nothin wrong there.

I efen checked inside the box fer "danger smells". Nothing there.


Evenin: When she went away, after playing with the squiggle fer a long time, I set it up again usin a toy she couldnt pull out so easy.


She almost went for it, but whapped the toy out again! Knocked the box flat, but she wasn't unner it.


Night. Im nothin if not persistent. I hadda try somethin new. I amembered she liked sittin in the laundry basket, an it was sittin at the top of the stairs waitin ta be used. So I used it. It took lots of head butts ta get it where I wanted it and upside down. An it took some werk to lift one end onna the string-pull thing. But I got it as I wanned it.


It werked SO GREAT. I jangled her little rattley ball unner it an she ran right in! Pulled the string, down came the laundry basket!


Yay! I caught Iza!

An wouldn't ya know, just as I jumped up to sit on the basket an keep Iza trapped, The Big Thing came up from the basement (needin the laundry basket) and gave me a severest "get down" command (I wont repeat it, but it sends chills ta the bones). I bolted fer unner the bed fast...

Oh well, at least I did trap Iza, an I had lotsa fun doin it.

Tummie Tuesday

IZA: Another tummy tuesday picture. I am SO RELAXED!



The Big Thing laffs that I can sleep wif a leg lifted right off the surface. I laff that he cant...

It doesn't look it, but my right rear leg is "floating".

Countdown Clocks

We gotta ask... We used ta have countdown clocks fer our Gotcha Days and Birfdays. But a couple kitties said they couldn't load our bloggie cause of them and we dumpted them. But we wanna show countdown dates fer Gotcha an Birf Days. We looked at lots of blogs an dint find any.

So does annykitty have them what doesnt cause trubble for Blogger or ofer readers?

--------------

And a separate subject... The Big Thing has a blog of his own an he allus tole us not ta mention it cause it was political rant stuff. But he deleted all that last month an made it a home an yard project bloggie. Some Beins knit or quilt, some travel, some write stories or songs. He does home and yard stuff. So, ta make a long tail short, we are now allowed ta mention his own bloggie.

Ya won't belief this, but he does not call hisself "The Big Thing". That is just our name for him. His own bloggie name is "Cavebear" an his own bloggie is Cavebear's Lair

Go visit it iffen ya want. It doesn't get us anny extra toona or ham either way. In fact, we hardly know what he is talkin about most of the time (well sometimes he builds stuff fer us, an THAT matters).

Fathers Day

ALL OF US: We just wanned ta send a greeting -

HAPPY FATHERS DAY
TA ALL THE KITTY DADS
OF THE BLOGOSPHERE!

(Thats to kitties that are dads themselfs and Beins what are dads to kitties)

We celly-brated it by all snugglin up ta The Big Thing first thing this mornin an we tole him he can have shrimpses fer dinner and dint have ta even give us anny (but he better annyway)!

The Iza Trap Box

AYLA: The trap box dint werk out so good. I carried her favrit rattley ball in the room, shook it, and dropped it inna box. She ran right in and jumped inna box. It wasn't tight enough, cause she rolled all round in it and leapt out wif her ball. Drat. I need a smaller box. Mebbe one wif flaps I can fold over an sit on fer awhile... Mebbe I can drag one ta a spot where I can push somethin heavy onna the flaps...

International Box Day

AYLA: I decided ta be the BOX PRINCESS fer taday. I chose a good one. Not too big or too small, just right.


Ya know, iffen I could Iza in here, she might get stuck...


I could shake one of her rattly toys then drop it in... Yeah, that might work. He-he.


Why am I doin this, again? Oh, right, an Iza trap.


No toys, no treats in sight. Hmmm...


OK, Im done wif this. Time ta go find bait fer the box...

Thursday Thirteen Things - Eatin an Sleepin

We got ta thinkin about our differences. So we came up wif a list:

1. LC eats her food slowly.

2. Ayla eats fast but not much.

3. Iza eats fast, a lot. and then tries ta eat all leftover food (efen if someone is still there eatin). So she gets her dinner in a closed room an hasta stay there until we leave our bowls.

4. Iza is only a year old an weighs 10.5 pounds!!!

5. LC wont be a lap cat, but will come up next ta The Big Thing only when he hides most of hisself unner the blankets. An then she likes ta curl up "just" outta reach.

6. Ayla will curl up ON The Big Thing when he is unner the blankets, sittin up in bed, or when he is sittin onna chair with his legs stretched out onna ottoman.

7. Iza likes ta sleep in the bottom corners of the bed against the wood frame when The Big Thing is sleepin.

8. Ayla likes ta walk around The Big Thing inna bed constantly.

9. Then she likes to make biscuits on sensitive Big Thing parts...

10. LC loves ta paw the water bowl, them come up an shake her wet paws at The Big Thing's face. This gets her scritches.

11. Ayla likes ta lick The Big Thing's nose when he is asleep. Amazingly, this gets her scritches...

12. LC can get up and off the waterbed wifout makin anny waves. We cant (Ayla and Iza).

13. We know ta sleep on opposite sides of him, cause that makes him haf weerd dreams where he cant move (Ayla and Iza). So sometimes he gets up an we get breakfast early. Usually not though.
----------------

Now, about my birfday! When LC an Iza were both happen ta be outside, I got shrimpsies and ham!


The shrimpsies were fantastic! The ham was all little slices TBT uses fer sand witches and wasn't a good picture. But I loved it. The nip comes out later tonite fer all of us.