 Purred: Thu Feb 24, '11 12:54pm PST |
 | |  | | Science Diet was considered trendy in those days. Previous to that, Japanese cats had eaten rice with leftovers (miso soup, katsuo bushi flakes, vegetables, maybe some fish) poured on top. Remember, this was the era when there was no Internet, no Catster, no raw advocates (except maybe butchers, who probably threw scraps to their pets), no vet information. They WOULD have lived longer, except that while my vet kept giving them blood panels and we knew that they had kidney problems (yes, could have been the SD, but I haven't seen any data that shows that no cat who eats raw or canned never gets kidney problems), he never suggested any form of treatment. He did give the boy Chinese herbal medicine (which is regulated by the government here, and available only by prescription) for his liver, but that was it. I was ignorant. They were my first cats. I still go to that vet occasionally, because he has a good bedside manner and he's been in business so long that he knows a lot just through experience. And of all my vets, he's the only one who really knows about feline pregnancy and kittening, as he also works in cat rescue. My regular vet is more scientific, but is still young, and hasn't had as much practical experience. I must say, though, that although my cats could have lived longer with a better diet and more aggressive medical care, they showed no signs of illness until a few days before they went. It was a merciful death, for them and me (kidney failure is like pulling an electrical cord out of a socket--electrolyte disturbances cause the heart to stop instantly), and they both died naturally in their sleep.
As for throwing a quail across the floor to engage Kitty's prey instinct--must say that I admire that, although with my back and hips being the way they are, I wouldn't want to clean up afterwards. Maybe if I had a housekeeper... |  |  | |  |
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. This does however, involve a lot of cleaning up afterwards, but you could try making the prey more fun for her that way?
