My Fellow Kitties,
If you are still around, you have survived the horrors of dying an awful death due to the contaminated pet food scandal. It was discovered too late most pet foods were contaminated with rat poison and/or plastic chemicals.
Your human parents were spared emotional pain worse than all that, which never goes away. My parents said that thousands of owners lost their pets, and there was a lot of sadness in the world. Like The Last Meow and here at Alasandra's and here at Jules.
My parents were deeply thankful I generally turn my nose up at canned food. I have a food rule, if they won't eat it, neither will I, and I test this each time my making them put any new food items in their hands. If they won't put it in their hands, I won't eat it. My new Mommy has cooked for me since day 1, and will never stop.
But I did have a close call in late February.
Sometimes my diet is supplemented with certain commercial wet and dry food. Mommy makes sure the first two ingredients are not corn and wheat or "by products". Mommy is well-aware of how horrible Corporate PetFood can be and reads articles like this all the time.
Despite all this, I usually get Newmans Own, even then I never finish the can. For some reason in February, they decided to try one small 3 oz can of selected other brands, and even Science Diet® Feline Adult Savory Cuts® Ocean Fish. This showed up on the Pet Food Recall list in late March. This is for my afternoon supplement where I eat 1 oz of high grade commercial cat food in case my home made diet misses something. The reason they don't like the cans is because after I eat the 1 ounce, they have to toss the rest of the can: I do not eat left overs.
The weekend I got real sick in late February, Mommy noticed I tasted some then wouldn't go near it afterwards. My next two tinkles smelled really badly, which Mommy noticed right away because she has a keen sense of smell, not as good as mine, but really good. I threw up twice and stopped eating altogether, and even tinkling. Then I crept into Daddy's T shirt drawer. This is really the only bed made up for me, which I never use (I sleep with Mommy) unless something is really wrong.
They keep this open for me, so I can tell them when something is really wrong. Mommy called Daddy: "Mr. Mack is really sick, he's stopped eating and is hibernating in the drawer." Daddy said "He'll be OK, he'll cycle through". But all real Cat Mommies know when to call Animal 911. A vet - any of the ones around here - was out of the question. Looking back, since no one knew what was going on, lots of vets relied too much on useless blood tests until Acute Renal Failure already kicked in, and it was too clear too late, so their choice for me was the best.Mommy went to the closet and held me for hours. She put her hands over my back and my tummy and did something she calls Reiki. She's good at that but sometimes makes her sick too. Then Daddy came to look at me, and realized something was very wrong. He also has healing hands, and held me for a long while. They did this all weekend. They wrapped me in warm towels round the clock, which they heated in the dryer, because I was so cold all the time. Keeping kidneys warm is part of a Tibetan health thing. My face was puffy and my eyes very leaky. I was very limp in their arms and let them do whatever, which was the biggest sign I was very ill, because I limit the time they can pet me. "Just keep his fires going, don't let his fires go out, and keep him drinking, cycling it though." That's what the old time doctors seemed to be telling Mommy. I remember her telling Daddy that she was not sure she could handle me leaving right now.
Mommy began feeding me a bowl of warm water with drops of lime and lemon juice, which she said will flush out my system and it was better it go through my digestive system to keep those fires going. If those fires went out, then other visceral organs would be done for. I eventually started drinking it. She also prepared me a special soupmeal with selected herbal decoctions, and my flowers and of course, catnip, which always takes the edge off. Mommy always brings me flowers.
Mommy says the warm lemon water is a human Ayurvedic remedy and works for smaller mammals. I remember drinking lots of that warm water, and luckily I began to tinkle properly again. Daddy joked that now "the cat wants a cup of tea three times a day."
Four to five days later I began to feel myself again, but I had lost quite a bit of weight. They both know the reason I am still here is I am unbelievably picky about what I eat, and Mommy relies on me to tell her what is good and not good.
It was MUCH later that they - like thousands of others - put two and two together about that weekend.
Daniel Rogan, 12, holds a photo ofhis first kitten, 9-month-old Snowball,who suffered kidney failure and was euthanized two weeks ago after eating tainted pet food.
DAVID GOLDMAN/BOSTON HERALD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
They cannot believe how lucky they were that I stopped eating each can after a few bites so my exposure was limited. The canned food was my afternoon supplement only, not my primary menu, or else I would be on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. I get human grade shrimp, human grade tuna, human grade chicken or human grade red meat, cooked - every day. The canned food and the kibble are just supplements.
My fellow kitties, remember it is your duty to train your parents, by refusing to eat anything your nose and your instinct says is wrong for you. Most of the vets around have some very strange ideas (they get it from SCIENCE) and say some very bizarre things about what cats should eat and not eat. You have to watch out for that, and stick to your guns, training your human parents in your particular feline genetic heritage.
No matter how much they torture you with wrong food choices, remember you must refuse to eat bad food for their own good. Even if your human parents are really untrainable in the Way of the Cat, always remember this: they likely cannot make it through their lives without YOU. You have your jobs cut out for you: home prepared foods only.
On this note, my fellow kitties, I bid you good luck, good health and a long life.
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