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Protest Kitty
Jun. 8th, 2018 01:45 pmY'all, Chelsea has become an activist. She staged a hunger strike until I gave in to her demands and bought her Friskies. If she'd had opposable thumbs, I have no doubt I'd have come home one day to find her marching with a sign that said "Friskies or bust!"
Let me back up. When we went to the vet in January, she was 11.6 lbs, which is not terrible for a cat, but she'd been gaining about half a pound every year for a couple years now, and since she is getting up there in years (she's 11 now!) the vet mentioned that we'd have to be more careful about diabetes. And let me tell you, Chelsea is the WORST at taking medicine, so there is NO WAY I am giving that damn cat insulin.
So, since I can't afford a kitty-sized treadmill, we went with the next best thing: a diet. I typically just feed her once a day, eyeballing the amount, and let her eat what she wants, but I started measuring it out on the vet's recommendation. At first, she was gobbling it up and licking the bowl clean and meowing for more, but after a while it seemed like she adjusted.
Then I noticed she was eating less and less, but I didn't really worry until she stopped eating almost completely, and she was down to 8.5 lbs. (My mother asked how I knew this. Obviously, I weighed myself, picked her up, got back on the scale, and subtracted, lol.) I wondered if it was a medical issue, but she seemed completely fine otherwise. And she clearly had an appetite, because she'd eat kitty treats and any people food she could get her little paws on. It occurred to me that maybe she was having trouble eating the hard kibble, since she did have those teeth problems a couple years ago. She's never really liked the canned food, but she'd eat it if she was starving.
Before I tried that, though, I bought a bag of Friskies. I know she likes them, because that's what she eats at my parents' house (it's basically the cat equivalent of grandparents feeding the kids sugar when they babysit), so if she didn't eat that, either, I'd know there was a problem. And lo and behold, Chelsea is eating again. Turns out, there was nothing wrong with her. She just wanted Friskies.
I've been trying to buy her the healthier, grain-free varieties of cat food for a few years now, but I don't always get the same brand. And apparently whatever I've been buying the last few times I went to the store, she was NOT happy with, so she'd just decided to stop eating until I bought the damn Friskies. Feline Gandhi is quite pleased with herself now. I cannot wait to tell the vet.
Let me back up. When we went to the vet in January, she was 11.6 lbs, which is not terrible for a cat, but she'd been gaining about half a pound every year for a couple years now, and since she is getting up there in years (she's 11 now!) the vet mentioned that we'd have to be more careful about diabetes. And let me tell you, Chelsea is the WORST at taking medicine, so there is NO WAY I am giving that damn cat insulin.
So, since I can't afford a kitty-sized treadmill, we went with the next best thing: a diet. I typically just feed her once a day, eyeballing the amount, and let her eat what she wants, but I started measuring it out on the vet's recommendation. At first, she was gobbling it up and licking the bowl clean and meowing for more, but after a while it seemed like she adjusted.
Then I noticed she was eating less and less, but I didn't really worry until she stopped eating almost completely, and she was down to 8.5 lbs. (My mother asked how I knew this. Obviously, I weighed myself, picked her up, got back on the scale, and subtracted, lol.) I wondered if it was a medical issue, but she seemed completely fine otherwise. And she clearly had an appetite, because she'd eat kitty treats and any people food she could get her little paws on. It occurred to me that maybe she was having trouble eating the hard kibble, since she did have those teeth problems a couple years ago. She's never really liked the canned food, but she'd eat it if she was starving.
Before I tried that, though, I bought a bag of Friskies. I know she likes them, because that's what she eats at my parents' house (it's basically the cat equivalent of grandparents feeding the kids sugar when they babysit), so if she didn't eat that, either, I'd know there was a problem. And lo and behold, Chelsea is eating again. Turns out, there was nothing wrong with her. She just wanted Friskies.
I've been trying to buy her the healthier, grain-free varieties of cat food for a few years now, but I don't always get the same brand. And apparently whatever I've been buying the last few times I went to the store, she was NOT happy with, so she'd just decided to stop eating until I bought the damn Friskies. Feline Gandhi is quite pleased with herself now. I cannot wait to tell the vet.
