[Felvtalk] Food, Bad Jokes, Good Vets

[ROBERT CHAPEL]

First... my apologies to those who did not get IMMEDIATELY that I was 
joking about using a knife to remove Jelly's fluid....  I thought it 
would be a foregone conclusion anyone  one who takes the time to BE in 
this forum would ever do such a thing be it from cruelty or monumental 
stupidity....   Such are the drawbacks of email communication...minus 
facial cues and voice tone...  there are only words on a page.

Re  FOOD:  This is argued perpetually even among vets and animal 
nutritionists... There is the " raw only" camp.... the don't EVER let 
your cat touch grain camp... The ONLY wet food camp... the Use Multiple 
sources of protein camp( don't stay with the same food camp vs...stay 
with the same food camp)....ad nauseum...... I am personally an 
excellent human example of how genetics influences health... I am a 
walking heart attack ( apart from my tendency to like exercise and keep 
somewhat active).. On a limited budget now...and ,even when I had money, 
so seldom home.. I have been eating " wrong" my entire life.. Meanwhile 
a recent Cardiac Vessel Calcium test found my vessels 100% clear ( MD 
says I'm good for 10 more years minimum)... 3 friends that have eaten 
"right" for decades have recently been Dx'd with heart issues... 
Unfair...yes... but fact.    *** The only thing I can somewhat control 
that concerns me a lot is making sure that my cats get enough fluid so I 
try to be sure that they ( he) get some wet food daily in addition to 
the water he drinks.... Don't know that it's a deal breaker but it makes 
ME feel better.
I also subscribe to keeping grains to a minimum since cats are obligate 
carnivores... I doubt that grains are going to kill them but why force 
their bodies to learn to digest something they were not constructed to 
utilize unless you really cannot afford better quality cat food... When 
my family had the most cats ( when I was young) there WERE no such 
specialty cat foods and I had a few VERY healthy cats ( all of them were 
indoor/outdoor kitties so some were taken before their time) who all ate 
the same garbage cat food ( puss'n boots from a can...later tender 
vittles.. and other high grain content foods) and lived to 20 years 
old...  In the shelter our cats are all fed the same diet 
initially....some thrive... others develop diseases within months on 
Science Diet ( their non specialty mid range general cat food)... So... 
I buy the best food I can afford ( and that they will eat) and hope for 
the best... currently my boy ( formerly my boys) is on grain free 
Natural Balance Pea and Venison ( not cheap) and Friskies Pate in the 
evening ( my guy will NOT eat any of the high end canned food I offer 
him and I went through a year of spending LOTS of money trying 
everything so that my sick cat Yogi would eat wet food that had some 
medicine mixed in... Baby Food at 109.00 a night... chicken, pork etc... 
that I cooked myself) Neither would touch " quality" wet food...  Now my 
remaining guy LOVES friskies pate and I LOVE that it costs 50cents a 
can!!!... plus I toss him a bit of whatever meat I might be eating on 
those occassions that I eat meat at home..... Point is... I don't think 
that diet( unless it's particularly horrible)  is going to make THE 
difference in a cats health and to not beat yourself up if you can't 
afford the BEST OF THE BEST... Most of the human population cannot 
afford to eat Doctor recommended diets unless they have fruit trees in 
their back yards and a year round vegetable garden... and if you also 
want to go organic...Hell...why not just buy a second house!!!
LAST on the list....Vets.   I really like the idea of posting the names 
and whereabouts of Vets that we are all pleased with but MUCH more 
interested in learning who the vets are that are willing to prescribe 
Winstrol...  I like my vet just fine but she's close minded about 
Winstrol and that concerns me no end...