Category Archives: Living with cats

To grind or not to grind, that is the question

ZORRO : little by little, Claire let us get to raw feeding.

She inquired, read with a lot of interest articles of friends who feed already like that, she still inquired, and to be sure, still inquired. She finally stopped inquiring after 2 years, and to our immense relief, she started.

It’s at the time of preparing our first meal that she had a big existential interrogation : to grind or not to grind ?

It’s necessary to know that raw feeding comes in three variants :

Grinding : all the ingredients are grind together.
Franken Prey : the meat is roughly cut into pieces, and every meal represents artificially a whole prey (meat, giblets and bone) in the good proportions (just like Frankenstein with his creature 😉).
Whole Prey : small preys as chicks, mice, … are served whole. Mother Nature did right, and all the nutriments which we need are present in the good proportions.

Claire chose the Franken Prey model. She also thinks of ordering us frozen chicks as soon as she will have bought a small freezer only for us.

Raw food… It’s as if I had waited for this moment for all my life ! What happiness ! It’s almost as delicious as a sparrow or a mouse freshly hunted !

Pixie is less enthusiastic : she eats two or three pieces of meat then has enough. She likes chicken necks, but is not fan of giblets. That’s going to happen…

A huge thank you to all these people and all these buddies for the quality information we found on their site :

Cornelius & Elizabeth – Meow Lifestyle
Newton, Pierre & Ashton – Sometimes, Cats Herd You
Charlie, Max, Ava, Amber, Coco & Millie – Pawesome Cats
Christy, Echo & Ocean – Christy Paws
Tribu Carnivore
CatCentric
Raw Fed Cats

3 tips to prevent and to avoid hairballs

Believe it or not, we almost never vomit hairballs. We are maybe fortunate, or then we benefit daily of all the measures which allow to reduce this natural phenomenon.

How do form hairballs ?

When we lick ourselves, the small harshness of our tongue collect impurities and dead hairs. As our papillae are directed to the back, hairs are brought in the direction of our throat, and we swallow them. Most of the time, these hairs get through our digestive system with no problem at all, and go out again with our dropping.

However, it can happen that hairs stay in our stomach and eventually agglomerate and form a hairball. Most of the time, it goes out again by where it entered : we vomit a kind of sausage of agglomerated hairs. But not always…

What are the dangers of hairballs ?

If your cat refuses to eat or becomes lethargic, consult your veterinarian : hairballs can cause constipation, or worse, an intestinal obstruction which requires a surgical operation.

Long-haired cats and old cats are the most exposed to hairballs.

How to prevent and to avoid hairballs ?

Make sure that your cat drinks enough : the digestive system works better in a correctly hydrated cat.
Verify that his food contains enough fatty acids, especially Omega-3 : fatty acids help the digestive system to “slide » swallowed hairs towards the exit.
Brush your cat regularly : it’s the best prevention.

Choose the brush or the comb according to the hair of your cat. For short-haired cats, use a soft brush once a week. We love the Furminator (which exists for long or short hairs) at the seasons turned, when our coat changes. If you have a long-haired cat, our friend Cornelius and Elizabeth advise you here.

Are hairballs frequent at your home ? Have you other tips to prevent them ?

Do cats have milk teeth ?

The kitten season has begun, and we asked ourselves the question :

do cats have milk teeth ?

Kittens are born without teeth, and all the momcats on Earth thank heaven for that to happen.

How does kitten dentition develop ?

At about two weeks of life, milk teeth appear, and at about six weeks, the kitten should have a complete dentition of 26 teeth.

Between the fourth and the fifth month, the kittens lose their milk teeth, and these are replaced by the definitive teeth : at first incisors, then canines, then premolars, and finally molars. Most of the time, the kitten swallows the teeth he’s losing.

Claire was very lucky with our angels Loupi and Céleste : she was several time present when they lost a tooth, and she was so able to play the Tooth Fairy (who said she doesn’t exist ?!?).