My Cats Believe They are Special

Not too long ago, I took one of our cats in to the vet. Streak become quite thin, and since she's near 17 years old, I feared the worst.

That's Streak at the right, our black and white bundle of "have-to-be-in-the-midst-of everything".

But it turns out that she just wasn't eating as much, probably due to her new dislike of the dry food we'd been feeding her. She's been eating that particular food for years, but apparently her tastes have changed. After a complete check-up, the only problems found were intestinal worms and the early beginnings of kidney disease, typical of older cats.

We wormed her with medicine from the vet, who suggested that we change her food to stave off her kidney disease. We can buy special food from the vet, but at $32 for ten pounds, I decided I be a cat-food manufacturer. The vet gave me the following recipe that is low-protein and low-fat, and easy to make.

It's actually called the Kidney Diet, and can be used for both cats and dogs. This recipe is the right amount for a few cats; you'll want to make more if you are feeding larger dogs.

Kidney Diet

1/4 lb ground beef (do not use lean round chuck)
1 cup cooked rice
1 hard-boiled egg, finely chopped
3 slices white bread, crumbled
1 teaspoon calcium carbonate
also a balanced vitamin-mineral supplement in a quantity sufficient to provide the daily requirement

Cook beef in skillet, stirring until lightly browned. Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix well. This mixture is somewhat dry, and it's palatibility can be improved by adding a little warm water when serving. Keep covered in refrigerator.

Analysis:

Protein 6.4%
Fat 5.0%
Carbohydrate 21.0%

(That's Brutus at the right, our scared-of-nearly-everything cat.)


The vet warned me that it might be tough to convince my cats they should eat their home-made food. She was right, so I added warm water plus a 1/2 teaspoon of wet food, mixed it into a slurry, and all my cats think it's wonderful.

Well,except for Sophia, our torty Persian (below). She refuses to eat anything other than dry food. No people food, no wet cat food - not even chicken or (unbelievably) bacon! She plump and happy to have her dry food, so we haven't tried to convince her otherwise.