Denim Deb Hay, hay, hay. Thank the Lord!

[BarredBuff]

Whadya up to?

 

[FarmerJamie]

Hey Deb, just wanted to say hello!

 

[Denim Deb]

Spring is coming! I've seen and heard some definite signs of that. First off, I saw a flock of laughing gulls. They're a migratory gull, and I don't see them in the winter. I saw a few the other day. And, while red winged blackbirds are in this area year round, you normally don't see them until it starts to warm up. I've seen a few flocks of them lately. I also heard the mating call of a chickadee. But, the best sign I saw of spring was today. There were people playing golf.

It was extremely cold (for here) the other night. It got down to 7*. It's not supposed to be that cold here in February! I had checked for eggs b4 I went home. Angel kept going in the nesting box and acting like she was going to lay, but didn't b4 I had to go home. She laid an egg later in the day. Temps that cold and eggs don't mix. When I got to the farm the next day, the egg was completely frozen, and the shell had cracked. It's not supposed to get that cold, so hopefully, that won't happen again.

RU got a new boarder today. Originally, she wasn't supposed to come until later in the year, like around the beginning of May. So, I don't know if something happened where she was boarding, or what. I'll admit, when I saw who the boarder was, my heart sank. I knew this woman years ago. And, I'm not overly fond of her. The main memory that I have of her is when she found out I had a horse trailer. She did not ask me if I would be willing to move her horse for her, or if it was convenient. Instead, she said, you need to move my horse for me. You need to be at such and such a place on such and such a date and such and such a time. I told her plainly, I couldn't do it. I was busy. For the record, I have no problem moving horses for friends. I've done it often. But, they have always asked if it's convenient for me, and paid for gas.

After getting our electric bill last month, I started working on getting our usage way down. When the new bill came in, I wanted to see how well I had done. And, if you just compare our usage to the same time period last year, I did real well. The usage was way down, and this was in spite of the fact that it was colder. But, our costs have gone up. So, instead of getting a really small bill, it was STILL expensive. I'll be doing even more to get it down, as well as trim expenses in other areas.

After reading one thread on here, I'm thinking that my itty, bitty, pretty kitty, Rerun, is allergic to corn. I had to switch cat food a few months ago because the store stopped carrying what I was feeding the cats. I had a coupon for Meow Mix, so I tried it. The cats really seemed to like it, so I've been buying that. But, Rerun really started to itch. I thought it was due to fleas. So, I gave the cats a bath, then a couple days later, treated them for fleas. Well, Rerun has been steadily getting worse. So, I started combing them. And, in spite of the flea treatment, I'm still finding quite a number of fleas on them some days. Other days, I hardly find any. But, Rerun will scratch right after I've combed her and gotten every flea off of her that I can find. (I put them right in the wood stove, along w/any cat hair I comb off.) So yesterday, I went in the store and looked at all the cat foods. In the first store I went in, ALL of the cat foods had corn in them. So then, I went into TSC. They had 2 brands w/out corn. I bought the least expensive of the 2. But, that's still expensive, as in over $1.00/lb! So, I'm hoping to make my own. I had an idea. I can normally get roosters and spent hens for just a buck or 2 at the livestock auction on Tuesdays. So, I'm thinking of buying a couple, cooking them up in a large stock pot and making my own chicken stock. Then, I can use the chickens to make my own cat food. I figure it will be a lot cheaper, not only for the cat food, but also for the broth. My DH uses a lot of chicken broth when he cooks, and the stuff goes for over $1.00 a can normally!

 

[savingdogs]

Your cat food idea sounds great, but your cats are probably scratching because of the fleas.

I know that it is not inexpensive, but frontline or advantage which you purchase from a vet is extremely effective on fleas. I don't use it as often as they say you need to. I find if ONE animal in my house is wearing it, all the fleas die. Sounds like you have too many fleas to fight it with baths and cleaning if you are seeing live fleas. Only a small percentage of fleas in the environment are on the actual animal.

But I would buy one of these three products:
Frontline
Advantage
Revolution

Do NOT buy Hartz or products with pyrantel. They can be harmful to cats. But if you purchased these OTHER products and applied them you would probably end your flea problems. Make triple sure they are marked "cat."
I know it isn't very "self sufficient" but to me, those products are like modern plumbing.....they just work great and fleas are too big of a pain to not use something that really works well. I highly recommend Frontline Plus although we only use it sparingly at our house.

 

[Denim Deb]

I got one of those, don't recall now which one it was from the vet. And, it didn't do ANYTHING that I've seen. She's had fleas b4, even worse than this. We had a major infestation years ago, ended up having to bomb the house. But, she NEVER scratched like she is now. She has scabs all over her from scratching. So, I figure it has to be one or the other. And, no matter which it is, w/the price of cat food, I can probably make my own much cheaper, plus get the stock. So, I'll be killing 2 birds w/one stone.

I'm working on doing some major cleaning so I can vacuum the whole house daily. (Can't do that right now.) Plus, I'll be bathing both cats again once that's done. Hopefully between the cleaning, the bathing and the combing I can get rid of the fleas w/out using chemicals.

 

[savingdogs]

Look at the main protein ingredient and the main cereal ingredient in the last brand of cat food you used.
I'd avoid those two things. Most commercial cat food has too much cereal of any kind. If you make your own don't use straight tuna, it doesn't have the right nutrients. My cats would love to eat spent hen!

 

[Denim Deb]

Last cat food I used was Meow Mix. First ingredient was corn. And, since I've switched her to the more expensive feed, I've noticed she doesn't seem to be scratching as much. I just found a thread that Free started on homemade cat food, so I'll be trying it real soon.

 

[savingdogs]

Corn is probably the culprit then.....I'd try eliminating that first.

Animals have to be on a new food for awhile (about a month) before the change to the new food is fully apparent.

Free has probably researched homemade catfood more than myself, I'd defer to her.

My favorite brand to use for my three is Max Cat, but I only buy it when it is on sale.

 

[abifae]

I get Taste of the Wild.

I need to try making food again for my kiddos.

 

[savingdogs]

I like Taste of the Wild for dogs, never tried the cat.