[Akari_32]

Well, apparently, I’m a genius and didn’t read past the 04/20 on the expiration date, because the year on the $1 off coupons were 2011 LOL They weren’t mean about it, though. Besides, its not my fault they even took them the first two times lol They should have looked at the expiration date, too! Oh well, I’ll get more that aren’t expired eventually XD

It is hard to feed canned food with out fish in it! Even the chicken, and other “non-fish” flavors have fish! Thats why I sat on Friskies website and went through every single flavor, and picked only ones with no fish. The first list wasn’t very long, maybe only 3-4 other flavors. I couldn’t believe how many had fish of some form.

Named anything is hard to find in Purina– you can’t expect much of them LOL I would like to see named products, don’t get me wrong, but when you’re buying 52 cans of cat food for $16, you can’t ask for much :p

My list got as far as those three, right now. I’m doing my homework early, so on Tuesday, when I’m in between classes for an hour and half, I will add more. I’m going for less than 2% carbs using this calculator (http://www.scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html ), but I wont go over 2.5% if I can help it. It seem so t work pretty good for dry food, too.

I did see that, Jake. I have Wellness, and other brands as well, though, so it should be ok. He seems to still be having some problems, and today is the last day of his medicine, but he’s much better, even still. Maybe it’ll help him…? We still have to go back to the vet and get him fixed and whatnot anyways.

[Akari_32]

Oh, I almost forgot! I got 51 cans of Friskies (a case each of the Special Diets and a few cans of the Senior Diet) for $16! 😀 I realize now I should have gotten an even number, but oh well lol

[Akari_32]

That’s exactly why I went through and narrowed it down to all the flavors that didn’t have any fish at all. I don’t want him to have fish every day. Every now and then, sure whatever, but I’m looking for foods that can make up the bulk of his diet right now, until I figure out this cat food thing. It’s a little different than dog food lol

[Akari_32]

I’ve been scooting around the net this morning narrowing down what flavors of Friskies are semi-acceptable. They cannot have any fish (that right away knocks off over half of the flavors lol) and they must have less than 2.5% carbs, which brought me down to only three flavors:

Senior Diet Meaty Bits with Lamb and Rice (I was surprised a senior food made the cut!)
Special Diet Classic Pate Beef and Chicken Entree
Special Diet Classic Pate Turkey and Giblets Dinner

I’m working in a list of Authority, but I was looking at them and they all have fish!! Am I being too paranoid? Its not like they are first on the list or anything, but still… Its not that I’m trying to completely avoid fish, its that I don’t want to feed it very often, given the problems its said to cause. Every now and then, sure, whatever, but I don’t want him to be eating it on a regular basis. I mean, when I bought all that Wellness yesterday, I did buy maybe 10 cans combined of Tuna and Turkey & Salmon, because I needed to bring my total up to use my coupon.

[Akari_32]

Got more cat food today! They wouldn’t take anymore of my coupons, but they did let me use the $10 off $25 PetLand coupons Aleksandria gave me, so I ended up with 34 5.5 oz cans for $17. That’s 50 cents a can! Just as cheap as Friskies :3

[Akari_32]

Tractor Supply is just far enough away that we don’t ever go. Takes maybe 30 minutes to get there in a direction we rarely go. Bleh 🙁 lol It sucks because I want to try the dogs on their grain free food! Oh well, I guess lol

I have a website I visit that puts up just about every coupon that hits the internet (printablecouponsanddeals.com), but I do usually check company websites too, just in case. Some times, too, the website and the company sites use different methods of tracking your printing, and you can print coupons from both sources :p

[Akari_32]

Ok, so I’ve portioned out the cans so that he’s eating the recommended amounts off each can a day. The Sheba pate he only eats 3 cans of a day, which is awesome, but it’s pretty expensive, and Friskies is fed in the same amount, and they look pretty similar, other than the price (60 cents for a 3 oz can of Sheba vs $1 for a 13 oz can of Friskies. Just sayin’….). But anyways, I tried to work it out so that after he eats 5 cans of the Wellness, he only eats 3-4 cans of something else, then 4 cans of something else-else, and then back up to tons of wellness. Like, I work him up to the wellness, and them give his tummy a rest from all that food with just a little the next day. The biggest problem with this wellness is that it’s slices and not pate, which is why the calories per can is so low. Anyways, he gets a diffrent brand every day, rather than every meal like I was doing. It’s easier to keep track of how much he should be eating.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/9FD1E8DB-4CED-450D-A391-5E6043745F9E_zpsxxrclkwh.jpg

The sad thing is, this is only 15 day worth of food :/

[Akari_32]

Pet supermarket LOL I think I will go back tomorrow. I get off work 3:45 for once, instead of 10:15. There’s were TONS there, still. I hope the extra 25% off wasn’t a today-only thing. I went the other day and did the same thing and didn’t get that 25% off… Hmmmmmm

[Akari_32]

Alrighty! Got some stuffs for you guys. Well, stuffs for me, and stuffs to tell for you :p

Did a coupon trip, and got three 6 pound bags of Blue walnut litter for $8, and all of these:

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/C2F9528D-560F-4630-94D8-59017FE43EC2_zps26oy4uae.jpg

For a whole 70 cents! 🙂 took bad it’s only 4 days worth. This stuff is so calorically inefficient it’s ridiculous! TWO of those big cans don’t even feed him for one day. Geesh! I may or may not go back for more. It’s such a good deal (97 cents per small can, plus an extra 25% off, PLUS $1 off each can coupon, or 1.37 for the big cans, plus 25% off, plus $1 off each can coupon– makes the big cans 97 cents a piece, before the coupon and tax!!), but at the same time, he’d need 18 oz of this food a day! We’ll see…. Lol

[Akari_32]

Well, I didn’t realize the stuff was scented when I grabbed it. It was that new Cats Pride recycled stuff. Had a nice $5 off coupon on it, which made it half off, considering its price tag for how small of a bag it was. Mom and I are sensitive to perfumes (have to be careful with bathroom and cleaning products), and it was killing mom. I actually didn’t mind it, unless he as just went, and the smell of cat pee/poop mixed with flowers filled the house. That was gross lol

How often should I be changing the litter out completely, though? Its a pretty big litter box, but he’s a big cat lol Right now I have Tidy Cats (I just got it last night, to get rid of the rest of the Cat’s Pride, which I had actually mixed with a box of Arm and Hammer to try and dilute the smell). One of the ones in the big bucket-tub-things. I actually like how light it, even though its a clay litter. Its easy to scoop with my cheap litter scooper (stupid dollar store litter scooper lol). But its $13 a tub, and the tub looks like it’ll only fill the box up twice. $6 a week on litter sure is a lot. I’ve already spent about $15 in the last couple weeks trying to get rid of this stupid scented crap (not including the Tidy Cats I just bought)! I may move along to something like World’s Best, thats made to be used for a month. Thats only $8! lol

[Akari_32]

Lol Its not, really, thats just what we call it. Its were ALL the snow birds go. Its terrible @.@ The hospitals are so full this season that they are turning away everyone that isn’t an emergency. Stupid snow birds need to move along! Just send us your money in the mail, and stay home! LOL

[Akari_32]

So heres an interesting bit. I was texting mom yesterday, asking what kind of litter she wanted me to pick up (scented litter is yucky! Waste of my money!), and she asked me if the cat was drinking more yet. I told her that cats don’t really drink, and of course being the know-it-all she likes to be she came back with “oh yes they do! lol”. Being the actual know-it-all I am (ok, not really, but at least in the pet department lol), I told her that cats only *learn* to drink, because they have to. I mean, for all we know, this cat has lived outside his entire life. He doesn’t know how to drink from a dish, nor does he seem to care to learn. Anyways, I turned the iPad on so I could get some wifi for my lap top, and when I unlocked it, up popped a Google search: “How much water do cats drink?” Clearly she cares, on some level, for this cat, so his chances of staying past his 30 day deadline are very high 🙂

Anyways, I’ve been feeding him 3-4 times a day (the Science Diet just doesn’t fill him up, poor guy), and I’ve been adding water to every meal (usually about matching the 3 oz can). I only managed to squirt his meds down his throat once, and after that, he was on to my game, so I’ve just been putting it in his food. He’s been peeing much more, and in much larger amounts, which I assume it good. I don’t know much cats are supposed to pee, but its about as much as Bentley does, maybe more, I would say.

Random question, how often do you guys change out your litter boxes? I scoop one or two times a day. The way my sister does it, she doesn’t scoop, and cleans hers out weekly, (gross and expensive!). That doesn’t sound like the best way to do it…

[Akari_32]

I’ll just let you guys figure out what my hobby (singular LOL) is. I have 3 dogs (ok, two, but I care for the other one, because his “mommy” works out of town 4 days a week), 4 reptiles, 5 aquariums from 6 to 50 gallons (and a major upgrade to a 100 gallon is probably in my near future! Yay!), 2 ponds of 125 and 150 gallons, a few thousand mealworms and darkling beetles (for the reptiles) and I recently acquired a cat. I takes me about an hour an a half to get to bed every night, making sure every one is fed, reptile tanks are clean, everyone has water, and so on. I pretty much go to work or school in the morning, depending on the day, then come home, do some cleaning up after the animals, feed them all and go to bed LOL In between classes, and on my lunch breaks at work, I’m surfing fish and reptile forums (and DFA, obviously), and researching the next brand of food I want to try everyone on next. I pretty much work to feed my pets, and go to school so I can afford to care for them even better later on, as well as care for others (going to school to be a vet!) 🙂

Actually, today, I picked up a book for the first time in years (The Hunger Games. Its pretty good! I’ve already seen both movies though lol)! God I miss reading! I used to play piano and trumpet, but since I no longer am taking piano lessons, or in band, and I can’t read music worth a crap (7 years combined of playing piano and trumpet and I STILL can’t read music??), that’s faded away, but I still can’t resist playing my favorite songs on a store’s keyboard, or breaking out my trumpet when I’m cleaning my closet (I’m horrible at it now LOL) :3

I guess one thing I really love that I don’t get to do often, given where I live and fiances, is hiking. I love being in the mountains, but nooooooo, I live in stupid Florida! lol I do try and get out to the closest state park when I can, but its a 45 minute drive through the old person capitol of the world, and it costs like $5 to get in after that. I don’t mind paying to get in (I practically grew up there, and I love it), but the drive alone is enough to keep me away, especially in season! Dang snow birds can’t go the speed limit….

I do love to travel, though, and every year or two, my mom, grandma and I take a girl trip to somewhere we’ve never been before. I’ve gotten to see a good portion of the US, including Alaska. My friend and I talk about taking a cross country road trip one day, and I’d love to go back to Alaska. It was by far my favorite trip! If I’m ever rich, I’m gunna do tons of traveling 🙂

[Akari_32]

The 4 pound bags of original CORE for for 13.99 here, so that’d be a great deal! Let me know how it goes for you 🙂

Awesome, Bobby! There’s lots of good couponing tips in that one :p

[Akari_32]

Hehe, thanks :3 Coupons can be stressful, but they’re so much fun!

It doesn’t work that way, sweetie LOL The manufacture chooses to sell their product to the store. They are the ones that make the rules 😉

It’s up to the store if you can use a store or competitor coupon along with a manufacturer coupon. Most will, as long as you don’t go over board.

[Akari_32]

Haha, go ahead! I don’t mind :p

Did you use the BOGO coupons for the Signature Select? I have those as well, and was going to use them, but I found the $1 off and used them instead :p I’ll go back and get more (of both), though. These cans are tiny and he could eat them all in one sitting lol

[Akari_32]

The $5 off ones reset monthly, which means you can click the print button twice every month (but your printer should override the sites coupon program, and you can tell it to print however many coupons you want), and then in a month, you can do it all over agin. I usually print 10 coupons per click.

I tried to sign up for the Holistic Select, but their site hates my iPhone. I’ll have to do it on my computer Thursday at school. 🙁

Isn’t he funny?? I love how he went cross eyed LOL

It depends on what store I shop at, and even what manager is there and who checks me out. The manager at PetSmart hates me, and the big boss manager at Pet Supermarket is the only one there that likes me (all three managers were there today when I went, and the other two make using coupons so complicated– only one of each kind of coupon per order, and you can’t use two coupons for the same item, blah blah blah). He let’s me do whatever I want, as long as I don’t do anything that will make them loose money, which I don’t. The manager at PetSmart doesn’t let me do anything anymore. When I use $4 off $20 coupons and other coupons, she makes me use the other coupons first, and then if my order is less than $20, I can’t use my $4 off coupon, which is total crap. I’m very close to reporting her to corporate. There are a few cashiers there that don’t care though, and I try to go when they’re there, and avoid the cranky lady lol

No, you can’t use two manufacturer coupons for the same item together lol Stores make 8 cents off every manufacturer coupon, but ONLY if the restrictions are followed. So, if you use a $5 wellness coupon, the store will get that $5 back PLUS 8 more cents. If you used the $5 off coupon and the $3 off coupon at the same time, the store would loose $8, rather than make 16 cents, and they’d hate you lol

[Akari_32]

Or you could be a cool kid and print out the $5 off Check Your Bag coupon Wellness always has and have $10 off any bag :p

[Akari_32]

Wellness resets all their coupons monthly, so, yes you can print it out again later 😉

[Akari_32]

35 cents! Yay! 😀

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/54A92325-0028-48DA-927C-D700656ACB6D_zpsnqwqmdz1.jpg

[Akari_32]

I just don’t even XD

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/118864D6-FC58-4DD7-906D-894ED329D1F9_zpsnscs1a3g.jpg

[Akari_32]

I get the wellness coupons emailed every now and then, but not monthly. Weird. I’ll just go resign-up for it LOL To get their $5 off bag ones you just do the “check your bag” thing, and then print out a crap-top of them :p Who needs the $3 off when you have $5 off??

I’ll sign up for the holistic selects, thanks! My lps carries that brand. I’ve signed up for most of the brands that are carried around here, as well as PetPerks, VIP, and Pals lol

Don’t be jealous of my words :p

[Akari_32]

Found an AWESOME coupon! Free kitty food for me! Whoop whoop!

http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/wellness-can-sample.pdf

Also, turns out its the Grreat Choice version of Friskies that had corn in it. I also found a 12 pack of the 13 oz cans of Friskies for like 7 bucks at PetSmart. Score!

[Akari_32]

I guess 11 pounds isn’t really that big, but still LOL

The only think I’m not too fond of with the Authority is that some of them have corn-something (gluten, maybe? I can’t remember exactly) in them. But if its a good price, I’ll go for it, and just make sure I don’t get those ones. Of course, I’m on PetSmart’s website trying to figure out which one it was, and I can’t seem to find it, so maybe they just changed it…? lol

[Akari_32]

Haha, I’m usually good with giving my pets names, but once you name about 20 goldfish, several dogs and a handful of reptiles, I guess you run out of ideas LOL It gets to the point where you either give them freakishly original names like Gimpy to the goldfish missing it’s dorsal fin, or Spotty and Changey to the ones that are spotted or changed their colors, or you just don’t name them at all XD One of my leopard geckos went months without a name. We just call him “Yizard” for the longest time (making fun of my cousins inability to properly pronounce anything when he was younger lol). Maybe some day his cat will have a name :p

I do plan to try the faucet thing, but I don’t think he’ll go for it. He doesn’t like water at all. He was being bad in the kitchen the other night, and mom sprayed him, and some got on the floor. He would not pass that wet spot until it dried, so he was “stuck” in there for several minutes LOL He did sit on the bathroom counter when I took a shower this morning, though…

I think he’d be happy with free range of the fridge LOL This cat can eat! I’m not really sure where he puts it all :p

[Akari_32]

Hey, suggest away! I’ve been adding water to his food for a while now, anyways. Mainly to make the dry/canned mix more the same texture as just canned. That’s probably what kept his UTI from getting out of hand before we realized what was going on.

He did say to make sure he’s drinking enough water, and to try a fountain waterer, and to switch from plastic bowls to glass or stainless (I bought stainless ones– and a brush lol), because the plastic can hold in bacteria and whatever. He also said to change his water out a few times a day.

He doesn’t have a name yet. I sort of want to name him Logan or Eric (from X-Men), but I don’t want to give him too much of a human name. I’m weird like that lol Pets have to have pet names. But then again I have a goldfish named Bruce (Batman :p), so who knows LOL Really i just can’t find a name that suits him. He’s quite most of the time, but he know how to cause trouble, and I’m pretty sure he’s plotting Bentleys doom LOL I may scoot around the Humane Society’s adoptable cat page and see if there are any names I can steel lol Anyone have any suggestions?

As for the food I’ve settled on, based on cost and how much is fed, it’s mainly going to be Friskies, as much as I hate to do it, based on the company alone. But many people use it, and it’s the most recommended of what I see online. I guess many “premium” brands use a lot of fat to keep costs down, and their cheaper lines are pretty carby. Friskies is grain free, low fat, and high protein. So, despite the Purina thing, and the by products, i guess that’ll be most of his diet, as well at Grreat Choice’s version of Friskies, and Authority. (And of course anything I find on sale/that has coupons).

[Akari_32]

We’re back from the vet. It wasn’t too bad. Turns out, he’s not fixed lol He does have a UTI, they gave him a polyflex shot, four cans of Hills C/D, and a weeks worth of Clavamox for me to squirt into his mouth (10 bucks says this cat hates me when his meds are done LOL).

He asked what I had been feeding, and didn’t seem displeased, nor did he try and take me for a ride and say the cat had to stay on the C/D, he just wanted him on it for a week (since it’s only 4 cans and this cat weighs like a billion pounds, I guess I’ll do half a can a day).

Once he’s done with his treatment, he wants to see us back in a few weeks to get him neutered and get shots. They told us to call the county and fill out some paper work, and we could qualify for free/reduced price spay and neuter, which totally rocks.

In the end, today only costed me $106. Not bad, I guess. Can’t wait to have to get Haley’s shots and Trifexis in a few weeks -_- lol I called mom on the way home and she hopes this will help with the pee smell, and I think she’s right, especially after he’s neutered.

[Akari_32]

We’re at the vet. He’s not happy to locked up in a cage LOL Wish us (and my bank -_-) luck!

[Akari_32]

Thanks :3 We have an appointment for 1:30 at the vet today. Hopefully the damage isn’t bad (cat wise and money wise) >.<

I’m kind of wondering he doesn’t have some sort of intestinal worms or something. He *really* likes to eat. Like, really, really like to eat. He keeps his weight pretty well though. He lost 0.2 pounds after all that hard play yesterday, but he usually keeps right at 11.4, so maybe not, and he’s just a fatty. Do you’re guy’s cats always act like they’re starving?

[Akari_32]

Just tried the laser pointer. Holy cow, he had a blast LOL Had him sprinting through the house at top speed for it XD

[Akari_32]

We buy cases of bottled water for drinking, and he took over an empty case. He sleeps in there LOL I gave him a paper bag earlier tonight, but I think he still prefers his empty water case, since its a little taller. Its pretty funny :p

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/E45905C2-1658-4EE4-AC5A-63E9CD3C0AFF_zpsqyz9xqmr.jpg

God, Bentley is only half Jack Russell, and a year and a half. I can’t imagine him being full Jack Russell, and then adding in a few more crazy little beasts at the same time LOL Thankfully, he slept a lot when he was a puppy! XD

[Akari_32]

He doesn’t seem to have trouble going, or seem to be hurting, so I think we’re ok in that department. He has been licking himself the last day or so, but only a time or two a day, keeping in mind I rarely see this cat groom himself. So, the amount of time spent grooming vs the amount of time spent licking is crotch, he does more inappropriate licking than he does grooming. He has a few small mats (they’ll be cut out later), so I don’t think he does much actual grooming lol

I’m 99% sure this was a preexisting problem. Mom always complained that his pee smelled strong. I’m not so sure it has anything to do with anything I’ve done, other than the added stress of a new life. Our vets (regular vet and our OMG-we-have-no-money-and-need-a-vet CareCredit vet) both push Science Diet, so hopefully he doesn’t try any of that crap on me…

Random side note: I bought a laser pointer, a sticky-ropey-chasey thing, and a bag of random fluffy and jingly balls at Dollar Tree. He looooves the string-on-a-stick (let’s just say there used to be feathers on it, and there’s not now lol), and he is mildly interested in jingle balls. We were playing with the stick-thing tonight, then his kitty ADD kicked in and one of the fluffy balls caught his interest, and he went to town on that thing for like 5 minutes. Ran all over the house chasing it, crashing into things, tripping over himself. Crazy cat LOL

[Akari_32]

Well, I mean, he was going anyways, but I just can’t afford to get it all done at once. Shots can be put off, but a UTI can’t.

Since the topic is up, do you think he could have a crystal blockage? He’s got about 1/2 normal sized pee and half little blood tinted pee when I clean the box out every day (there’s usually about three pees and one poop). I would guess that since he’s still having decent sized pee some of the time, a blockage is unlikely (at least not large one).

Does anyone have a carb percentage on the EVO (or want to take a guess)? I don’t recall seeing it on the website.

[Akari_32]

EVO isn’t very starchy, though, I wouldn’t think. It’s like 2 billion % protein (ok, more like 50-something, but still). Then again, I’m no cat expert, so, you know…. Lol

I’ve been looking around online, and it seems my cheapest options for all canned are Friskies (cheapest at PetCo in cases of 12 13.2 oz cans with $2 off $10 Pet Supermarket coupon), Grreat Choice (PetSmarts version of Friskes), and Authority (maybe, once I figure out how much of it you feed). I’ll obviously keep an eye out for sales and coupons on better foods, but if all wet is the route I have take, these are going to be the bulk of his diet. I’ve still got my Wellness Signature Selects BOGO coupons I’ll be using after vet bills are taken care of.

I’ve decided I’ll be putting off shots for now, and getting them done when I can take a day off and get them done at the humane society (or they do a mobile shot clinic sooner, since those are done on weekends), and take him to the vet tomorrow for a health check and to get this UTI taken care of. I’ve got all day tomorrow, so I’ll be up first thing in the morning, call the vet and get going. He’ll probably take us right away, since the only early patiences they tend have are surgeries, and it’s not like those happen often around here.

[Akari_32]

Not to argue, but I don’t see how adding water to dry food, and then adding the whole lot to wet food, would cause problems with dehydration and UTIs. Its not like I’m feeding him straight dry food.

[Akari_32]

I’ll check those out, thanks guys 🙂 I use the dry to basically spread out the wet food. Mix half and half, and add enough water so that the dry isn’t soaking it in from the wet. I tend to add it when I first mix, and then add more when I prepare the food for him at meal times (one 5.5 oz can or two 3 oz cans, dry food, some water, then it goes in the fridge until it’s gone, and more water is added when I warm it up in his bowl). Some times I add too much water to his bowl and it’s more like a nasty little soup, but he drinks all that up when that happens. When mom feeds him, she just slaps a can of wet in his bowl, and then he’s hungry again by the time I get home, because she only fed him enough food for a cat 1/4 of his size…. She even got mad a me for buying different flavors in single cans LOL Likes like “buy the variety pack!!” Then I asked her if she wanted to pay for it and I got no response :p

Anyways lol He won’t outright drink water from his water dish. He’s done it once, that I’ve seen, and it was because he thought it was food, and dove it with out looking. He wasn’t very happy about that LOL So maybe I should add all that extra water, then?

And on an unrelated note: this is the only cat in the world that won’t take treats. Mom bought him some Temptations treats, and he only eats them when he’s absolutely starving. Won’t touch them other wise. I don’t know if he’s smart for that, or just weird… Lol

[Akari_32]

I’m going to call around tomorrow (who ever will answer for a Sunday) and I’ve been looking around online for places that may be able to help with it, and I’ve got a few on my list. If this was planned I would have had no problem affording it, after having saved up for it. But since it was like “oh by the way here’s a cat” I’ve got some working out to do with money. Unfortunately, I’m now dealing with something that needs to be done right away, and not whenever I can get it done. I’ve only got Monday and most of Friday this week that I have off during vet hours, so I’ve got to get going.

He’s not *bad* really, but several times a day he just paces the house meowing and meowing, and seems like he’s looking for trouble, which is what I was associating with a UTI. Otherwise, he’s just a cat. He likes to “help” with making his food, or making your food, or doing things around the house, likes to play in the blinds. Normal cat stuff lol

I’ve been watching him the last few days, and he’s got a slight limp. Is this something that could be caused by a UTI? We’ve got all tile in the main areas of the house, too, so he could have just landed wrong during one of his adventures. It doesn’t seem to bother him at all, otherwise. He plays and jumps and does cat things.

In the mean time, is there anything I can do to at least contain this? He’s on all wet food (half dry mixed in than canned, with water added), so that’s covered. His dry EVO is almost gone, so I could buy a urinary tract health food if they really work. Any recommendations on those?

[Akari_32]

He’s not going to the litter box *often* but when he does visit, it’s usually just a small amount, about 2 inches across, and it’s bloody (not bad, but there’s a pink tinge). I noticed a few days ago, after being locked in the bathroom, that his spot on the counter was peppered with blood, but since it was literally all over the counter in teeny tiny spots, I figured he broke a claw off, or scratched himself, or something. It was the next day or later that day that I found only a small amount of pee in the box with some red in it for the first time. I’ve also been reading that his behavior could be from a UTI (he’s naughty!), but he’s also adjusting to a new life, so I can’t say for sure. His pee also has a strong smell to it, too. Like, a sweaty, BO, sort of smell. But for all I know, male cats could just smell like that anyways. He doesn’t seem to be uncomfortable, though.

[Akari_32]

Alright guys, I have a problem. I’m certain this cat has a urinary tract infection. I barely have the money for shots and possible neutering (I’m seriously paying for it out of my savings, and it’ll be about $200), but I likely can’t afford to have the cat diagnosed and treated in the time frame it needs to be done (it really just depends on if the vet takes pity on me or not….). I mean, I’m canceling my own doctors appointment so I can have that extra money for his shots and whatever else he needs…. Does anyone know if I could contact local cat rescues and possibly have them help me with the bills? Would they do that? And does anyone know of any sort of programs that provide veterinary help for low income pet owners? I mean, shelters are full, I’m sure someone would rather fork out some extra money to keep an animal in a home it already has rather than it get dropped off because it has medical needs.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 2 months ago by Akari_32.

[Akari_32]

Here’s some vet-type questions for you guys. First one, which one of these shot packages should I get? I really don’t want to spend $55 just on his shots if I don’t need to, but I can.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/2203290D-7050-48DD-B332-EDE276825177_zpsiuggeswp.png

And also, what are these CHEM-whatever things?

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/D2922A90-D2D6-4B5F-8391-6D8803716B21_zpsc0llwzfy.png

Do I need them? What do they do?

And lastly, I assume these are all good prices? And how’s $25 for a microchip sound?

[Akari_32]

I’ll try those, thanks! I’ve got a laser pointer around here somewhere, I’ll have to find it lol Anyone have success with those “cats meow” toys?

Also, I have a collar on him, but it’s not a break away collar. Or even a cat collar lol It’s a reflective dog collar, but I’ve got it large enough that if he happens to get caught on something (though there is litterally nothing for him to get caught on in this house), he can easily pull out of it. Do you think that’s ok? I’m just worried about if he gets out or something that some one will scoop him up or animal control will get him or something. With a collar on, someone is more likely to find out where he came from. I do want to get him microchippied, though. That’ll be a job for the humane society. It’s super cheap there.

[Akari_32]

He ticked me off last night to the point where I locked him in the bathroom for the night, and had my sister lock him up today when she left for the day (I left at 6:30 this morning for work, but let him out while I got ready). He’s got so much pent up energy because he’s used to roaming in the woods. He won’t play with his toys (catnip mice, and those stretchy, bouncy figure 8 shaped things that smell like catnip), but he does like Bentleys bell on the front door, and shoe strings. Since we’re now apparently trying the cat out, I’ll (besides name him lol) buy him some stringy toys that I can fling around and play with him with. Hopefully I can tire him out enough to keep him out of trouble.

The biggest thing with him is keeping him out of the blinds. I’m home alone most of the week, and our neighborhood sucks. I won’t open the blinds most of the time, not even when moms home. I don’t want no druggies knowing I’m here by my self all week. But I do understand that windows are like TV for cats, and he loves getting up in there and laying in the sill, even if he’s not looking outside. I may run the idea of keeping the spare bedroom gated off so the dog can’t get in there, in stead of keeping the door completely closed, and keeping his litter box and such in there, and keeping just enough of the blinds open that he can get in and out of them ( the ones in there are vertical hanging blinds, much more suited for naughty little cats trying to be in the windows). My sister is here on spring break and has her cat in there right now, but that’s only until Sunday… Hmmm…

[Akari_32]

Oh my god kill me.

This cat needs to learn some serious manners and house etiquette. He’s a sweet boy, but he sure is naughty! He tries to get in the blinds (they’re horizontal blinds, rather than vertical ones, so he all but tears them off the wall -_-), gets on the counter in hopes of food, plays with random things all night, tries to get into a closed off room all day, and thinks it’s time to eat EVERY time you go into the kitchen (I’ve tripped over him at least 4 times in the last week…). I’ve started spraying him with a spray bottle when he does bad things, mainly pulling on the blinds. That’s not even the worse part though…

Mom caught him scratching on the furniture the other day, and told me I had till Thursday (tomorrow, at this point) to get rid of him, before she came home from out of town. This is AFTER she told to get rid of him when she first saw him, then said I could keep him, and then went back and forth another few times, all since last Wednesday. I don’t even know what the crap to think any more. It’s ticking me off. Make your freaking mind up and tell me what you want me to do (before I get rid of you!!!)! Now she’s back to me keeping him, but making feel like the biggest dick ever for it, telling me to get him declawed, and that she hates cats, and all this other crap. And then she just texted me saying to buy him a scratching post (I haven’t bought one yet because why the crap am I going to spend the money on a scratching post for a cat I’m not keeping, or apparently now, declawing???). Just, whatever. I’m not over exaggerating at all when I say all this. At least when she first found out about him, she didn’t want him simply because she’s allergic to cats, which I can respect and understand, now she’s saying to get rid of him because she is mad that the cat is being a CAT.

I’m making an appointment for the vet tomorrow to get his shots and health check, and possibly neutered (we really aren’t sure if he is or not, he’s very fluffy and it’s hard to tell). I may actually call the humane society and see what they can do. Pull the “you guys are full of cats and I don’t want to give you another, can you just give me cheap vet care” thing. They do shots and fixing, but I don’t know if they do exams for the public. Won’t know until I ask, I guess.

My sister is giving me an old scratching post, and I may look into nail caps (thoughts on those?). I will not get him declawed. I’d sooner give him to the only people who apparently want this cat other than me, the nasty indoor smoker neighbors. Their house is so gross I want to shower every time I have to go in there. They do have a cat over there, though. They had two, but one ran away. Go figure. And they feed dry only, whatever’s cheap (I’ve seen versions flavors of Friskies and 9Lives over there). But yeah, they’re the only ones to say they want him. I may be able to get them to feed him wet/mostly wet, even if it is something like the huge $1 cans of Friskies from Dollar Tree, if they were to take him.

Anyways, I got a good deal on some lesser wet foods (Purina One, Sheba, and Fancy Feast) so we’ve got about 60 cans of these. It’s better than nothing right now. I’ve got coupons for BOGO Wellness Select-whatever, which I’ll get before they expire. He’s still got some EVO dry left, but I’ll need some more soon. It was just a teeny baby bag (2.2 pounds) and he’s just a big fatty (11.4 pounds). I’ve got his mix pretty well figured out, I think. I’ve been mixing half wet and half dry, according to how much he should be eating according to the can and bag, and feeding him 2-3 times a day, about 2 tablespoons. It seems about every other day he wants an extra snack, which is when he gets fed a third time. Mom said he was so hungry the other day when I was at work that he was just walking around the house meowing and meowing. Granted I had fed him at about 10 and she said she finally broke down around 7 and fed him, so I could understand him being hungry. He also won’t take treats unless he’s starving. Kind of a weird cat lol

So anyways, all this drama is why I haven’t updated you guys. Moms given me one month to try him out, and if she’s still pissy about him, he has to go :/ If that happens, and if I have no other takers, I’d think I’d rather see him go to my neighbors rather than a shelter. What do you guys think about that? I’m honestly not so sure, either way…

[Akari_32]

So I just bought a bag of grain free Pure Balance. There was about a cup and half of his Natures Variety Instict left, so I put about the same amount of the Pure Balance in there and mixed it all together, and gave him a scoop of the mixture. He ate it happily, so maybe his dislike for fish has taken a back burner… I guess once he’s fully on the food in a few days, we’ll know for sure lol

I went with this food because, besides the fact it’s almost twice as much for the same price as the Instinct, I thought the fish base would benefit his skin problems. I was going to go for the salmon Instinct, but the house really needed some big things, and mom was reluctant to give up $15 for a 4 pound bag of food. I don’t blame her. I told her we’d try him on the Pure Balance, because I thought the fish would do him some good, and she agreed. Fingers crossed this does the trick!

[Akari_32]

Check out the Weight Management EVO and Wellness CORE Reduced Fat. Those are the only two that I can think of that fit what you’re looking for.

[Akari_32]

They aren’t for PetSmart, they’re for Pet Supermarket. They are emailed though, you have to signed up for their VIP card (or scrounge around for them toward the middle of the month on the internet). If you have a Pet Supermarket near you, you can use them at PetSmart. PetSmart also takes any surrounding competitor coupons. For example, when I lived in Pensacola, PetSmarts there took PetLand coupons, as well as Pet Supermarket and PetCo. The closest PetLand where I live now is about an hour away, so my local PetSmart will not take their coupons. Just go in there and ask who’s coupons they take, and they should tell you. You just gotta match up sales to coupons 🙂

[Akari_32]

All of Natura’s line was effected by last years recall (EVO, Innova, California Naturals). It looks to me that Natures Table is just Prime, but with a fancy new name. The dog food still looks pretty much the same, but I’ve not investigated the cat (didn’t have a need until now LOL). I would imagine it’s a pretty good food, if that’s the case.

PetSmart seems to have some good foods on the clearance rack every now and then. Usually is Science Diet, Royal Canin and Pro Plan, though. But I will keep an eye out! They also put individual bags expiring in 3 months on sale 20% off (I actually just picked up a 15 pound bag of Natures Recipe for the dogs for 17 bucks after the foods sale, the bags discount, a $4 off any bag coupon, and a $4 off $20 order coupon!).

I forgot about merrick! I’ll have to give that a try, too! 🙂

[Akari_32]

And here we have the amazing jello cat, now seen only in captivity. It is said they have no spines.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/5A4A13A8-DA84-4537-BE86-291588E453C7_zpsim3nj52h.jpg

[Akari_32]

Thanks guys! I just weighed him myself, and– even under weight– he weighs 11.2 pounds!!! Omg lol Talk about food bills!

Just curious on the dry subject, can I add water to his dry food? He doesn’t seem to have had much water today, even though he ate all his dry food. He did drink some yesterday, though, and I refilled his bowl once (it’s not a large bowl).

Also, I ditched the Nutro Max. I traded it for EVO. But I just realized that the EVO has herring meal in it! It’s like the 4th ingredient, though. It’s only a small bag, so that’s not much of a problem (2.2 pounds). I think next I will the Simply Nourish from PetSmart. I did see that Innova Natures Table had a cat food. Anyone have thoughts on that?

[Akari_32]

He seems to like both (well, I’m not sure if he likes both, or if he just likes to eat. He checks his bowls often, so I’m voting more for he just likes to eat LOL) so we’ll continue on with both for now. I think I’ll go for the Simply Nourish Source for our next bag of dry. Either that or EVO. I’m not sure lol

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