Cat Eats

Chuck and Angel, on the pool table

For Chuck and Angel:

Breakfast between 6:30 am and 7:00 am:

A spoonful of organic canned pumpkin

A 1/4 teaspoon of stool softener

A splash of flax seed oil

Careful measure of cat enzymes

Almost a full can of limited ingredient venison and green pea food

Enough filtered water to make it a bit soupy

Divided equally into two bowls

Always put Chucky's bowl down first 

A taste of the 'o' cats food called The Tax (Chuck stops eating until I do this)

Lunch between 12:30 pm and 1 pm: 

1/2 can of limited ingredient duck and green pea food

Divided into two bowls

They always beg for more; most of the time, I give it too 'em

Dinner between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm (depending on who's still napping and when I get home from work)

Repeat breakfast ritual

Sweetie and Patty O'

For The 'O' Cats:

Breakfast, after Angel and Chuck are served

A big scoop of Brewer's Yeast

Careful measure of L-Lysine crystals

Splash of flax seed oil

Almost a full can of (no fish!), or homemade cooked ground turkey (and sometimes I mix up all the canned leftovers)

A sprinkle of diatomaceous earth to combat fleas and worms

Enough filtered water to make it all mixable

Divided into two bowls, 5/8ths for Patty, 3/8ths for Sweetie (and a spoonful for Chuck)

A garnish of kibble (hidden from Chuck and Angel)

Lunch, after Chuck and Angel:

Leftovers

Dinner:

Repeat breakfast, after Chuck and Angel

Night snack before 9 pm:

A small serving of kibble

Sweetie eats off the deck, while Patty prefers to eat from a bowl

I have to guard the 'O' Cat's food from roaming neighbor Aries, who will run right up and push them off their bowls, and hiss while he's doing it!  I carry a kibble bribe, and feed him his 'treat' in the yard, to draw him away.  If he isn't around for the meal, he'll show up later and lick out their bowls.  No matter what I and the hubby do to get him to scram, he comes back or hides behind a tree until we are gone.  However, he gives great pets and purrs, so we just deal with him.

In the very cold part of the winter, the night snack is eliminated, because the cats won't show up.  Also in the winter, the canned food freezes too quickly, so I just give them kibble.  If the food freezes, Patty will keep licking until he pushes the bowl off the deck.  When Sammy was alive, I stopped feeding kibble entirely, because he could no longer chew it, and I had to heat the canned food to counter the cold.  Today, we emptied the bag of kibble that was purchased this spring, but it's lasted so long because of Sammy.  We bought a new bag this morning, and I had a moment of sad in memory of Sammy.  I went to watch the kittens in the adoption center to counter the sad, until the hubby discovered my location and dragged me away.  He then escorted me to the hardware store, where we purchased more duct insulation to complete the Cat Hotel's ceiling/roof, before it gets really cold.

I feed Angel and Chuck only new food; any leftovers go outside.  We segregate the two sets of food bowls from each other, and from our human bowls too.  We use oblong Pyrex heating bowls for Angel and Chuck; they are ceramic and are low and wide.  The 'O' Cats get flattish old earthenware bowls found at resale shops.  Patty breaks a bowl by pushing them over the deck edge about twice a year.  I use old iced tea spoons to mix their food; the handle length helps me stir the concoctions evenly, and then dole it out proportionately.  Angel and Chuck get the same amount each meal, but I give Patty more because he eats his food so fast, and Sweetie can barely get a full meal before he's nosing in on her bowl...or Aries is mooching around.  Sweetie always backs off first.  

Sweetie at lunch today

Patty today, showing off his widebody in a sun puddle