Saturday PhotoHunt: Cat

Dare writes:

This is feeding time at our house, when we get special treats!  This time, we got tuna, but sometimes we get canned cat food or pouch food.  Everyone comes running, meowing our heads off for the plates to be put on the floor faster!  Once they're down, we all jockey for position.  We eat by pecking order, so Carbon and Rori always get plates first, also Tabby and the twins.  The rest of us get to eat with them or when they're done, unless there are more plates put down for us.  In this picture, Carbon, one of the twins, Starla, and Missy have the plates.  I'm getting ready to ask Starla if I can share a plate with her, and Tabby and the other twin have the cans.  Bit's waiting her turn patiently, and so is Panther.

I love being part of a clowder!  That's what a group of cats is called, and we have 14 in our clowder.  Some of us are fosters, some are outside ferals, and most are forevers.  Regardless, we're all part of the gang!

Are you pawticipating in the Caturday Photo Hunt today?

Newsflash: Starla's eating again!

Starla writes:

All of a sudden, yesterday evening, I felt my tummy rumbling in a good way!  I was hungry!  I went over to my food plate to see if there were any crunchies there, and licked up two tiny pieces.  I wasn't sure they would taste good, but I figured it was worth a try.  Then I lay back down on my beloved heat vent to rest some more.

Daddy brought out the red dot and I heard the sound of the keychain it's on, so I walked down the hallway to the dining room to watch the others play.  I tracked the dot around for a while.  When Tabby and Mommy came back from visiting (she's doing a report on that tomorrow or the next day), we all got canned food.  I came out again for that, but Mommy force-fed me my two baby spoons of it.  I had some water, then everyone played red dot some more.  I put my paw out for it a couple times!  Heimdall didn't want me so close to it, so he smacked me in the face, but I knew he didn't really mean it so I didn't react.  He jumped over Dare at one point, running after the dot!

I got fluids again last night and this morning, then I ate some more crunchies twice on my own.  Five pieces at once the last time!

Thank you so much for all your good thoughts, well-wishes, purrs, grrs, prayers and rumbles!  I can feel everyone's love and caring, and it's really helping me!  I go in for a recheck and more bloodwork tomorrow morning.

Tabby's eating!

Tabby writes:

Mommy gave me some more very soft food (she calls it "pate") a few minutes ago.  I licked it and licked it, and then I bit it!  I only took a few bites, but Mommy says that it was so good of me to take some bites.  I let Carbon have some of it, too.

Wordless Wednesday: Food Refill

Oops, we ate it! A meme.

We got this meme from Milo & Alfie, who wrote the instructions down for us:

If yoo take part in the The Oops I Ate It meme, it means you hafta blog about food you have stolen when your humans weren’t watching. Don’t try to pretend yoo’ve never done that ‘cos we don’t believe yoo! If you want to join in yoo add the logo of this award to your blog (optional), then yoo nominate at least 5 other furry blogs and let them know by leaving them a message on their blogs.

Anyone who has read our Catster pages knows we run a restaurant group there, so we have to make sure our food is the best, don't we? ;)

Here's a couple of our stories:

Little Bit wrote here about taking a tater tot off Mommy's plate, complete with a picture of her with it!

We all mob Mommy when she makes her rice dish for dinner.

Skylar once ran away with his Mommy Erin's food and took it under the bed!

We like peach yogurt (real or soy), soy milk from cereal, Wheat Thins (Little Bit only), anything potato (fosters only), hotdogs, cereal (Carbon and the fosters), oatmeal (Skylar and Tabby), hamburger, ham, tuna, cheese (real or soy), taco meat, fish, chicken, rice, and strawberry ice cream (real or soy).

We tag the first five cats who read this who haven't written this meme, and invite any foodie cats (or dogs) to join our restaurant. You don't need a Catster account; you can use your e-mail.

Tater Tot Thursday

Little Bit writes:

See the tater tot I snagged off Foster Mommy's plate while she was giving Skylar his medicine? It smelled so good, so I jumped up on the office chair and got it, then licked the salt off it. I only wanted the salt, not the potato part. She came back and took the picture, so I guess she wasn't too mad at me for it! I spent the rest of her dinner time trying to snag another one, but she kept putting me on the floor by this one instead. My kids tried to figure out what it was, but neither of them ate it. Funny, because we all love fries.

(Foster Mommy says pardon the state of the floor in her pictures. They pulled the carpet up, but then Foster Daddy had knee surgery and they never got around to fixing the floor once he recovered.)

Foodie Friday: Sea Turtle Sundae/PhotoHunt: Utensils

My Foodie Friday post for this week is from yesterday's dinner with family. Here's my cousin's kids enjoying a Sea Turtle Sundae from Joe's Crab Shack. It's got chocolate cake, ice cream, caramel, and nuts. Their grandma took these pictures.

They had a spoon fight while eating!

More Foodie Friday and PhotoHunt posts.

Foodie Friday: Pet Food Recall

This is not a regular Foodie Friday post, but it's important enough to be mine for this week. Nutro has issued a voluntary recall of some of the varieties of their Natural Choice and Max foods. If your dog or cat eats a Nutro food, please read this article!

Foodie Friday posts

Foodie Friday: Hunting for Chocolate

My husband caught Carbon going methodically through the unpacked shopping bags yesterday. "Carbon," he said in a mock-menacing tone of voice. "What are you looking for? What are you doing?" Carbon looked at him, gave him the "evil eye", and stalked off into the next room. By this time, I'd come out to see what was going on, and went to the refrigerator. Picking out something, I held it by Carbon's nose and asked him, "Is this what you were looking for, buddy?" He took one sniff, and looked like the proverbial cat caught in the act. No canary; this was a CHOCOLATE BAR!

Pets can and will sniff out your chocolate and eat it. This goes for the candy bars out in plain sight, as well as the Passover or Easter treats you have hidden in a good spot until next week. Chocolate is toxic to cats and dogs, causing seizures, lethargy, and death. Because of their smaller body mass, it is more toxic to cats, but they are more likely to sniff it out because of their investigative nature.

If you have chocolate around the house, keep it locked up: in the refrigerator, a child-proof cupboard, or a room that is kept totally closed-off from the cats (and not used while the candy is hidden there). Anywhere else is not cat-safe, as I have learned from my resident geniuses. They have opened cupboards, closets, and doors, sometimes even grouping together to mastermind the operation.

PLEASE, PLEASE KEEP YOUR PETS SAFE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!!!

Other Easter dangers are peanuts, baskets (can be chewed by dogs and swallowed), and basket grass. Basket grass is especially dangerous because it looks like string. It can wrap itself around the intestine, cutting the cat's internal organs! A safer alternative is raffia, which is harder for them to swallow but still comes in pastel colors.

Click here for more Foodie Friday posts.

Foodie Friday: Kitty Treats (Cookies)

This week's recipe is for cats. If you want to make this for St. Patrick's Day, use some green food coloring and a shamrock cookie cutter.

Kitty Treats
(from Ann Clark)
Note: Can be made with or without catnip
Contains milk.

Combine:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup white flour
2 Tb. wheat germ
1/3 cup powdered milk
1 tsp. catnip
Gradually add:
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
4 Tb. vegetable oil

Mix until all ingredients are well blended. Don't be afraid to use your hands. If a little too dry, add more milk. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pat to 1/2 inch thickness on a floured board. Cut using your favorite Ann Clark Cookie Cutters. Bake 25 minutes. Allow to cool and harden. Store in tins or storage bags.
Yield: 12 large shapes or 24-36 small shapes.

For more recipes, mainly people food, check out the other Foodie Friday posts.

Don't forget, Chef Skylar's Saturday Sit-Down Dinner is tomorrow starting at 4 pm Pacific time. It will be a St. Patty's Day feast!

I want my food nnnnnNNNNOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!

Anyone who's ever heard a Siamese yowl knows what it sounds like around our house today. It's definitely a Mancat Monday!

Skylar writes:

I'm feeling so much better now that Starla's around. I just was lonely and depressed, and then she came to be my companion. I love my new friend! I let her snuggle with me and be right by me when I'm sitting with Dad. I go check on her and touch noses with her sometimes. I watch her and purr.

I've perked up quite a bit. My whole attitude's back to normal! I'm eating fine, drinking water occasionally (still working on that one), and am starting to assert myself again.

Yesterday, I woke Mom up with a Siamese yowl, demanding part of Dad's hotdog that he bought on the way home from work. I got some of it (of course) and chomped it right down, then got another piece. Starla got a piece as well, and the others got some bread (because they don't eat the hotdog part).

Today, Mom had bologna, and I demanded my fair share. She says it wasn't really bologna, just something that is made from tofu that seems like meat, but it tasted real! Smelled real, too, that's why I demanded it!

*licks lips*