Lol I'm sure they would love mice... but since I've switched the fambly to
raw chicken mince, (supplemented with vitamin powder just in case) I've
noticed they are all healthier. Ie. Jasmine doesn't hurk, no more diarhea,
and Cougar has stopped displaying overly aggressive behaviour around food.
If I hadn't changed her, there is no way she would still be feeding this
litter, she is a small girl and she is positively blooming. The only
downside is that Jasmine likes it so much she is getting a bit, well,
fluffy. Ok here is a link if you're interested; I don't buy any of their
stuff, but it might give you somewhere to start. Wortha  try.

Worse, the mice are chickens, cowards, yellow bellied, cowering in the
corners while being scooped up by butterfly nets in the paws of enterprising
cats everywhere.  My cats would be more impressed if they were shark mice.

Pam S.

Well, most butchers in Australia offer it, however it is very poor quality;
basically sausage mince and very fatty so no good. However, there is a
chicken-only butcher chain store called Lenards that offers pet mince which
is all the leftovers; bones, carcass, liver, etc all put through the mincer.
This is great as they get all their vitamins and calcium from the bones as
well and it's not greasy like beef or lamb off-cuts. The only thing to watch
is the bone chips; most of them are easily eaten but occasionally they get a
bit stuck in their teeth. This can cause Abcesses but I've found if I check
them after meals they are fine. They also get chicken necks. I also don't
give it to the kittens as they are too small to manage the ground bones yet.
There are links between feline diabetes and high carbohydrate diets, and
cats in their natural environment eat mostly protein; the only carbs they
would get is the stomach contents of their prey. Test out a few butchers,
but a chicken butcher would be the best option.

meeee wrote:

Raw pet mince is readily available in pet stores and in supermarket
meat sections in Australia.  I give our two a treat of pet mince about
once a week and they love it.  It's rather more expensive than tinned
pet food (2-3 times the price of supermarket pet food, taking into
account the amount of food that is eaten) and I know that our two like
a lot of variety in their diet, so I don't give them pet mince as a
full-time diet.  When Spock had a urinary blockage I fed him a mixture
of pet mince and s/d food because he absolutely refused to eat s/d (or
c/d) food on its own.  Many of the brands of fresh pet mince in the
supermarket have vitamins (mainly taurine) and minerals (chiefly
calcium) added to comply with a balanced diet for cats.  

YMMV in the USA and UK.

Tish

Yep, have to do that sometimes (looking hard in cougher's direction) If they
turn picky on you, there's not much you can do,

There are pleanty of collared doves round here if BF runs out of them there.
;-)

Thanks for the purrs and hugs, Polonca.  I realised how much I was worrying
about it and needed to make a real effort to calm down.
I am no good for my cats, myself, and my workplace if I get in a state of
high anxiety like that.
So - I did a bit of self-counselling ;-)  There is nothing I can do to
change the situation.  Kitty has CRF.   I will do everything in my power to
enable her to live as long as possible with it.  She will have the best food
and the best veterinary care.
If she rejects the renal diet, then she will have something else that she
*will* eat.  I won't let her starve even if the food she wants isn't
compatible with a renal diet.
I have to be realistic.  Kitty FC is a *very* old cat.  She has done well to
live all these years mainly feral until she eventually got in my house just
a few years ago when my dogs had gone to RB.
I suppose some health problem is likely to claim her in the end after all.
We are both putting up a fight about it though..

Tweed