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Cat people... help? (Sort of IN related)
My roommate recently acquired a new kitten. Unfortunately, that kitten ran away during the first night. I have found the kitten, but my roommate has since traveled and I cannot get a hold of her.
I have been trying to take care of this kitten for three days now, but I have absolutely no cat experience. When I asked my roommate in passing what kittens eat, she told me "milk and fish." So, that's what I've been feeding it for three days now.
I can't imagine fish and milk alone would be good for her system, I get a stomach ache just thinking of it! Not to mention she's been laying down some pretty rank kitty farts and her tummy is a bit swollen. I don't think she's feeling so great.
Since I'm living in Ghana, I can't exactly roll up to the nearest PETCO and buy her kitten food. I am reading online that cats like slices of lunch meat, which I don't have. Real meat is fairly expensive here, so this is not a diet that I could sustain for very long. I have access to an impressive array of canned meats including tuna, sardines and canned ham. I imagine that these sorts of things are OK for a cat, but I'm not sure what to give her beyond that.
Any advice is appreciated. I like this thing, I really don't want to kill it or make it sick.
Re: Cat people... help? (Sort of IN related)
Cats often don't digest cow milk very well which would explain the bloating & farts. Give it water or at least dilute the milk with water. Tuna or sardines are perfect, just make sure none of it is in oil. My cat used to go crazy for tuna in particular, it was a major treat for her and we had her on luxury type cat foods.
Oh and if the bloating doesn't go down on water, you should check with a vet if kitten doesn't have worms or something.
None of the grocery stores sell cat food? Is there a vet anywhere? Sorry, I don't know how remote you are, but if you're in a town with a grocery store or an epicerie, check it for cat food.
Tuna should be fine, but cats can't really digest cow's milk, maybe it's better if you just give her water.
My vet told me that too much tuna was not good for cats. There is a build-up of a vitamin, or mineral (can't remember) that produces an effect like mercury poisoning in humans. She said to limit tuna to less than a can a week for an adult cat. If it's all you have, I would go with the canned ham as long as it does not contain onions. Onions have an enzyme that is poisonous to cats, and the enzyme is not completely denatured by cooking.
If you can find it, you can mix the ham with rice or other grains. My cat loved canned corn, but then she was a bit weird. I agree that water is better, and have fresh water available 24/7 for the kitten.
Oh dear, I wish I had a kitten too!!!
Anyways, I'd go easy on the tuna and remove cow's milk completely. A little bit of steamed fish would be perfect, the kind that's not too greasy, like sole. Avoid foods that contain sodium, like ham, unless you can find one that has no sodium. Its tummy is bloated probably because it's got worms, in which case a vet could give you a medicine to feed it.
Good luck!
It's a scary place, but you might try asking on the Pets board for some links to websites with recipes to make your own pet food. Since packaged pet foods have a lot of additives, there are a lot of resources for making your own, many of which do include small amounts of grains and plant material (after all, there's a reason cats like to chew on plants). If you can't get packaged food, something like that might give you some pointers for making alternatives.
Or if you're really adventurous, you could suggest what kinds of proteins you can easily get and ask for some suggestions on how to turn these into appropriate kitten foods.
Just be sure to wear your flame-proof suit when you head over there, because I've found that it's one of those boards that might jump all over you unexpectedly. (e.g. for feeding your pet mass-produced pet food. which I do.)
I thought I'd add a line on how to steam fish to help you, don't take offense I'm not saying you don't know on your own!
This is what I do that's easy and fast. Take a medium pot, one that you'd use to cook pasta or rice for one, pour water in it but don't fill it. Put the sole fillet (or the likes) on a dinner plate and place on top of said pot, cover the fish with the pot's lid if you want. Put everything over low/medium heat and let the fish cook like that, if it starts to stick to the plate pour a little water to prevent it, but depending on the type of fish it will probably produce some its own water and cook in that. Let cool and voila!
I hope this will help!
Wow! Thank you so much for your responses. I honestly had no idea that cats couldn't drink milk. My knowledge of cats really is limited to what I've seen in the cartoons. That would definitely explain why she's bloated and gassy, I will cease and desist with the milk products for sure.
I was thinking that I should probably take her to the vet, since she did escape and who knows what she ate or ran into out there. I'm pretty sure there should be a vet in town somewhere, there are plenty of farmers with animals to care for.
Thankfully, I live next to the ocean so fish are plentiful! The canned sardines and tuna all come soaked in vegetable oil, probably not the best. I will stick with plain-old grilled or steamed fish for now. I've cleverly mixed it with some rice and beans. She's over there eating right now, we'll see if she just picks out the fish bits. I gave her some leftover oatmeal as well, as you can see I'm grasping at straws here.
I will try to find some natural pet food recipes. Since my roommates advice was to "give it milk and fish" I'm sure she will also need some other ideas of things to feed it once I leave.
Thanks again for the advice!
Ditto to what previous posters said, also too much fish is bad. In addition, cats need Taurine in their diet. If you are going to make your own food, they need this.
There's really no where you could get cat food?
I will look at the import stores in my town, I've never seen it but then again I've never really looked. I will travel to Accra this weekend, so I can grab a couple of cans while I'm there.
The problem lies with when I leave in two months. My roommate hasn't gotten paid by her job in a year (long and sad story: it's fairly common for teachers here to work without getting paid, sometimes for several years). She won't even spend money on herself for food, she relies mostly on what I buy and on the extra portions that she gets from the staff lounge. My school provides the staff with two meals a day, and they serve fish almost daily. At any rate, I can't imagine that she will spend money on expensive imported cat food when I leave. So I'm trying to find some sustainable and healthy alternatives that I know she will be able to continue once I'm gone.
Why is she taking an animal she can't afford to look after? If she can't feed herself why would she take an animal to feed? I'm not trying to be rude, but animal neglect is something I don't take lightly. If you decide to have a pet, you need to understand that you must be able to afford it's food and other necessities (vet visits, etc...).
I personally don't think you are being rude. I too have wondered the same thing. Unfortunately, I can only advise her and tell her what I think. In the end I really have no control over what this woman does.
Maybe the alternative would have been that the kitten would be living on the streets of a small city in Africa, scrounging for whatever scraps it could find and eventually starving to death?
I hate seeing all the starving stray animals wandering the streets in developing countries.
We had a similar experience in China with our cat "Dermot the Chinese Kitchen Cat" - where we were living there weren't exactly pet stores that you could rock up to and buy some meow mix. In fact, when we asked we were usually first told that "cat is a specialty and not all restaurants have it" (that could have been my initial poor language skills prompting that type of response) and then, when I clarified, "what is cat food? Like, food for a cat? Just feed it"
So we raised our cat on rice mixed with leftovers from our own meals (meat or veggies, mostly meat from restaurants like chicken or something) and bowls of milk and water. He lived (barely, if you ask him) and we've still got the furry ingrate today.(but now he's too good for rice)
Chronically hilarious - you'll split your stitches!
I wrote a book! Bucket list CHECK!
http://notesfortheirtherapist.blogspot.co.uk
I'm kind of thinking this too. We got our cat from a cage outside of a restaurant. He was on the menu.
Chronically hilarious - you'll split your stitches!
I wrote a book! Bucket list CHECK!
http://notesfortheirtherapist.blogspot.co.uk
Both (very) valid points.
I had an interesting conversation with a Ghanaian friend yesterday who lived in Australia. He said that his roommate was "very weird about his cats. They were so well fed, and they weren't allowed to go outside!" He then scoffed at the idea of a dog being man's best friend "How can a dog be a man's best friend!?" You should have seen his face when I told him that we used to give our dogs cake on their birthday and stockings on the mantle at Christmas time.
That made me think a bit about the culture of pets. Where I come from, pets are oftentimes treated as a member of the family. We feed them special food so they become plump and shiny, we take them to the doctor when they're sick. We neuter and spay, we vaccinate. We buy them special toys and beds. From my observations so far, it doesn't seem to be the same here. The animals that are kept as pets are fed and looked after, yes. But they don't seem to have the same special status as they sometimes do in the West.
I am about to leave for a few days, and I'm not bringing my computer. I apologize, because I am adding my two cents to what can be a sensitive topic and I won't be around to follow up on any responses.
Yes, sorry I didn't think about the fact that there's so many animals left to die essentially in poor countries, on the street, etc.
I hope you find a solution for your roomate's kitty.