"Hey Citra."

[Dial up noises.]

made a little linocut for pixie <:^) miss her so much

Hi Hell, congrats on the exciting foster kitten news!

I just applied to adopt a kitten and had my interview for her today. The woman seemed most interested in convincing me of how terrible dry food, traditional litter (she preferred clay), and tap water is for cats. She said the carbohydrates and ingredients were terrible for their kidneys, the dust in litter is bad for their lungs, and the chlorine in water is harmful. I have a 12 year old cat named Scipio who has been using those things all his life, and now I feel guilty and scared for his health. He seems perfectly healthy to me but she said “cats are stoic.” What do you use with the Tiny Terrors? Is she extreme?

Well, I'm not a vet, so the actual answer is that your cat should be getting what their doctor recommends. But I've had those conversations with people before, and I can give my two cents--just take it with a grain of salt.

So...it's basically always true that you can spend more money on fancier 'health' options and there is, to some extent, benefit to the pricier choices. But there's a point at which that benefit is pretty minimal compared to what you get for the midrange price options. This is as true for pet health as it is for people health.

It's true that wet food is usually a better option for cats. Among other things, it helps them stay at a healthy level of hydration, can be easier on their digestive systems, and is often more palatable for cats who are elderly or have dental problems. But that doesn't mean that dry food is inadequate--Mal and Vice used to split a can of wet food daily, and graze dry food whenever they wanted. They're currently eating almost exclusively dry food, because Vice is on a sensitive skin and stomach diet to help address his overgrooming. I would avoid the bottom-end dry foods, because they seem prone to contamination, but that's more manufacturer quality than an issue with the dry food generally. Dry food is usually a nutritionally complete way to feed a cat, and there's nothing wrong with it.

Mal and Vice drink tap water. They have a bowl of still water, and a fountain with an inbuilt filter. The fountain is because if they don't have running water, they will make running water by splashing their bowls all over. I can't speak to chlorine but it's definitely healthier than drinking out of puddles, which is what they would be doing if left to their own devices.

They use clay litter because that's what's effective and affordable. When I'm changing it out I generally give it a few minutes for dust to settle before I let them at it--someone always wants to make a deposit in the clean box--but there's pros and cons to all the litter options out there.

In a perfect world with infinite resources, I'd be feeding the cats a careful balanced diet of fresh-prepared meats and filtered spring water, and they'd take dumps in a tiny kitty toilet that cleaned itself without my help. But that's not really practical or achievable for me, my life, or my cats, and frankly, it's not necessary. I want them to have a good life. It doesn't need to be a perfect one. If your cat is doing well, and their vet is giving them a clean bill of health, you probably have nothing to worry about. I'm not a professional; you should consult your vet and research options for yourself (which is what I do) but you're not doing anything wrong here.

I will say that when I was going through the process of adopting Mal and Vice, some places (usually private rescues) wanted me to jump through INSANE hoops to even apply. I respect that their hearts are in the right place, but... There are hundreds of kittens in shelters right now that need homes desperately, and the quality of the cat has very little to do with the quality of the rescue--they might have more or less vet work done, depending on where they're coming from, but nobody's managed to fundamentally change the nature of the beast. If you can provide a safe home, food, clean water, and attention to a cat, that's really all they need. The rest is just gravy.

hi guys! I added a tipping option to my blog, and I'd really appreciate any tips to help feed my fur babies!!! thanks y'all!!

have some pics of them 😍

other tip links:

c$pp | vnm | pypl | ☕

I saw people were sending you pics and stories of their gummy cats! This is Gracie, and having her teeth removed was the best thing that happened to her, she feels way better and it hasn't slowed her down at all. (She still is a monster for food and kibble, it's easier to pick up with tounge than wet food, and gumming on everyone) I hope the same for Pangur, good luck!!

Also a funny thing about Gracie not having teeth anymore, she now licks by sticking her tounge out of the side of her mouth instead of just the front and looks very silly!

AHHH that's such a weird visual!

Hi , this panels haunt me everyday.

Um yeah guess what I’ve rescued yet another newborn kitten.. the fourth !!!!!! in less than a year !!!!

I have an older cat (she's 13 very proud of her what a beautiful old woman) and sometimes she gets super happy when I return home from work or errands she'll start kneading me and purring so loudly and sometimes (especially lately) she just drools all over me like this

She's so cute but it's so gross having old lady drool all over me

i love my cats!! sooo much !!!!!! >_<

here is a little photo dump of the oldest one, celery! she is literally my everything i would extinguish the sun for her if she wanted. she is the light of my life so it wouldn’t make a difference 🥬

HEY BUD???

sometimes I get depressed about the fact my cat is gonna die one day when she’s just sitting on my lap being very not dead and this is always unprompted but I need to spend less time thinking about how she’s gonna die instead of being so happy she’s alive bc I love her so much but also she will die :(

🎂 HAPPY JAEMIN DAY! /ᐠ - ˕ -マ 🎁

ughhh the outsiders is something I love and I've been started to feel like myself again bc of it but now it's fucking triggering me BAD

Lost in the sauce

My cats are straight up obsessed with tryna clean their own messes... puked up a hairball? Time to go to the bathroom to unravel some toilet paper to push into it. And cry loudly to alert me to the presence of A JOB WELL DONE. But sometimes I'm trying to sleep... and it's like "buddy please... this can wait... also you don't need to clean it. You're making it worse and I'll deal with it begrudgingly when I get up."

He does not understand that his efforts aren't helpful. He sees me use paper towels to remove the mess... so surely this is how I want the mess covered. Right? Surely paper protects us best from predators! After all, he's not seen one since I adopted him, and I always clean messes with paper! And if it's left on the floor, it could attract one, it's best to not test this theory. Right?