Food, litter, and play time

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Maine Coon Cats : One Thread

We will soon adopt two Maine Coon kittens. They will be pets, vs breeders or for showing. One male, one female. Live only indoors, and not around any other animals or children.

I need some advice on: Food and water. We intend to feed only dry Science Diet, and lots of fresh running and still water.

Kitty litter. We intend to have one box with clumping litter until they get too big to both fit in thewre at once.

Play time. We have never had "play/sleep/attack trees". I need some advice on structures to provide for our new kitties.

Please write me with some advice soon.

Chuck . . .

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2001

Answers

Hi Chuck. I have the perfect answer for you on the litter and play issue, but it will cost you!!!!! We changed to World's Best Cat Litter.(www.worldsbestcatlitter.com) It is unbelievable. It lasts so much longer, even with multiple cats, but you do need to keep it scooped. Instead of completely changing it, you add to it. We do a full change about every three weeks, and that is with one small Tonkinese and two Maine Coons. It is expensive, but in my opinion well worth it. Regarding the play issue...we bit the bullet and got a huge tree house combo. It has an adobe house on the bottom, 3 poles extending up from the adobe house, with a huge cat cradle in it, and on top of that a regular house with an inside shelf under the roof for them to peek and sneak out other than the front door opening, and on top of that a post and perch coming up from it. All the cats use every part of the tree. One of the middle three posts is covered in sisal and the others in a flat carpet. Our cats live better than we do, but that's the point, isn't it? It cost $450 when we bought it, but if you're able to afford something like it, it's worth it. You can customize the colors too. The cats like to race up and down; when they're zonked they crash on the perches. If you're interested in it I can find the man's phone number for you. Where do you live? He is in Texas, but he delivers to all parts of the country. We are not related, and this is not a paid advertisement for him! I just love his work. Good luck.

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2001

Hi,

Congrats on your new kitties. My only comment is that I really don't think Science Diet is a good choice. The reason I say this is because Science Diet contains a certain type of fish oil that many cats are allergic to. It can cause hair loss and other problems. I know because my last Maine Coon had that problem while on Science Diet - he was bald on all his legs until we switched his cat food. I highly recommend Wysong's natural cat food. Check out the testimonials on www.wysongs.net.

We raised our Siamese mix on Wysongs and he's a beautiful animal with a gorgeous coat. We're now raising our MC kitten on it and I plan on incorporating some raw foods into his diet as well. I really think it's a better choice for your kitties.

Good luck!

-- Anonymous, March 11, 2001


Hi Zoe, can I ask what kind of raw foods you plan on feeding your cats???

-- Anonymous, March 11, 2001

If you do feed your cats raw food only, it's very important to have the right type of nutrients in the food: these include internal organs, grains and vegetables, bone meal, etc. I live in Seattle and there's a pet health food store called "All The Best". They have information on how to properly prepare raw foods for your cat. OR, you can do what I do and buy raw cat food already made! It's called "Steve's Real Food". You just thaw it when ready to use.

There are also some very good books on natural pet health that include recipes for raw foods as well as homeopathic remedies and herbs for cats. I think one's called "Natural Cat" or something like that.

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2001


If you have a PetSmart in your area check out the kitty furniture that has a V shaped trough on the highest level onstead of the circular cat bed type (my attempt at graphic arts may not survive transmission, but here goes anyway!) ____________ \ \ / \_______\/

The bed length is 26" long and it gives our Maine Coon a chance to stretch out, even if her feetsie fall over the edges. Cost around $140. A couple of months later we bought another one, stood them close together and the two cats play around/about/in & out quite happily and they both have their own window seat and when curled up the two cats can get onto one tree for some togetherness time.

My second recommendatation is get a Litter Maid. Check littermaid.com for testimonials and vendors description. I don't think I'd ever be without one again! On litter, you might want to look for a brand that says "dust free" as the non-dust free types have been looked at a cause for kitty respiratory problems.

My MC kitten has selected Science Diet Growth (sciencediet.com) as her dried food of choice. My other kitten is a buff tabby Domestic Short Hair and he prefers the NutroMax Kitten (nutroproducts.com). Personally I'm favoring the Nutro brand and hope to ween them both off kitten formula on to NutroMax Adult before too long.

We got a huge ceramic water bowl (German Shephard sized) and the ceramic does keep the water cooler, but we had a probem of condensation under the bowl so be put it on a piece of Dri-Deck tile we had left over from the boat under it that ended that problem but a footed trivet would do the same thing.

One other word on bowls - you might want to stay away from plastic ones. Some cats react to one of the chemicals used to make some of the plastic bowls (though no one who posts this will name the exact chemical). Apparently some kitties will come down with an acne type irritation on their chins from prolonged contact to the suspected chemical. True, not true, I don't know but I used it as a good excuse to get those cute ceramic kitty bowls with paw prints on the side! ;)

LOL and best of fortune with your new precious bundles!

BJ in Fla

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2001



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