What I learned from a bag of crappy cat food.
A while back I bought our cat, Scratcher (though I just call him Meow Meow), a new type of cat food. With meat as its first ingredient, and a heavy smell of tuna as I opened the bag, it seemed promising enough, but Scratcher...let's just say he was resistant to the change.
In his defense, this new change in food came right around the time of another big change for Scratcher -- We had just gotten new couches and Scratcher, who usually lounged around inside all day in climate controlled comfort, was now forced, by me, to spend most of his time outside. After all, I didn't want him to scratch up our new couches as he had our old ones (hence the name Scratcher).
For a cat who's two main objectives in life were to sleep and eat, these two changes rocked his whole world.
Now, you might be thinking Scratcher is an old cat, spending his final days sleeping and eating, but this isn't the case. Scratcher was barely over one. But after being fixed, he'd gone from a playful, slim kitty, to a fat, slumbering grump, which was totally sad to see.
I still let Scratcher come inside some though, mostly to eat in peace away from the dog, and to pet him some to let him know he was still loved before leading him back outside. He seemed happy enough with his new outdoor life, though he still spent most of his time eating and lounging around, only now he slept outside rather than in. But when the new cat food came...it was too much.
He'd whine and beg for food, I'd lead him to his bowl, he'd take one sniff and turn away. A few minutes later he'd come back whining and begging for food. I'd lead him to his bowl where he'd take another whiff, and turn away.
This went on for some time, but me being super stubborn and persistent me, refused to give in and buy him his old food. This cat food was good enough, and if he was hungry enough, he'd eat it, I thought. Besides, losing a little weight couldn't hurt Scratcher.
Days passed and Scratcher ate mere nibbles of his new food before asking to go out. With five kids (one of them being a brand new baby), I have to admit, Scratcher wasn't high on my priority list, and I didn't think too much about this. Plus, he seemed super energetic and happy despite his refusal to eat much of his food.
The days turned to weeks and slowly the new food was eaten. Once it was gone, I went back to buying Scratcher's tried and true Frisky's brand of cat food. Scratcher had lost some weight during this little impasse of ours, which I assumed he'd gain back quickly with his old food back in the house, but to my surprise, he no longer ate his old chow with his usual enthusiasm, and he wasn't asking to come in as frequently as he had before. Again, with five young kids, I didn't take too much time to think about this, nor did I spend time trying to find out what our Scratcher was up to.
Some time later, I was outside sitting on a lounge chair as I watched the sun setting in the distance when I noticed something -- Scratcher was laser focused and super excited as he dug away at a small hole in the ground beside me. I sat watching in complete shock as our formerly tired, lazy cat dug out a sizable bug of some kind and proceeded to eat it up before going to another small hole in the ground and doing the same.
Now I realized two things -- 1. The cat food really must have been terrible if Scratcher preferred eating bugs to eating it. And 2. This cat was living more than he had ever lived.
At the time, this was no more than a funny story to tell my husband later that night, but as time passed, I began to think more on this little occurrence between me and our cat. Turns out there was a lot to learn from this new cat food fiasco.
Like Scratcher, sometimes life kicks us outside and hands us crappy cat food. And...we hate it. At first we dig in our heels. We cry, and we scream, and we beg as we wait to be let back inside and to be given our old, not so crappy cat food...but it doesn't happen. Time passes, and still no semi tolerable cat food returns, and we're still no longer allowed to sleep the days away in climate controlled comfort. We miss our old life and hate our new life.
There are bugs, and it's cold, or it's hot. There's rain, and there are scary sounds. It. Is. Awful! But wait...those bugs...Sure they're annoying at times, but they're also kinda neat. Hmmm....bugs...
We begin to watch the bugs. They're kind fun to look at. Now we want to get closer, I mean, we've got nothing better to do, right? Now we are chasing the bugs, the blood is flowing in our veins, the wind is whipping through our fur. We're not even thinking about the rain, or the cold, or the fact we're no longer inside in climate controlled comfort, or being given our mediocre, tolerable cat food. Now, we love bugs. And we're pretty good at catching them. And you know what, they're surprisingly yummy. Much better than our not so crappy cat food even.
Time passes and we don't even think about going inside anymore unless we absolutely have to for a little nibble here and there, or those periodic pets we sometimes get the strange urge for. But for the most part, our days are spent outside. No longer a fat, lazy house cat. We are now fierce predators. We wake up excited for the day ahead and we go to sleep fulfilled from spending the day being a fierce, cunning hunter -- What we were always meant to be.
So just remember, if life kicks you outside and hands you crappy cat food, it might just be trying to shake you up to encourage you to not just live life but to really LIVE life. SO smile, take a deep breath, and look around for your bugs, whatever those bugs may be. :)
In his defense, this new change in food came right around the time of another big change for Scratcher -- We had just gotten new couches and Scratcher, who usually lounged around inside all day in climate controlled comfort, was now forced, by me, to spend most of his time outside. After all, I didn't want him to scratch up our new couches as he had our old ones (hence the name Scratcher).
For a cat who's two main objectives in life were to sleep and eat, these two changes rocked his whole world.
Now, you might be thinking Scratcher is an old cat, spending his final days sleeping and eating, but this isn't the case. Scratcher was barely over one. But after being fixed, he'd gone from a playful, slim kitty, to a fat, slumbering grump, which was totally sad to see.
I still let Scratcher come inside some though, mostly to eat in peace away from the dog, and to pet him some to let him know he was still loved before leading him back outside. He seemed happy enough with his new outdoor life, though he still spent most of his time eating and lounging around, only now he slept outside rather than in. But when the new cat food came...it was too much.
He'd whine and beg for food, I'd lead him to his bowl, he'd take one sniff and turn away. A few minutes later he'd come back whining and begging for food. I'd lead him to his bowl where he'd take another whiff, and turn away.
This went on for some time, but me being super stubborn and persistent me, refused to give in and buy him his old food. This cat food was good enough, and if he was hungry enough, he'd eat it, I thought. Besides, losing a little weight couldn't hurt Scratcher.
Days passed and Scratcher ate mere nibbles of his new food before asking to go out. With five kids (one of them being a brand new baby), I have to admit, Scratcher wasn't high on my priority list, and I didn't think too much about this. Plus, he seemed super energetic and happy despite his refusal to eat much of his food.
The days turned to weeks and slowly the new food was eaten. Once it was gone, I went back to buying Scratcher's tried and true Frisky's brand of cat food. Scratcher had lost some weight during this little impasse of ours, which I assumed he'd gain back quickly with his old food back in the house, but to my surprise, he no longer ate his old chow with his usual enthusiasm, and he wasn't asking to come in as frequently as he had before. Again, with five young kids, I didn't take too much time to think about this, nor did I spend time trying to find out what our Scratcher was up to.
Some time later, I was outside sitting on a lounge chair as I watched the sun setting in the distance when I noticed something -- Scratcher was laser focused and super excited as he dug away at a small hole in the ground beside me. I sat watching in complete shock as our formerly tired, lazy cat dug out a sizable bug of some kind and proceeded to eat it up before going to another small hole in the ground and doing the same.
Now I realized two things -- 1. The cat food really must have been terrible if Scratcher preferred eating bugs to eating it. And 2. This cat was living more than he had ever lived.
At the time, this was no more than a funny story to tell my husband later that night, but as time passed, I began to think more on this little occurrence between me and our cat. Turns out there was a lot to learn from this new cat food fiasco.
Like Scratcher, sometimes life kicks us outside and hands us crappy cat food. And...we hate it. At first we dig in our heels. We cry, and we scream, and we beg as we wait to be let back inside and to be given our old, not so crappy cat food...but it doesn't happen. Time passes, and still no semi tolerable cat food returns, and we're still no longer allowed to sleep the days away in climate controlled comfort. We miss our old life and hate our new life.
There are bugs, and it's cold, or it's hot. There's rain, and there are scary sounds. It. Is. Awful! But wait...those bugs...Sure they're annoying at times, but they're also kinda neat. Hmmm....bugs...
We begin to watch the bugs. They're kind fun to look at. Now we want to get closer, I mean, we've got nothing better to do, right? Now we are chasing the bugs, the blood is flowing in our veins, the wind is whipping through our fur. We're not even thinking about the rain, or the cold, or the fact we're no longer inside in climate controlled comfort, or being given our mediocre, tolerable cat food. Now, we love bugs. And we're pretty good at catching them. And you know what, they're surprisingly yummy. Much better than our not so crappy cat food even.
Time passes and we don't even think about going inside anymore unless we absolutely have to for a little nibble here and there, or those periodic pets we sometimes get the strange urge for. But for the most part, our days are spent outside. No longer a fat, lazy house cat. We are now fierce predators. We wake up excited for the day ahead and we go to sleep fulfilled from spending the day being a fierce, cunning hunter -- What we were always meant to be.
So just remember, if life kicks you outside and hands you crappy cat food, it might just be trying to shake you up to encourage you to not just live life but to really LIVE life. SO smile, take a deep breath, and look around for your bugs, whatever those bugs may be. :)
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