Friday Cat Blogging No. 39: The Ball Diet
As far as we know, there haven’t been any CSI - Cat Scene Investigation incidents this week–as far as we know. In a recent post comment, pantheranon said that Angelo wanted to know if i had to go on the “ball diet” in order to lose the weight I’ve lost so far. The answer is no. What’s the ball diet, you ask? Well, let me explain. 
After
When Angelo first came to live with us, he was maybe only ten months old. We kept him sequestered in the bedroom so that Hopper and Basil could get used to his scent through the one-inch gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. Don’t ask. Also, he was still on kitten food, which is tastier than adult cat food and we didn’t want the other two to have access to that. The reason it tastes better is because kitten food contains more fat or something like that, which baby cats need.
As you can see in the “Before” picture taken a couple of years ago, Angelo ate more than was necessary. That’s him on the left, wrestling with Basil. I mean, look at the size of his belly compared to the “After” picture, which was taken last night. When the three cats were finally introduced, Angelo would eat everyone else’s food–to the point where Hopper began losing weight. So once again, he was sequestered during breakfast and dinner and was put on the ball diet.
We bought this plastic ball with a hole in it, very much like this one, except that you couldn’t record messages on it. We didn’t need anything that fancy. Really it’s a toy in which you put cat treats, and it’s up to the cat to bat the ball around in order to get the treat out. Fortunately, it fit the exact amount of dry food for Angelo’s diet, so he had to work for his food. But he lost the weight. Now why can’t they make something like that for humans?
(@) Angelo says: More pet pics are available for your viewing pleasure at this week?s Friday Ark. If you post your own pets? photos, leave them a trackback or comment and you?ll be listed there, too. And remember–they don’t limit pictures just to cats!
That is the coolest toy! I could use something along those lines…maybe something that just yells at me whenever I want to snack at night. Erik is going to try to make one of those pet scratch/gyms whatever, I can’t wait!
November 17, 2006 11:38 am
Coolest toy? You mean for cats or humans?
We have a kitty condo that a friend gave us because her cat never used it–imagine that. It’s not a “traditional” one that’s made with small tree trunks/logs or whatnot, but it has plenty of carpeting. It got more use at our old apartment. Now they just use it as a springboard to get to the very top of the bookshelves! Figures.
November 17, 2006 11:50 am
Cats of course :s
I think the cats could really use more to climb on…whenever there is something around that they can climb up high (like when we’re moving around furniture) they just go nuts.
I also need to figure out how to get them to stop scratching our new sofa!!! I got this tape stuff but Aurora is pealing it off…bitch.
November 17, 2006 11:53 am
She’s peeling it off? Smart girl! (@) You know what we did? It doesn’t look attractive, and anyway, we really don’t care all that much about the sofa we currently have, but here’s what you do: put a scratching post directly in front of the area that you don’t want them to scratch. From what you’ve described of Aurora, though, she’d probably just move the thing over. Still, it’s worth a shot.
November 17, 2006 12:04 pm
What’s funny is Pilot is who does most of the scratching of the sofa…Aurora uses the scratch pad we got. Aurora has this thing with plastic and loves to chew on it so I think that’s what it is…or they could just be conspiring against us
I’m hoping if we get a tall scratcher that Pilot will be more interested in using. Good thing I live with a wood worker (y)
November 17, 2006 12:29 pm
Have I mentioned yet how much I enjoy the Cat Scene Investigation posts?
November 17, 2006 2:06 pm
Robin, a taller scratching post is probably a good idea. People have told me about Soft Paws, but I just don’t know about that. They even come in different colors! I think the cats would just try to chew them off their claws.
Joefish, why, no you haven’t. But I can tell you for certain that you enjoy these episodes much more than we do!
November 17, 2006 5:35 pm
Wow another cat blogging. They all look so healthy and happy! I used to have or I say my family way back have 10 cats since my grandma likes them.
Have a nice weekend Barb and Happy Thanksgiving as well!
November 17, 2006 5:51 pm
Actually we got those a long time ago but they never stayed on. I think Aurora figured out how to pull them off…she’s the devil. I really should have named her Lucy-fur.
November 17, 2006 6:02 pm
charles, ten cats??? Holy smokes! And I thought four was too many!
Did they get along?
You know what’s funny? My family didn’t start celebrating Thanksgiving until I was in the sixth grade. At that point we’d been in the U.S. for about eight years. We didn’t even have turkey–my mom cooked duck! :d
Robin, did they chew them off, or did the adhesive stuff–that’s how they stay on, right–not work. They just seem like a total rip-off, but some people swear by them.
November 17, 2006 8:57 pm
Aww cute kitties, the fatter the better I say!
November 17, 2006 9:02 pm
It’s just tape…Aurora just pulled it off and it’s all tangled now.
November 18, 2006 6:29 am
delite, it would actually take Angelo more than just a few seconds to roll over onto his other side while lying on his back when he was that fat. He would actually list like a boat instead of just ending up on his other side. He was like a Weeble Wobble–remember those? :d
Robin, what about double-sided tape? I saw this item called Scratch Buster Strips that might work. Or I’m sure it’d probably be cheaper to just go to the hardware store and get some!
November 18, 2006 12:55 pm
It is the double sided stuff…we got it at Petco and spent like $15 on 2 packages.
November 18, 2006 1:11 pm
That’s so weird because cats supposedly hate sticky stuff. OK-maybe you should rename her Lucy-fur. Check out this site–they’re one of the best sites out there for pet supplies. The link is to their training products. There has to be something out there that’ll work!
November 18, 2006 1:35 pm
Yeah, she is always one step behind me ready to piss me off. Thanks…I’ll check it out.
November 18, 2006 1:46 pm
Good luck! I hope you find something that works.
November 18, 2006 2:10 pm