Pages

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Wild bird care centre

Do you see 2 cats in a window today?

This is Maddy & Joe waiting for the cat-sitter
(two brown and white tabbies)

a walk about town always pleases the eye





On my way to cat-sitting Sunday,  I came across a fledgling that was lying upside down on the hot sidewalk in our downtown area. 
It looked like it was injured so I brought it home (held him in one hand as I drove 6 blocks)  knowing it's always iffy caring for a wild bird. The retired-guy had a little experience with helping birds, me..less than none. Although, I did remove one from the mouth of a pissed-off cat a few years back. As far as we could tell this was a Starling. Well, it made it  'til morning from feedings of cat food and water and then we drove to the Bird Sanctuary in Nepean, Ont. to drop it off.
Kind of a cool place they have.
There were 25 other little fledglings that had been brought in and were being cared for until they were able to feed themselves. After being examined, we were told that there were no breaks and his wings were fine so they expect that he will be fine and should only need a few weeks of care.

The knowledgeable lady scooped him up out of the box and took him in the back to check him for injuries.
Good luck, little fella
Their website is www.wildbirdcarecentre.org   (Nepean, Ontario)
They love donations :-)

Let's talk 'cats' again for a moment.
The following is only my own personal opinion. I am not about to preach on how you raise your cats. I have been asked so...

I am a firm believer in feeding cats soft food. I don't like most dry kibble as I have learned over the years that it is what puts the pounds on cats because many brands are sprayed with fat to attract them. Most are loaded with fillers that can cause many health problems. The little bit of meat in the food is often all animal bi-products. There are some higher-end dry kibble that have real meat as it's first ingredient and only a few recognizable other ingredients but even with those, I still recommend feeding canned.  I keep a bag of Royal Canin dry food to give as a crunchy treat.    Even Audrey gets a hand-ful of kibble throughout the day of this as I have taken her off kitten food. I give them all soft food 3x daily. Eagle Pack Holistic Select is what they are on presently and they all like it. I add 1 tbsp. of pumpkin to each medium sized (5.5 oz) can to add fibre to their diet. I keep fresh water out for them in bowls and cups on both floors and they sometimes have cooked chicken or canned salmon as an evening treat. My four seniors are all doing well and living good, long lives. Their stools are good and their coats look as good as expected for geriatric cats. I don't plan to change anything while their health is good.
I realize many people cannot feed their cats 3x a day so what I suggest is that you feed them soft in the morning and evening and leave them a small amt. of kibble for while you are at work. Amounts will depend on your cat and should be discussed with your vet.

hugs, Deb

10 comments:

  1. Great advice on the cat food! We're doing all the wrong things! My son volunteers at a bird sanctuary and we've seen some amazing creatures. What a noble rescue you made!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Agree 100% on the canned food diet only. I wish they'd just take all dry food off the market. It just causes so many problems. How wonderful that little bird sanctuary is. The area looks beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My one cat doesn't like the canned food--he prefers the dry. We give the Science Diet and they both like it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for caring about the bird, many people would have walked on by.
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great post, Deb. Love the cats, the bird, the dishes. Thanks for going over the feeding of cats again. My cat likes the dry food but I'm trying to give him mostly wet and just a bit of the dry. It makes sense that the wet is much better for them and doesn't make them fat like the dry does. Chin rubs to Audrey, Annie and the crew!

    Becky

    ReplyDelete
  6. I absolutely love your heart for animals!!!

    So many beautiful cat pictures...... I seldom see cats when I'm taking a walk..

    ReplyDelete
  7. YEY for the birdie!! Love the cat on walks pics and ANY suggestions on how to convert a die hard dry only or I will purposely starve myself to death....CAT...???? Tried to no avail twice and ended up switching to weight control food and limiting the quantity and no free feeding.After the sad news on MEOW,the 40 pounder that perished at 2 from obesity complications...I am more determined than ever to get Ms. Rosie off the mildly obese charts and back to healthy..she is 17 pounds..NOT good.

    ReplyDelete
  8. 100% with you on your cat feeding! People claim the cats need dry food for their teeth. My vet says it's like a human brushing their teeth with a biscuit!
    There is a site I like a lot about cat nutrition called catinfo.org. Good for those of us less informed folks.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So glad the little bird was OK! I am trying to feed Charlie canned food twice a day now and limit his kibble. Hard while I am gone, Mr will only do wet once for some reason. Good advice and I agree with you. I have learned so much from you Deb! hugs, Linda

    ReplyDelete
  10. I do so miss having a cat. I love them. When I lost Bumpy, I just decided I could not take losing another precious friend.
    At my age I am also fearing I will not out live another one. But, oh, how I miss having a dear friend like Bump was.. It's hard to not dream of it though.
    Bump was named from "Things that go bump in the night." I loved that any noise I heard late at night was Bump..wandering about..

    ReplyDelete