feeding troubles

Feeding the cats is so frustrating sometimes. Sayang and Scooter are both extremely picky with their food. Variety seems to be important to them but yet when fed new canned foods with their dry diet they seem not to like it. It is tiring to have to feed them canned food with every meal just to make sure they eat, since both are growing and are rather small in size for their respective ages. Milk has to be force-fed to them to make sure they get their nutrients because they eat so little, and they don't seem to be greedy for milk at all. Slinky eats up all their leftovers when they choose not to eat all of their meals, hence she is not given her full 4 kg diet daily since she gobbles up the other cats' food behind our backs.

Having become exhausted from choosing, buying and opening cans of cat food I have started to make my own home made cooked food for them, comprising of simple ingredients such as chicken, tuna, cleaned ikan bilis, eggs, cat milk - all so to serve alongside their dry diet just so they get their nutrients, because the dry diet is where the real, complete nutrients are.

So far my first batch of cat food has earned the accolades of the Ubi cats after I tested out my first batch on them. They all really loved it and even asked for second helpings. The main ingredients were tuna and dry food with cat milk - and a whole host of other protein giving ingredients such as scrambled egg, cheese, and some kitty treats for texture. My second batch - which is simply their kibbles soaked in cat milk - not so fanciable, even by Slinky, especially if it's Nutram + milk, because Nutram sucks at the taste test for all my cats. Today I made my third batch, my cats having long finished my first batch of food.

This third batch of food is actually very yummy - made wholly of human food. It is concentrated egg drop soup with chicken breast meat, the chicken shredded and boiled twice (to remove excess oil) in ikan bilis broth. With only a tinsy bit of olive oil and salt to taste, so healthy it can be hospital food for convalescing children. Slinky loves it, even if it is just the broth I give her. Sayang has not tried it yet - she will later. Scooter refused to eat his teatime meal and had only touched a sliver of it - mainly the chicken - at lunch. I had to force-feed him milk to replace his teatime meal. If Sayang and Scooter totally refuse my egg drop shredded chicken, I shall have to open yet another can of cat food for them, which hopefully, they will enjoy. Slinky can have all my egg drop shredded chicken instead.

Tinned cat food we have tried this year with our cats:

• Angel - Sayang eats it, the meat is in small chunks with lots of jelly.
• Snappy Tom - Smells good, but somehow makes Sayang's poo smell bad, and contains artificial colouring, although the fish looks yummy in huge chunks, especially the sardines, which Scooter gorged on when he first came to our house.
• Bistro (Chicken) - Scooter was fed this at the pet shop when he was fostered there. He likes it very much. Mainly chunks of chicken in jelly as it is not primarily made for kittens.
• Omnipro for kittens - palatable and digestible by Scooter, contains not only meat but also other ingredients like grain products.
• Avoderm chicken formula for cats and kittens - Scooter hated it at first, but he now tolerates it. Contains chicken as well as liver, and is in a paste for easy digestion by kittens.

With Slinky I worry she overeats, with the two kittens I worry they undereat. I was hard to feed as a kid because I probably had childhood eating disorders, my Mom got so frustrated trying to get me to eat. Now I know why. Caring for someone is both a blessing and a curse.