vilakins | Chocolate, cat food, and books

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Chocolate, cat food, and books

Today I got paid $40 for 30 minutes of chocolate tasting; a good deal if it hadn't been on the North Shore which meant having to cross the harbour bridge and taking 45 minutes to get home afterwards due to an accident on the bridge. The chocolate research is confidential, but suffice it to say it was for a certain Australian chocolate manufacturer which has been putting palm oil in its products.

I also got an e-mail from Foodtown, the local supermarket, telling me about some new products (though I'd actually like them to keep stocking the old ones, like the Zone bars they're totally out of). One new thing is a gourmet "restaurant-inspired" cat food. (Greg said not to let the cats see the site, or they'll want to eat out with us.) I know it's aimed at the owner rather than the cat, but do furry carnivores really need their food complemented by garden greens and accented with spinach? That said, I'll buy some to see if my lot like it, if it's a reasonable price. They actually live on Hills's Science Diet dry food so I only give them tinned food as a treat, one tin divided between three of them as a little enticement to come in at night, and lately they've been a bit bored with the basic Fancy Feast stuff.

What else? I ordered some more books from the library (I've see I've had 71 this year already), but was disappointed that after reading and enjoying "A Million Open Doors" by John Barnes, I can't read the sequel because they don't have it. Bah. Oh well, I have Mieville and Pratchett and the next book in the Dark is Rising series coming.

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Those cat foods have always struck me as pretty silly. It's odd that they put in carrots and peas and wheat and stuff--ok, I know they use them as fillers that are probably cheaper than some meats, but I wouldn't have thought that some of those foodstuffs were all that cheap in the first place. Noki can't even eat most cat foods just because her stomach can't take the wheat. (She's on this stuff (http://www.royalcanin.co.uk/my_pet/cat_food/feline_care_nutrition/light.aspx) and loves it to bits). Thankfully, that ends up being cheaper in the long run:).

And dude, you get to sample chocolates *and* get paid for it? *Damn*. *envies*:D

Furry carnivores do need a little bit of vegetation in their diet; my tinned treats contain things like carrots and (I think) also spinach, but since they get those only once a week it doesn't stop them nibbling the grass in the back garden. This applies especially to Heidi, who seems to need more of it than the other two put together.

Having said that, if the manufacturers ever make a really good moth-flavoured cat food, I shall have one very happy Klinsmann indeed. :-)

Chocolate tasting ... that's my kind of job! Now you can spend that extra money on catfood. LOL

My poor ancient cat is really starting to degenerate. She can't climb up on the bed with us anymore (she stopped 'jumping up' a few years ago). She has taken a liking to the lounge suite which is a little lower, so she is still nearby.

We get that here too. I could buy that one, but I'm sticking with Hills because they like it. That's their main diet, with tinned stuff just as a small treat on top of it. I tried to wean them off that (it being a leftover from soft kitten food) but they hang around expecting their teaspoon each. Ashley in particular cries so piteously and even jump on on the counter. :-) Good dry food is a lot cheaper and better for them, but as long as they like a little soft stuff, I'll use it as a bribe to come inside at night. Just a small morsel seems to make them happy, and they know if they don't get it. They're not stupid. Vic gets some too so he's not left out.

Yeah, it's a research company I said could contact me. Last summer I got two big king-sized blocks to eat over a week each and compare. I still have half of the one I didn't like as much; I keep forgetting it's there.

Oooh, I want to get paid to eat chocolate! XD Then again, I'm always complaining that nobody pays me to sit around using the Internet and watching DVDs. Which they should. ;)

They don't need a lot though; just what they'd get in prey stomachs. The "menu" is definitely for the humans; the wording amused me. I'll see if the cats like it; they do enjoy their little nightly treat.

The cubs like lizards, cicadas, and wetas, but not to eat. They bring them in to play with, and when we rescue them, they're usually fine and always whole.

It's going in my bank account which meeds it.

Poor little thing. Claudia was still jumping on the deck railing the weekend before she died, and on the bed and furniture.

It was almost not worth it after that painfully slow inching onto the bridge.

They have fancy-feast here, but labelled as Gourmet. Frankie used to enjoy certain flavours immensely, and it can be handy as the cans are small and there's not too much waste if the cat suddenly decides they're 'so over my tuna phase, thank you very much'.

Paid to do chocolate tasting? Wow. How ever did you manage to find that role? You lucky woman, you.

I keep meaning to tell you how much I loved the potato peel pie book! I read it on holiday, and I've just given it to my best friend to read. thanks for the heads up

We have some dry cat food here that had 'garden greens' for indoor cats. Mine weren't that keen.

oh yes, my two would go wild for moth flavour, although spider might just be played with and left

Cats do need an element of vegetable matter in their diet but some cat foods seem to promote the 'with vegetables' angle to appeal to humans. We're so often told we should eat more fruit and veg ourselves that the cat food manufacturers hope that including veg will make their cat food appear more 'healthy'.

Mine mostly have dry biscuits - Tesco premium mixed with a little Whiskers for Diesel and kitten food for Iella. They get a single sachet of wet food in jelly or gravy between them once a week or so as a treat, with a few bicuits mixed in. Diesel loves to eat grass when she's out, but will happily make do with dead leaves that have blown into the communal hallway downstairs.

Oh yum....

Chocolate tasting for money? Fabulous. I want your life.

Man, I want me one of these get-paid-to-eat-chocolate gigs! :)

Do you recommend A Million Open Doors, then? I think the only John Barnes I've read was Finity, and as I recall, that wasn't bad. Maybe I should read more of his stuff. (Mind you, book recommendations are probably the last thing I need right now! *looks at TBR pile glumly*)

(Also, apologies for multiple edits. I need more coffee.)

I agree with everyone else about how hard it is to force yourself to eat chocolate.

Does your library not do inter-library loans? Or did you mean it wasn't in the entire area? I can order books from any library in the county to be collected from my local branch.

I hope the chocolate was worth the headache of traffic. :o)
The kits are fussy about their soft food. They meow like crazy, wanting it, but when I give them their favourite Fancy Feast, they sometimes turn their nose and walk away.

Chocolate tasting...mmmm...
I had to laugh, reading about the special site for cat food. Our darlings are like us humans, they have their funny tastes and these are individual.
Tygr grew up mostly on dry food (Whiskas) and here and there tinned chicken pieces...between his mice. He however loves soft creamy cheese and smoked fish. Otherwise he won´t touch any human food.
Nácíček is...a black hole. He cleans every bit, every leftover. Such a small creature eats like bottomless since his "childhood":-)

An inability to jump is not directly related to old age, but has more to do with stiff and painful joints (which do admittedly tend to be more common in the elderly). If you go see a vet about it, she could get quite a lot of relief from simple pain killers. Also, Hill's has a special diet for this now: J/D prescription diet. I've seen it work miracles for my Mogley in just a month.

I would rec it! I was going to post about it and a couple of others, but I was so annoyed that I couldn't get the sequel.

At first I disliked the protagonist, Giraut, and his society--both of them sexist--but once he got to another planet with a completely different society with its own problems, he began to gradually look at himself and his assumptions. I really liked how the book explored both societies and the effects they had on people--and people on them, which rather reminded me of Le Guin. The universe is one which has springers, I think they were called--recently developed teleportation between worlds--so suddenly isolated societies are finding each other (not a spoiler; you find that out straight away). I really wanted to read the next one. Maybe I'll look at some of the online book places here; I can get the two others at the library. I did look at brief descriptions of some of his other novels, but this series really appealed.

BTW, if you like Le Guin, I really enjoyed her recent Annals of the Western Shore trilogy: Gifts, Voices, and Powers.

I've been using ordinary Fancy Feast, and they've gone off their favourites lately--but still come inside looking hopeful about their little treat. So I bought them some Pro-Plan this week, which is much better quality--real meat and a few rice grains--and they really loved it. If this new FF selection is as good, I'll get it because it's at the supermarket.

I'm glad you liked it!

I figure cats will eat what they need outside. Anyway they don't need much; just the trace they'd get from the stomachs of prey. :-P

some cat foods seem to promote the 'with vegetables' angle to appeal to humans

That's what amused me!

Mine live on Hills bscuits--kitten once, and now adult--and the soft food treat which they do look forward to. It's funny; if I forget, they get quite upset. OTOH if they don't fancy it when it's down, and that's been happening a bit lately, they'll then go off fairly happy; at least they got some. I gave them some Pro-Plan from the pet supplier today and they loved it: real bits of chicken with s few long rice grains. If the "Tuscany" range is as good, I'll get it. The less processed, the better, and they have something to chew.

All of it? Ha! I doubt that.

Some market research companies pay people to do tasting and test panel stuff. I once got $80 for an evening (with drinks and food) giving feedback on a bank's new branding and new ads.

I have access to all the libraries in Auckland. I think it costs more for books from elsewhere but I could ask when I take this lot back. They do have a copy, but it's not for loan. I have no idea why; perhaps it's damaged.

I got to eat about 10 pieces and rate them. :-) I guess it was worth it, given the money which I need.

My guys demand their daily treat too, but yes, they've gone off their normal Fancy Feast flavours lately. I bought them some Pro Plan this week (same little tins, but with real meat and a few grains of rice) and they loved it. I'm sure it's better less processed and more chewy. If the Tuscany stuff is as good, I'll get it.

My lot love their biscuits, and they're good and healthy for them. Lucky Tygr! Ours like tuna which they get on special occasions; otherwise they don't get human food. They have learned that only what's in their dishes is for them.

Claudia would eat anything as a kitten, even pasta, but she stopped when she was given some enzymes to help her digestion; she hadn't been getting enough goodness from her food and was always hungry.

My Claudia got regular injections for her joints too, which kept her jumping (though not very confidently) till almost the end. She used to eat K/D Hills though for her kidneys. I wish I'd known about the other one; I could have maybe mixed it.

That does sound pretty good. Right, then! On to the wishlist it goes! (Along with what seems like half the books ever published. Sigh. "So many books, so little time" isn't just a motto. It's a way of life. :))

And I do like Le Guin, although I still need to read the last book in the Earthsea series. At least, I think I only have one more book in that series...

J/D is pretty new, I think it became available sometime last year. And your vet may have considered the kidney's to be more important than joints which apparently worked just fine with some injections.

The J/D diet doesn't cure every single joint problem, just the most common kind in elderly cats.

Have an icon of Moos with his favorite diet. He just doesn't get it very often, which means I don't, either.

I think I do too. I must check that. The library does have her stuff.

I wondered if it was new. It will be years before I need any anyway, and Vic will be the next.

Awww. Does Moos mean "moose"? I had a cat in Israel I inherited from a Dutch girl and she had called the kitten Buffel (buffalo) because she was so tiny. She was about 9 months old when I got her, and I renamed her Bissel (a little bit/bite in Yiddish). I had to leave her behind when I left, and a lovely French girl took her. I so wish I could have kept her. She was a sweet light grey tabby.

I think I tried giving the kits the Elegant Medley once - they walked away. I haven't tried either the Pro Plan or the Tuscany. The kits really loved the regular Chicken Hearts and liver feast for awhile, but now neither will eat it. *sigh* Keiki is so much easier when it comes to meals... :o)

I was having that problem with the chicken feast, chicken and liver, and chicken and tuna they used to love. It doesn't worry me that much given they live on Hills dry food, but they do queue up and meow for their little treat. I bought some of the Tuscany and Florentine to try on them; it's cheaper than the Pro-Plan which they love (well, so far because it's new) but if necessary I'll get the Pro-Plan. It has real bits of meat and rice in it and they get something to chew. I'm hoping the new Fancy Feast will be like that; I'll open a tin tonight.

At least they like their dry food.

She's 25 years old. The vet x-rayed her when she stopped jumping and found arthritis. I have booked her in to see the vet again tomorrow.

Thanks for the info. I have a friend who uses Hill's for his elderly dogs. Will ask about it too.

I am properly impressed, that is an amazing age for a cat. My oldest boy is 18 and he's the oldest cat I've ever served. I guess you could say she's earned her creaky joints. I hope the vet can help make 'em a little less painful, though.

It's a fairly normal name among Jewish males over here (at least around Amsterdam) and I think it's short for Mozes.

I don't think I could ever bear to leave a cat behind. But then I never go away for a vacation or even a weekend, either, because I'd only worry too much about my cats. But that's just me being a crazy cat lady.

Ah! It's Moshe / Moize! I'd never have guessed!

I hate leaving them and always cry, and the best part of coming back is seeing them again. I like a holiday now and then though.

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Chocolate, cat food, and books

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