We noticed last week that our male cat had stopped talking. We have a black moggy who is incredibly vocal – when he comes in the cat door every one has to know he is there. In the middle of the night if he catches a mouse and we don’t get up to acknowledge his gift he is quite capable of yelling loud enough to wake the whole neighbourhood. After five days with no voice we decided we had no choice but to take him to the vet. Sixty eight dollars later we returned home not really much wiser as to the cause but with some drugs that we are going to give a try. Seemingly cats can also get allergies with increased pollen and it can lead to asthma so we will need to keep an eye on him. It is almost cheaper these days to go to the doctor than the vet – I don’t think my doctor knows much about cats though! So the cats have blown their cat budget this month – hubby and I have been working our way through the remnants of the freezer the last few days to make up for it a little. If you are thinking about getting pets this Christmas don’t forget to sit down and seriously budget the cost – separating our cats out with their own category in our finances has shown us that over the last 3 months our two cats are costing us $92 a month. For us that’s more than made up for by their affection but it is still a considerable enough cost that needs to be accounted for when you are working out your budget.
Book of the Month
My favourite library book this month would have to be Reader’s Digest ‘Extraordinary uses for ordinary things’ (2007). It has 2209 ideas in it – the vinegar section which is presently my favourite section is 26 pages long! We already use white vinegar as our main house cleaner – spray and wipe, window cleaner, floor cleaner, toilet cleaner, bathroom cleaner, dishwasher rinse aid, stains on carpet, oven cleaner, stain remover …….. so I was interested in things that we don’t use it for. These are a couple of my favourites .
- Keep frost from forming on your car window when parked outside by spraying the outside of the window with 3 parts white vinegar to 1 part water. One coating should last for a couple of weeks. Won’t be able to test this one for a few months now.
- Pour 4 tablespoons of white vinegar into your bottle of washing up liquid and shake. Helps with fighting grease so therefore will need less. I tried this today on some incredibly dirty/greasy roasting pans (after having put most of the grease in the rubbish bin as you are meant to) and it was much more effective than just plain washing liquid.
- Splash white vinegar under your arms and let dry as an antiperspirant. I tried this one today – it worked pretty well. Still in it’s testing stages though!!
- Add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to cat/dog drinking water – will give your animal a healthier coat and deter fleas. I’m not sure about this one but won’t do them any harm to try?
This is definitely a great book if you are looking for interesting ideas for saving money or reusing things. Well worth a read.
Would you like a cup of tea puss?
For the last few days my male cat has had a weeping infected eye. Being a male everyone in the household knows when he’s not feeling well. Rather than taking him up to the vet and paying the public holiday surcharge I decided to try a remedy I heard a few years ago – washing his eye with cold tea. After trying that for 3 days he bounded on to the bed this morning with lovely clear green eyes. It is a remedy that can work for all eyes – human and non- human. No rubbish generated from eye drop bottles etc – just a tea bag that goes out into the garden and very little cost!
Reducing my cats’ carbon pawprints
My cats aren’t very impressed. They want to know why I started with their food rather than mine. There have been quite a few dirty looks, begging roll over tricks and complaining in the early hours of the morning about the changes to their diets.
Over the last few weeks I’ve started looking at their wet food consumption. First to go was the lovely aluminium pouches which I love using because they are so easy to grab especially in the morning when you are in a hurry and being harassed by furry friends. But I know that aluminium pouches never break down and I can no longer justify using them.
My cats adore the little gourmet feast tins – made of aluminium. I have been using them and recycling them but recently noticed that the product is made in the USA. I can’t really justify all those carbon miles just to feed my cats.
So at the moment we are on to cat food made in Hastings. I recycle the tins and the labels. I know nothing about how the product or the cans are made and it’s not information that I can find out.
Raw meat might be a better food option (furry ears have pricked up!) and is my next area of investigation – I don’t want to get it from a supermarket because it is packaged in plastic. There are no butchers for at least 20 minutes drive (they are a dying breed where I live) but it could be possible to buy it in bulk and cut it up for the freezer???