The problem that originally brought me to TCS was that Jasmine was starving herself because I could no longer find the only brand of cat food that she considers to be edible. I tried everything I could think of, looking for food with the same form factor (small chunks, about 1/4 inch across), expensive food, cheap food, every brand I could find, and nothing worked. Eventually I found out that the reason I could no longer find Aristocats brand cat food was that the name had been changed to Luvsome (the one brand that I had somehow missed trying, because Murphy is everywhere), and all was well again.
Luvsome is the Kroger store brand of cat food, by the way. Is it the healthiest cat food out there? Not by a long shot. It is, however, a good deal healthier than outright starvation, and I am not exaggerating when I say that Jasmine was actually starving herself rather than eat any other cat food.
Then, a couple months ago, I began to have trouble finding Luvsome again.
A sign appeared in my store, in the spot where it was supposed to be, saying "Temporarily Unavailable." I went to the larger grocery store a few miles away, which generally has the things I can't find at the store nearest us, and got a box of 24 cans, which kept Jasmine going for a few more weeks, but when it got low and I went back to the larger store they also had a sign saying "Temporarily Unavailable." This time I started asking questions. "Why is it unavailable?" "How temporary is 'temporarily'?" The answers I got were that there was some kind of problem with the supplier, and no one knew how long it would last. Some cogitation produced the conclusion that the most likely cause of the problem was hurricanes, which, in turn, produced the conclusion that this could go on for a l-o-n-g time. I grabbed every loose can I could reach (tall shelf, short woman) and have been feeding Jasmine from that haul, which has produced some further information. Jasmine's preferences have nothing to do with the size of the pieces; she'll eat paté and enjoy it as long as it's Luvsome paté (and not fish; she doesn't like fish). In other words, Jasmine is addicted to Luvsome cat food.
Okay, so tonight when I went to the grocery store near me they once again had the Luvsome in boxes of 24 cans; catastrophe averted. For now. But what happens when there's another hurricane and this time the plant is in its direct path? What happens if they decide to change the recipe? What happens if Kroger decides to drop Luvsome completely?! Answer: Jasmine starves, unless I can figure out something before that happens.
So, I've been reading labels. The only obvious thing in the Luvsome wet food is "meat by-products," but lots of foods contain meat by-products so if that's the addictive substance it should have been possible to find another cat food that Jasmine will eat. But then I got to wondering: What is the other thing cats find addictive? Temptations Treats. And what is it that makes Temptations Treats addictive? Animal digest. This leads to the obvious question: could "meat by-products" be code for "animal digest"? I don't know the answer to that one; does anyone else here know about it?
I seriously need to be able to feed Jasmine a variety of canned cat foods. In an ideal world I'd have her on some of the premium foods, but given our finances that's not going to happen. What could happen, I hope, is that I could find a way to wean her off of the Luvsome addiction, so that one disaster in the wrong place couldn't leave her starving to death. The obvious thing to do would be to get some animal digest and sprinkle it on other foods, but I've heard too many bad things about animal digest, and since it produces a true addiction we'd never be done with it. But what about valerian? I know -- it stinks. But I happen to be nose-blind. I'm thinking about adding it to other foods, in small quantities, and then gradually reducing the amount as Jasmine becomes accustomed to eating the other foods. Does this have any chance at all of working?
Margret
Luvsome is the Kroger store brand of cat food, by the way. Is it the healthiest cat food out there? Not by a long shot. It is, however, a good deal healthier than outright starvation, and I am not exaggerating when I say that Jasmine was actually starving herself rather than eat any other cat food.
Then, a couple months ago, I began to have trouble finding Luvsome again.
A sign appeared in my store, in the spot where it was supposed to be, saying "Temporarily Unavailable." I went to the larger grocery store a few miles away, which generally has the things I can't find at the store nearest us, and got a box of 24 cans, which kept Jasmine going for a few more weeks, but when it got low and I went back to the larger store they also had a sign saying "Temporarily Unavailable." This time I started asking questions. "Why is it unavailable?" "How temporary is 'temporarily'?" The answers I got were that there was some kind of problem with the supplier, and no one knew how long it would last. Some cogitation produced the conclusion that the most likely cause of the problem was hurricanes, which, in turn, produced the conclusion that this could go on for a l-o-n-g time. I grabbed every loose can I could reach (tall shelf, short woman) and have been feeding Jasmine from that haul, which has produced some further information. Jasmine's preferences have nothing to do with the size of the pieces; she'll eat paté and enjoy it as long as it's Luvsome paté (and not fish; she doesn't like fish). In other words, Jasmine is addicted to Luvsome cat food.Okay, so tonight when I went to the grocery store near me they once again had the Luvsome in boxes of 24 cans; catastrophe averted. For now. But what happens when there's another hurricane and this time the plant is in its direct path? What happens if they decide to change the recipe? What happens if Kroger decides to drop Luvsome completely?! Answer: Jasmine starves, unless I can figure out something before that happens.
So, I've been reading labels. The only obvious thing in the Luvsome wet food is "meat by-products," but lots of foods contain meat by-products so if that's the addictive substance it should have been possible to find another cat food that Jasmine will eat. But then I got to wondering: What is the other thing cats find addictive? Temptations Treats. And what is it that makes Temptations Treats addictive? Animal digest. This leads to the obvious question: could "meat by-products" be code for "animal digest"? I don't know the answer to that one; does anyone else here know about it?
I seriously need to be able to feed Jasmine a variety of canned cat foods. In an ideal world I'd have her on some of the premium foods, but given our finances that's not going to happen. What could happen, I hope, is that I could find a way to wean her off of the Luvsome addiction, so that one disaster in the wrong place couldn't leave her starving to death. The obvious thing to do would be to get some animal digest and sprinkle it on other foods, but I've heard too many bad things about animal digest, and since it produces a true addiction we'd never be done with it. But what about valerian? I know -- it stinks. But I happen to be nose-blind. I'm thinking about adding it to other foods, in small quantities, and then gradually reducing the amount as Jasmine becomes accustomed to eating the other foods. Does this have any chance at all of working?
Margret
