Since our last cat seems to have gone to a farm upstate... there is no need to buy cat food any more. Well. There IS, because the dogs dearly love it as a treat. Not so much in the warm weather as in the winter, when they need fuel to keep their bodies running on all cylinders until they can lie in the sun and re-charge.
We have a horrendous squirrel problem. They used to just steal the chicken feed, but since the chickens all went to live on a farm upstate, courtesy of transportation by the mouths of the neighbor dogs, the squirrels have claimed the cat kibble as their own. After all, they can scamper up the porch supports, run along the rail, and jump over to that bench thing against the garage wall that holds the old black speckled roaster pan Farmer H uses for a feeder.
As I sat at the kitchen table peeling eggs for deviling last Saturday, Farmer H came in from his Storage Unit Store shift.
"I don't think we need to put out cat food now. The dogs can't jump up to get it, and it disappears pretty fast from these darn squirrels. I saw one run along here that was as BIG as a CAT!"
"Yeah. I don't have to buy any. We're almost out."
"But the dogs love it!"
"I can leave it in the garage. You can get some out of the can where I keep it."
"Yeah. It's harder, but I hate feeding these bushy-tailed rats."
So now I have to go into the garage, set my purse on T-Hoe's hood and hope it doesn't slide off, take the lid off a little plastic wastebasket with two side latches (I don't think any animals in there can open the lid, but he latches it), dip a little saucepan into the kibble, and walk out to the side porch and dump some for each dog. I don't LIKE doing extra "work," but I will. For my dogs.
Monday I threw some of the leftover Easter feast off the back porch. Farmer H was draining water off POOLIO's cover, and said the dogs had been sniffing around it, but he didn't know if they ate any. From the looks of it, I think they only had some potatoes that were cooked with bacon draped over the top.
Anyhoo... the dogs still ate the cat kibble I gave them. Less that a handful each.
When I returned from town, the dogs greeted me, but without the energy they usually have to gambol and frolic with the excitement of an upcoming TREAT when I get the kitchen door unlocked. In fact, they just walked slowly to the side porch, stuck their noses at me, and walked to the top of the steps. Juno did not start "talking" as she usually does, with whimpers and whines and short barks of anticipation when I say the magic sentence,
"Are you ready for a TREAT?"
The closer I looked, the more I understood. I guess they'd been feasting on the yard feast. Jack's belly looked more like a basset hound than a dachshund, and Juno appeared rather portly under her sleek black fur. Copper Jack didn't even bother to leave the yard and come up on the porch.
6 comments:
Poor puppies, too full from feasting to even care about a treat. Why cat kibble and not dog kibble? I know there is a nutritional difference between the two, so cats can't live healthily on dog kibble, but is it ok for dogs to eat cat kibble? I guess if it is only as a treat it is alright.
River,
The dogs have their regular dry dog food in a self-feeder on the back porch by the laundry room door. Farmer H makes sure it is full every morning when he gives them fresh water. But you know how it is... everybody wants the forbidden treat!
The dogs have always wanted the cat kibble. That's why it was left up high where they couldn't get it, unless we grabbed a handful to sprinkle around. The cats wanted the FISH FOOD! When we tossed it over the rail into the fake fish pond, to feed the goldfish Farmer H raised to enormous proportions, the cats would jump down and try scooping the fish pellets over to the side with their paw. It was fun to watch. I don't know what treat the fish were wishing for...
Radar NEVER turns down a treat. He is available as an instructor. How to bark loud enough to alert the whole block. How to roll in leaves (and other things). How to turn the interior of the car into a snowglobe of fur. How to dig holes that avoid the mole tunnels. The list goes on...
Sioux,
I bet Radar would enjoy a mini swimming pool! Even if he could only sit down in it, or put in two feet at a time. Think how much more enjoyable his yard-rolling would be if he was wet enough to have things stick to him!
Jack deepens the mole tunnels. He can fit half his body into one. Sometimes he comes out with a baby mole. Juno has a house full of "other things" that Radar could roll in. The trick would be getting INTO Juno's house. She guards it like it's Fort Knox buried in Cheyenne Mountain surrounded by Area 51.
Since Eddie is allergic to wheat, I can no longer buy treats. I am beginning to think Eddie comes from a royal line since he is so high maintenance. They all enjoy canned green beans as a treat. Bo will sneak into my laundry room to steal cat food, but he would prefer to poke around the litter box and bring a treat to the kitchen to eat where I can see him and then chase him to take it away. Such a bundle of joy, my Bo!
Kathy,
Maybe his name should be PRINCE Charming Eddie! Bo is a rascal. His idea of a treat is something I hope my dogs don't pick up. In college, I lived in a house with two girls who had Cocker Spaniels. A golden one named Sandy, and a parti-colored black-and-white named Stonewall Jackson. Those were the two poop-eatingest dogs I ever saw!
Post a Comment