The mystery parsley stuff from last week’s CSA haul was in this week’s haul as well, along with a note from Farmer Linda, explaining what it all was. Shinguku – edible chrysanthemum leaves. They go just fine in our gross-looking (but so tasty!) smoothies.
By now we really have the drill down. On most days, we have a big smoothie, and that contains a few handfuls of greens. And dinner generally incorporates another several handfuls apiece, plus salad. Plus, I’ve been adding wheatgerm, flaxseed, and chia seeds to either the morning oatmeal or the smoothies. What I’m getting at here is that in some ways, this is the healthiest I’ve ever eaten. Which segues into the other topic of today’s post…
It’s Let’s Go to the Vet week here. I have amazing, surprising news. Brace yourself.
The cats are fat. Oh, the shame! I know, I know…it is so unhealthy to be overweight…It’s just as unhealthy for these little buggers as it is for humans…
I have known each of them since they were kittens. I was actually visiting my dad the very day he and Second Wife spontaneously went to the humane society and brought Maggie home. They have been my full-time responsibility since September of 2007. I have maintained the same policy that Dad had: free choice. That means, plenty of dry food (the cheap stuff, what’s worse), lying around, available at all hours.
Here’s Charlie. He weighs 15.7 pounds. He’s supposed to weigh 12. He weighed less than that last summer, but that was because his thyroid had gone haywire. He’s all better now, thank god and the miracles of modern medicine.
Here is Her Serene Highness, Princess Magdalena. I’m sure Dad meant her “real” name to be Margaret, but she’s Miss Magdalena, Mags, Magster, and Maggie to me. Maggie comes in at a whopping (oh heavens) 18.5 pounds. She is supposed to weigh ten pounds. TEN!
So: we have a new regime in the Brennan household.
Yeah, this surprised me, too. Apparently, canned cat food is the way to go – it’s got higher protein content, fewer carbs, blah blah blah, science. I am to wean them off the crack I’ve been feeding them, and (sob!) take away the Endless Supply of food. This regimen started last night.
At first, the cats were like, “SCORE!” This is because they L-O-V-E canned food. I’ve only given it to them in the past if I’ve needed to give them medicine. Or fish oil, which Charlie’s thyroid doctor recommended. So when they heard the lid being peeled off, they were at my feet in a second.
The excitement paled for Charlie around 5 am this morning, when he came upstairs and made a racket. I’M STARVING! I’M STARVING! I’M STARVING! (He’s on my lap as I type this – he reached up with his paws and tapped my face on this paragraph. Yep, he reads English.) So, I’ll dump a couple of tablespoons of the dry crack into their bowls when we go upstairs to bed, and hopefully that will hold them.
In other news related to denying the cats their fun, Kevin put up stakes and netting around the melon/cantaloupe patch. Because someone got the idea that this dirt would be ideal for…you don’t want to know. No, really, you don’t.
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