Lisa asks…
Is Nutro Max Cat Gourmet Classics Dry Food OK?
I recently purchased Nutro Max Gourmet Classic dry food and within 2 days my cat is sneezing and has a watery eye. He is still eating and acting ok.. but it is almost like there is something in it he is allergic to. He is 3 years old and has had his shots! So I find it hard to believe it is Leukemia or upper resp. Has anyone else had this problem?
CynthiaOVE answers:
Nutro isn’t such a great food choice. And yes, quite a few of my friends have had issues with thier cats and nutro. Many cats are allergic to nutro… Switch to something else.
It’s time for pet owners to wake up and take responsibility for what they feed their animals and quit trusting what those great big money hungry companies tell you. Research for yourself, learn, read the ingredients and make an informed decision for the health and safety of your beloved pet.
With the recall, wheat gluten is the big suspect in cat food that everyone is trying to avoid, and it SHOULD be avoided. It should have been avoided all along. It’s nothing more than a cheap protein source used as a binding agent by pet food companies.
Corn should always be avoided as well. It’s a huge filler worth NOTHING. Corn as an ingredient in cat food is a joke. Ever seen a cat chewing on a corn cob in a field? No, you haven’t.
Cats, despite thousands of years of domestication, remain strictly carnivorous. True and honest meat eaters and that is what they need most. Protein from meat!
As you search for your new pet food, be aware that there are three Categories of Pet Foods:
-”Grocery store” foods – (Generic Brands and cheap name brands) Those foods found in grocery stores and mass-market retailers are made with lower-quality, less-digestible, inexpensive ingredients and are therefore a cheaper alternative. While easy on the pocketbook, “grocery store” foods normally do not provide your cat with the healthiest, most nutrient-dense ingredients.
-Premium foods – (Iams/Eukanuba, Purina One, Hills Science Diet, Nutro and such) Foods often found in grocery stores, pet stores, and veterinarian offices that contain higher-grade ingredients, but still include many elements of “grocery store” food, such as artificial colors, artificial flavors, chemical preservatives, and “filler” ingredients such as corn and wheat products, by-products and even animal digest. Yuck! Premium foods are usually more expensive than “grocery store” foods because their ingredients are sometimes of a higher quality, and are therefore somewhat more beneficial and digestible. But don’t be fooled, some of those same so called Premium brands are sometimes worse than grocery store foods, but they charge prices like they are better. They aren’t!
-Healthy foods – (Wellness, Eagle Pack, Drs Foster and Smith) The newest addition to the pet food market – provide pets with the highest quality, healthiest, and most nutritious ingredients. They are typically available for purchase online or direct from the manufacturer. Some better retailers are starting to carry them now. Complete Petmart carries a few healthy brand foods. Foods in the Healthy class – contain nutrient-rich ingredients. Formulated to provide optimum health benefits for pets, these foods often use real meat as the primary protein source, carbohydrate-rich whole grains like brown rice and barley and whole, fresh fruits and vegetables. They should not contain artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors. They will almost always be fortified with additional vitamins and minerals, and will use the best natural sources for fatty acids to help build healthy skin and a beautiful coat. Because healthy foods use high quality ingredients, you should expect to pay a little more than you would for other types of pet food. Remember, though, with healthy foods you can feed less since healthy foods are more nutrient-dense than other types of food so it often evens out or cost’s les than feeding foods filled with cheap non-nutritional by-products fillers.
With all that information in mind, when you are choosing a new cat food, study the ingredients. All ingredients on pet food labels are listed by weight. Meaning whatever ingredients are listed first on the list, there is more in there. The first ingredients listed should be whole meat ingredients, protein sources, such as Chicken or Turkey. NOT just the word “meat”! Who the heck knows what that is? The word Chicken Meal is ok, but it should be a secondary ingredient, not first. Meal is the meat dehydrated and ground into a powder.
The ingredients also should NOT include any by-products or animal digest whatsoever. Those are disgusting left over animal parts that are scraped off the filthy floors of meat and poultry plants. They should just go into the trash but they put them into pet food instead. EW!!!!
Also make sure there are no artificial colors or flavors. And make sure there is no BHA and BHT used preservatives. These preservatives have been shown to cause cancer in both cats and dogs. Bad Bad stuff and it’s in almost every cat treat on the market. 
So, in summery of the ingredients… if you see the words by-products, Animal Digest, the word “meat” alone, Corn, Corn Gluten, Wheat Gluten, or BHA or BHT… stop reading, put down that bag and move on to the next.
Be aware that when switching to a Healthy, Holistic or Organic food, you will pay for what you get. Good foods are not cheap. They are pricey and will cost you on a per bag basis much more. Just like steak costs more than hotdogs. But again, you will be feeding a better food and improving the over all health of your pet. Which in turn leads to less vet visits for illness now and more importantly later in life in their Geriatric years. You will also feed less of this food on a per animal basis because a smaller amount of food contains what your cat needs. Overall healthy foods are well worth it, if only for the piece of mind that the ingredients are safer.
What are some good foods I recommend? I feed my cats Drs. Foster and Smith Holistic Adult Lite Dry cat food along with a mix of Wellness Dry. I also feed Merrick Canned.
I purchase Drs. Foster and Smith online and have it automatically delivered to my door so I never run out and never have to go get it. It’s one of the best foods on the market and has no “fillers” in it. It is also very reasonably priced compared to other holistic foods. And when you’re feeding as many cats as I am, price is as important as ingredients. If you can’t afford it, you can’t feed it. So buy the highest quality you can and feel good that you are doing the absolute best you can for your pet.
If you want to buy in a store, Complete Petmart is a good store and carries quite a few natural, organic, and holistic blends. Also check with your local feed stores. Old Mother Hubbard Wellness Brand is a great holistic food I feed. As is Eagle Pack Dry Cat food. Merrick canned is also a great source of nutrition and they will be coming out with a dry line this summer.
I highly recommend people take the time to research for themselves, but the information I have given should get you off to a good start. Good luck choosing a new food for your cats!
********IMPORTANT*******Don’t forget to switch your Pets food slowly over a period of 10 to 14 days, if you can. Mixing 25% new to 75% old. Then 50/50… then 75% new to 25% old. And finally switch over to 100% new. Take it slow as not to upset their digestive system.
Side note… Please don’t feed Iams / Eukanuba. It’s ALL fillers, byproducts, animal digest and CRAP. Read the ingredients! There is nothing good for your cat in that food. Not to mention they conduct the most appalling animal testing you have ever seen. Http://www.iamscruelty.com to see the terror they create.
Foods I recommend based on personal experience –
Drs. F&S Food Link – http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2002+6000
Wellness Food Link – http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/cat_index.html
Eagle Pack Holistic Select – http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/HS_Home.html
Merrick Foods: http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
You can find more great foods at http://www.onlynaturalpet.com
****DO NOT FEED IAMS!**** http://www.iamscruelty.com
Carol asks…
What type of book plots do teenagers hate?
Or at the very least, what plots are considered “too lame” in the eyes of teenagers?
CynthiaOVE answers:
Ignore the answer above, while it is true that teens are not enthusiatic about learning, there are bound to be many picking up the next hottest book. But I think its a bit hard to quite decipher exactly what is “too lame”, trends for teens are very up and down, loved and hated, they’re all different. So something can be very hated and sometimes very adored, like nowadays a lot of teens are vampire-crazy, however, many renounce this popularity and hate it because it now seems stereotypical since it is popular and many read it. But I would say try not to venture into the supernatural stuff, its a bit risky whether teens will like it or not, and many times typical romances can be boring, it must be creative, attractive and immediately grabs hold or has a unique taste to it. And stay away from vampires, while it is adored by lots, it is hated by many. Well, that’s what I’ve got to say, this is what I think, I’m a teenager, but I prefer to read classics sometimes, though many don’t like it.
Mark asks…
How can I find out what type of books I like to read?
I’m an aspiring writer, but I don’t really know what genre I like to write. But this is beside the problem. I have a hard time finding books I like, which is why I don’t read very often. But I’ve heard it from everyone I know that the key to good writing is by reading as many books as you can, but how can I do that if I can’t even find books I like? There have been a few that I loved, like Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (before the movie came out); Back Roads by Tawni O’dell; and Lamb by Christopher Moore. But these are all over the place in genre and theme, so how do I figure out what kind of books I would like without having to go through the trouble of wasting money on books I’m not even sure I’ll finish? I’d go to the library but I owe $60 on my late fees and I don’t have the money to pay it off.
CynthiaOVE answers:
Figure out what you liked in Memoirs of a Geisha.
Ie Was it the foreign subject or the prose?
Then consider what subjects you’re interested in and what you adhere to ie philosophy in life (realist?, hedonist?, etc) People either like to read on subjects they enjoy or are interested in learning more about. You can relate to the perspective you or tohers bring to life or maybe you are looking for a totallydifferent perspective.
Sometimes it could be the writing style. Classics novels are rigid while contemporary novels are more colloquial or casual.
You can look at the types of articles, blogs and magazines you subscribe to and find out clues from there as well.
Nancy asks…
What type of goverment jobs were available in imperial/ancient china for a scholar?
please help me if you know the answer! particually a woman scholar!
CynthiaOVE answers:
During the Han dynasty, an early form of the Imperial examination was put into place. It didn’t take much of a hold, and most positions in the government were still selected on a basis of recommendation from people already in the system.
However, during the Sui dynasty, the Imperial Examination became extremely systematized and became one of the prime methods to enter the administration. People were still selected on the basis of recommendation, but most of the higher echelons were now monopolized by the people who had passed the third tier of the exams. This process allowed people into almost any government job, dependent on the level of success. So the types of jobs that opened were pretty much any government position. Think any standard administration position – financial, judicial, internal/external affairs, advisory, etc.
Remember though, it was only the aristocracy that could take these exams. Constitutionally, anyone but merchants and some other smaller classes could, but the exam was far too intense for this to be possible. The Exam was based on the Confucian tradition and classics, and the material required to be known was absolutely intense study, almost exclusionary of any other activity. Any person who could participate in the exam had to be a scholar, and the lower classes were too busy trying to survive to enter this kind of single-minded pursuit.
Before the introduction of the examination, however, scholars could enter the government, mostly as advisors, should they win the favour of a regent. Think of Sun Tzu during the Spring and Autumn Period, serving under the King of Wu. The tradition of the literati also extended quite far back, and it was in fact uncommon to see a noble who was NOT a scholar in some sense or another throughout most of Chinese history, as the Chinese tradition exemplified and attempted to replicate the so call Sage Kings, reputedly very learned men.
As for women, their presence was extremely uncommon, if at all present. Chinese society was extremely hierarchical. Confucianism emphasized this sort of family structure between lord and subject, father and son, friend and friend, and husband and wife. The government was almost exclusive to men, although women might wield a lot of influence somewhat unofficially, think of Cixi. In fact the only woman I know involved directly and officially was Wu Zeitan during the Tang dynasty. She wasn’t a bad empress, according to the records. She was vilified by historians however, although they certainly exaggerate, because of their staunch Confucian perspective. Scholarly pursuit though, was not sought by women, I am fairly certain.
Hope I helped!
James asks…
Do you know any good drinking songs, what are they?
Some classics, what are they called. i can google them myself later and learn the lyrics or if you knoiw them off by hard you can type some of the text.
CynthiaOVE answers:
Margaritaville- Jimmy Buffet
~~~~
Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville
Searching for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame
But I know it’s my own damn fault
Gretchen Wilson – All Jacked Up
~~~~
And I’m all jacked up (all jacked up)
I’m all jacked up (all jacked up)
Don’t believe I’ve ever had this much
One thing I’ve learned when you get tore up
Time sure flies when you’re all jacked up
Chris asks…
What instrument should I learn to play?
I am 16 and I have already tried to play the viola and the trumpet through my school band/orchestra but I didn’t like them. I want to try again but I want to play an instrument that would be fun to play on my own also. Whats a good way to figure out which instrument you would enjoy playing in your free time also?
CynthiaOVE answers:
Listen to different instruments. Each instrument has different techniques, sounds and difficulty in different areas. For example, on flute, sax, vocals, and strings, you can use vibrato (the sound kind of shakes – like an opera singer), but on the clarinet you can’t.
Think about what you didn’t like about the instruments you already played. You tried viola, a string instrument, and many string instruments are similar, so you may not like others. You also tried trumpet, and that was a brass instrument, so maybe you don’t like the way you have to blow into it. (These are just probable guesses, you can decide for yourself.) If this is the case, you may want to try a woodwind (flute, sax, clarinet, double reed…) Maybe you didn’t like the type of music you played. If this is the case, try joining a small ensemble like jazz band or marching band. Maybe the music will be more interesting.
I would also suggest trying an odd instrument no one else plays. I mentioned I play the clarinet, but I did not say which one. It turns out there are nearly ten types of clarinet. I play Bb, Alto, and BBb Contra bass. You could try a lower instrument, if you like; I enjoy them. There is Bari Sax, Tuba, any Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, etc. If you like these, I would suggest going to contrabass.com and looking around. You could also play a double reed, if you like the challenge. There are bassoons, oboes, english horns, bass oboes, and more (the last two are fairly uncommon). There are also fun brass instuments. If you like the spotlight, a challenge, and playing loudly and artistically, you could try french horn. It has a beautiful sound and fun parts. There is the trombone, which generally plays toward the bass side, with some tenor and alto voicings. There is also baritone/euphonium (same instrument), with similar part placings. It is similar to tuba but is lighter and has melody more often. Another odd one is the harp or accordion. Or you could always opt out for one of the classics – sax, flute or clarinet.
All in all, the best way to decide what instrument to play is to listen and experiment. Talk to people you know and ask what instruments they play and what they like about it. Decide what you want from your instrument more specifically. Ask your band/orcestra director what instruments they are looking for (there will always be one). Listen to what each instrument sounds like and decide whether or not you like it. If you don’t like the sound, you won’t want to play it. Also, don’t give up. If you give up early on because you don’t think you are good enough, you will never find out if you truely like it. Instruments are a challenge to learn, but with time and dedication, they are the most enjoyable things in the world.
Maria asks…
CONFUSION. What type of literature do I like?
I am highly unsure of what sort of literature it is that I like. I know I love novels about people and relationships, particularly those in hardship. I adore classics (Bronte Especially) as well as novels such as Jennifer Johnston ‘The Illusionist’, Sara Grue ‘Water for Elephants’ F.Scott Fitzgerald ‘The Great Gatsby’, Carol Coffey ‘The Butterfly State’, Colleen McCullough ‘The Thorn Birds’ and Siobhan Dowd ‘A Swift Pure Cry’. Yet I cannot quite say what literature movement, style, genre, theme whatever it is that I love. Is there a name for it? A category? Anything? Would anyone know or even understand what I am talking about? Thank you any help you provide, it is highly appreciated.
CynthiaOVE answers:
It sounds like you read a variety of things. I always get asked “What kind of books do you read?” and for about a year I could never answer. Now I just say “Everything.” Because I read everything, I read classics (I just finished Gatsby for the third time, Catcher in The Rye, etc.) but I also read stupid teen books about vampires and yet I’ve also read and analysed my way through almost all of Shakespeare’s playwrights with ease. I love books, and I love learning from them. I have a soft spot for romance and unlovable characters (Like Daisy and Jay in Gatsby) and I simply adore everything Bronte. I also would say To Kill a Mockingbird is among my favourites alongside Stephen King novels. I read a variety and I’m sorry I cant tell you a movement of literature, and I cant tell you a theme. But I might suggest using the word “Divergent” to categorise your reading preferences as they are pretty conflicted in age, writing style, character development etc. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help, but just know that reading everything is an admirable thing to do:)
Helen asks…
Why is it that books in Literature classes are almost always classics?
I understand that the classics are important, but when I was in school (even though I ate up every book the teachers handed me) I noticed that the other students’ eyes suddenly glazed after the first few pages. Younger people hate reading I’ve noticed, and I think that maybe if they’d been given books that weren’t so intense and allowed to branch out perhaps the reading avoidance would never have happened. I always wondered why my teachers never picked anything that was newer or more modern (age-appropriate of course.) I’ve seen that twelve year olds are not overly interested in what happened during the eighteenth century, so why continue this? What does everyone else think? I’m just confused and not expressing myself well right now. Sorry.
CynthiaOVE answers:
First off, I believe that you expressed yourself perfectly – and I completely agree with you. I constantly see young people being assigned literature from authors like Shakespeare and Melville and the like and the students are resistant to this type of literature. I think that there are a few reasons for this.
First of all the education system is a disaster and as a result students are not prepared to take on certain pieces of literature (along with other subjects). Unfortunately good teachers are forced to make up for the shortcomings of previous teachers, which has its effects on students.
On top of that many, many teachers are not prepared psychologically or academically to take on the task of teaching. In some cases the teacher is competent but they fail to relate to their students. Whichever the case may be the result is that teachers are disconnected from their students and vise versa.
In my opinion classic literature is excellent and many teachers believe this as well. But due to the disconnect between the teacher and student the teacher fails to understand the disaffect assigning classic literature has and unfortunately both sides are negatively affected. Where a teacher sees a great piece of literature the student sees boredom. Teachers need to realize that while classic literature does have great visions and morals these messages are lost on students with short attention spans.
And because teachers love the classics so much many of them fail to search contemporary literature to find books that would be of great interest and benefit to the students.
It was not until after high school that I became interested in classic literature. I believe that it mostly has to do with the fact that I chose to read it as opposed to being forced to. I’m an intelligent person but that didn’t stop me from avoiding school work. A teacher can’t make a student want to learn. It is the teacher’s job to pique the students interest. If the interest doesn’t come from within the student they will not learn everything they can from a particular book or subject.
Powered by Yahoo! Answers