Primal Raw Cat Food

So I've been introducing my cat to a raw food diet for a couple weeks now. A little bit on the benefits of feeding a raw diet as opposed to a dry diet can be found here. Basically it boils down to feeding your pet the diet their body has evolved to best digest, which is the closest thing they would be eating in the wild. For cat's specifically, that means a no grain, high meat, high moisture diet. At first I started off with the chicken medallions from Nature's Variety. He eventually took to them but it always took a bit of time for him to eat the whole thing. He'd literally eat all of the Grandma Lucy's (which is an amazing freeze-dried grain free food that you rehydrate with warm water)around it and pick at the little patty last. I'd heard that cats take a little longer to get used to eating raw food, especially if they're used to eating nothing but kibble. No surprise! Kibble is sprayed with fat and other things to make it tasty after the extreme heat cooking process kills off all the flavor. That, and domestic cats are notoriously picky eaters. Recently, I was given a few bags of Primal Beef and Salmon formula for cats and just started feeding it on Saturday.

I found that the easiest way to portion out this food, since you need to serve it completely thawed, is to wrap each nugget in the bag in tin foil, and transition one piece from freezer to fridge at each meal. That way, by the time feeding time rolls around, I've got a thawed piece ready to go and an easy, low contamination risk method of thawing the next one. I never have to touch the raw thawed meat, which is good for me on more than one level!

So, the transition has gone excellent. Poe took to the new beef and salmon formula surprisingly quickly, and he looks great from the amazing benefits it provides! His coat is softer, shinier, and he sheds less! He's got renewed energy like a kitten. And this may sound gross (but helpful for pet owners) there's less poop! I've become a big fan of both the freeze-dried and raw diets and would be more than happy to help anyone out with a transition from kibble!

Ladies Night at Dominique's

Our friend Dominique threw a Ladies Night gathering last Friday night. Bringing together all different types of women and creating new relationships between them over wine and loads of good food is sort of her specialty. Dom has one of the most amazingly deep, giving, and loving spirits of anyone I know.

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden

Got to head out to the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden this morning with Sonny, Katie Rose, and Stacy to check out the once in a lifetime bloom of a Titan Arum. These are the massive flowers more commonly known as "Corpse Flowers" for the disgustingly pungent odor they give off after blooming. It's most often compared to the smell of rotting flesh! I got a pretty good whiff and can definitely confirm that. Regardless, the flower is an amazing organism, and beautiful, and missing this bloom was definitely NOT an option! This plant is 15 years old, and will only bloom this once before dying.

After we'd all had our fill of the "Little Stinker", we took some time to wander around the 34 acre garden and get lost in the beauty of the flora and fauna we all usually take for granted.

The "Little Stinker"

How do you make a 23 year old child grow up?

The job that I hold sometimes requires me to act in a managerial way that closely resembles babysitting. There is nothing I despise more than this. To me, there is a certain level of maturity and work ethic that one should have if they want to continue to be employed..in ANY profession. It's mentally and physically exhausting to have to have to keep one eye on whatever the kids that work for you are fucking off at at the moment, and one eye on your own work. I'm tired of it!

So, rather than let this behavior go on and on and let these people think acting like a spoiled child is perfectly acceptable, I decided to put a stop to it. Pointing out someone's faults when it comes to work, and intentionally putting myself in a position of conflict is NOT something I'm very good at, but I'm working on it. The reason I chose to write about this was so I could reflect a bit more on how I chose to handle this specific situation.

For the first time in my work life, I took a mental step back from what was going on and viewed it from a different angle. Taking a page from the conflict training I attended about a month ago, I forced my brain to put aside the annoyance that was surrounding my view of this specific person, and address her as a person instead of a problem.

On some level I know that corporate trainings are meant to mold the masses that attend them into nicely behaving profit makers. I didn't totally buy in to all they were teaching, for that very reason. BUT, the mental tools offered to ease my own stress when dealing with managing people were TOTALLY useful. Which honestly was a very welcome surprise!

A new level of confidence was acquired during that interaction...and life goes on for the better for the both of us!

Mulford Point, Marina Park - San Leandro, La Estrellita - Oakland

Mulford Point, on the North side of Marina Park in San Leandro. Not done exploring this park yet :) On the lower side is this really amazing looking walking trail that curves waaaay out into the bay. It looked like a huge, curved, manmade pier or wave break. There were a quite a few people walking with their families, dogs, friends and the wind!!! Being surrounded on all sides by the San Francisco Bay pretty much guarantees you'll be windblown, but the views and the experience of feeling like you're walking on water must surely trump all that!Hoping to make it out there to take the long walk as soon as possible!








Day 5, July 27th: La Estrellita - Oakland

Checked out a new-to-me margarita spot a few blocks from where I live in downtown/Lake Merritt are Oakland. La Estrellita is a favorite happy hour spot for Jenn and Gretchen, and the fact that they can bring their dogs makes it that much better! I'm a fan of supporting little local restaurants, especiallhy when their staff is extra friendly! Many pitchers and many laughs were shared and enjoyed!