At the end of March, it will be six months since QQ came to live with us. Not gonna lie, it hasn’t been an easy transition, what with the peeing and the pooping and the barfing and the fighting and the hissing and CAT do I not like her. But after all this time, us cats have kind of figured out a way to co-exist. It ain’t perfect (unlike me), but it’ll do.

Obviously I’m going to start with myself and how I’ve chosen to deal with QQ. It’s pretty simple, really. I don’t. I told the humans I was moving into their bedroom, and I wanted to be left alone. I come out periodically to make sure the other cats behave, but otherwise I just hang out in the humans’ bedroom where I have food, water, a litter box, and what happens to be the comfiest bed in the entire house. I can also watch birds and stuff, though I can’t eat them because there seems to be some kind of magic barrier that stops me from attacking them. And best of all, I don’t have to deal with QQ.

What about everyone else?

Goldie and QQ basically ignore each other. Sure, sometimes one of them might flatten an ear or two, but they don’t get into it.

Big Squishie and QQ don’t have much of a relationship either, which totally bums him out. Big Squishie, who can be super annoying because he just wants to lick everybody all the time, is actually pretty cool as cats go. He welcomes the new cats into the house, helps them integrate, and tries to make sure we all get along (which is easier said than done with 7 cats who are all super independent). Except for QQ, who doesn’t really want anything to do with him. He’s tried sniffing her a butt a few times, and he even almost got a lick in once, but she freaked out and hissed and ran away. He won’t stop trying, though, so maybe she’ll eventually come around and be ok with him (but I am SO not holding my breath!).

Larry, Mama, and Little Squishie….well, let’s just say QQ doesn’t love any of them. Since QQ moved downstairs permanently, she’s kind of taken over some of Little Squishie’s sun spots, which he’s not happy about. And she likes to hang out in the kitchen when the humans eat because she totally thinks she can have human food, and that ticks off Mama and Larry who also think they can have human food if they’re in the kitchen. So things can get interesting when those four are near each other.

But when I say interesting, I mean there’s some hissing and stuff, but nobody’s gotten injured, and at night when the humans sleep everyone behaves themselves.

So all in all, not too bad of an integration (especially for me, because I get a bed all to myself.)

Six Months of QQ? was originally published in Balanced Blends on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

You may not know this, but cats and dogs can both taste salt. You may not know this either, but my cat food is not super salty, and I am not going to get high kitty blood pressure from eating the small amount in my food . Salt’s important, but I am definitely not throwing it all over my food like some humans do (even though they shouldn’t be), because it’s not a seasoning for pet food (now nutritional yeast, on the other paw, is totally seasoning!)

What is it?

Salt is a mineral made up of two elements — sodium and chloride. Sodium mixed with water can explode, and chloride can become a gnarly gas that kills humans . But you put them together and you get salt, which sure can inadvertently kill you, but it won’t cause you to explode or anything like that.

Why do pet food companies use it?

Funny enough, if cats and dogs don’t have enough sodium or chloride, we can get *low* blood pressure. We can also have problems like an increased heart rate, and gross mucus (the thought of your dog snotting all over you should be reason enough for you to want to make sure it gets enough salt!).

What are its other uses?

Humans:

Humans have been using salt for-ev-er. In some places, it was used as money. In other places, it was used to help preserve their food. Heck, it’s even used to help make things like plastic!

Pets:

Two words: DOG MUCUS

*shudder*

Where do we get it?

I guess if you have a dog you can go digging for it? It comes out of mines. Or you can get it from the sea, whatever that is.

Any issues with its use?

As long as us cats and dogs have a lot of clean water to drink, the chances of us getting salt poisoning are pretty low. But if you take Rover to that “sea” place I mentioned and he goes swimming and you didn’t bring water with you, well, you might wanna make sure your vet’s on speed dial.

Writing about salt made me thirsty. Off to find some water! *jumps down from the laptop keyboard and pads away*

Ingredient Breakdown — Salt was originally published in Balanced Blends on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Now, we all know that I have since had ta change my lifestyle a bit when I moved ta a new state where all tha dogs actually like to go on walks all day. I know, I didn’t understand it either, but now that I’m skinny, I get it! Now that I started a new diet, I’ve been reachin’ places I never saw before and I never imagined all tha smells there were!

I had ta start learning to walk slowly, of course. At first, I did ma business as fast as possible so I could return ta ma bed, and I would dig ma feet into tha ground and refuse to take another step! Then I realized that tha humans are a fair bit stronger and I didn’t really stand a chance. So, I bitterly walked until they eventually decided they had tortured me enough.

Each day got a little easier, and tha humans seemed to be able to tell when I was too tired ta go any further and would sometimes give me a lift on tha way home. Then tha unthinkable happened: I was going on TWO walks a day. Never in my 13 years did I think I would see this day! Instead of one long walk that would leave me tired and sore, I started ta go twice a day for a shorter time. I hate to admit this, but it was actually better because on really cold or hot days, I needed to spend less time outside — ma little paws would start to hurt!

Because I’m a bit older (although I don’t feel it!), each day brings its own aches and pains, and some days are better than others. Ma humans have to pay special attention ta me when out walkin’ because if something hurts, I’m going to letcha know! They always let me walk slower when I need ta (I can’t keep up with that long-legged beast I live with) and turn around when I seem tired. But a day hasn’t passed since we made our move here that I haven’t gotten ma walk, and even though I still don’t particularly like ’em, I know this is part of being a doggo.

Snickers Takes Walks was originally published in Balanced Blends on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Coco here, and I’ll be meowing about riboflavin instead of meowing about food or pettings, but the human promised me both of those when I’m done, so let’s get this over with.

What is it?

Well like the name says…it’s a vitamin. I know, shocking.

Why do pet food companies use it?

Have you noticed that “pets die without it” is a common answer for this question? But the road to death without riboflavin for us cats and dogs is pretty gross. Dogs lose weight, their skin gets all flakey, they get eye issues, they get something called collapse syndrome, and then they die. And cats? Without it, we stop eating, we lose weight, our hair falls out, and we die. That’s not a road I’d like to travel, kthx. My ideal road ends in treats.

What are its other uses?

Humans:

Humans did some research, and think that maybe riboflavin can be used to help with really bad headaches called migraines. (My really bad headache is called QQ, but I don’t think riboflavin can help with that.)

Pets:

No other uses aside from that minor “preventing us from dying” thing.

Where do we get it?

All kinds of foods have it — eggs, milk, cheese, liver (yum), kidneys (yum), mushrooms (ewwwww)….Humans can even buy pasta that has *extra* riboflavin in it, because it’s that important. It can also be made by chemical synthesis or fermentation, but don’t ask me what those are because I’m only a cat, and I have no idea.

Any issues with its use?

Actually, no. There are exactly zero mentions of any cats or dogs having too much riboflavin. Probably because extra just goes out the opposite end from where it went in.

Alright, I was promised some goods, now I gotta find the human to get ‘em…*pads off*

Ingredient Breakdown — Riboflavin — Vitamin B2 was originally published in Balanced Blends on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Food/Water

While I’m definitely on the dainty side for a cat, I do enjoy eating tasty food (I mean, if I’m gonna eat calories, they might as well be the tastiest ones). But living with six other cats means that sometimes, if one of them is feeling particularly gluttonous (*side eyes Larry*), I might not get as much food as I would like. And that means if it’s 2am and I’m hungry, I’m going to wake up the humans and get fed (if I only had thumbs…).

Water’s also important. I mean, I do get a lot of water from my food, but sometimes I want a drink of water. And that bowl better be clean, and the water better be fresh, or else someone’s face is going to get bapped (admittedly it might be Little Squishie’s face that gets bapped since he’s a messy drinker, but that would mean the humans have to wake up anyways, so yeah!).

Playtime

Even though I’m not a dog (thank goodness!), playtime is still important to me. Spending time playing with me during the day will tucker me out, ensuring you humans get all your beauty rest at night (not that it will help, because you’ll never be as gorgeous as a cat).

Litterbox

Do you know how much poop seven cats create? I can’t count, so I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure it’s a lot. A clean litter box = a happy cat. A dirty litter box = an unhappy cat *and* an unhappy human (and a super smelly house — yuck). Make sure my box is clean.

Bored/Lonely

Sometimes I just wanna hang out with my human. That doesn’t necessarily mean I want my human touching me (I’m kind of weird about being touched), but rather I want to be near her. And while I *sort of* understand with a full-time job and lots of other cats it can be difficult for me to get some human time, the female human needs to understand that I will get my time one way or another — during the daytime when she’s awake (breakfast is my *favorite* time to stick my tail in the human female’s face), or at night when she thinks she’ll get to sleep (my *second* favorite time to stick my tail in the human female’s face).

Medical Issues

Finally, if your cat suddenly has a behavior change and is now waking you up, it’s probably a good idea to call your v-e-t. (Just don’t tell your cat I suggested that.) Since we’re cats and we’re stoic, we hide everything. Until we don’t, and that usually means the problem can’t be hidden, and then it might be too late.

Hmm. All this talk of hanging out with my human made me realize I should go do that. In a couple weeks, I’ll consider writing on ways you can help your cat if it’s keeping you up at night. Maybe.

Why Won’t My Cat Let Me Sleep?! was originally published in Balanced Blends on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Coco here, and as much as I’d love to dish about how Goldie and Larry’s vet visit went on Monday (spoiler alert: Larry’s big), instead I have to talk to you about YET ANOTHER VITAMIN. As you can see by the bold letters, I AM REALLY HAPPY ABOUT THAT. *eye roll*

What is it?

Thiamin is a water-soluble vitamin (not to be confused with a theremin, which is what the humans enjoy listening to when they watch old episodes of something called Star Trek), and I guess it’s not SO awful to talk about because it’s WAY more important for cats than it is for dogs, and being a cat and all, well, yeah. Basically, it helps my body use carbs as energy, and you all know I need energy since I’m the police cat in the house.

Why do pet food companies use it?

Well. Um. If pet food companies *don’t* use it, dogs and cats die. But before we die, we get stuff like anorexia, and neurological issues (like we walk in circles, or our head tilts to one side, or we get seizures, or all of the above!), and weight loss….stuff you do NOT want to see in your dog or cat!

What are its other uses?

Humans:

Humans need it for the same reason we do — energy. And without it, they have lots of the same problems we do, like weight loss, confusion, heart problems….

Pets:

Like many of the other vitamins I’ve written about, this one doesn’t have any other uses other than KEEPING ME ALIVE, which *I* happen to think is the most important use.

Where is it sourced?

Believe it or not, it comes from whole grains (yuk), yeast (eh), and liver (mmmmm, liver).

Any issues with its use?

Nope! If you give me too much, I’ll just pee it out.

Hey, I kinda like writing about stuff that’s super important to me. I should reward myself with some food. *wanders off in search of human servants*

Ingredient Breakdown — Vitamin B-1 (Thiamin) was originally published in Balanced Blends on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Now look, I hate going to the vet. They look at my mouth, and they smoosh my tummy, and sometimes they poke my butt. It’s not cool.

I’ll admit, I don’t make it easy to get me to the vet. I run, and I hide, and I spit, and I claw my humans. Getting into that small box and then into the bigger box is just not fun.

And my humans might think I’m totally fine, because as a cat, I am *really* good at hiding anything that might be wrong with me. That’s kind of a throwback to my kitty ancestors. If a cat yowls in pain in the wild, their cat friends aren’t going to come help them, because, well, cats don’t really have cat friends. Instead, some big, gnarly thing that wants to eat me would show up, and if I’m injured, well, I’m in trouble. So I hide pain, even though I’m in a house with humans who would take care of me.

So now you know taking me to the vet sucks, and I’m going to hide my pain.

But did you know that after cats turn 3, they are WAY more likely to have gum disease, just like humans? And if you’re not brushing your cat’s teeth on a regular basis, you *really* gotta take ’em to the vet.

And that’s what the humans did with Mama.

Mama had to go in a couple weeks ago, because she had a lump on her mouth. The lump went away by the time she went in, but the vet looked at Mama’s mouth and…yeah. Not so good. So the human female had to schedule a dental appointment so Mama’s teeth could be cleaned and she could have some removed.

In the weeks before the dental, the human female felt a lot of stress. (I know because she was coming downstairs earlier than usual in the morning, so I made sure to put my butt in her face while she drank her brown liquid to let her know she was ok.) The female called the vet to make sure about the time to bring in Mama, when to stop feeding her, when to stop giving her water, stuff like that. She got all the instructions and went over them with the human male, so he could help her take care of Mama the night before.

And the night before SUCKED for Mama. She didn’t get ANY food after 8pm! And no water after 7am! Now, the human male admitted she actually got some food at 8:30, because she went snuffling around to find some leftover bits (hey, she lived in a junkyard, she knows how to find food!) So the human female was a little worried about that, but the vet said it would be fine.

The morning of, the human female and male got Mama into the carrier, and she was NOT HAPPY. She laid way down, and tried to smoosh herself into the corner of the carrier so the human female couldn’t touch her. The ride was pretty quick, though — only 15 minutes — and once they got to the vet everything went really fast.

The vet came out to talk to the humans, and went over what to expect. The human female started crying (stressed, I told ya), and the vet told her she was a cat person, too, and had done lots of cat tooth surgeries, and she would get in touch with her a *lot* to let her know how things were going.

It wasn’t perfect, but it did help the human female feel a little better. She handed Mama over to the vet, and she and the male went home.

And about an hour later, she got a text message…it was the vet! The vet took a picture of Mama and animated it to let the human female know that Mama’s bloodwork looked good, and they were getting ready to proceed! How cool is that?!

And then, not too long after that, the human female got a phone call…and it was the vet again! Mama was about to go under anesthesia, and everything was looking good. And then…you know what’s coming…another phone call, letting the human female know Mama was under, things were looking good, and three teeth were going to be pulled. Ouch. The vet also told the human female that Mama had “reserved roots”, which meant that a lot of Mama’s teeth broke off when she lived in the junkyard, but the roots stayed behind. Ick. So the vet said she’d try to get some of those out so her mouth felt better.

About an hour after that phone call…yep…the phone rang again. It was the clinic, letting the human female know that Mama was done with surgery, things were looking good, and she could come pick her up in a few hours. The human female was anxious to see Mama, but knew it was a good thing that the vet wanted to watch Mama after the anesthetic wore off, because with Mama’s FIV+ status you never know what her immune system might do.

At 4pm, the humans were at the vet’s office, waiting in the parking lot to pick up Mama. The vet came out and explained that everything went really well, and asked if the humans wanted Mama’s canine tooth! The female human said yes, and asked why it had to be pulled. Gum disease, said the vet — it was super loose, so it had to go. But it’s beautiful, and you can see a picture of it below.

Then the vet went back inside, and came back with…Mama! She was a little groggy, but let the human female pet her, and was overall pretty chill on the way home.

When she got home, the rest of us knew she didn’t smell right, so the humans put her in the office by herself to relax for awhile. She asked for food right away, which was a good sign. The humans gave her a little bit, but not too much, because they didn’t want her to get sick. Don’t know what they were thinking on that one — there’s no way Mama would ever let food come back out the front once it had gone in! But she had to wait a couple hours to make sure she was ok.

That night, the human female mixed pain meds and antibiotics into Mama’s food, and fed it to her. Mama snarfed it down like …well, like a cat who hadn’t had a lot of food for 24 hours. The pain meds made her woozy, and she ended up going to sleep pretty quickly after that.

The next morning, Mama got another dose of pain meds, and spent a lot of time hanging out in the office. That’s how the humans knew she wasn’t 100% — remember, we hide our pain, so you have to look for behavior changes to tell how we’re really feeling. In the mornings, Mama typically jumps on the human female’s chair, and we tag team the female to give us pettings. That didn’t happen the next morning, so the humans kept an eye on her to make sure she was ok. By that night, she was doing much better, and wandering around the house a little bit more.

It’s been a few days since Mama had her teeth pulled. She’s still getting antibiotics once a day for the next week, and has to go back to the vet next week to make sure she’s healing ok. But she’s eating, and asking for pettings, and trying to steamroll QQ, so while she might not feel totally better, she’s definitely better than she was.

Untreated tooth decay can cause all kinds of problems, especially in a cat whose immune system isn’t so good. All in all, while it was kind of a scary experience for Mama and the human female, the risks of Mama’s tooth decay outweighed the scariness of going to the vet, and Mama will be healthier in the long run.

Mama’s Dental was originally published in Balanced Blends on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It’s Coco, back with another vitamin…oh joy. The human female says it’s important to write about all the ingredients in our food so people can learn about what’s in the food, but I say the only thing that matters is if the food’s tasty or not. Priorities, you know?

What is it?

A really long time ago, like so long ago I can’t even understand how long ago it was (1931? what even is that?), a human described it as an acid-y thing that yeast needed. And he named it after “pantos”, which I learned means “from everywhere” (and not “pants”) in a language called Greek, which I do not speak because it isn’t cat. It’s a molecule that makes up other molecules that do things that are important.

Why do pet food companies use it?

We need it for metabolic energy, which I need or I can’t eat or nap or groom myself or tear after Little Squishie.

And dogs totally need it, or they could die.

What are its other uses?

Humans:

Humans need it for the same reason we do — without it, they have no energy so they can’t feed us or pet us, and they get angry and can’t sleep, which is all bad because naps are great.

Pets:

Pretty sure “staying alive” is a solid enough reason, eh?

Where is it sourced?

Lots of humans want ingredients that come from “real” foods. But it’s *super expensive* to extract B-5 from real foods, so most companies use a synthetic, and I learned that means humans make it in a lab, which is not a dog like I thought it was, but a room where humans make things. Huh.

Any issues with its use?

So far, there’s nothing bad about it. Like ZERO toxicity if I get a little too much in my food. And pet food companies don’t use a lot of it, because we don’t need a lot of it, so win all around!

Oof. First ingredient of 2021. Yay me? I think I’ll reward myself with a nap.

Ingredient Breakdown — B-5 (d-Calcium Pantothenate) was originally published in Balanced Blends on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Location

QQ still has “her room”, and she totally likes to hang out there…when the human male is with her. Otherwise, like Mama and Larry before her, she’s decided she wants to be part of the group, which means she jumps the gate and comes downstairs.

Or, if she doesn’t feel comfortable coming downstairs but wants attention, she sings the song of her people from the top of the stairs so it echoes and summons the humans. (And FYI, her song is NOT my song, because my song is all about eating and napping, and hers is about being a pain in the butt. Ugh. Kids!) At night, she’s kind of all over the place, but she isn’t messing with my comfy chair, so I don’t care.

Smells

Let’s see…a month ago, the humans were having issues with territory marking. They cleaned out all of QQ’s room, top to bottom, hosed everything down with some anti-cat-smell stuff (which is super disrespectful TBH, because I smell amazing), and watched to see if that’d help…

And it did!

No more random peeing or Anger Poop anywhere. The human female is *so* thankful for that.

However.

The human female did decide to try those plug-in things again. She’s got them everywhere in the house now so we’re all supposed to be calm or something. I’m totally calm, unless I’m not, which is fair I think.

Time and Patience

The reason the human female decided to put the plug-in things everywhere is because Little Squishie and QQ are *still* having issues. QQ is still being territorial, and she doesn’t want to let Little Squishie past her so he can go into the bedroom next to her bedroom, even though she’s like barely spending any time in her bedroom these days. So sometimes in the mornings, the human male or the human female are woken up by the sound of hissing and spitting and growling, and have to go separate us (yes, us — I’m police cat, remember? I always get involved when there’s a fight. It’s my duty to insert my six-pound self into any altercation because I always stop the fight.)

But the spats between those two don’t seem to be *as* bad as they were before, and they’re not happening as often.

And that’s good, because now Mama’s decided she’s not sure how she feels about QQ. Or rather, QQ isn’t sure how she feels about Mama. And honestly, when Mama moved in at first, none of us were sure how we felt about her. She’s built like a tank, throws her weight around for food, and when she starts running, you MOVE or she’ll bulldoze you. She grew up in a junkyard and hung out with raccoons (which I think are like smellier version of dogs, gross!), and while *I’m* not afraid of her, the other cats know not to mess with her.

The first few times Mama and QQ saw each other, it was bad. Poofy tails, growling, and I had to get involved. Now it’s more that Mama will stop and stare at QQ, but QQ will still growl at Mama. QQ is like eight years younger than Mama and in better shape physically, but Mama’s the cat version of a junkyard dog, and she fights *dirty*. QQ needs to get over herself and get on Mama’s good side.

Flexibility

The human male is still spending the night in QQ’s room a few nights a week. Again, while the humans don’t love that arrangement, it helps QQ feel like she belongs, and it helps the human female sleep better because the boy cats tend to follow the human male, so she doesn’t have three boys sleeping at the foot of the bed, preventing her from moving. I like it because it means I get to sleep where the boys usually sleep, which means more human female time and sometimes middle of the night treats when Goldie gets to eat.

The humans also decided not to put up any holiday decorations this year, because they didn’t know how QQ would deal with those. QQ has a history of eating things that aren’t food (kinda like Little Squishie with tulle, and Big Squishie with stupid stuff like varnish…), and since she’s not totally integrated with us yet, the humans didn’t want to present her with stuff she might decide to stress eat. Kind of a bummer, because all of us enjoy climbing into the tree at least once during the season, but oh well.

The humans are a little discouraged that it’s taking so long for QQ to acclimate with us. As far as I’m concerned, they shouldn’t be shocked, because the rest of us have been together for years now, and we’re used to each other. Bringing a new cat into the house, especially one who’s WAY younger than the rest of us (although not cuter, because I am clearly the cutest) and has WAY different needs, was always going to be a challenge. But the humans are adapting, and the rest of us (begrudgingly) are, too.

Three Months after We Adopted a New Cat, Here’s How It’s Going… was originally published in Balanced Blends on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

So here’s a quick breakdown of what you probably shouldn’t be feeding me (even though I’m adorable and you should clearly give me species-appropriate treats) or Fido over there (even though he’ll always tell you he can have anything you can have because you’re kindred spirits or soul mates or whatever *gag*), along with a couple other things you maybe don’t wanna have in your house if you wanna keep us around awhile.

Tinsel:

Yeah, I know, tinsel’s not a food. But it’s pretty and shiny and Goldie totally eats it if it’s in the house (she has like a sixth cat sense about it), and the human female once had to pull some out of her butt (Goldie’s, not the human’s), so maybe think twice about having tinsel in your house. (And yeah, we don’t recommend pulling tinsel out of your cat’s butt — you should go to a vet to do that — at the time, the human female was young and not experienced in the ways of cat intestines!)

Plants:

All those spiky holiday plants that are “traditional” like lilies, and mistletoe, and holly? Super pretty, and *super poisonous* — us cats only have to eat a little to get kidney failure.

Poinsettias actually aren’t as bad as the other guys, but they’ll still make our stomachs upset.

Booze:

EGGNOG FOR ALL! Just not us cats and dogs, unless you want a vet visit for the holidays. And hey, no booze means no booze in desserts, either, because those can cause bloat, and alcohol poisoning, and yeah.

Traditional holiday foods:

Chocolate: There’s always that one guy who’s like “but my dog ate a whole box of chocolate and was fine!” Let’s follow that story with the one about the guy whose dog ate a whole box of chocolate and *wasn’t* fine. Chocolate has something hard to pronounce in it called theobromine. Humans can digest it pretty quickly, but dogs and cats, not so much. So it builds up and it kills us.

Grapes, raisins, currants: If you’re into fruitcake (ugh, WHY), that’s …okay, it’s disgusting, that’s what it is. But the ingredients in fruitcake can be toxic to Fido and I. We don’t do grapes or any of those things — they can cause kidney failure and death.

Xylitol: Maybe keto’s your thing, and you use alternative sweeteners like xylitol? Yeah, don’t give that to us. More death.

Fatty meat scraps: Oh, man, I get it, Fido’s under the table, and you got some leftover meat on your plate, and the trash can is SO FAR AWAY, but the dog mouth is JUST RIGHT THERE…so I’mma remind you of how much you don’t want to clean up diarrhea and/or vomit and hafta take your doggo to the vet during the holiday because you gave your dog pancreatitis with your fatty leftovers.

Onions, garlic, chives, leeks: The female human thinks nothing smells better than garlic cooking in a pan with a little butter. Goldie and I agree with her, and have totally tried to eat said garlic. The human female wouldn’t let us, partially because she’s mean, and partially because it’s kinda toxic for cats and dogs to eat that stuff. Like eating it can make it so our blood doesn’t circulate oxygen, so it’s not just that we’re gonna barf and poop everywhere — it’s that we could die. Too bad *sniff* smells good.

I’m a cat, and I’m well aware of how adorable I am, and I know how to use that to manipulate my humans. But no matter how I meow or look pleadingly at you, don’t share your holiday treats with me or Fido over there.

Things You Shouldn’t Feed Your Pets During the Holidays was originally published in Balanced Blends on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.