Cat Hacks - How I made Lucy's Catfood Birthday Cakes

How I made Lucy's Catfood Birthday Cakes


Ingredients:

• 3 Heaping Tablespoons - Little Friskees Canned Liver and Chicken Dinner, Pâté Style

• 3 Heaping Tablespoons - Sheba Perfect Portions Savory Chicken Entree Pâté in Natural Juices

• 1/3 cup - Blue Buffalo Chicken & Brown Rice Kitten (Dry) Food 

• 1 1/2 Heaping Tablespoons - Bubble Bee Very Low Sodium Solid White Albacore Tuna Packed in Water

• 3 drops - Vegetable Oil, whatever does not cause a health problem for your particular cat. 

I chose these wet foods for their consistency and color. I wanted to make a layer cake. You want wet foods that have a spreadable consistency. You could use whatever food your cat prefers. I chose the tuna for a little special flavor and the whiter color and NO SALT or ANYTHING ADDED, except water. 

Tools needed: 

• "Cake Pan" or mold, I used a ramekin.

• Spatula (Small Offset Spatula is best) or knife for spreading & popping the "cake" out of the mold. 

• Fork, mallet, fingers or something to shred and mash tuna for frosting 

• Small spoon, like a tableware tea spoon

• Small Plate for the cake, to turn cake out onto and for presentation

• Small bowl, larger than your ramekin and hot water for a water bath to help remove the cake from the mold

• Small bowl to smooth the cat food consistency, and to mix the frosting

I used a ramekin 3" in diameter and 2" deep. I spread a thin layer of vegetable oil over the interior surface of the ramekin. This is to help your cake slide out of the mold more easily later on. 

Use your spatula, back of a spoon or other tool, to blend the darker color Liver and Chicken wet food to a smoother consistency before spreading it into the bottom of the ramekin. Spread a single layer, about 1/4 -1/3 inch, of the wet food in the bottom of the mold.              



                      



Place a layer of the dry food on the layer of wet food, gently pressing it in.
  
                                     


I placed the ramekin in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up the wet cat food, so that spreading the next layers, does not mess up the first layers. 

                                                                                          Take the mold out of the freezer and spread another layer of about 1/4 - 1/3 inch of the darker Liver and Chicken smoothed out pâté, over the last layer of the dry food. 

Then place another layer of the dry food on the previous layer of wet food, 
gently pressing it in.


  



Place the mold back in the freezer another 15 minutes to firm up those layers. 

While the mold is in the freezer, you can make the "frosting."

Frosting:

Now I used the lighter color Chicken Pâté wet food and blended about a 2:1 ratio of cat food to tuna. I used the tuna meat, squeezing out most of the water, shredding it between my fingers and smashed it up a bit with a fork before blending it in with the wet food. If you want to get fancy, you could probably use a mixer and whip air into the frosting. I just blended until smooth with my spatula. 

                                                    
Get your plate ready that you are going to turn the cat food cake out on to. 

Fill your small bowl with hot water, tap hot water should be fine. Don't get burned. The water level should be low enough so that when you place the ramekin or mold in the hot water bath, the water will not get into the dish of cat food layers. 

You are going to place the ramekin or mold in the hot water bath just long enough to loosen the cat food cake from the ramekin or mold. (If you have left the mold in the freezer so long that the food is frozen solid or the outside of the mold is frosty and you are using any container that can shatter with changes in temperature use sensible, reasonable caution. Don't let yourself or your pets become injured.) 

Take the ramekin out of the freezer.  

I set the ramekin in the bowl. You can see the edges around the food begin to glisten in a moment as it thaws. You can tilt the water bath bowl and drain the water out. Or carefully pick up the ramekin by the edges. 

Run the spatula or a thin knife around the rim of the cake           straight down the interior sides of the ramekin. Place the plate   on top of the ramekin, face down, and then holding down the     bottom of the plate, flip over the ramekin and plate. The cat       food cake should slide out on to the plate. 

If a little sticks in the ramekin, no worries, just scrape it out with your spatula and apply to your cake and even the sides and top as necessary. Your cat is not going to judge you. You cat is going to love his/her special treat!



If your cake is too squishy after putting on the plate, you can pop it back into the freezer until it is firm enough to the touch for frosting. 

If you use a plastic or silicon mold, you can pop the cake out. If you hard freeze the cake, you can still pop or slide it out, decorate it, and then just thaw or defrost it before serving your kitty. 

Frosting the cake: 

I mixed up my Frosting in the Tuna can, since I was using up what was left in that can. You can use a bowl or whatever you prefer. 

I spooned a little onto of the cake, spread it around. It doesn't have to be to perfection at that point. Then I applied a layer to one side of the cake, and I usually frost with one hand and turn the cake plate with the other as I spread the frosting. Turn the plate a little more, apply a little more, spread a little more. And before you know it you have gone around the cake. Then I spread for smoothness, like my cat is going to care, hahaha 

              

Then for decoration, I applied dry food around           the base and top trim of the cake as croquant.            I also used the dry food to write out "9" for her         9th Month Birthday, and so on. 

                                               Be careful with candles.

                                    

                        
                        Lucy eating away the icing, revealing the layers. 

                 Leftovers. I wrapped the uneaten cake in plastic and refrigerated.  

                                 Lucy got a piece of cake each day for 4 days.

                                

                                               

                          

You could make a cake and cut it up (before the Birthday Girl licks off all the icing) for your feline Birthday Party Guests. The recipe can be adapted for larger quantities and for canines as well. 

                                                           

         If you make a cat food cake, I would love to see or hear about it. 

We made another 10 Month Birthday Cake and decorated it with pumpkin "icing." I simply took canned pumpkin puree and spooned it into a makeshift pastry bag. I sealed the zip lock sandwich plastic bag, and then snipped a small hole from one of the bottom end corners of the plastic bag. The hole is the size I wanted my script to be. Then I gently squeezed the bag to produce a line of writing "icing". Okay, so I have messy handwriting. But as you can see, Lucy loves her pumpkin icing! 

          

I also made a Cat-food Chocolate Easter Bunny and Candy Cat-Food Eggs. Once again I used the darker Little Friskees Canned Liver and Chicken Dinner, Pâté Style for the Chocolate Bunny. I the Bubble Bee Very Low Sodium Solid White Albacore Tuna Packed in Water for the interior, contrasting color for the Bunny's ears and cotton tail. I used canned pumpkin puree to color some eggs orange and a few crushed, fresh frozen blue berries for the purple juice to color the blue eggs. I used crushed fresh frozen green peas for the green accents on the plate. Later I mixed the peas in with the Bunny and Eggs for a tasty meal.   

I know there will be haters who are against whatever cat food that is not the food they feed their cats. You can use any brand or homemade food you want. I am just demonstrating how to make a fun little project for your cat. When most of us have human birthday cake, it's probably not the best nutritional choice either. So everybody, just get along. It's all about how much we love our cats. 



You can follow Lucy on Instagram at and YouTube . 

Lucy was bred at the Love Branch Cattery in Toney, Alabama. You can also visit the LoveBranchCattery on Facebook. 

The Lucy Chronicles - My First Night with Lucy, My New Highlander Kitten Cat

September 17, 2016

I was so excited, and nervous about my new Highlander Kitten's arrival. She was flying into the Norfolk International Airport at 7:11 p.m., a Saturday night. I called Delta Cargo twice, once on the morning when she was to arrive. I thought I would be picking her up at the Cargo Building, but my updated flight information included a Gate Number. So I called Delta Cargo again and they told me no, to pick her up at the Cargo Building, but it would probably be a two hour wait for them to take her off the plane and get her over to Cargo. (What the What?!) 

So I checked my route, gave myself plenty of time to get there, to be there when she landed. I figured if I talked to the Cargo people and told them I was waiting for a little kitten who had flown by her little big self from Alabama, that they wouldn't make us wait 2 hours to meet each other. It had already been an all day flight for my little baby. The Norfolk (ORF) Cargo facility is off a windy, narrow, two lane road. Cargo is in one bend in the road. If you drive past it in the direction I was coming from, you have to go all the way to the Airport to turn around. Then if you know how most airport traffic loops around, it's the same there. Yes, I drove past Cargo, because I wasn't sure that it was what it was. There was a big sign at the entrance indicating no parking except by authorized whatever. So I decided to go a little further up the road. Oops. I had been at the right place. Dag! So after I got back out of the airport loops and made my way back around the windy road and found Delta Cargo, I also found out that it was closed. 

Fortunately I saw a marked Police Cruiser patrolling the lot and flagged down the Officer to ask about Delta Cargo. I frantically told him I needed to pick up my kitten, she couldn't stay there all night. He told me to go to Baggage Claim at the Airport. I told him that they had told me on the phone to come to this Cargo Building. He told me no one is ever there this time of night, so go to the Delta Ticket Office or Baggage Claim and they could help you. 

Well by this time it was just after 7:11 p.m. So much for my plans to meet her on arrival. I drove back to the airport, got confused on the turns and ended up at Departures, not Arrivals. I was pretty anxious by this time. I pulled into the first lot I saw, for Departures. At this point I figured I could walk or run faster to get to the right section of the airport instead of drive there. I could carry a tiny kitten, right. 

I parked near the exit, near the building, and ran up to the cashier. I told her I know that her parking lot was marked Departures, but I needed to pick up my kitten from Delta Baggage in Arrivals, could she tell me how to get there. She said not to worry. She gestured to a doorway on the other side of the 3 traffic lanes right across from booth, "Go in there, and it will be right in front of you, straight across the lobby." She was right. I was really close. 

I entered the lobby, people were milling about waiting for baggage, friends and family, meeting and greeting. I saw the Delta sign across the room. As I approached I saw boxes that would be picked up to go to my job by couriers, and next to them a small animal carrier with a tiny tan, brown and silver face, round, amazing hazel eyes peeking out. The kitten looked me right in the eyes as I said "Lucy." She meowed back at me, "Yes." She knew I was there for her. She was waiting for me. Maybe we were waiting for each other all our lives. It was that kind of instant bond.

I had been so worried she wasn't going to like me. What if I adopted this fancy cat and she didn't want to have any thing to do with me. Wow, was I wrong. Sometimes I wish I had taken a picture of that first moment I saw her in the airport, but though I didn't snap a shot to share, that moment for me will forever be imprinted in my heart and memories. I think she will remember me rescuing her in the airport that night too, or as all pet people think, when we rescued each other. I refer to my thinking that she may have thought of me as rescuing her, because she had been with her Momma Cat and siblings and her human family until she had been plucked from her Momma that morning, and put on a plane to come live with me. I am sure that would be a curious adventure for any creature. And Lucy just trusted me right off. Of course the breeder had to trust me to take good care of this wonderful kitten. 

And that was just the beginning of the greatest Friendship and Adventure ever. 
💗 I love Lucy 💗 And Lucy loves Mommy 💗

YouTube Video of my First Night with Lucy, the World Famous Highlander Kitten Cat

You can follow Lucy on Instagram at and YouTube . 

Lucy was bred at the Love Branch Cattery in Toney, Alabama. You can also visit the LoveBranchCattery on Facebook. 

Cat Chat - The Ghost in the Kitchen

  

So one of the times I got up during my sleep, last night, this morning, and I was in the kitchen getting something to drink, a little white "Ghost Kitten" slid past me. What say you?

I have these white, microfiber "blankets" (car detail cloths) that I cover Lucy up with. When she gets up, if I have covered her up, she just walks around with the "blanket" over her until it falls off or I pull it off of her, if she didn't kick or bite it off already. It usually doesn't make it far from wherever she was when I covered her up. But this morning, the blanket was still fully draped over her like a kid under a sheet dressed up like a ghost for Halloween as she came from the bedroom to see what I was doing in the kitchen. Too hilarious! Too cute! And I guess I have her next Halloween costume already. 

Dreaming of running through the park

Awww...Mommy covered me up. 

Hmmm... Did I hear something?

I think Mommy is in the kitchen

   

I bet I would look like a ghost if I wear this blanket over me. Woooooooo....

You can follow Lucy on Instagram at and YouTube . 

Lucy was bred at the Love Branch Cattery in Toney, Alabama. You can also visit the LoveBranchCattery on Facebook. 

Cat Hacks - Cat Grass

Lucy, the World Famous Highlander Kitten Cat loves grass! When we go for a walk, she wants to nibble on green grasses in nature and landscaping. This is not the best idea, due to fertilizers, pesticides, Nicotine products haphazardly disposed of, other chemicals, all sorts of biological cooties from other creatures. She does not want to hear, "No." 

I bought her some sweet grass already grown and in a pot from a Pet Store. She loved it, but it got buggy and stinky after a few days, and it was not inexpensive. 

Next I bought the SmartyKat Sweet Greens kit for her at Walmart. The directions are easy to follow. Everything is in the kit, except the water. It grew amazingly fast. I had 4 inches of grass within a week. I wish the grass in my yard grew that fast! The first kit of grass I grew, lasted her about a month. A very good investment. Once it started sprouting, I put it in the window, until the blades of Oat Grass were substantial enough for her to be able to nibble on them and they withstand the biting. 

YouTube Lucy the World Famous Highlander Kitten Cat enjoying some SmartyKat Sweet Greens Grass

I kept the container of Sweet Grass in the kitchen window. In the morning when we go to the kitchen, Lucy goes and stands at the cabinets below the kitchen window and sink looking up, wagging her little waggy-tail. I carry her grass to the spot I always put it in, beside her water fountain. While she is having her grass appetizer, I heat up her breakfast to warm mouse temperature. I take away her grass after a few minutes of vigorous munching and exploration and put down her food. She might eat the grass too long if I let her and get her tummy out of whack. We're going for enjoyment of the senses and a balanced diet. 

When I get home at night, after our love-fest of hugging and chin rubs from being separated for a work day, she runs to the kitchen to await her favorite grass to be handed down to her. Of course she could jump up to the window and get it herself, but she has been pretty good about staying off the one counter I say, "No," to. And I am pretty sure she likes me being her servant, Mommy, at her beckon call. 

So after two packages of wonderful SmartyKat Sweet Grass and some reading, I decided to buy Oat Seed in bulk on my own and try to grow some more grass for her. 

A lot of the potting soils have chemicals added to encourage growth and I was uncertain about using them where my kitten would be exposed. How much chemical would be at the root of the grass? How much chemical would be absorbed in the blades of grass that she would ingest? And some of the organic soils have manure for fertilizer. Hmmm... a lot of cooties in the manure can make a kitty pretty sick, and Mommy would not be too thrilled about manure in the kitchen either. So I decided to try growing her some Oat Grass in cotton. (We experienced no problems with the SmartyKats soil. I just don't have a source at this time for soil that safe and carefree.)

I used a small container that had held yummy feta cheese at one time. A small plastic container, the small size you might buy hummus, salsa, guacamole, or dips in. It had been thoroughly cleaned. I turned the container upside down and with an ice pick poked 12 small holes in the bottom for drainage. 

I covered the bottom of the container with one layer of cotton balls. Then I liberally covered the cotton balls with the Oat Seeds. I could have probably laid down more seed. I watered the seed covered cotton. 

I am using the top of the feta cheese container for the "planter tray." 

Lucy has to give her approval on all projects.
(Pics - Day 1 of Growing - April 5, 2017) 

(Pics Day 3 of Growing - April 7, 2017)

Initially I placed a single layer of (medical) gauze over the seeds after the baby root emerged, but as the seed continued to germinate the sprouts pushed the gauze up. My thought was that the seeds still needed a little blanket of some medium of coverage over them so that the kitten would not pull the plants out of the cotton "ground" while she was nibbling at the grass once it was grown. As the grass continued to develop, the layer of cotton was also pushed up, but it was easy to separate away from the oat grass. I am still working on the method that best suits us.

(Pic Day 5 of Growing - April 9, 2017)

I tore apart a cotton ball and placed a thin layer over the seeds. And placed the layer of gauze on top. Later I removed both the gauze and top cotton layer as they were both pushed up by the growth of the oat grass.

                                                           

Four Inches of Grass! Woo Hoo!
(Pic Day 7 of Growing - April 11, 2017)

As Lucy began to nibble on the grass, I saw that where the roots were in the cotton "soil" and because I knocked over the "pot" of grass and the whole clump of cotton soil came up intact, that you may not need a heavy layer of cotton over the seeds to keep them in the cotton sod. It appears the roots networking through the cotton soil stabilized things. 

Regardless, if your cat enjoys exploring, chewing, nibbling or eating grass, your cat might appreciate you growing him/her some Sweet Oat Grass, whether from a kit or seed you purchase separately. It is soft to the touch of a kitten's mouth and grows very quickly. 

It's Lucy approved. 

You can follow Lucy on Instagram and YouTube.

Lucy was bred at the Love Branch Cattery in Toney, Alabama. You can also visit the LoveBranchCattery on Facebook. 

The Grass on the left is the same that Lucy was eating in the above picture, about a week worth of nibbles. The one on the right has not been nibbled on yet. I have decided to keep several little pots of grass growing, so she can nibble on one for a few days, and another can keep growing and then I can switch off and let the previous pot of grass have time to recuperate. Just enjoying the experiment of Life.

May 16, 2017