I went to pick Rocket up from her foster home and....ummm...she's put on a pound or two! When they told me she had pudged up, I dropped by some Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul low-cal food, which we use in our house. It seems to keep the pudgy cats off the "fat" list and the skinny cats don't waste away (we free-feed--I strongly believe that free-feeding a low-cal food is better than rationing food with most tubby cats). The question is, will the family that is interested in Rocket want to try out a tubby girl when they just lost a cat to diabetes? I think Rocket will slim down with an appropriate diet, but obviously the tubby genes are there. I think a lot of successful multi-generational feral cats have the tubby gene. Their low metabolisms probably served them well when they were on the street or in the barn with a substandard diet. Once they get on a high-cal commercial diet...blimpy time! So low-cal is the way to go. Some low-cal foods are way too tasty, and cats eat more of it (Science Diet, and Iams). Those food are meant to be doled out twice or three times a day in small amounts and frankly, I think this turns cats into food-centric felines. So we tried Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul (i.e. Diamond Brand) and despite the sappy name, it has served our household well. Others swear by it as well. d Diamond is the company that had the contaminated food that killed a number of dogs. The plant that makes this food was not involved, and this food does not contain corn, which was the contaminated ingredient.

Rocket is still cute as sin, very playful, and extremely friendly without being obnoxious. Even though she hadn't seen me in months, she jumped off the couch where she had been watching TV with Charlie, her foster Dad, and trotted right over. They showed off her air-time with a string, and she walked right into the crate. She's now in our Great Room exploring, as if she had never been away.

Cute...but what a squoosh!


And absolutely gorgeous copper eyes!