Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Sable and the Hard School of Economics

No doubt each person reading this has experienced the great and sudden increase in prices that has swept over much of the world recently. I have seen the retail cost of items increase by ten to fifteen per cent, and in some cases forty to fifty per cent. Whatever the cause of this inflation, and whether it is necessary, is all rather immaterial to those of us who have no influence on it, for good or ill. The fact is that we must pay the new prices or go without.


The cost of cat-food has risen along with everything else. As long as I am able to prevent it, my own beasts will not suffer a reduction in their rations - though I may have to forego opening up the house in Montreux this year... There will have to be other adjustments, however.


I don’t have many outsider-cats coming to visit the food and water at Café Cosy. In fact, I have only one frequent visitor, the all-black cat with the frost-bitten ear, Sable.



Sable is feral. After years of patronising the outside bowls, she is still very wary of me. But she enjoys the fare offered, and knows that she has a source of sustenance in addition to, or, if all else fails, in place of, others. However, I have found that I have had to curtail her portions.


In the past, I have fed Sable as much soft-food as she wanted. That frequently meant two tins of Fancy Feast, sometimes more. I was reluctant to cut back on her amount, for fear that she might not have anywhere else to eat. But now I feel that I must limit her to one tin of Fancy Feast per visit


I know she wants more. She waits for more. I feel terrible at having to turn off the outside light, to signal that the kitchen is closed. The café of course remains open, twenty-four hours a day: fresh water may be had at any time and the hard-food bowl is always stocked. Sable, and anyone else who stops by, will not go hungry. But the soft-food will have to be restricted, which may be felt especially in the coming cold.


Such is the cost of inflation and rising prices: those who need most, also suffer most. It’s unfair, and I hope Sable will find her reduced rations enough, until the better days when I can once again feed her as much as she desires.

13 comments:

  1. It is scary how quickly the cost of cat food has skyrocketed. (Along with everything else.) I mean, I can live on beans if I have to, but the critters can't! The worst part is, most people who follow economic matters are saying this is just the beginning. *Sigh*

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  2. Like everyone else, I have noticed how much the cost of everything has increased. Cat food and kitty litter especially - not to mention the cost of vet care. Unfortunately there does not seem to be much we can do about it except try our best to make ends meet.

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  3. I understand as my outdoor cats are wanting more and I'm providing them with more dry instead of the wet they prefer. I try to maximize my can openings by sharing the leftovers my two indoor cats put their pretty little noses up to.

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  4. I am just hearing locally that we can expect empty shelves at the stores once again. and higher prices, even though the empty shelves has been fairly common for almost 3 years. Human items and cat and dog food. Sable is a fortunate girl to have discovered the Cosy Apartment Cafe some time ago and receive as much hand out as possible. You are doing her a great service with even one can of soft food. Have you looked to the larger cans of Friskies as a possible solution? Seney would sometimes prefer it over Fancy Feast during her life as the most finicky cat in the world.

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  5. We've been missing some flavours at the store too.
    Hoping that Sable continues to be a regular customer despite the new serving size.

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  6. You're taking great care of Sable and anyone else who comes for food. You can only do your best and keep your eye out for sales on the canned, or also try another brand of canned that is less or on sale. Who knows, she might like it too.

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  7. I sure understand. Outside of our four the cost for feeding our fourteen ferals is really crazy.

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  8. I'm sure Sable would prefer the canned food, but if she's hungry I'm sure she'll eat the hard stuff. I'll admit that up until 10-15 years ago, my six cats only got soft food as a treat once in awhile. It was only as Sasha aged that I started feeding them soft food on a regular basis.
    You're doing a great job keeping the Cafe open for those in need.

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  9. You have to do what you have to do, and its sad that Sable misses her fine gourmet meals. Butt it isn't as if you stopped altogether.

    We all feel the pinches to our pocketbooks, but somehow we'll manage, and we will be trying to provide the best for our furry ones.

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  10. HeHe! Dare l say it John..if your anything like me,
    l'm sure a little meat/fish off your own plate would'nt
    go a miss..! Just to keep Sable happy...!x

    And there's many people over here in the UK who
    are not only going without food for there own children,
    but for there cats and dogs, and rescue homes like
    Battersea are overwhelmed with cats/dogs being
    returned after the lockdown problems...the problem
    is worldwide of course..and it'll take years for it to
    repair itself....!

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  11. Oh I can feel the hurt in your heart at turning on the Kitchen is Closed light. I am trying to be light as you were but it is a hard hard thing to deal with. We want to serve them as we always have for we are all they have. It's worrying and sad when something interferes.

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  12. The grain-free food I was feeding my tribe has gone up $10 per bag in the past few years. I can no longer justify the expense. I've chosen another food that's only a few dollars less than that for now. Fortunately, my guys eat anything I give them.

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  13. Everything is so expensive now, that is if you can even get it! I am sure Sable wonders why her wet food is restricted now but if she is hungry she will eat the dry food. I am sure she will soon adapt and be thankful for what is given. It is more likely you who is more upset at having to restrict it than she is.

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