As for Hills, I saw plenty around CABA.
How long ago was that? I am trying to google Hills in Argentina and I can find only websites from Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Spain. I'd love to feed our cat better, but it seems this would imply bringing the cat abroad. I can't wait for Milei to open to imports.
Definitely forget that idea. I'm still waiting for the tea I ordered from the UK 15 years ago after it was impounded!!
Our current STR guest arrived last night with her dog and her dog’s food. It was impounded in Ezeiza and she was given a document stating that it will be withheld by Senasa for 7 days before it is going to be destroyed. She will be given back the food upon leaving the country BEFORE the 7-day deadline.
And she has to leave from Ezeiza, so no cheap colonia run.
serafina I found this online store which has a pretty good selection and sells Inaba Churu snacks (https://ar.miscota.com/search/s?q=inaba).
They are our cats favorite. You should check it out. Thanks for the tips, in terms of dry food we buy Hills Science Diet (https://www.hillspet.com/products/cat-food) this is suppose to be on the higher end and they do have wet food so maybe that is an option?
We will definitely check out Puppis. As for Vets, how are they here in general? Anything to be cautious of?
miscota.com is a Spanish website that ships worldwide (you can see the Spanish flag in the footer). Customs in Argentina is awful, so. I am wary of it.
I tried to google for experiences with miscota.com from Argentina, and I came up with a FB page of people who have been scammed by them even 4-5 years ago
I am familiar with Hills from Europe, but I have never seen it in Argentina.
Hello. Any suggestions on good pet stores to buy Inaba Churu creamy snacks (prefer in packs of 50) and arena/litter for cats? in CABA area. Ideally we would like to have corn based cat litter but on our last visit we didn't see any. Alternatively clay litter works but we tried to introduce silica gel but our cat didn't like it. Thank you.
I have never heard of such brand. I bring my liquid snacks over from Europe, and I am struggling to find quality wet food for our cat. The brand she fancied has been out of stocks for months, and the locally-produced wet food doesn't suit her taste. I am currently feeding her Dr. Sieger. She is liking their dry food, and she was enjoying the wet food in the small can (90 g). As soon as I bought the larger can (340 g) she failed to recognize it as food.
Previously, she was eating Wild and prior to that she used to eat HomeMade Delights. All these brands belong to the same company, Alican. For some reason, our cat falls in and out of love and doesn't look back.
She liked HomeMade Delights. Then she stopped eating it all of a sudden (we donated the left over stock to a volunteer). She moved to Fancy Feast (imported from Brazil), which has been unavailable since November due to import restrictions. So I bought Wild, and she was eating it with less enthusiasm, but still... However, Wild only offers fish flavors, so I bought a can of HomeMade Delights Chickens, but she didn't touch it, and a 90 g can of Dr. Sieger chicken, which she liked. I then bought the bigger can and she hardly likes it, preferring dry food.
I don't want her on dry food because she has had renal issues in the past and dry food just stresses kidneys. I am reading on BARF diet and following a local veterinarian (Verónica Roffo) who advocates for BARF, but I don't have the time to cook for myself, let alone for the cat.
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A large pet store is Puppis, sort of PetCo. It doesn't always have the best price, but it has the greatest selection. It will be helpful to get an idea of the brands/assortments available in Argentina. Some brands are sold in other pet stores, such as CatPro that is not sold in Puppis but that I can find in smaller stores.
As for cat litter, we use pellets by Poopy Pets. The cat doesn't love it, but she didn't love silica, either (and it can dry out their paws) and sand was just too messy.
Clean the feeders TWICE A DAY? Oh my. I must have been poisoning ours! Better to simply provide a continuous supply of trumpet-shaped red/pink/orange flowers, to let them collect their own nectar.
In the Iguazú town, where the falls are, there is a hummingbird garden (Jardín de los Picaflores) where they also rescue hummingbirds and educate about their care. They really stress on the cleanliness of the feeders. Obviously, they won't drop dead if they drink stale waters, so normally people don't see a correlation.
You can follow their instagram account for pictures and tips on how to help hummingbirds.
The issue with hummingbird feeders is that they have to be cleaned twice a day, or there could be fungus and bacteria deadly to the hummingbirds. We have a hummingbird visiting the terrace from time to time, usually before the sun is too hot (before 9.30 am) or after (after 5 pm). Serafina was 30 cm from it and barely realized there was a bird up close. We even have a video of the close encounter.
All was pleasant until it described how the kitten died. I can't shake off that image from my head. I have uninstalled FB from my phone after a friend shared an article on a cruel episode towards a cat in Italy. I lost my sleep for two nights wondering about the details.
It makes me quite ashamed to come from a country where there is still so much violence toward animals, including wild ones that are harmless (like sea turtles).
A cat walked on the keyboard of an IT technician at the VA Medical Center in Kansas City and messed up with the system. It took 4 hours to solve the issue and a second to create it.
A witness to the event gave this comment to the reporters: "This is why I have a dog". 
I think the answer changes every 5 minutes!
It is too hard to pick one.
We're thinking of getting a companion cat for Floyd but not sure if we should get a male of female.
He's been neutered anyway.
There are two rescue associations in Zona Norte that work well. One is Bicho Feliz and the other is Bicheras de Boulogne (now just Bicheras). We got Serafina through Bicheras and the late Bob through Bicho Feliz, and we also fostered a few cats for both associations when we were living in San Isidro.
When we fostered cats we could test Serafina's reaction to other cats. With some she didn't get along, with two she got along great, but mostly she ignored the intruder.
We regret not keeping the adult one she got along with very well, but we were living in a tiny apartment at the time. We were afraid she would miss him, but the truth is that when he left (because we found a forever home for him) she continued her life like nothing had happened. We were the ones grieving! He was such a good and great cat!
I think of getting her a companion from time to time, but I also remember that with some cats she didn't have a great feeling and simply avoided them.
Imho, it was not a matter of sex but of character. Serafina is rather shy and quiet, although she enjoys playing. Some cats were too aggressive by her standards. Both the ones she went along well were males. One was a 5-years old adult that was left behind when his family moved. We had him neutered but he was very well behaved and used to live in an apartment. The other one was a rescue from a Parking lot near the Court in San Isidro. We got him when he was about 3-4 months old and was very energetic. They played a lot, but he was surely going to turn into a dominant male once grown up.
I personally think that when you adopt an adult cat, you already know what you are getting, whereas with kittens it is a roulette.
You can see what they have up for adoption and foster on Facebook and Instagram:
Bicheras: https://www.facebook.com/BicherasBou/ - https://www.instagram.com/bicherasbou/
Bicho feliz: https://www.facebook.com/AsociacionBichoFeliz - https://www.instagram.com/holabichofeliz/
I want also to add this: when we fostered cats and had to bring them to the vet, some issues popped up. The vet gave us a talk how our responsibility is to keep the home cat cafe first and foremost, and to keep the fosters physically separated until they were cleared by the vet. Rescue associations do not have the funds (or the brain) to run a full check up on their rescues (like blood tests for parasites, viruses, and other illnesses that could be passed from cat to cat).
At least in Italy, when a cat is put up for adoption, at least they are checked for FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, the cats' HIV) and FeLV (Feline leukemia virus) as this will determine if they can live with other non-FIV non-FeLV cats.
This is not done here because they are considered expensive tests to run (actually, they should be around 6000 ARS combined, but associations do not have funds to run these tests for each rescue).
One of the rescue we fostered had a blood parasites that could be transmitted through fleas (Mycoplasma haemofelis), so we had to sanitize the whole house and the vet actually yelled at us for exposing Serafina to this risk. This cat was symptomless and she was in contact with Serafina since we brought her home, they played together etc. (she was a 5-6 months old female "saved" from a Chino store by a friend who actually stole her).
We acted in good faith, and we felt really bad for exposing Serafina.
I follow them on Instagram but I haven't yet had the chance to visit. They are booked pretty solidly and have random cancellations for the 9AM slot. I tried to book a cancellation, but I wasn't fast enough!
There are days when I need to be covered in cats to free my mind from the nastiness of this world!
He definitely looks smarter than Serafina!
Serafina fooled even the vet. She was about 1 and she had to take a pill. Frustrated after many attempts at home, ending up with the pill melting on my fingers and on the floor, I brought him to the vet. He said '"Sure, look how it is done!" and the popped the pill in her mouth.
We came home and first thing the bloody cat did when we opened the carrier's door, was to spit the bloody pill. 
Yesterday, Serafina was sunbathing and soil-bathing like Cleopatra
It's time for Serafina to get a day job.
Serafina has become even more attached to us (or to me... it's still up for debate).
One night, she fell asleep in her cat tree while we were watching the TV. We went to bed earlier than usual, and when she woke up at 1 AM, the started meowing because she couldn't find us. We don't have a big apartment and we have a pretty regular schedule. My husband rushed downstairs to see why she was meowing, and the only conclusion was that she was... lost in her own house.
Last Sunday, I went out to the bakery, but since there was some queue outside I strolled for another 20'. In total, I stayed out 60' and when I got back, both my husband and my cat were very worried. My husband was mostly worried because the cat started meowing because she couldn't find me, and thought she had 'sensed' something bad/out of place had happened. It seems Serafina's sixth sense is a little off.
I used to think myself of her mama cat, but maybe she is my mama cat 
Veterinarians have reported an increase of stress in pets due to their owner being at home most of the time. Cats don't like changes.
A friend's cat started to eat her knitting material and had to be taken to the vet! 
How is Floyd doing during the quarantine? Is he stressed that you are home all the time (well, mostly Adri)?
With a little trick I was able to let her 'feel' the rope and she really liked it. She was scratching like crazy!
Serafina's cat tree was badly in need of a redo and we spotted a rope in a knitting store. We bough 60 meters and re-did some of the vertical parts. It is going to be a few weeks before she realizes it's a good thing for her - she was rather concerned when we were stripping bare her cat tree. She's had it since she was a kitten and has always loved it. That's a late sixth birthday present.
