Serendipity, or one cat's food is another cat's poison

Sometimes, things just fall right. It needn't be anything major, but just one of those happy coincidences that make life so much easier.

We have two cats, both of which are rescued. Both are around ten years old. And that's where the similarity ends.

Snowball is female, pure white, petite, neat and very clever. She has lived with us for five years now, and for most of that was an only cat. It is, most definitely, her house and our purpose is to serve her every whim then leave her alone to rest. She has a rather delicate stomach (probably as a result of being kicked frequently by her first owner), but we've found foods she likes and all's well.

Snowball's food rules:

1) If it's chicken, I'll eat it (but see 3 and 4);

2) If it's turkey, I won't eat it, so don't even try;

3) If it's in gravy, forget it, even if it's chicken;

4) Pâté is not a foodstuff, even if it's chicken; and

5) Anything else - dry, in jelly or intended for human consumption - I will consider.

Our rule for feeding Snowball is that she gets wet food once or twice a week, and dry food the rest of the time.

The other cat is Dyson. He's male, almost pure black, large (as in the vet says he shouldn't lose any more weight now he's down to 7kg), easy-going, and has the brain of a sausage. He is constantly surprised by life, and purrs louder than you could imagine (hence his name). He's been part of the family for two years now, and from the first accepted Snowball's supremacy without a battle. His sum needs seem to be food, human company and room to lie on his back with his paws in the air (which is a ridiculous position for a cat his size). We don't know much about his past other than he was found as a stray at Christmas/New Year, then spent over three months in an outside cabin at the sanctuary, where he was always second choice.

Dyson's food rules:

1) If it's food I'll eat it (if I get the chance). This includes marmite.

However, our rule for feeding Dyson is a bit more specialised. Just over a year ago, he developed Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD), which we only noticed when he started bleeding. He had a night in hospital, a course of antibiotics, a couple of urine tests and a few weeks of special food.

I had a large bill. Thankfully, I also had insurance.

The special food was in jelly, and Snowball wasn't too impressed that he had that while she was on her usual dry food. However, after a few weeks he went back onto his normal diet and all was well. At least, all was well for about three months. Then he had another bout of FLUTD, more antibiotics, more tests and more special food. And I had another claim on the insurance. So I decided he had better stay on his special food for good. It may be more expensive than normal food, but it's worth it if it keeps him healthy; and, anyway, I found an internet supplier that was a whole lot cheaper than the vet.

Snowball really didn't like Dyson being on meat in jelly permanently, and she's a cat who can make her displeasure very clear. Not that she actually misbehaves or anything like that, but she can give the most disapproving glare, and remove herself from your company until she gets the reverence she thinks she deserves*.

Yes, I felt sorry for her (looking back, I think that's when the "or twice" a week with wet food started), but I also started to be concerned about Dyson. He could easily have another ten years to live, and being on the same make of food - with a choice of only two flavours - could get monotonous, so I had a look on the internet for other foods suitable for his condition. I found another supplier with second brand, and decided to give it a try; if he was ok with it, we could vary between the two makes.

I'm pleased to report that the trial of the new brand went well. Dyson was, of course, more than happy to eat it, and there's been no recurrence of his illness.

But the best thing about it? It's a pâté.

Twice a day I put Snowball's food down, then Dyson's. The second his bowl touches the floor Snowball comes over to see what he's got, looks at his bowl, looks at him, looks at me as of to say "You'd never get me to eat that! I'm going back to my biscuits" and returns to her own bowl, purring gently to herself, clearly content that she's got the better part of the deal.

The purring is new behaviour. She's also choosing to spend less time on her own. She's even being nice to Dyson some of the time (well, she only rarely hits him these days, and doesn't bother to move if he sits close to her on the bed).

And it's all down to the fact that his low-magnesium food is a pâté.

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* Post script. Page 2 of the EU Pet Passport records the animal's name with the footnote "as stated by the owner". Obviously as opposed to "as stated by the animal", which would be something a great deal more impressive than Snowball.