In article ,
) wrote:

My cats get about 6 ounces of premium (ie calorie-dense and highly
digestible) canned food each per day, or sometimes 3 oz canned and
1/8-1/4 c. kibble. But I don't have 36 cats to feed. If I did I think
I'd go to a good yet economical brand of kibble (Sensible Choice comes
to mind) and fill the bowl once per day, probably in the evening, with
an appropriate amount for the number of cats to be fed. Then once per
day I'd feed each animal an individual portion of canned food.

So I'm to set up 36 dishes??? Um, okee.
Right now, I have 10 cats that need their own dishes. The rest share 5
"community" pans. There is always plenty left for the ones that wait
for the others. The canned feeding thing lasts thru the night which is
why I do it at night while we are asleep... That way they have at
least 6 hours to finish it off, and it actually takes that long.

It's what I'd do if I were you, and it's what many people who keep
dozens of cats well do. I know of a woman who exclusively rawfeeds I
think 20 or so cats. Twice per day she puts down 20 or so paper plates.
It's doable, and it's optimal, but I know it's time-consuming so it
might not work for your lifestyle.

After 6 hours do you really think that food is still good? I pick up
plates after 20-30 minutes max, and my boys learn to eat their portion
in that time frame.

By learning how to do a simple physical at home for your young healthy
cats (here from a vet school curriculum
http://education.vetmed.vt.edu/Curri...ct/Techniques/
index.htm and here from a pet first aid site
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...&S=0&C=0&A=292) you
might not even have to bring them in more than every few years. The
physical is the most important part of the visit though, and not
everyone wants to risk skipping it.

Exactly. :-)
I get the cat physical done with the vaccinations, along with any
needed bloodwork.

But why the vaccinations? If a cat was immunized with last year's
vaccination, why on earth do you think she's magically lost that
immunity at precisely a one-year interval? Chances are, she hasn't
considering that current studies show protection against challenge with
street virus after SEVEN years. So, you are simply injecting an
antigen--which rouses the immune system only enough for the ALREADY
EXISTING antibodies to spend themselves neutralizing the threat--and an
adjuvant--a nasty chemical cocktail that's been implicated in everything
from cancer to immune disorders: hypo-, hyper-, and autoimmune diseases.
After a lifetime of vaccinations what do you think you're adding to your
9+ year old cat's health by injecting them with this admixture over and
over and over?

If your vet's client education puts the emphasis on the exam, that's
great. It probably also means he's putting the bulk of the cost on the
professional service of administering the physical, and minimizing
markup on the vaccines, which means that you won't put much of a dent in
your annual bill by reducing them. But you might find less-immediate
benefits, reductions in your cats' HYPERIMMUNITY to flea saliva, or your
cats' HYPOIMMUNITY to ringworm fungus.

-Alison in OH