I finally gave up the idea of adopting kittens — so, I got rats instead! I adore rats. I drove out to Petaluma to get them a few weeks ago — I found the rat breeder on craigslist. The rats are beautiful — healthy looking, shiny coats, bright little eyes, and very social and friendly. I asked the breeder what she fed them so I could make sure to have food for them before I picked them up. Trader Joe’s lite dog food and a grain mix her daughter makes for them!. When I saw how big the bag of Trader Joe’s dog food was, I said forget it…rat food for these guys (my last rat ate store bought rat food and he lived for over three years!)

Alas, I’ve discovered that a 1 gallon ziploc bag can hold 9 coffee cups full of Trader Joe’s lite dog food. And a 20 pound bag of Trader Joe’s lite dog food fits into almost exactly six 1 gallon ziploc bags. And the stuff I need to buy for the rat mix is easily obtainable — I think I’ve got enough rat food for the rest of the year (if none of it goes bad that is).