Fee, Fie, Foe, Friday: Feeding the Feline

Pretty kitty-girl, but I just vacuumed that cover
on the sofa 4 hours ago.

Most of you know we inherited an older cat. She'd never been out of her original home, and had never seen a dog before. But she's a great cat, and has adjusted to her new home beautifully, covering it thoroughly in cat hair and terrorizing the dog. Luckily we love her, as does the dog, oddly. He just keeps getting smacked every time she passes him, and puts up with it.

 On the advice of my friends who are owned by kitties, I've started giving her some wet cat food to help control the shedding. From what we can tell, she's only had dry food for her first 13 or so years. We started giving her some canned cat food a few times a week. She loves it. Adores it. Worse yet, she really loves the expensive brands. Figures, huh?

We should have guessed this; she belonged to my sister-in-law Cammi who had champagne taste. Madeleine is just like her Mom. No store brand cat food for this puss, only the little expensive brands will do. Part of this is my fault. While trying to see what she would like I bought an assortment of different little cans. It was sort of a novelty for me, since I'm used to bags of dog kibble, and just mixing in some plain old chicken for Hobbes. High-end cat food has rather dandy names, like the menu items on a good restaurant menu. So I filled up my shopping basket. We (or she) loves Fancy Feast. Oy.

I opened the first can of some sort of grilled seafood goo and I was done for from that day on. This cat is a singer and talker, and she expects her wet food now. She lets us know that it is time for her breakfast, and not the dry stuff she always has access to, Oh, no, no. The good stuff. Smelly wet cat food. And the ones that cost double the price of the store brand. I am the animal feeder in this house since my husband retches at the thought of any sort of wet pet food, let alone the sight and smell of it. The fact that I am also the litter box cleaner will remain unspoken. Yeah.

Wish I could say that I've seen a huge improvement in the shedding. But no, plenty of cat hair. The dog doesn't shed. No, it's not terrible, but vacuuming just once a week is no longer an option. What I have done is created a monster-- A cat who loves wet cat food now. And it is my own fault.