Chucking Cat

I have a cat vomit problem.

Solo has been an absolute vomiting machine lately, and it's to the point where if she was a computer, I would be slamming the mouse around and crying. My neighbor said to give her the hairball medicine, but Sparky suggested I talk to the people at his favorite pet store first.

The lady there suggested:

1) Elevating the food bowl with a phone book so the cat does not ingest so much air when eating (that then bubbles up as soon as they're done, bringing all the food with it

2) Buying food that the cat needs to chew rather than pate, which the cat sucks in like a vacuum, leading to the phenomenon apparently known in the cat world as "scarf and barf."

3) Adding a little bit of fish or coconut oil to the food, which should not only grease things down, but does something along the lines of more firmly securing the hair follicle, which means less hair for the hairball.

I have already switched to non-pate and raised the food bowl, and I have no vomit. I mean- this was a DAILY occurrence. As for the oil, I got a great deal on some fish oil capsules and have been working diligently to add them to her food, but so far all I get is a fish oil fountain. I have learned that fish oil is not some herbal euphemism- that's real fish oil in there. I can tell you that because I am wearing it. Last night I hosed my pajamas and half the kitchen. This morning, I sprayed the other half of the kitchen. I missed my clothes this time, but I can still smell it on my hands, even though I scrubbed my hands with a real lemon slice and endured the pain in my hangnails.

Sparky swears there is a way to do this without wearing it, and promises to show me. It had better be soon, because coming home to the smell of fish is not much better than coming home to a new vomit pile on the carpet... or my bed... or down the wall.

Kitty City

Sparky and I have been helping each other with home improvement projects. He's laying a concrete walkway in his backyard, and I wanted cat shelves. He put those up today.

I bought a bookshelf that he cut holes into and assembled. The top three shelves belong to Mini. He connected the shelves around the corner,

put a long walkway across the back wall, and added three steps down at the end. I'm going to put a short bookshelf over there, but for now, she can reach the couch. This is going to be my reading room. I got rid of the desk. :)

Here's the whole view now:

Who wants to be my cat in their next life?

Mini has investigated the shelves, and I think once everything calms down and I put some catnip up there like I had to on the first set, she'll be up there all the time. We have some finishing touches to go- bracing the bookshelves (which I never would have thought to do), painting the cut out parts, and Velcro-ing down some carpet pieces, and we have to add a ramp or a tiny step in the corner, but she has already been halfway up- jumping to that ledge between the bookshelves and playing there.

Excellent work, Sparky. This is awesome.