And now for something completely different… today, I’m talking (briefly) about cat stuff.

Fourteen years ago, I became a cat dad. I was never a cat guy growing up. This is largely due to my having discovered that I was allergic as a child. We were visiting my aunt, uncle and cousins in Nova Scotia when I ended up needing to go to the hospital because I couldn’t breathe. I was diagnosed with asthma and told it was an allergic reaction to the cat at my family’s place.

Flash forward a lot of years. Isabelle and I had been seeing one another for a while and had moved in together. Her 30th birthday was quickly approaching and I wanted to do something memorable for her. She and her parents had had cats her entire life, so I decided to get her a cat. Enter Roxie.

I can say in complete honesty that I fell in love with this little furball quickly; this despite the fact that I struggled to breathe when I would go to bed every night for the first couple of weeks. But as time passed, and the love grew, the asthma went away. I grew a tolerance for her. At some point in these past fourteen years, I became a full-fledged cat dad. Go on a work trip and come home with a toy for the kitty? Check. Buy her toys, treat often? Check. Buy expensive cat-furniture (that she largely ignores)? Check.

I made two purchases this year that have been among the best I have spent my money on. I thought I’d share with any other cat parents out there.

(As a side note, this is NOT a sponsored post. I have no affiliation with either of the products I will be discussing below, nor do I have any renumeration for said post.)

The Litter Locker

This was a godsend! For any parents out there who had a Diaper Genie, you’ll know what I’m talking about. This nifty little tool allows you to dump in the scoopings from the litter box, locking away all of the odours. In the past, we’ve had a small garbage can specifically for the litter waste, but the smell was still present (if reduced). We’ve tried using flushable kitty litter which eliminated the scent, but made for a lot of extra cleaning of the toilet due to residue. Then, I came across the Litter Locker. I really wish I had found this fourteen years ago! I strongly recommend this to anyone with a cat.

Raised Food Bowl

As Roxie has been aging, one thing that we began to notice was that she would occasionally throw up shortly after eating. This would happen occasionally, more often when we would give her some wet cat food. At first we thought it was because she was eating too fast. Eating may be too soft a word – devouring may be more apt. Over the past two years, the vomiting started to increase in frequency. Thinking it may have been some of the brands, we switched wet food brands a couple of times, but looking at the overall trend, it continued. I started reading up on the subject and found a few articles discussing how some cats, particularly as they get older, have a hard time eating from bowls on the ground due to the angle and the pressure it creates on their necks and esophagus. One suggested solution was the use of a raised, and angled, food bowl. I recently purchased just such an item and Roxie has not regurgitated her food once since.

Of course I would be remiss to say that regular vomiting by a cat can be a sign of illness or problems, so please monitor your fur babies! In our case, it appears that the issue is controlled with the new food bowls.

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There you have it. Two of my suggestions for any cat parents out there. Do you spoil your cat (or dog)? What are your tips or favourite purchases?