Sophie's World

“Who would believe such pleasure from a wee ball o’ fur?
~Irish Saying

Photo by pawlikwoj

Based on her vet’s advice, we reduced Sophie’s diet. We didn’t go nuts, mind you. Just a bit. She went from one-third of a can of food twice a day to one-fourth. Her dry food intake stayed the same.

Oh, my goodness, you’d think we were starving her. This cat has become absolutely ravenous. One hour before feeding time, she is awake and asking for food. She is on an alarm system. No food until the alarm goes off. Period.

She’ll carry on for that last hour, being as obnoxious as she can. She’ll eat the spider webs off the broom. She will play with the wheels of my office chair.

When she does get fed, it’s like feeding time at the zoo. Munch! Munch! Smack! Smack! It actually grosses me out a bit. Then, she’ll have the audacity to hop up on the desk and belch right in front of me. Mommy’s little lady!

If I’m not on time with her dry food, she is on it, playing the obnoxious game. Then, it is time for her yummy. Heaven forbid, if I’m late.

It seems as if she has lost some weight, which is good. However, in place of my fat cat, I have a ravenous beast. I can’t wait until her body catches up with the changes in her diet.

Photo by patbain

It seemed like Sophie and I both were having one of those days. Nothing is worse than a bad hair day. With Sophie, it was excessive shedding, probably because she lays right in front of our direct heat furnace. Yes, we’ve still had to run the heat on occasion.

For me, nothing looked right. I tried styling my hair. Yuck. I put it up. It won’t lay straight. I brushed it out, and it got frizzy. It is days like that I just want to cut it all off and start from scratch. What I needed was some serious Hair Care.

Well, it actually worked out. As part of my weekly to-do list, I have a task called “Spa Monday”. That’s the time I’ll indulge myself in something nice. I figure it is a good way to set the tone for the week. Even Sophie gets her own spa day. I’ll give her a good brushing to keep her coat nice and shiny—and to keep the shedding down.

For me, it was a deep conditioning treatment. Besides feeling good, it perked up my mood. There’s nothing better than taking care of yourself once in awhile, especially when stress or other worries brings you down.

I learned a valuable lesson from Sophie. Before we switched her to her present food, her coat was dull and flaky. So, I tried her approach. I started taking biotin and fish oil supplements. As good quality nutrition did for her, my hair improved.

I’ll have to believe her next time Sophie looks at me with those eyes that say she knows it all. Maybe she should get fed whenever she wants.