Aha! Another Winnipegger. Good to see!
I think I tend to be a little too anal with my stereo equipment. I had a heck of a time trying to keep people from using my speakers as coasters when we had guests over. I now make sure that there are no chairs in reach of my speakers.

Glad to hear the central vac worked. Sounds like you need a motion sensor for the cat with a motorized spray gun. Maybe like a water gun version of what they used on Aliens (automatic tracking machine guns).