Since tonight we finally got around to properly cleaning our place after the cats' departure, I thought this would be a good time to share what I thought about them.
Recall that we kept our friend's two cats while he was away for three weeks. EGM had cats growing up but I did not. We had been toying with the idea of getting one, so we reasoned that this extended cat sitting experience would give me a chance to see if I really want one.
I do not want one anymore.
The cats were nice, but they weren't really fun enough to make up for all the yuckiness. They would sometimes sit nearby, but they never wanted to cuddle very much. Instead, they liked to sit on the mantle, or between the window and it's screen, or some other equally inappropriate place. They did, however, always want to get into our bedroom which I had deemed off limits. They would scratch and meow at the door when we went to bed, even jumping up to try to turn the doorknob. From the inside of the room it felt like a movie where monsters were trying to get in.
Then there was the mess. Thankfully, EGM had the foresight to roll up most of the rugs and cover the couches with sheets before the cats arrived in order to limit the hair. Even still, there was cat hair everywhere. And litter tracked throughout the apartment. And they knocked stuff over. And clawed up the toilet paper and paper towels. I think the real problem for me was that they used the whole volume of a room -- no surface was off limits for them. So after they used the litter box, they'd jump up on the kitchen counter or something. Eww.
We were out of town a bunch after the cats left and then we were lazy and then we realized that our crappy ass vacuum with just a plain tube attachment was no match for the lingering cat hair. We borrowed our friends' Dyson last week and finally got around to using it tonight. I feel much better about my world now that the place is all clean. I'd hate to mess it up again with another cat.
Can you tell I'm not a pet person?
8 comments:
LOL! I love cats, but mine have never been this obnoxious, and were much more up to playing with humans (during the day). Then again, it's been a decade since I've lived with a cat, and I do think I've become more picky about cleanliness of my place, so maybe I would find the experience different now.
You know, every cat is different. Male cats tend to be more removed whereas female cats tend to be more on-your-lap social. I honestly prefer working with an in-home (not caged) rescue because they report on the cat's personality before you make the adoption. Even though I have had cats most of my life, I do not think housebreaking a kitten would be an enjoyable experience. But yes, I have never met a cat who enjoys being locked out of the bedroom when you are sleeping in it.
Glad you had the foresight to engage in a short-term experiment with someone else's cats.
I love dogs, but I feel the same way as you do about cats. They just get into everything and leave nastiness everywhere. The thought of a cat walking on my kitchen counters serious grosses me out! Ick!
It's great that you got the opportunity to test-drive the kitties and figure all of this out before going any further! I do feel a wee bit sorry for EGM, as it took me a couple of years to persuade my husband to get cats, but obviously it is not going to work out without making you very unhappy, so he'll just have to live with it!
Our kittiees do have some of the annoying habits you describe, e.g. the cat hair and the litter (which luckily stays on the floor). They are usually pretty good at not trying to get into the bedroom, although I did have problems one night when Mr E Man late coming home from a boys' night out. Our bedroom door doesn't quite close properly unless you lock it from the inside (the lock was already there when we bought the house!), but obviously I didn't want to lock my husband out. So I just shut it as best as I could. I was then woken from a deep sleep by Google jumping on my chest. I SCREAMED, she freaked out and ran under the bed and could not be extracted for over half an hour. That was fun...
Luckily our two are cute and adorable and cuddly, making up for all of the above. Google is on our laps as soon as we sit down in the evenings, purring and kneading and snuggling. Saba is more reserved, but will patiently lie on her back on the bathroom mat, or in doorways, just waiting for someone to come past and give her a belly rub. No regrets here!
Surprisingly, EGM sort of felt the same way as me, so he's not overly disappointed that I don't want our own cats. He says that it's really rare to have indoor cats in Far Off Land, so he was equally grossed out by the consequences of the litter box.
I'm shocked that you don't like cats. I thought approximately 99.5% of science bloggers love them.
I, personally, adore them.
Oh! I almost forgot my other major complaint. I had the Meow Mix song stuck in my head the ENTIRE TIME the cats were here. I'd look at them and it would just start. Sometimes just "meow meow meow meow..." and sometimes the Dr Evil version: "I like chicken, I like liver, meow mix meow mix please deliver". Awful.
you totally have my support, but then you knew that already, didn't you? :-D
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