These are the worst things about living with a cat according to almost 6,000 people most of whom I would think living in the United States….
Comment:
Don’t get a cat! For me I don’t see living with a cat in this way. I don’t think about the worst things or even things that might get in the way of my relationship with my cat. I accept it all as part of the deal. All my cat’s behavior is acceptable because it is part of what he is and I agreed to accept everything about him when I adopted him.
I don’t think it is sensible to relate to your cat in this way, looking at the negatives or even the positives. Total acceptance is the key as it smooths the way for a harmonious relationship.
I’ll briefly comment on the top four:
Cat hair – Even though it is around the apartment, the only place I see cat hair, and want to remove it, is on my bed. I use a special brush every morning to pick it off the bed. It is a velvet brush with the nap pointing in one direction. This is very effective in getting the hair off the bed and it is silent so it does not disturb my cat. In fact, he plays with the brush.
Scratching Furniture – once again it is a case of accepting this possibility at the outset. If a person adopts a cat certain things come with the territory and it is best to get that right beforehand. Then there are no worst things about living with a cat.
Inappropriate urination – the only time I have encountered this is when my cat was ill with cystitis. If it is not due to ill health, which is normally fixable, it will most likely be due to the cat’s owner: wrong litter, wrong place for litter, stress due to multicat household or absence of owner etc. that sort of thing. This is a problem that can be resolved fairly easily
Scooping litter box – this never bothered me in the slightest. I can do it in about 60 seconds and to a good standard because I have been doing it for decades! If this bothers someone it is a shame because it should not.
I wonder if these people who moan about cat hair, scratching furniture, cleaning litter trays, etc, etc, etc are so very perfect themselves?
I very much doubt it, because as the saying goes ‘We are only human’ so we should say cats ‘are only feline’
Do those people not pong in the toilet, leave hairs in the bath or wash basin, irritate others by some of their habits?
Anyway, for example if there is cat hair around it’s not the fault of the cat but of the person neglecting to groom him. Scratching furniture, well have their cats got any furniture of their own?
All of those things on that list of worst things living with a cat have a good reason for cats doing them.
The problem is that those people expect a cat to behave like a human, how can they?
Our cats have always woken us up early, we understand cats like to be out and about early, it’s what cats do.
If anyone wants the pleasure of the company of cats they need to accept them as they are, otherwise get a different sort of pet.
“Love” is a word that comes to mind. You so love this boy. Good for you. He is lucky and you are lucky to. Well, it is not really luck. We make our own luck a lot of the time.
Beautiful comment, Ruth. Full of high quality values and attitude and it is so right. I like the way you have taken a rather superficial poll and turned it into something much more meaningful.
There is a lot of pleasure is serving and helping. It actually makes life worth living. It gives purpose. Giving is receiving in fact. The natural instinct of people appears to be selfishness. Self-interest. This leads to dissatisfaction ultimately, “at the end of the day” to use a common phrase.
I have always said that it is best to adopt the most needy and vulnerable cat, the disabled cat, the “ugly cat”. People tend to do the opposite but if people could let go of their preconceptions they would find a hell of a lot of joy in becoming a friend and caretaker of a cat who they saved and who needs them. There lies true love and joy.
I meant ” performing” acts of service. Thinking about it, that service primarily consists of feeding others, not that other kindnesses we do aren’t important. With Monty it’s all about his little belly– keeping it full, putting the right things in it. It bothers me more thinking he might be hungry than if I am hungry myself.
I was ravenous the whole day that Jeff and I worked on the fireworks show for Elkhart Lake. We put in a 22 hour day including travel time. About 14 of those hours were spent in physical labor, some of it quite intense. You can’t eat enough in a situation like that, you’re burning so many calories, plus we had little time to eat anything.
But my thoughts were on Monty. Jeff’s parents are staying with us so they fed him. I was wondering, did they feed him enough? Or did they give him too much at a time so that he scarfed and barfed? Was Monty getting enough total to eat? Did they understand that he eats MANY small meals, not just that it has to be a small amount at a time? Was stress from us being gone causing him to not eat enough or drink enough? Thinking about Monty’s belly trumped any concern over my own hunger, which was a constant all day. How did filling the belly of a small cat become so important to me? But it’s wonderful that it is.