The Responsibilities of Being Owned by Cats

By Jo Singer

In my opinion being chosen by cats to be of service to them is a great honor. Since not everyone meets the stringent requirements necessary to obtain this lofty position, we who are happily employed by kitties are indeed fortunate. No matter when our tasks at times become arduous, we must always remember to focus on the benefits we derive that far outweigh the drudgery that is included in our job description. After all we were blessed the moment we were hired by our remarkable felines, and put on the payroll as their loyal and devoted kitty staff that our cats considered us to be.

While among my friends it’s common knowledge that I love my job; and many folks will agree that I do it well -however I must confess that there are times when I get so exasperated with petty things, that I have been known to throw my hands up into the air in sheer exasperation.

For example: With New Year’s Eve just around the corner, those celebrating are getting ready to party hearty. And since we are expecting a few close friends to come over to the house to help us ring in 2014; in preparation for the festivities I thought it would be wise to do a little “winter cleaning” to ensure our place was spiffy enough for company.

But the other day I had a total melt-down when I ran across the huge mounds of light-colored cat hair that was seemingly “growing” out of our dark brown sofa. My poor head was aching just thinking of ways that I could begin getting rid of the mess. It was indeed fortunate that Bonny, my dear housekeeper, friend and kitty-sitter was there helping me to get our home in shape.

Bonny’s first strategy was pulling out her special vacuum cleaner attachment designed to clean fabric. Naturally upon hearing its sounds the cats scattered in all directions leaving us with even more of an abundance of freshly shed cat hair with which to contend. While this final blow left Bonny chuckling- it left me dissolving into tears of frustration. However, the attachment seemed to be working its wonders until Bonny turned it off. But when I checked it out, much to my dismay the sofa was once again covered in cat hair.

Changing our battle plans- I ran into the bedroom and grabbed my husband Marty’s lint and hair removing tool, and started running it over the sofa; peeling the cat hair filled strands of the sticky paper off as quickly as possible. But after several attempts to get that furniture clean, it started to dawn on me that more hair was growing on the recalcitrant sofa.

Since nothing we tried so far was working, as a last-ditch effort we started rolling moistened paper towels all over the sofa; assuming that it would do the job to magnetically grab up the fractious fur; but to no avail. We finally had to surrender and bow to the fact that our dark brown corduroy-textured sofa attracts cat hair like moths to a flame.

But this experience taught me a lesson which will help make me a far better and more compassionate kitty servant. To preserve my sanity and make my job easier, my Mew Year’s resolution is to never purchase furniture (or for that matter carpeting) that doesn’t match our cats’ colored fur. I will forever be spared the sight of a cat-hair growing sofa ever again.

What are some of your “pet” peeves in being a kitty servant? Share them in a comment.

Jo