For most of my life, I have had a cat. The only times I haven’t are the 18 months I lived in England and the 21 months I have lived in the United States.
On a regular basis I think about how I could go about getting one, but there are two major obstacles to me getting a fuzzy feline.
- The cat litter box smell. When I had a cat, the cat was an outdoors one. From time to time, we would bring the cat (or cats) indoors for a while but afterwards we would always put them back outside, usually in the garage where they had their own cat house.
The problem is that with a cat, you need a place to put their litter box. And a cat’s litter box, no matter how small the cat, can produce a smell. Cats in the house permanently can produce an unpleasant odor. Back when I had a cat, it was no problem because the litter box was outdoors. The cats were smart enough so that if they were ever inside and wanted to go to the litter box, they would run to the door indicating they wanted to go outside.
My current apartment has no garage. There’s no place I can put the litter box somewhere so that it is hidden away in a corner somewhere. So, I cannot isolate any unpleasant smells. But apparently, there are mechanisms that can reduce the odor and neutralize it so that it isn’t noticeable. That just makes it a space issue; I might have to investigate that one but it is still a deal-breaker.
- Cats shed. My previous cat sheds a lot, even though I lived in a cold climate. Aren’t animals supposed to grow extra fur in the winter? Well, even though it was freezing cold in the winter my cat would still shed during the colder time of the year! What was she thinking?
Now, for a cat who only spends a little bit of time inside, I could handle it. For a cat to spend all of its time inside, I’m not so sure. I don’t know if I want to spend more time cleaning my place up. Although, it’d probably be good for me. My place isn’t messy nor has it ever been, but I go to a great deal of trouble to not mess it up too much so I don’t have to clean it up every few days.
Those are my current thoughts on the subject. On the plus side, I’d take my cat for walks down to the mailbox when I go to get my mail. I’d take her paws and put the key into the keyhole and then somehow manage to get her to turn it. I’d probably then have her help me sort it because I get a lot of spam in the mail. There’s a recycling box right there so now I save myself the time of bringing it back to my place.
Oh yes, I prefer female cats. I have had both, but I find that the male cats have a bit more of an attitude than the female ones.
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