aruan | The cat people on my friendslist might want to skip this.

Current Mood: unhappy

The cat people on my friendslist might want to skip this.

I am a dog person.

My family has had dogs for as long as I can remember. I love their slobber and being licked with their big, soft tongues. I love scratching behind their floppy, curious ears and their unabashed appreciation for it; it makes me happy to see errant pawprints in the mud or on the carpet and sometimes both, but I don't mind cleaning them up at all. I love their affectionate bounding, their barks and unbridled enthusiasm, their blind loyalty.

I am not a cat person.

I hate the way they make the places they live smell (not to mention my hatred of cat litter and cat food smells in general.) I hate their unpredictability, their holier than thou divatudes, their utter aloofness and disregard, their mewling and whining and scratching and sharp little claws that rip and tear and hurt. I hate their hair that gets everywhere and doesn't come off even with industrial-strength vacuums and is fine enough to be inhaled and sticks to the back of my throat.

My new roommate has a cat.

Kitten, actually. Don't get me wrong, I do feel a bit guilty about the situation - it's a terribly cute kitten. But it smells. And has been peeing in my room. And it smells. And it's hair is everywhere, and it was rubbing up against me last night and all I could do was call Miranda in a panicked tizzy and beg to know how I could make it stop and go away. It seems it's recognized that I bear it no love and has begun being spiteful. I am, however, much larger, and have university housing policy on my side - I am not afraid to exercise either.

Did I mention it smells? (I have a very sensitive nose, and it's in fact one of the first things I notice about any new place or person and make more of a judgment based on that than anything else.) It's just cat smell right now, nothing terribly offensive, but oh my god, getitoutofmyhomeIdon'twantithere. I can't stand it and it's in my room and getting into everything and I'm already feeling the back of my throat itch and just...

Sigh.

I feel uncomfortable in my own home. My home. I love this room. I've lived here two years now, and all of a sudden this thing barges in and wants to claim it as its own. Fuck that, yo. *goes to track down RA for the fourth time today*

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm with you 100%.

Not that I have never lived with a cat (i Have), or never would again (i might). It;s the fact that this is YOUR space and you should have had some say in this.

Go get 'em.

My best friend actually has a cat, and we have a mostly understood truce/avoidance policy. I don't mind staying with people who have cats in general, I just couldn't do it for any length of time. But mostly, it's the fact that I don't like the way it smells no matter how inoffensive, and I don't want it in my space. Just, out. Shoo. And it keeps coming back. And it's just such a sucktastic situation because I don't want to start off wrong with the roomie, but this won't work. Even if she keeps it to her side. Just, no.

no easy answers babe. are you in a dorm? cause cats should be outlawed in dorms anyway...

They are in fact against housing policy. Which will be my recourse as soon as my RA decides to materialize. Though I told her before I left that the new roommate said she was bringing a cat and to take care of it when she moved in by letting her know the policy, but apparently that didn't happen. Most irresponsible, absentee RA ever. I've spoken to the front desk people, too, but the best they did was leave a message for my hall director, who will get back to me who knows when. *seethes* Seriously, if it's not out one way or another by the end of the week, I'm throwing down, as much as I hate conflict.

I'm here as back up if you need. I'm not very menacing to look at, but I can fire off a mean email. lol

I didn't realize how much I disliked cats until my roommate got one. The smell is the worst, and it's desroyed all of my furniture and my blinds.

And that's the other thing I'm afraid of. Mostly it's the cat hair getting everywhere, but I've found it going through my things and peeing everywhere and in my open suitcase and no. Just, no.

Yeah, I didn't realize how much I disliked them either until now. It was a really visceral reaction I had last night. Good thing Miranda was there to calm me down, but I'm just not dealing well here at all. My space. Mine. I feel a bit juvenile for that, but no. I don't want things I don't want in my space, and the way I see it, I shouldn't have to, and maybe that makes me juvenile too, but it seems I've just had my own room for too long.

Her cat isn't bad for the hair thing, and I honestly don't think he'd really stink if she cleaned out the litter box more than once a week.

The scratching though...that's all him.

I really hope you get this resolved soon. It's my own fault because I (reluctantly) agreed to her getting a cat. However, no one should be allowed to spring an animal on a roommate without an indepth discussion first. I definitely do not think you're being juvenile at all. You have every right to be upset. *hugs*

Ew, I don't blame you. It's RARE that a home with a cat doesn't stink to high hell. I think the only places I can think of that don't smell are my friend Amy's apartment and my aunt's house. Other than that, I have NEVER been in a cat home that didn't stink.

Get rid of it!!!!

I've tried, believe me. It wasn't even supposed to be here in the first place - my RA was supposed to talk to her when she moved in before winter break. Surprise, my sucktastic RA did not, and I came home last night to find it sitting in the middle of her floor. And then it came in and just got all over mine in every way and just, no. Puppies though. Oh, puppies! Nothing like the smell of puppies. If it were a dog, I'd be down at Petsmart doting on it like it was my own as we speak. This, however, will not last for long.

Gah, that's horrible. You might think I'm a cat person because I *own* two of them but...I'm really a dog person. Cats are way more maintenance than people think. And, yes, there's that whole smell thing with the hair, the food and the litter. Your roommate should've thought first before getting a kitten. Did she even ask you before bringing it in?

Talk to the RA. People really shouldn't have pets that fricking pee in the dorms.

I have no idea where she moved in here from, if she had her own apartment, but either way the kitten is very young and she knew it's against policy, it's discussed at length in orientation.

She didn't ask me, per se - she said, I have a cat, I'm bringing it unless you're allergic. I kind of stammered and talked to my RA afterward. I just don't want conflict - she's so nice, and we do have to live together to some extent, so the less strife the better. But I had no idea I'd have such a strong reaction until I walked in last night. Definitely not a workable situation.

And seriously! She could've litter trained it over the break! Honestly, that was the last straw.

I adore my cats and tolerate other people's clean, non-slobbery dogs. (Actually, I often think other people's dogs are adorable--I just don't want to touch them.)

I could defend cats for a while--cats shouldn't smell bad, not if they're healthy and well-cared-for, and ditto for peeing on things--but that's not the point. The point is, you shouldn't have to live with a cat if you don't want to, particularly if there are housing rules banning them. I'm sorry your new roomie is so irresponsible, and I hope you get things settled soon.

Right, she should've had the kitten litter trained over the break and keep it clean enough not to smell (her friends who have come by have commented that the place smells, too). My best friend's cat doesn't smell at all. And it's not a bad smell per se, I just really really don't like it. I have friends who don't like the smell of dogs - it's entirely subjective.

I honestly didn't think I'd have this big of a problem with it, but my reaction last night was completely from the gut and very visceral - I may have been a bit loud and definitely irrational on the phone, at 12:15 no less for which I do owe Miranda an apology. I just really don't want conflict with her, but this arrangement isn't going to work.

I'd be pretty visceral if someone's new pet was peeing all over my stuff, too. No argument there. And, again--whether cats are intrinsically good or not is completely irrelevant. You don't like 'em, you shouldn't have to live with 'em. Plain and simple.

totally agree with you on the Dog thing. I've got a cat, but i'd love to have my dog back. long story but he's just no longer here with me.

I know what you mean about the smell though, and I thought i'd offer a suggestion or two that might help until you can find another solution to the cat. One, cats HATE citrus scents. Its found if you clean things with those scents they won't go anywhere near it. I used to clean my kithen cabinets with it and they never got up on my cabinets. Two, Try Febreez. It works to help take the smell out of things. And if you go to any Dollar General or store like that you can get it really cheap. Safe to use on anything too. I used to spray some of it in the litter box (one or two squirts) and it helped with that smell too.

Hope it gets better!!!!

Problem is, I mostly hate citrus scents, too. And the bottom line is, I shouldn't have to change the way I live to accomodate something that is asserting itself into my space. If it didn't affect me at all, what do I care? But it is and that sucks and I shouldn't have to deal with it. Thanks for the tips though, I'll grab some Febreeze at Publix tonight, but definitely put in a housing request to have my carpets cleaned.

Have you told the roomie yourself that she needs to get rid of the cat? Because you should probably do that if the RA is not being helpful. Give her a date that the cat MUST be out by. Also, at this point I think I would escalate and go to the school administration. There's not a lot that the RA can do to actually force her to leave or get rid of the cat.

I haven't confronted her, no, but that's because I have irrational confrontation fear issues and mostly hoped the RA could deal with it before I got here so we wouldn't be starting off with conflict between us - it would be a matter of housing policy. But it's looking like it's on me - my RA has a long-standing track record of being nonresponsive to requests and never being in her room.

And I did go down to our commons - the woman there left a message for my hall director to call me, but when I asked when that would happen, she said they're grad students so who knows when. Basically, if I can't get someone in administration to take care of this by tomorrow afternoon at the latest, I'm going to suck it up and do it myself.

Having a cat in the dorms is totally against university policy - I should only have had to breathe a word of this to her and it shouldn't have even happened, which is exactly what I did before leaving for break. She was just neglectful when she checked her in, if she even did that herself - I know my old roommate had to find another RA in another building to check her out. *rolls eyes*

Off topic - I knew you were going to icon that quote when I first saw it. *g* It was a cool little moment of honesty on his part, and at least a little apropos for us all.

We had a cat once and my house reaked. It was horrible. I completely understand where you're coming from.

Talk to your roomate, but if that doesn't fix it, then definately tell your RA and get the thing out of there.

I just have a problem with the smell of cats in general, so to have the litterbox and carrying case and its bedding and food and all of it in this small space (less than 10x10 on her side) is just escalating everything. There's just no feasible way to keep it clean enough to not smell at least somewhat. She should've seen that when she moved in.

*sigh* I have irrational people-confrontation issues and would've preferred my RA deal with the situation before I even got back, but should've known better given her track record. If I don't get hold of someone before the end of today, I'll definitely do that. I just really don't want to start things off with conflict, you know?

Word, man. I hate cats. Luckily, I'm allergic, so I have a built in excuse for all roommates. Dogs rule, though.

I totally understand the not wanting confrontation bit too. Perhaps you could lie and say you didn't realize you were allergic until she brought the cat in. Start sneezing a lot. *g*

How I have never noticed that icon before, I'll never know. But Lance! And the puppy! Lance and his dogs and his dragging them everywhere make me so happy.

I should've thought of the allergy thing when she first called, but at that point I was just out of my mind with stress of finals and the upcoming roadtripping.

And the cat hair is actually getting to me - I haven't taken a deep breath in here since I arrived. But hopefully, now that I've gone through about half the RAs and hall directors of my area, things will get settled.

Heh! You crack me up.

Oh... that just totally sucks!!! I hope it works out and the kitty goes away very soon. After reading your post, I'm so glad the little kitten that I seriously considered keeping a few months back hated dogs. My dogs come first.

...you know what's weird? I have a friend who has 7 cats (yes 7), and not one of them bothers me and you can't even tell that one cat lives there. I'm sensitive to cat smells too-- I am allergic-- and I can spend a few hours at her house and not be affected at all. Eek, end of ramble.

Thanks, we seem to have come to an understanding, or so I'm lead to believe. I wasn't actually here when my RA came by, so I don't know exactly what happened, but here's hopin'.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The cat people on my friendslist might want to skip this.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject