When you’ve been married for a while and are comfortably settled, inevitably you start longing to hear the pitter-patter of little feet. So naturally you think about getting a cat.
I’ve always been allergic to cats, but not severely so—as long as I wash my hands regularly and the the cat doesn’t, like, lick my face, I’m in pretty good shape. Years ago I had a cat, though, that apparently intuited my level of sensitivity to dander and out of pure spite took to sleeping on my pillow with me. Bad cat.
Anyway, Morgen and I have so far had an imaginary cat, which was until today the only kind our landlady allowed. After considerable pleading, sweet-talking, and solemn promises of diligent carpet care, we finally got a phone call today saying it would be OK if we got a real cat after all. This is exciting, because in my opinion, the occasional sneeze or sniffle far outweighs the benefits of cat ownership, which include distracting you from getting work done, supporting your local pet shop, and keeping your home free of imaginary mice.
But more importantly, owning a cat will give me the only possible excuse to buy a gadget I’ve always wanted: the LitterMaid electronic self-cleaning litterbox. Oooh, and maybe one of those robot vacuums to pick up all the hairs, as well as tease play with the cat when we’re away. Just thinking about the home-automation possibilities fills me with joy.
So in the near future we’ll make a trek to the local shelter or SPCA to have a look at some kittens and then, perhaps, a little gadget spree on eBay.
