litter boxes

When I met my spouse she was (what I consider to be) a "freaky cat lady".

She had a lot of cats. A LOT.

I am allergic to cats and I was purely a dog person. I was unfamiliar with the habits of cats, and with her cats in particular. I had never seen a hairball, heard a cat coughing up a hairball, been exposed to the treat of a cat bringing home a live, or half dead mouse. I had not had the pleasure of having my clothing dragged out of laundry baskets and deposited all over the house. I was completely unaware that a house cat, if treated well, could live long into it's teenage years or even longer.

My introduction into the lives of the cats was not an easy one. In fact it has been fraught with problems. The first time I heard a cat coughing up a hairball I was completely captivated. What was that sound? My SU informed me that it wasn't anything I would enjoy watching, but I needed to see what all the fuss was about. She was right. She knew of my weak constitution and we almost had to clean up cat hairball and human vomit. The sight of it made me gag. I have learned to remove myself from any situation when "hairball sound" starts.

Sharing the bed - with the cats - took a lot of getting used to. They were not very happy that I was taking up THEIR spot. Angry cats are not nice cats.

I have now lived with these cats for a long time. We have come to an understanding. They get their way. They sleep where where want. They drag my clothes from the laundry basket and deposit it all over the house. They bring me dead and half dead mice. And to tell you the truth, sometimes I don't completely hate them.

What I DO hate is kitty litter. I hate it with a passion. I hate it more than anything I hate in this world. I hate the smell of it, the texture of it, and most of all, I hate the weight of it. I hate the 100 pound boxes it comes in at Costco. I hate the 200 pounds boxes of used litter I have to cart up the stairs and out to the truck and to the dump. I hate the litter more than I love the cats. I cannot wait for the day in my life when kitty litter is no more.

I think there should be a lottery for cat owners - like the 1000 dollars a week for the rest of your life, there should be a ticket that would exempt you from cleaning litter for the rest of your life. I would seriously buy those tickets.