Now that I’ve lived with cats for the past 12 years of my adult life, I don’t know how I ever lived without them. They add infinite amounts of love, happiness, playfulness, and comfort to my life.
Cats, of course, also come with their fair share of mischief and shenanigans, which can complicate some of the simplest everyday tasks.
#1 – Making the bed
Making my bed has become so challenging that I have resorted to coaxing my kitties out of the bedroom with treats, then shutting the door until I’m done. Otherwise, the 5 minute task would take an hour because my cats would suddenly want to do nothing more than burrow under the fitted sheet, pull on the edges until they pop off, get tangled in the top sheet, etc.
Image: generalising : Flickr
#2 – Tying your shoes
One of my cats is very, very interested in my shoelaces– but only when I’m directly in the act of putting on or taking off my shoes. I’ve learned to tack a few minutes onto my dressing routine to accommodate this silliness. It also taught me about what gets her excited, so I’ve added a few wiggly wand toys to our playtime.
Image: Lindsay Attaway : Flickr
#3 – Privately using the bathroom
Living with a cat is like living with a toddler in the way that you’ll never use the bathroom alone again. Even when I manage to shut the door before they catch up, they’ll be there on the other side sticking their cute little paws under the door and mewing.
Image: Jacob Davies : Flickr
#4 – Wearing black clothes
I still wear a lot of black clothes– that are forever covered in cat hair. I can get away with it because I work from home and I live in a hippy town where people are just happy that I’m wearing clothes at all. If you don’t have the advantage of people rarely caring what you look like, you may want to minimize the amount of black items in your wardrobe.
Image: Kristacher : Flickr
#5- Opening cans
My cats circle my legs every time I enter the kitchen, where their meals happen (even if we are hours away from either of their daily meal times). Even though they have access to dry kibble at all times, opening a can that doesn’t contain cat food is always met with very passionate chatters and protests from my cats who suddenly truly believe they may starve to death. The dramatic response triples if the can is a pop-top.
#6 – Sweeping
Sweeping has become another activity that I’ve started to only do once I’ve shut my cats into another room. If they aren’t attacking the broom or hopping onto it to go for a ride, they’re rolling around in the dirt pile.
Image: Russell Bernice : Flickr
#7 – Getting up once your cat has fallen asleep on you
This is one of the most quintessential parts of living with and loving a cat. Once one falls asleep on you, you’ll be there until she’s good and ready to move on her own.