Hi, I’m Dr. Karyn! Read my introduction to learn more about me and meet my five hilarious cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazzles.

Check out Part 1: Dogs Don’t Take Days Off at Dogster.com.

This week, I have decided to have a bit of a moan, and talk to you about how life with five cats and five dogs isn’t always amusing stories and funny anecdotes. It is also a lot of work. I’m not looking for sympathy, and I do love sharing my home with so many pets, but I also don’t want to ignore the harsh realities of living with animals, particularly, a lot of animals.

Some people have completely unrealistic expectations of living with pets, and even go to cruel extremes like de-clawing their cats to keep their furniture looking brand new.

I have a couple of go-to phrases I like to trot out when talking to people about having pets (and I believe they also apply to having children!):

• An immaculate house or pets: pick one (you can’t have both).
• If you don’t feel a little bit mean some of the time, you’re going to regret it later
  • This one is particularly relevant to puppy training!

We do our best to keep our home clean and presentable; choosing furniture that won’t easily show the effects of cat claws or absorb any doggy odors, investing in a couple of good quality vacuum cleaners, and we are currently in the process of replacing much of our carpet with hard flooring. Instead of fighting against the side-effects of pet ownership, we try to make choices and adjustments that make those side-effects less of a problem. But, some days it feels like a lot of work.

Having recently returned from a visit from my petless parents, I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed and resentful of the many time-consuming responsibilities that pet ownership involves, and I’m sure I’m not the only pet lover to have felt that way from time to time. This feeling of ennui has brought me to this week’s topic on the harsh realities of living with pets, of which there are enough to have two parts!

Things You Need To Know About Life With Cats

There are a lot of different choices and arrangements you can make that will help minimize the downsides to living with cats, but if you think that life with cats will be low maintenance and smooth sailing, it’s time for a reality check.

Hairballs and Vomiting Are Inevitable

Regular brushing, choosing the right food, and using supplements can really help reduce the amount of hairballs and associated vomiting you’ll find around the house, but unless you’re living with a hairless breed, you should accept that you will have the joy of dealing with the occasional feline upchuck. Just this morning I heard the telltale sound coming from inside my wardrobe and was too late to intercept.

Cat Litter Has a Life of Its Own

It sticks to paws and fur, gets thrown around, it even ends up in water bowls; cat litter always seems to spread itself around the home. Larger particles and litter mats can definitely help, but don’t be surprised to find bits of litter scattered about the place. When I find little particles of cat litter on my bedspread and nightstand, I just pray that it’s clean!

Cats Have Claws

And they will use them. Even if you provide scratching posts, cat trees, and feline furniture, there is a pretty good chance that your cat will flex those talons on your sofa, carpet, or clothing. Keeping their claws trimmed can help minimize the damage, but if you don’t think you can handle a claw mark here or there, cats might not be the pet for you.

Not only do our cats enjoy sharpening their claws on our carpets, they also maliciously seek to tear it up if they find themselves excluded from a room. If we need to shut them in my office, or lock them out of the bedroom, we know there’ll be a patch of carpet bearing the marks of their protest. Hence, we are gradually transitioning to hard floors!

You Will Have Cat Hair on EVERYTHING

One thing I find really frustrating is when my clothes come out of the washing machine with more hair than they went in with. Even when it was just me and Clutch, I was constantly in search of the ‘next big thing’ to combat pet hair on clothing, furniture, and carpets. Multiply that by ten and you can probably imagine how hairy our lives are! When I returned home from my trip away I was rather sad to find that a number of clothing items had been pulled from their hangers and used as comfy bedding in the bottom of my wardrobe.

There Is Always More Good Than Bad

You might be wondering why I have so many pets when I have so much to complain about, but it’s not all bad! Fortunately, the more negative aspects of living with pets are significantly outweighed by the positives, which is why my posts are usually of a more upbeat nature! How can I stay grumpy when I’ve got the likes of vacuum-loving Clutch, broken Fred, inconvenient Cyril, and water-addict Kodah to entertain me? There will be days when you look longingly at people without pets, with their scratch-free furniture and clean clothes, but if you’re like me, you’ll choose a hairy shirt over a pet-free home any day of the week.