I've never lived with a cat before this week. I'm more of a dog person. And then I really only like tiny dogs. But Amanda's got her cat Tootles that she's brought into the new place. I thought it would be fine, but I didn't realize how much it would stress me out more than a dog.
I didn't realize how much time cats spend on counter tops. And oh Heavens do they shed!! Ugh. Tootles hopped up on my lap the other day, and I pet her, and it was a cute moment. When she got down five minutes later, I had enough fur on my pants to make a kitty wig!
I may not have to pay for her food and kitty litter, but I'm paying in terms of cleaning supplies. I'm going to have to buy lint rollers for myself, but it's the counter tops that are gross. There is cat hair all over the kitchen whenever she jumps on the counter. So every time I want to cook, I have to wipe down the counter. She used to go on my bathroom counter, but now I just close the door all the time. I still can't seem to get all the cat hair out of there.
The worst part is that Amanda encourages Tootles to drink from the kitchen faucet because -- or so Amanda says -- Tootles is used to drinking from the sink and won't drink out of her water bowl.
So the cat's tongue touches the faucet where the water comes out.
Tootles licks her butt. Tootles licks the moisture off the end of the faucet. So if you drink the tap water, it's like licking the cat's butt.
Needless to say, every time I want to make a pot of coffee or anything with the tap water, I take a Lysol wipe and scrub the faucet. Because that is just too gross to me.
When I approached Amanda about it, she says I'm being a germaphobe and I should just ignore it. But frankly, I rather avoid cat spit and cat hair in my food. If that makes me like Monk, then so be it.
I would like Amanda to stop encouraging Tootles to drink from the sink and have the cat get used to drinking from her bowl again, but since that might not happen, I need to keep buying more Lysol than I normally would. Even then, she will still jump on the counter tops, and I'm cleaning down the counter tops more than I would normally, and I'll Swiffer the floors more than I would normally.
But while I was cleaning on Sunday, I express out loud that I was having trouble with the vacuum cleaner. Amanda said she hasn't used a vacuum in years, so she jokes that she's not one to help me. And then she throws this line out...
I'll just get a maid to come here once a month.
...WHAT? We are two girls living alone. How can she dare suggest that we should waste money on a maid?? I guess cause that's what she is used to? I think her dad has a cleaning person. I got upset that she would consider that as an option. Just get out the broom and Windex once a week -- it's not that hard!
But it got me thinking... if she suggested getting a maid in our first week here, it looks like for the time being I'll be doing most of the cleaning up around here. I'll have to talk to her about splitting the cost of cleaning supplies.