Tardis, I had to laugh at your post because the behavior you describe is so very familiar. It's just par for the course if you're going to have cats, as any cat owner knows.
In spite of their trouble-making ways, I prefer cats to dogs. All pets come with certain undesirable qualities, certain difficulties. I think the reason why people prefer dogs to cats or vice versa has a lot to do with what people are willing to put up with and what they aren't willing to put up with. For example:
- Cats will wake you up at 4 a.m. demanding breakfast. Dogs need to be walked.
- If you have a cat, you have to clean the litterbox, but if you have a dog, you still have to pick up the poop from the back yard or when you take them on walks.
- Dogs stink. (Sorry, dog-lovers, but they do. They also have a sort of greasy, waxy coating on their fur--lanolin?--which gets off on your hands and makes them smell bad. I always feel the need to wash my hands after petting a dog.) Hence, dogs need regular baths--and more often than twice a year, in spite of what some dogs owners seem to believe. Cats, on the other hand, are fastidious about bathing themselves, have nice soft fur, and are virtually odor-free.
- Cats jump on counters, climb the furniture, knock things over, and sit on anything you're trying to read (or they want to sleep on your lap when you're too busy to sit down and give them one). Dogs seem to be unaware of the entire rear half of their bodies, constantly bumping into people, furniture, and knocking things off of low tables with their tails.
- Cats, if allowed in the bedroom, will take over the bed. They will also "help" you make the bed and fold laundry.
- They both shed, but I think dogs tend to be worse in that regard.
- Some dogs bark every time a person or car goes by the house, or when the doorbell rings, or when visitors come into the house. They may get over-excited and go ballistic, or they may jump up on people. Cats simply watch passers-by, and when you have visitors, they may hide from them or simply ignore them. (Occassionally they will bother to casually come over and be paid attention to.)
- Cats are regal, elegant, and graceful. Dogs are goofy and they drool.
- Cats are finicky, but less likely to beg for people food. Dogs will eat anything (including garbage, cat litter, shit, and vomit--oh, and cum-soaked tissues), and they want whatever you're having.
- Dogs are loyal, but they also need a lot of attention--to the extent that cat people generally find them annoyingly needy and clingy. Cats are more independent, but can still be very friendly and affectionate. Cats are also more soft and cuddly than dogs.
- Some dogs will destroy your house when you're gone too long (or at all). Some cats will do the same thing, but for entirely different reasons.
To some degree, both cats and dogs can be trained to behave, and I am a firm believer in training and disciplining pets. (You
can teach a cat to stay off the counters and not to scratch the furniture.) Unfortunately, many pet owners let their pets get away with anything, and seem to think that their atrocious behavior is "cute." Tardis, given how inconsiderate this woman was dumping her cats on you without asking you in advance, it comes as no surprise to me that her pets are not well-behaved.
Also, if you're a pet owner, you've got to adapt your home to make it as safe as possible for your pet and your possessions. So if you have cats, you learn that tables, shelves, bookcase, etc. essentially become a cat playground, and you avoid decorating with anything that can be knocked over, particularly anything delicate, breakable, or potentially dangerous.
and was almost sick, the smell was terrible.
