- Feb 2, 2005
- 17,252
- 19
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Inspired by the Maine my excellent compatriot thread.
It gets lonely living alone, so I'm thinking about possibly getting a furry friend. A cat of some sort is at the top of my list as far as species for a couple of reasons. My perception of cats is that they are relatively low maintenance and usually safe to give free run of the house while you're away, provided you give them a scratching post to keep them from destroying furniture. Second, I am under the impression that they are easy to house train, as the desired behavior is already part of their instinctual makeup. If I am wrong on either of these points, I'd like to know.
Here's the problem: I leave every day for work at ~7:30 A.M. and I get home from the gym after 8:00 P.M. pretty much every day except weekends. Spending 12 hours unattended almost every single day seems a bit excessive no matter what kind of medium sized, warm blooded pet you have. With only 4 or so hours a day (8:00 P.M. to midnight) to devote to the animal, would I be able to successfully house train it? I couldn't let it starve all day while I'm at work to prevent it from doing it's business, but then how do I keep it from leaving smelly presents everywhere? It doesn't seem as though my influence during the period of time that I'm there would outweigh any habits it forms in the much greater time that I'm away.
That doesn't even address the moral issue presented by leaving the thing alone and without companionship for such a great period of time. Would the cat be able for form a true owner/pet bond with me if I'm such a fleeting presence in it's life? I'd certainly try to make up as much time as possible on weekends, but that's only 2 out of 7 days. I work half a day on Saturdays so I really only get one and a half days free, during which time I usually try to wrap up all the chores that build up during the week.
Honestly, I'm afraid to get a pet only to find that it will live a miserable life as a result of my schedule, yet I do like cats quite a bit. It would be nice to have another living thing roaming about the house I think. There seem to be many cat owners here, so I'm hoping someone with a similar schedule might be able to tell me how they worked it out so that everyone was happy.
It gets lonely living alone, so I'm thinking about possibly getting a furry friend. A cat of some sort is at the top of my list as far as species for a couple of reasons. My perception of cats is that they are relatively low maintenance and usually safe to give free run of the house while you're away, provided you give them a scratching post to keep them from destroying furniture. Second, I am under the impression that they are easy to house train, as the desired behavior is already part of their instinctual makeup. If I am wrong on either of these points, I'd like to know.
Here's the problem: I leave every day for work at ~7:30 A.M. and I get home from the gym after 8:00 P.M. pretty much every day except weekends. Spending 12 hours unattended almost every single day seems a bit excessive no matter what kind of medium sized, warm blooded pet you have. With only 4 or so hours a day (8:00 P.M. to midnight) to devote to the animal, would I be able to successfully house train it? I couldn't let it starve all day while I'm at work to prevent it from doing it's business, but then how do I keep it from leaving smelly presents everywhere? It doesn't seem as though my influence during the period of time that I'm there would outweigh any habits it forms in the much greater time that I'm away.
That doesn't even address the moral issue presented by leaving the thing alone and without companionship for such a great period of time. Would the cat be able for form a true owner/pet bond with me if I'm such a fleeting presence in it's life? I'd certainly try to make up as much time as possible on weekends, but that's only 2 out of 7 days. I work half a day on Saturdays so I really only get one and a half days free, during which time I usually try to wrap up all the chores that build up during the week.
Honestly, I'm afraid to get a pet only to find that it will live a miserable life as a result of my schedule, yet I do like cats quite a bit. It would be nice to have another living thing roaming about the house I think. There seem to be many cat owners here, so I'm hoping someone with a similar schedule might be able to tell me how they worked it out so that everyone was happy.
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