Do Pets Fair Better in a Spotless Home?
December 21st 2008 21:00
Photo by Gothick. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
My ex-neighbour was a clean freak. Her flat was simply pristine; not a single thing was out of place.
When she was thinking of letting me have her cats should she die before they did, she kept insisting it was on the condition that they live in an equally pristine environment. The trouble was, like many people, my place is cluttered.
I stress cluttered, not dirty. I also want to stress that although my place is cluttered, my no means am I a hoarder; I can easily move around in my flat with no problems.
My argument was as long as a place wasn’t dirty, pets wouldn’t care that much about tidiness. In fact, they would probably enjoy the clutter. Just think of how many things they can play with, the number of places for them to hide! And what was a bit of clutter compared to the knowledge that her cats would be going to a loving home with someone they already liked and trusted?
My old neighbour wouldn’t budge.
In the end, she was happy for my sister to take them as my sister is also a neat and tidy person. My ex-neighbour said her cats were used to being spoiled and must continually be treated so.
But this begs the question: do animals fair better in a spotless environment? Wouldn’t being cherished and looked after properly be more important?
Can cleanliness be taken too far? Just think about it: there are dozens of chemicals in household cleaning products. Somehow, I doubt they would be animal-friendly. I shudder from just thinking about a cat licking its paws after stepping on a bathroom floor that has just been cleaned with ordinary household chemicals. It can’t be any good for it.
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Quirky Folk
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