jadecat | Sep. 15th, 2004

Welp, this is the okay part: I looked at my MBTI stuff when I got home, and it turns out I'm an INFP or an INTP(though I originally tested E, I think that has changed.) Back when I took the test my preference for F/T was 1 towards F. So... yeah, pretty much have no preference for F or T and both 'definitions' fit my fairly well.

On to today's rant! This is something I will be discussing with the housemates as soon as possible (which may or may not be tonight given that I'm heading up to Lansing and I don't know if they will all be awake/home when I get there).

(Edit: I wrote the below out to get ride of some of the bile so that when I *do* talk to the roomie's I can be much more civil... at least on the onset)

Picture if you will waking up in the morning and aside from the alarm clock the first sound you hear is a hungry cat meyowling to be fed. Now, picture how startled and alarmed you may feel to NOT hear that sound. The last time the Sasha monster failed to greet me in the morning was the time I accidentally poisoned her (tried a 'detangler' spray on her fur... she no like). With that incident in mind, when the monster *doesn't* make a peep, well I worry.

I get up, nope, she's not in my room, look in the hall, nope, not there. Look at roomie's closed door (she has been known to get stuck in there) but no grey paw is sticking out of the bottom, and when I softly call her name I get no response. She's an extremely vocal cat- my trouble is in getting her to be quiet, so if she were in the roomie's room, she'd let me know.

This makes me a VERY unhappy Anne. I go downstairs, okay DK's sis is staying with us, maybe Sasha accidentally got shut up downstairs. Open door to basement, call Sasha's name. Hear meyowl in response... but not from the basement, oh no. This is coming from the sunporch. Head out that way. The sunporch is glass on three sides, each side having sliding glass doors and screens. All the glass doors had been opened and the screens latched shut. Directly opposite the entrance to the house I see Sasha, meyowling from outside the screen.

OUTSIDE!! Sasha isn't supposed to go outside. She's NOT an outside cat. So WHY did I find her outside? When ALL the screen doors were latched shut? (not merely shut, oh no, see DK's german shepherd Max has figured out that he can nose the screens open if they're not latched/locked.) so let me repeat:

MY CAT WAS OUTSIDE! AND! I have no idea how long she was out there! I went to bed at midnight, and she was there, I gave her dinner, so sometime between 12 am and 7 am she got *locked* outside the house. Okay... this upsets me- didja get a hint of that?

Sasha is not supposed to go outside, and as such I have not protected her against fleas/ticks/heartworm or gotten some of her vaccinations- this was an informed decision it's not just because I'm lazy. As an indoor only cat there are some vaccinations that she really doesn't need, and too many vaccinations can be problematic in cats. Plus, she's not a fighter, and I KNOW there are outside cats in the neighborhood, and skunks, etc., I don't want her trying to run from them and getting beat up, or trying to fight back and getting the snot beat out of her.

Now, as if that weren't enough another reason this upsets me so much is that this isn't the first time she's gotten out. This is the first time she's gotten out at night, before this she would escape during the day, but still! Now, I have mentioned to my housemates that I don't want her going outside, their response makes me feel as though I'm just getting brushed aside. It seems like my concerns are of no real importance, and 'these things happen.'

No, these things do not just 'happen.' Sure, she tries to escape, she's a cat and there's a reason they're linked to curiosity. However, there's this little thing called care. If you're at all careful she doesn't have much luck sneaking by. If you're careful she doesn't get locked out at night! But the housemates, specifically DK, don't seem to think her going out is anything they can do anything about.

So I get home from work the other day and the dogs greeted me- but no Sasha, again unusual. Remembering that Max can open the screen door I go out to the sunporch and sure enough there's a little grey cat running across the lawn to me. Okay, if you know your dog can open up the screen door is it REALLY too much trouble to latch is closed? If you know your housemate doesn't want her cat going outside and you know your dog can open up the screen doors, it is REALLY that much trouble to latch the damned door?

Call Sasha in and all DK has to say is "Max must have opened the door." Well duh, but could you maybe also let me know that you'll be more careful about making sure he CAN'T do that when I've said more than once that I don't want Sasha going out. (OH and when I pointed out the heartworm/flea/tick thing and how she wasn't protected DK's response was 'well you'd better change that if she's going to keep going outside.' NO! I don't want her going outside!)

I know Sasha really really want to explore this outside place, I understand that. However, I also know that just because she wants something doesn't mean she has to have it. Dogs love to ride in the back of open pick-ups, that doesn't make it a good idea.

I guess what it all boils down to is that I feel like my concerns and decisions regarding Sasha aren't getting respected. I've said on multiple occasions that Sasha is not to go outside, and I always get brushed off. There's always the caveat of 'she sneaks by.' I can't believe that it's so hard to simply pay attention, unless they're really saying that my cat has outsmarted them.

I have no idea how she got out last night, all I can figure is that either a roomie went out for a smoke break in the back yard and she snuck out without their noticing, or someone let Max out for one more pee and didn't notice, and that's all I can think of. But if they'd been looking around AT ALL how could they have missed seeing her? Sure she's a small grey cat, but she's not invisible. Is it really that hard to take a few precautions?

I don't think it's too much to ask. When someone knocks on the door and I answer it I also grab Max's collar so he doesn't go charging out to meet the person, and use my body to prevent Loki from doing the same. I take that precaution because I know if I don't that both dogs will charge the person and that person may accidentally get hurt (especially if they don't know the dogs and back up quickly falling off the porch steps). Right now I would love to just open the door and hell with the consequences because, these things just happen. (grr)

DK and BE aren't cat people, I know this and understand this. I don't ask them to change their minds, I ask them to respect me and my wishes regarding my cat. I appreciate the fact that the three of them look after her when I'm gone. But it's not like I haven't helped them with their pets (like back when we lived at the apartments and Max had tummy problems, I'd go over and take him for walks so he wouldn't go in the apartment).

The last part, as soon as I can I will be moving to Haslett to live with the Beau. He and I will be sharing a third floor apartment. Would it really be fair to the kitty to let her go outside and enjoy it- only to take her to a place where going outside isn't an option? Seems rather mean to me.

People have come and gone in my life in the last 7 years- but she's been there through it all. Through living with my sister, to living with the Evil One, to living with the Messy One, to living with Mighty ( :) ) to the house. And thinking about it, aside from my sister (and the rest of the family) there isn't a single person in my life now who was there when I got Sasha.

Is it too much to ask my housemates to excercise a modicum of care around her?