Yep. I’ve lived too long without one, and I really feel that the place I’m living in, and the way things are in my life, etc, would need a cat to make them just right. Of course, there are a lot of things to think about before even looking for one (likely at the Humane Society).
I would have to clear it with my housemates. My SO is fine with it, and wants a cat too (eventually -this might be delayed until later this summer, or even during the school year sometime), but we don’t know about my other housemate. OTOH, he’s very rarely here, and I think it would take an allergy or other serious thing like that for him to be bothered by the presence of a cat around here. He comes by a couple times a week, usually during the day, but the rest of the time he’s at his girlfriends, and I myself haven’t even seen him AT ALL in over two weeks. So, basically, I don’t think that would be a problem, but we do want to clear it with him.
Next, the landlords. The lease says no pets, but half the building has cats and dogs, and the only issue that seems to ever come up is with the little yappy dogs that annoy everyone 24/7. But cats don’t yap. I have it on pretty good authority that there is no LEGAL basis for resitricting pets (although I will find out for sure) and obviously they don’t seem to mind at all ( one family down the hall has two BIG dogs), but we want to clear it with them, and get it in writing, because my aunt once had a vindictive landlord who forced her to go to court over pets that he had previously agreed to allow in the apartment (this was in Quebec, where the laws might be different).
The other main thing we need to consider, and the reason why I’m posting, really, is what to do when we travel home for breaks and Christmas? I don’t know that I can rely on anyone to come by and feed the cat (although the housemate likely would if we asked), so we have to decide if we can afford shelter, or to travel with it (it will be an indoor cat, which does make things a little easier in that respect).
Long weekends aren’t a problem. I know cats are independent enough to take care of themselves for 3 days, assuming enough food and water are provided for them. But what about a fuill week? Is that too much, even with plenty of water and food? Would the water get too stagnant too quickly? Basically, I want to know what might be the “maximum” amount of time an indoor cat can go without someone having to come by and change the food/water?
If we can supply enough for a week, and its not a big problem for the cat, then the only worry we have is during Christmas, where we are gone for 3 weeks (approximately). THEN we have to consider travelling with it, or finding a place to stay, or, hopefully, getting the housemate to come by once or twice a week (his family is only about 30 mins away by car, his GF is 10 by bike) when we are gone.
What do other Dopers do for times like this? We are students, and so financially, although we can afford vet bills/food, thats really probably all we can afford - meaning that paying to keep a pet at a “pet motel” isn’t likely to fit into our budget. this is an issue thats likely only to occur a couple of times a year - March break, Christmas, and a week or so in the summer when we go home. Otherwise, its all long weekends -3-4 days at most, where I feel its not a big problem to leave the cat.
And please, if all you’re planning on doing is rant about people leaving pets alone, then don’t bother posting. I want to have real suggestions, not read comments about how cruel I am to a hypothetical pet (I read way too many pet-realted threads where stuff like this happens, so I just want to prevent that, if possible).
Thanks for any advice you can give!