Poor Cats!

Originally posted on my private blog- posted to http://indikon-tonkinese.blogspot.com/ on 06/01/11

My home has damp issues, and when I moved here ten or so years ago, mould issues too. I painted the whole place with anti mould stuff several years ago, and that, combined with nice new UPVC windows replacing the rattly old aluminium frames, it's kept under control. Winter is, of course, the worst time, what with the clothes being dried indoors and so on.

It occurred to me a dehumidifier might help, so off I went and bought one, and since yesterday it has sucked several litres of water out of the air, and that's on a fairly damp setting of 70% humidity- 60% being more usual. Frightening, really, that the air inside is that damp.

Anyway, back to the cats. The point of this post is that despite deliberately choosing a low noise machine, so as not to freak out the cat population, mine are all terrified of the darn thing. I switch it on and the room empties within seconds.

I did, however, see Theo giving it a cautious sniff earlier... and Sofia decided that noise or not, she wanted to nap on my bed thank you, and so crept back in while the machine was whirring (yes, my cats are allowed on my bed... I have no shame) so I think it will be ok, given time, patience and regular use.

None of the cats have ever suffered with respiratory issues, but they don't like noise. I'm a pretty quiet person myself, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I am aware that my kittens will be going off to homes that will probably be noisier. So hopefully things like the whirr of the dehumidifier will accustom them to rather more noise.

And the same goes for the older cats. I can't see any of them ever coming to terms with the vacuum cleaner though...