Opinion
Nice try, Marie Kondo! How to teach your kids to tidy up after themselves
by Katja Fischer
Things I wish I’d known before getting cats
3.3.2025
Translation: Katherine Martin
Pictures: Darina Schweizer
Cats are independent, low-maintenance animals. And yet… there are some aspects of being a cat owner I pictured differently. Or maybe even underestimated.
It’s now been a month since our apartment changed forever. With our cats Jasper and Joy around us, the place is homelier, livelier and a whole lot fluffier. Yep, this dynamic little duo of grey and white tabby and calico has really turned our lives upside down. And although I grew up having cats, some aspects of life with our new feline friends has been pretty surprising for me:
The hair I didn’t manage to hoover up is probably still stuck to my keyboard, sweaters and trousers. Now that I have cats with white fur, none of my black outfits look quite as classy as before. My lint roller, however, is my new best friend. I’ll soon be able to create a third cat out of the hair I’ve grabbed with it. Mind you, that would mean even more vacuuming!
2. No more lone, litter-free loo visits
I never would’ve thought I could go to the toilet with an entourage. These days, however, I’m escorted to the no-longer-restful restroom by two fluffy bodyguards.
Things get particularly exciting if I go to the loo during the night. Silently, like a ninja, I extract myself from the bed sheets and sneak my way over to the bathroom door. Unfortunately for me, two fluffy little nightwatchmen are slumbering on the sofa right in front of it. And since the toilet’s strategically located next to their command centre (the kitchen), they interpret my scurrying past as the starting signal for a food revolt.
By the way, the smell of fresh cat poo almost knocked me out the first time I smelled it. As did the slippery cat litter balls that managed to get under my slippers. Thank goodness for decent ventilation, cat litter bins and cat litter mats.
3. The kitchen’s a hotbed of activity
The kitchen door creaking in a very specific way makes our cats leap into the air as if a bomb’s gone off. For them, that creak can mean only one thing: dinner time! To my astonishment, they even react that way when I’m grabbing a glass of water, making tea, cooking, putting away the shopping or cleaning. In other words, always.
5. Toys and sleeping spots are always in flux
Speaking of play, indoor cats need entertainment. Fortunately, I work for Galaxus, a shop selling over 2,700 cat toys. I thought if I just picked out a few, they’d keep Jasper and Joy occupied all day.
Turns out, it’s not that simple. Balls, feathers, mice and the like only whet their appetite temporarily. Once you’ve had the toys any length of time, the cats will at best shoot them a weary look – or ignore them completely.
All this aside, the thing that surprised me most about becoming a cat parent again was how quickly these two furballs scored a place in my heart. I can’t imagine life without them – and that makes every grain of litter scattered on the floor irrelevant.
In case you missed it, here’s the story of how I become a cat mum:
Darina Schweizer
Senior Editor
Darina.Schweizer@digitecgalaxus.chI love anything with four legs or roots - especially my shelter cats Jasper and Joy and my collection of succulents. My favourite things to do are stalking around with police dogs and cat coiffeurs on reportages or letting sensitive stories flourish in garden brockis and Japanese gardens.
Opinion
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