As I write this there is a sleeping cat on my lap. After growing up with cats in our home I spent college and graduate school feline-free. When I married and set up a home in Manhattan cats (and kids) soon followed. Living in New York City can be stressful. It is soothing for me to watch my cat working hard at nothing but relaxing. Now I feel that a house without a cat is not a home.
My pro-feline sentiments are not shared by most home exchangers. Nothing -- not even smoking, which can be done outside -- limits one's home exchange prospects like pet ownership. I can't even count how many promising vacation offers have evaporated when the swappers' attention was drawn to the first paragraph of our home's description, where it clearly states that we have two cats.
This reluctance to swap with cat-owners persists despite the steps we have taken to make caring for our kitties as effortless as possible. They have the self-cleaning litter box, the circulating drinking fountain with a one-gallon reservoir, and the automatic feeder that dispenses the right amount of kibble each morning. "Cat care" consists of five minutes per week. Our cats never venture outside (they are too short to push the elevator button) so they are declawed. They are both gentle creatures who do fine around new people. Barring allergies it is hard to see how swappers could be put out by co-existing with the cats.
Still, lots of people don't even want an animal in the swap home. This is something to really consider if you hope to do frequent exchanges. Some animals can be boarded successfully. Others may require specialized feeding, gross cage cleaning, shed all over the house or have emotional needs. It is not fair to expect the exchangers to devote their vacation to pet care.
I have been contemplating adding a non-feline pet to our household. As a home exchanger I am considering the impact this may have on our vacation lifestyle. If one wants to keep swapping, this is not a decision to undertake casually. The pros and cons of various pets will be discussed in a column to follow.
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