Poem: "Nature, Houses, and Living Beings"
May. 23rd, 2024 03:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the December 7, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from siliconshaman, rix_scaedu, ng_moonmoth, wyld_dandelyon, and see_also_friend. It also fills the "Give to Charity" square (both from the prompt) in my 12-1-21 card for the Winter Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored anonymously as a gift for siliconshaman. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.
"Nature, Houses, and Living Beings"
[Early 2015]
After he finished Patina Park,
Lloyd got more requests to build
other houses in the neighborhood.
The first came from Marilyn Goode,
a single mother with two older sons,
a younger daughter, and several dogs.
"I heard that you design houses and
that you have a special dog," said Marilyn.
"Well, it's more like Tangelo has us, but
yes, I'm an architect," Lloyd replied.
"I have some divorce money to spend,
and I need a house for four people
and four dogs," said Marilyn. "Hera
is super-smart and talks, sort of. She
saved us from my abusive ex-husband."
"I can design a house for people and
dogs together," Lloyd said. "What
kind of place do you have in mind?"
"Something a little bit boho but not
too cluttered," said Marilyn. "I've heard
this area is good for infill, and I spotted
a nice lot with a shack on it a few blocks
from here. I figure we can demolish
the shack and build a small house."
"A small house for four people and
four dogs?" Lloyd said, frowning.
"Well, plenty of common space and
a pet parlor, but the kids share a room
and are afraid to split up," Marilyn said.
"Okay then, let's explore some ideas,"
Lloyd said, taking out his tablet computer.
They decided that the pet parlor could be
an expanded laundry room with a dog bath,
a feeding station, and an island for storing
treats and toys. A washer and dryer
would be hidden behind cabinets.
The kitchen-dining room was done
in soft earth tones with space to put
dog beds under some furnishings.
The living room was part of the same
big open space and had similar colors.
A powder room could fit under the stairs;
Marilyn wanted to give it a doggy theme,
which was not Lloyd's responsibility.
The stairs he designed in wood,
but with carpet mats on the treads
to give the dogs better traction.
The landing included a study room
with three desks for the children.
The bedrooms didn't require
anything special, since Marilyn
planned to get a new triple-bunk
for the kids and a king bed with
a doggie sidecar for herself.
The construction went briskly
because the house was small.
Lloyd got to design the outside
however he liked because Marilyn
didn't care much about that, so he
kept it simple with a few boho touches
and plenty of windows for supervising
the outside yards from inside the house.
"It's perfect," Marilyn said when she saw
the finished house. Then she started crying.
"What's wrong?" Lloyd said as he hunted
for a kleenex or something for her.
"Everything has been so hard for
so long, I barely know how to handle
something going right," she said.
"Well, you've been taking care of
the kids and the dogs all this time,"
said Lloyd. "It's important to be
kind to yourself too. I think you
deserve a break after all that. I'll
round up some folks to help you
move into the new house."
That didn't take long, and
Marilyn made some friends
in the process, so Lloyd
called it a job well done.
[Late 2015]
No sooner did Lloyd finish
the house for Marilyn than
another client approached him.
Gerardo Martin wanted a house
for people and cats, rather than dogs.
He worked for Purr Little Things and
kept a lot of cats, recording videos
of them purring to post online.
He was also aromantic asexual,
and mentored younger queerfolk
who had gotten kicked out of
home or otherwise abused.
"I need a pretty big house,
and I found a perfect lot, but
I want to keep the old trees,"
Gerardo said. "Can you do that?"
"Possibly," said Lloyd. "It depends
on what kind of house you want
along with the lay of the lot."
Gerardo waved a hand. "I'm
not fussy about the shape of
the house as long as it fits and
has room for all of us," he said.
"But I want it designed for cats
as much as for humans inside."
He showed Lloyd the lot, which
currently had a ramshackle hulk
of a house on it, but a lovely yard.
"I can work with that," Lloyd said.
"Let's see what you want in a house."
"Well, the lot has a bit of a slope, so
I figure we can add a basement with
a couple of bedrooms, a bathroom,
a rec room, and a cat playroom,"
Gerardo said. "That adds space
without changing the footprint."
"Good idea," said Lloyd. "We
can make it two stories too."
"Yeah, I need a home office,"
said Gerardo. "We need
quiet rooms and noisy rooms."
"Put your office and maybe
a library upstairs," Lloyd said.
"You wanted a rec room and
a cat playroom in the basement."
"Yeah, I figure extroverts can go
down there," said Gerardo. "We
could put a bedroom or two on
each other of the other floors."
"You mentioned wanting features
for cats; what kind?" said Lloyd.
"Things for them to climb and
run around on," Gerardo said.
"Cat stairs, shelves, catwalks,
peek holes, tunnels, sisal posts."
"I'll sketch out some possibilities,"
said Lloyd. "Colors? Styles?"
"I like Hispanic themes, you know,
desert colors and jungle colors,"
said Gerardo. "The household art
is pretty eclectic stuff, though."
"Household art," Lloyd mused,
thinking of all the artists and
crafters in the neighborhood.
"Well, what if we turn the house
into a giant work of art? Make
the cat furnishing part of that.
I know plenty of creative folks."
Hispanic styled architecture
with warm stucco walls and
terra-cotta floors would make
a perfect backdrop for whatever
wild artwork people added to it.
"I love that idea," said Gerardo.
"When I was younger, my life really
went off the rails, and I was saved by --
well, a cat lady. I want to return the favor
by housing cats and younger queerfolk.
So it needs to be fun, beautiful, and
a good place for everyone to heal."
"That's a kind thought," said Lloyd,
adding those details to his notes.
"I'm sure I can design to support it.
Anything you need outdoors?"
"It's hard to balance help and
independence," said Gerardo.
"Maybe a catio? And a shower
outdoors, if we could have
a hot tub or swimming pool."
"Only if they're really tiny,"
said Lloyd. "You don't have
much room for water if you
want to save the landscaping."
"I don't want a big pool, we can't
afford either the construction or
the water," said Gerardo. "Just
enough to soak and splash in."
"That might work," said Lloyd.
"How many cats do you have?
How big a catio do you need?"
"Cats vary from one to two dozen,"
said Gerardo. "A catio the size
of a small shed should be plenty,
with the whole house to play in."
A calico at his feet, who had been
ignoring them, suddenly pinned
Lloyd with her glass-green gaze.
I am a shipcat, and we also have
a thumbcat, she said. He's sexy.
I plan to screw him on my next heat.
"Cats are, ah, very frank people,"
Gerardo said, blushing. "I don't
usually deal with sex stuff myself.
Since she's joining the conversation
now, this is Jenny Many Spots."
"That's all fine," Lloyd replied.
"Do you want to do any planting?
Either of you have preferences?"
"Well, the yard's already good,
that's one reason we picked it,"
said Gerardo. "What else?"
"We should attempt to bring
nature, houses, and living beings
together in a higher unity," Lloyd said.
"Fresh plantings help with that."
"Yeah, okay," said Gerardo. "I
though about a koi pond and
plants in the house, too."
Yes, fish! Jenny added.
"Not impossible," said Lloyd.
"Just tricky to make durable."
"Then let's do it," said Gerardo.
Lloyd called in all the neighbors
who did arts and crafts, explained
the project, and invited suggestions.
Soon he had plenty of sketches.
Catwalks ran just under the ceilings,
some straight and others gently curved,
reached by stairs or jumping shelves.
A green spiral ramp divided the office
from the loft, and there were sisal posts
that the cats could climb like trees.
The foyer had big pillars and
a koi pond with plants running
parallel to the staircase.
Cat bathrooms were
created in closets with
stacked litterboxes on
shelves, and cubbies
were made for feeding.
In one place the cats even
had their own private steps
to the second floor, wrapping
around a curved wall that was
painted to resemble a tree.
The house had plenty of rooms
for everyone, as Gerardo had
requested, from the basement
and main floor to the upper floor.
The landscaping really was gorgeous,
a jungle of maples and birches dotted
with a few other trees, and even
several types of hardy palms.
Once the former house had been
taken out, Lloyd mapped the new one
and then the outdoor living space.
There was just enough room for
a patio under a pergola, a tiny pool
with a hot tub and outdoor shower,
and a fenced catio with wire roof.
Plantings of dense ferns, vines,
and other understory species
helped tie the house to the land.
This is a nice house, said Jenny.
I will fill it with kittens. She chewed
on the ear of Tom Thumb, a gray cat
who wasn't telepathic but still used
his opposable thumbs to open doors.
"You've really outdone yourself,"
Gerardo said, watching as
his boys explored the house.
Currently he had two of them,
both gay and Asian, who seemed
delighted with all the features.
Thanh was a teenage musician;
Moku was a painter in his twenties.
Both of them gave it a thumbs up,
quickly followed by the tomcat.
It was good to see the union of
nature, houses, and living beings.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its character, location, and content notes appear separately.
siliconshaman, rix_scaedu, ng_moonmoth, wyld_dandelyon, and see_also_friend. It also fills the "Give to Charity" square (both from the prompt) in my 12-1-21 card for the Winter Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored anonymously as a gift for siliconshaman. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics."Nature, Houses, and Living Beings"
[Early 2015]
After he finished Patina Park,
Lloyd got more requests to build
other houses in the neighborhood.
The first came from Marilyn Goode,
a single mother with two older sons,
a younger daughter, and several dogs.
"I heard that you design houses and
that you have a special dog," said Marilyn.
"Well, it's more like Tangelo has us, but
yes, I'm an architect," Lloyd replied.
"I have some divorce money to spend,
and I need a house for four people
and four dogs," said Marilyn. "Hera
is super-smart and talks, sort of. She
saved us from my abusive ex-husband."
"I can design a house for people and
dogs together," Lloyd said. "What
kind of place do you have in mind?"
"Something a little bit boho but not
too cluttered," said Marilyn. "I've heard
this area is good for infill, and I spotted
a nice lot with a shack on it a few blocks
from here. I figure we can demolish
the shack and build a small house."
"A small house for four people and
four dogs?" Lloyd said, frowning.
"Well, plenty of common space and
a pet parlor, but the kids share a room
and are afraid to split up," Marilyn said.
"Okay then, let's explore some ideas,"
Lloyd said, taking out his tablet computer.
They decided that the pet parlor could be
an expanded laundry room with a dog bath,
a feeding station, and an island for storing
treats and toys. A washer and dryer
would be hidden behind cabinets.
The kitchen-dining room was done
in soft earth tones with space to put
dog beds under some furnishings.
The living room was part of the same
big open space and had similar colors.
A powder room could fit under the stairs;
Marilyn wanted to give it a doggy theme,
which was not Lloyd's responsibility.
The stairs he designed in wood,
but with carpet mats on the treads
to give the dogs better traction.
The landing included a study room
with three desks for the children.
The bedrooms didn't require
anything special, since Marilyn
planned to get a new triple-bunk
for the kids and a king bed with
a doggie sidecar for herself.
The construction went briskly
because the house was small.
Lloyd got to design the outside
however he liked because Marilyn
didn't care much about that, so he
kept it simple with a few boho touches
and plenty of windows for supervising
the outside yards from inside the house.
"It's perfect," Marilyn said when she saw
the finished house. Then she started crying.
"What's wrong?" Lloyd said as he hunted
for a kleenex or something for her.
"Everything has been so hard for
so long, I barely know how to handle
something going right," she said.
"Well, you've been taking care of
the kids and the dogs all this time,"
said Lloyd. "It's important to be
kind to yourself too. I think you
deserve a break after all that. I'll
round up some folks to help you
move into the new house."
That didn't take long, and
Marilyn made some friends
in the process, so Lloyd
called it a job well done.
[Late 2015]
No sooner did Lloyd finish
the house for Marilyn than
another client approached him.
Gerardo Martin wanted a house
for people and cats, rather than dogs.
He worked for Purr Little Things and
kept a lot of cats, recording videos
of them purring to post online.
He was also aromantic asexual,
and mentored younger queerfolk
who had gotten kicked out of
home or otherwise abused.
"I need a pretty big house,
and I found a perfect lot, but
I want to keep the old trees,"
Gerardo said. "Can you do that?"
"Possibly," said Lloyd. "It depends
on what kind of house you want
along with the lay of the lot."
Gerardo waved a hand. "I'm
not fussy about the shape of
the house as long as it fits and
has room for all of us," he said.
"But I want it designed for cats
as much as for humans inside."
He showed Lloyd the lot, which
currently had a ramshackle hulk
of a house on it, but a lovely yard.
"I can work with that," Lloyd said.
"Let's see what you want in a house."
"Well, the lot has a bit of a slope, so
I figure we can add a basement with
a couple of bedrooms, a bathroom,
a rec room, and a cat playroom,"
Gerardo said. "That adds space
without changing the footprint."
"Good idea," said Lloyd. "We
can make it two stories too."
"Yeah, I need a home office,"
said Gerardo. "We need
quiet rooms and noisy rooms."
"Put your office and maybe
a library upstairs," Lloyd said.
"You wanted a rec room and
a cat playroom in the basement."
"Yeah, I figure extroverts can go
down there," said Gerardo. "We
could put a bedroom or two on
each other of the other floors."
"You mentioned wanting features
for cats; what kind?" said Lloyd.
"Things for them to climb and
run around on," Gerardo said.
"Cat stairs, shelves, catwalks,
peek holes, tunnels, sisal posts."
"I'll sketch out some possibilities,"
said Lloyd. "Colors? Styles?"
"I like Hispanic themes, you know,
desert colors and jungle colors,"
said Gerardo. "The household art
is pretty eclectic stuff, though."
"Household art," Lloyd mused,
thinking of all the artists and
crafters in the neighborhood.
"Well, what if we turn the house
into a giant work of art? Make
the cat furnishing part of that.
I know plenty of creative folks."
Hispanic styled architecture
with warm stucco walls and
terra-cotta floors would make
a perfect backdrop for whatever
wild artwork people added to it.
"I love that idea," said Gerardo.
"When I was younger, my life really
went off the rails, and I was saved by --
well, a cat lady. I want to return the favor
by housing cats and younger queerfolk.
So it needs to be fun, beautiful, and
a good place for everyone to heal."
"That's a kind thought," said Lloyd,
adding those details to his notes.
"I'm sure I can design to support it.
Anything you need outdoors?"
"It's hard to balance help and
independence," said Gerardo.
"Maybe a catio? And a shower
outdoors, if we could have
a hot tub or swimming pool."
"Only if they're really tiny,"
said Lloyd. "You don't have
much room for water if you
want to save the landscaping."
"I don't want a big pool, we can't
afford either the construction or
the water," said Gerardo. "Just
enough to soak and splash in."
"That might work," said Lloyd.
"How many cats do you have?
How big a catio do you need?"
"Cats vary from one to two dozen,"
said Gerardo. "A catio the size
of a small shed should be plenty,
with the whole house to play in."
A calico at his feet, who had been
ignoring them, suddenly pinned
Lloyd with her glass-green gaze.
I am a shipcat, and we also have
a thumbcat, she said. He's sexy.
I plan to screw him on my next heat.
"Cats are, ah, very frank people,"
Gerardo said, blushing. "I don't
usually deal with sex stuff myself.
Since she's joining the conversation
now, this is Jenny Many Spots."
"That's all fine," Lloyd replied.
"Do you want to do any planting?
Either of you have preferences?"
"Well, the yard's already good,
that's one reason we picked it,"
said Gerardo. "What else?"
"We should attempt to bring
nature, houses, and living beings
together in a higher unity," Lloyd said.
"Fresh plantings help with that."
"Yeah, okay," said Gerardo. "I
though about a koi pond and
plants in the house, too."
Yes, fish! Jenny added.
"Not impossible," said Lloyd.
"Just tricky to make durable."
"Then let's do it," said Gerardo.
Lloyd called in all the neighbors
who did arts and crafts, explained
the project, and invited suggestions.
Soon he had plenty of sketches.
Catwalks ran just under the ceilings,
some straight and others gently curved,
reached by stairs or jumping shelves.
A green spiral ramp divided the office
from the loft, and there were sisal posts
that the cats could climb like trees.
The foyer had big pillars and
a koi pond with plants running
parallel to the staircase.
Cat bathrooms were
created in closets with
stacked litterboxes on
shelves, and cubbies
were made for feeding.
In one place the cats even
had their own private steps
to the second floor, wrapping
around a curved wall that was
painted to resemble a tree.
The house had plenty of rooms
for everyone, as Gerardo had
requested, from the basement
and main floor to the upper floor.
The landscaping really was gorgeous,
a jungle of maples and birches dotted
with a few other trees, and even
several types of hardy palms.
Once the former house had been
taken out, Lloyd mapped the new one
and then the outdoor living space.
There was just enough room for
a patio under a pergola, a tiny pool
with a hot tub and outdoor shower,
and a fenced catio with wire roof.
Plantings of dense ferns, vines,
and other understory species
helped tie the house to the land.
This is a nice house, said Jenny.
I will fill it with kittens. She chewed
on the ear of Tom Thumb, a gray cat
who wasn't telepathic but still used
his opposable thumbs to open doors.
"You've really outdone yourself,"
Gerardo said, watching as
his boys explored the house.
Currently he had two of them,
both gay and Asian, who seemed
delighted with all the features.
Thanh was a teenage musician;
Moku was a painter in his twenties.
Both of them gave it a thumbs up,
quickly followed by the tomcat.
It was good to see the union of
nature, houses, and living beings.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its character, location, and content notes appear separately.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-05-23 09:45 pm (UTC)If I had the money, that cat house is pretty much what I'd build... Why would you not design a family home that included all your family?
I agree
Date: 2024-05-23 09:51 pm (UTC)Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-23 10:09 pm (UTC)Depends upon the surface, obviously. Sisal is a bugger to clean, but you'd only really want that on climbing poles. Catwalks would need to be natural wood, maybe with a light texture like grooves or ridges on slope ramps. You don't want too smooth a surface, but equally you'd some texture for traction plus to wear their claws down a little. Something like cedar or oak that's oiled not varnished. A quick wipe with a soapy rag and some beeswax polish would be enough for most things. Heavy staining would require sanding..(cats unfortunately sick up on things, and stomach acid does a number on wood if you don't clean it soon enough)
Natural slate would also work quite well for walkways too, and it would have the benefit of warming up where it catches the sun, (passive solar heating!) but it would be expensive and odd shapes would have to be hand cut, and you'd need a minimum of 10mm thick 'tiles' embedded in walls in order to take the weight.
Frequency of cleaning would depend upon the number and types of cats, some cats shed more than others, they all leave muddy pawprints (although maybe not as much with a catio) So, as often as needed, and maybe more.
Hmm... I wonder if it would be hard to make a small edge following 'bot to clean up hairballs and general kruft along the walkways? or train one of the cats maybe..
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-23 11:51 pm (UTC)Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-23 11:52 pm (UTC)facepalms Yeah.. or that... that sounds much easier to make!!
Yeesh.. sometimes I really do overengineer things...
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 12:02 am (UTC)Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 12:05 am (UTC)Just a tad overkill, yes... although it would be kinda fun to make it look like a mouse-bot. But I have a weird sense of humour.
Although cats have enough fun with normal roombas anyway.
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 01:05 am (UTC)Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 03:58 am (UTC)A mousebot would be treated as a toy. You want something simple, quiet, and relatively slow-moving that would just creep along the catwalks and clean them once a day or so. Ideally, it should return to its dock and charge itself. You could install that toward the ceiling of a closet.
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 03:46 pm (UTC)Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-25 04:22 am (UTC)Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-29 08:53 pm (UTC)Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 03:56 am (UTC)Think about how easy it is to raise your arms overhead, with at least a pound or two of cleaning equipment, and imagine keeping that up for half an hour or so while trying to clean catwalks. I figure I could last 5 minutes, maybe 10 at the outside.
I'd call a catwalk cleaning bot a very sensible investment.
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 11:50 am (UTC)Valid point... that's a lot of hard to reach places to clean. I certainly couldn't do it... I have positional vertigo, if I tilt my head back for more than a few seconds the world does a shimmy and I have to sit down. Abruptly.
That said... I think I'd build more ramps and less steps so the mousebot could get around. (and any elderly cats too.)
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-25 05:48 am (UTC)If I had a cleaner bot, I'd probably favor catwalks and ramps it could clean over shelves or steps it could not. But without it, I might favor shelves as less total surface.
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 03:48 pm (UTC)Or alternately a way to place the mousebots ot the catwalks.
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 04:18 am (UTC)Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 03:54 am (UTC)Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 03:52 am (UTC)I'd want either the whole thing replaceable (faster but more expensive) or the sisal just tacked in a few strategic places so it could be be taken off and new twine wound on (cheaper but much more work). Note that designers rarely think about how something is going to look, feel, or smell after even a brief amount of use -- but one of my readers immediately asked about cleaning.
>> Catwalks would need to be natural wood, maybe with a light texture like grooves or ridges on slope ramps. You don't want too smooth a surface, but equally you'd some texture for traction plus to wear their claws down a little. Something like cedar or oak that's oiled not varnished. A quick wipe with a soapy rag and some beeswax polish would be enough for most things. <<
For slanted surfaces, I would consider the kind of stick-on traction surface designed for steps. It's rough enough to grip, not so gritty as to be unpleasant, highly durable, and affordable. Flat portions of catwalk can be plain wood.
>> Heavy staining would require sanding..(cats unfortunately sick up on things, and stomach acid does a number on wood if you don't clean it soon enough) <<
So use a sealant designed for households with kids. It's safe and sturdy. Another option would be the kind of pet mats used for feeding stations, which is resistant to all forms of effluvia and easy to clean. Put that in places like the cubbies where cats are more likely to barf.
>> Natural slate would also work quite well for walkways too, and it would have the benefit of warming up where it catches the sun, (passive solar heating!) but it would be expensive and odd shapes would have to be hand cut, and you'd need a minimum of 10mm thick 'tiles' embedded in walls in order to take the weight.<<
Just buy whatever size of precut tiles they already have, and make your catwalk match. People sell that for everything from roofs to bathrooms; someone will have something suitable. Remember you only need it for slanted ramps, not the flat catwalks or shelves.
>> they all leave muddy pawprints (although maybe not as much with a catio) <<
Indoor cats, as described in the poem, don't get muddy. Indoor-outdoor ones can, and outdoor ones certainly do. A catio can be designed with grass, gravel, wood chips, or whatever else you think will minimize tracked-in dirt. And you want to put a bristle mat around the litterboxes so cats don't track litter everywhere.
>> Hmm... I wonder if it would be hard to make a small edge following 'bot to clean up hairballs and general kruft along the walkways? <<
Easy. Edge-following bots are the simplest of all free-range robots to make. You could probably dissect a Roomba or similar to figure out how to make one. As long as all the catwalks are the same width and a material that the robot can clean, it should work great. You'd have to think about its cornering capacity while designing the catwalks. It can't jump, and might or might not climb slopes well, so you'd still have to clean disconnected shelves, things like hammocks, and maybe ramps. But it would drastically reduce your labor for the hardest-to-clean ceiling catwalks.
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 03:54 pm (UTC)And that's why I dislike a lot of fancy kitchen gadgets - they're a pain to clean.
>>Another option would be the kind of pet mats used for feeding stations, which is resistant to all forms of effluvia and easy to clean.<<
However they make it harder for anything under the mat to dry.
>>Indoor cats, as described in the poem, don't get muddy. Indoor-outdoor ones can, and outdoor ones certainly do.<<
Keep litter away from anyplace likely to get wet. Litter dust and water does make mud, after all.
>>It can't jump, and might or might not climb slopes well, so you'd still have to clean disconnected shelves, things like hammocks, and maybe ramps.<<
Even a robot that cleans one shelf before needing to be transferred could be useful.
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-23 10:46 pm (UTC)Yay! :D
>> Except... what kind of cleaning do the catwalks (heh) require, and how often? <<
This depends on the type of cat furniture and other factors.
* Catwalks with smooth surfaces are minimally inclined to need cleaning. You might want to dust them once or twice a year.
* Anything with a surface of cloth, carpet, sisal, etc. is much more inclined to get dirty and much harder to clean. I would suggest restricting such items to places where they're really needed (e.g. ramps or beds), and making them easy to remove and either clean or replace. A sisal post that looks neat and classy when new will probably be a frazzled mess after a few months with a couple dozen cats using it. A vacuum cleaner with good overhead attachments would be an asset for cleaning things like carpeted ramps.
* Does anyone in the household have other allergies like dust or pollen? If so, then you really need bare surfaces or things like a cloth hammock that can be thrown in a washer regularly.
* How messy is the outside environment? Are you looking at lots of farm dust or city pollution? If so, then again that indicates a need for easy-clean surfaces. In a small town or suburbs this might not be a problem.
* What kind of cats do you have? Rexes tend to be the cleanest and least prone to shedding. Many shorthaired breeds are largely self-cleaning. Sphynxes don't have much hair but their body oils can make them kind of tacky to the touch, so they may require bathing, and I don't know how prone that oil is to get on their furniture. Most longhaired breeds will shed bushels. *ponder* I think I would handle that issue by installing some self-grooming arches along the catwalks that could be popped out and emptied as necessary.
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-23 11:41 pm (UTC)To those with furbabies, give 'em a cuddle for me, too.
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 12:12 am (UTC)A wise decision.
In most such cases, when the time is right, a cat will find you. If you're not in a place that has cats in the community, though, you might need to look around more when you decide you're ready.
Re: I agree
Date: 2024-05-24 04:01 pm (UTC)Furred cats will leave behind oil when marking doors, corners, etc.
People will leave oil behind just from sitting ot lying on things, (this is why they used to have those doily things on the armrests and backs of chairs in all those old TV shows.
So I'm sure Sphnx cats would leave behind oil as well.
Thoughts
Date: 2024-05-23 10:36 pm (UTC)Well, you could make floating shelves, catwalks, hammocks, etc. pretty easily. Since you're a blacksmith, you could even make fancy brackets if you felt like it. The more ornate features like wall pass-throughs are not necessary to make a room-by-room cathouse, just for maximal connectivity.
>> Why would you not design a family home that included all your family? <<
Most people are speciesist and don't think of such things. Hell, most won't even accommodate humans with differences.
But not everyone is like that. I've also written about a couple of folks in Rutledge who make human/cat furniture.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2024-05-29 08:56 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2024-05-29 09:25 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2024-05-29 09:48 pm (UTC)I've seen a couple where it touches on disabilities (the autistic dude makes friends more easily with aliens than humans, they guy who loses his glasses and hearing aids has terrible environmental awareness, a prosthetic leg makes for great immunity against venomous aliens, etc) but those are all things that generally require less assistance.
Trying to set it up so a paraplegic can move around on his own (because he is much bigger than you), figure out how the blind guy can navigate (you really don't want to lose a Deathworlder in an interplanetary market), or baybysit an alien kid that violates all the rules in the Human Kids 101 book would all be much different challenges.
Separately, I observe that while you do have a few scifi series-es, they mostly seem to have human and humanoid and humanlike-psychology aliens, and/or limit to a single nonhuman species. (Excepting the one with the living ships and kidnapped three or four species of Starfish Aliens...and that niche linguistics one with, like, three stories.) Have you ever considered doing something with Dinotopia or Zootopia-esque levels of species diversity/language/culture and Starfish Aliens? Kind of like some of the notes for Quixiotic-verse, but with aliens instead of fantasy beings?
(no subject)
Date: 2024-05-24 05:45 pm (UTC)Still laughing about Jenny Many Spots. Brilliant!
And there needs to be a prequel about Marilyn and Hera.
Thoughts
Date: 2024-05-25 05:49 am (UTC)Yay! I'm glad you enjoyed that. :D
>> And there needs to be a prequel about Marilyn and Hera.<<
Feel free to ask for it in any relevant prompt call. Next up will be the June 4 Poetry Fishbowl with a theme of "Like a Normal Person," which might be made to fit.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-05-28 08:37 am (UTC)I love the idea of cat ramps and one or more roomba-like cleaners that just circle the paths, except for emptying itself and auto-replacing filters. Make it quiet enough and the cats would probably just run across it like it wasn't even there once they got used to it.
Thoughts
Date: 2024-05-28 09:01 am (UTC)The cat bathrooms are vented.
Automatic litterboxes exist in both worlds. However, some cats refuse to use them, and the same is true of many litterbox styles. Cats have firm preferences. So in a household with lots of cats, you provide variety or you spend a lot of quality time with a mop.
>>I love the idea of cat ramps and one or more roomba-like cleaners that just circle the paths, except for emptying itself and auto-replacing filters. Make it quiet enough and the cats would probably just run across it like it wasn't even there once they got used to it.<<
That's why I suggested a slow cleaning bot. If it goes fast, it will either scare cats or be treated as a toy. But if it's slow and quiet, they'll probably ignore it.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2024-05-29 12:09 am (UTC)I can totally imagine once the cats were used to the bot, there would be a few who would try to make sure to sleep on the just-cleaned area to make sure everyone can smell _them_ on it instead of anybody else. :)