Do I Feed Him?

Well, that’s a tough question but the answer is no. There are a couple of reasons why. The first is that once you start, you really can’t stop. Feeding him would effectively mean that I have a third pet, which would be a violation of our rental agreement.

In addition, adopting Smudge would bring the household cat count to three, while the human population remains steady at two. Exceeding a 1:1 human to cat ratio is a dangerous business. I know households that have accomplished this without devolving into crazy cat lady status, but it’s the exception rather than the rule.

Maybe it sounds mean, but it’s a real worry. I have a lot of time on my hands, and could easily keep an eye on a neighborhood stray. Maybe two. Maybe even three, if they all tended to stick together. But the last thing I need is a herd of strays gobbling up the bits of my time that haven’t already been consumed by compulsive newspaper reading (you can learn a lot about the human condition by reading the classifieds), Youtube surfing (two words: fish heads), and game playing (one more time and I’ll get the center peg for sure).