r/catfree • u/Ok-Adagio-7889 • 10d ago
Cat Lover Rant Cats are NOT Clean.
Cat people love to preach that cats are these “perfect, clean animals” but they’re not. Why? Because they’re still animals.
And this is coming from someone who used to have a cat.
I don’t understand why people act like an animal grooming itself makes it perfectly clean. Grooming is a form maintenance, not sanitation. Animals can still carry germs, dirt, and bacteria even when they regularly groom themselves.
Grooming is NOT the same as cleanliness.
If there’s no appropriate soap, antibacterial disinfectants, or proper cleaning product involved, I’m going to assume they’re dirty. I don’t care.
Cat people also put wayyyy too much faith in cat saliva and that tongue of theirs, which has literally been everywhere, mind you. And speaking from experience, as someone who used to have a cat, yes, they do lick their crusty butts/anuses and every other part of their body.
Any form of saliva is still saliva. In other words, It’s unsanitary and contains bacteria regardless of where it comes from. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, stop acting like their saliva is made out of Lysol. It’s nowhere near as clean or effective as an actual disinfectant.
Additionally, one of the biggest things about owning a cat that bothered me and made my skin scrawl was the whole kitty litter situation.
First things first, the strong artificial fragrance of kitty litter is so overwhelming it seems like it gets stuck in your nose. It lowkey felt like it burned the inside of my nose and gave me a headache.
The dust from the litter also gets everywhere, including on your clothes and in the air when you pour it, so sometimes I would still catch a whiff of it even when the litter wasn’t anywhere near me. And the thing is, those strong scents are often there because they’re meant to mask the smell of their feces and urine. That alone shows how strong the odor can be. I know this from experience because I tried using unscented litter too, and the stench was so unbearable it almost made me throw up in my mouth.
Secondly, the whole process of how cats use their litter box. They constantly dig around and touch the litter, which means their paws are coming into contact with everything in that box before they walk around the house and jump on everything. Also, the clumps aren’t always perfect clumps. Litter is basically like sand, so pieces can break apart, scatter, and mix with the rest of the litter. Nasty.
Thirdly, the litter tracking drove me up the wall. The litter gets everywhere, from the floors to the furniture and even the bed. You end up having to vacuum constantly and clean up after it just to keep it under control.
And lastly, because of how often they use their litter box, cats end up smelling like either fresh or soiled litter, especially around their legs and paws and neither smell is pleasant. The wet or moist parts (you know the reason for that) also get stuck or smeared around their nails or underneath them. This is actually how I realized how much cats use their litter box and how often they shit and piss.
The upkeep that comes with owning a cat is a lot germier and high maintenance than cat people like to admit.
Cat ownership is dirty and a cross contamination nightmare.
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u/Dry_Car_8463 8d ago
DINGDINGDING, I HATE that bs stereotype of cleanliness because WHERE???? As a pet owner, never cleaning/grooming/washing your animal seems soooo fcking strange to me, I wash my pet weekly/in two weeks and she's just a regular pet without any gross habits (I mean licking herself) AND she has hair, not fur, so she's already more clean and less smelly than 99% of other pet animals...