Allow me to begin by saying I don’t care if you are a dog person (the Dutch are mostly a cat person anyway). If you are a student living in Dutch accommodation, you need a kitty in your life. Why? You may ask. Why do we so desperately require these whiskered, feline pets who play cruelly with our emotions by adopting an air of complete disregard for our feelings in one moment and then snuggling up to us like we are their one true love the next? There are many reasons why we must appreciate such treatment, and here are 5 of them to get you started.
1-They are clean
Have you ever seen a cat roll onto its back, belly up to the world, and continue to complete a number of acrobatic rolls in a puddle of mud? Have you ever seen a cat proceed to smudge said muddy selves up against their significant humans in a perceptibly loving, yet realistically self-serving manner? No. Cats are clean. They hate the mud just as much as we do and therefore, they make the perfect animal companion to students who are struggling enough as it is to keep a house clean. Even better, cats clean THEMSELVES. One less job to put up on the cleaning roster.
2-Mice (no not the ones you keep as pets)
Being a student in Dutch accommodation often also means living in an old building. And while you can say these buildings are beautiful or at least have a bit of character, they are often accompanied by this one niggling, skittering setback. Mice. You can buy all the mouse poison that Kruidvat has to offer. You can sprinkle it like confetti and glitter across your floor but one truth remains: It will never be as effective as a cat in the house. Even the scent of a cat will deter these nuisances. If one or two dare to venture out of the walls, they will often end their adventures as offerings gifted to you by your fellow feline. Which arguably is not pleasant but at least your food is safe.
3-Responsibility Training
Living in accommodation offers one with the chance to encounter a host of new responsibilities and while many of these responsibilities such as putting on a wash or taking out the bins can be avoided to the extreme, there should be no avoidance in taking care of a fellow living creature. But let’s face it, we are students and we forget to do things sometimes. We leave the door open, we forget to leave food out, we drop wiggly creatures. Thankfully cats can deal with our discrepancies quite well. If we leave the door open, they will more than likely end up glaring at us on the windowsill. if we forget to leave food out, they will sing us a chorus of meows. If we drop them, they land on all fours. They are the perfect animals to be reckless with, and for some reason, they forgive us for our studenty ways (perhaps because of an innate superiority complex.) In other words, they are the perfect animals to practice responsibility on.
4-Cuddles
Sometimes after a long day of college/work you are feeling particularly vulnerable and all you need is a cuddle. Cats can offer you this if you haven’t done anything recently to offend them. You can curl up on the couch with them and you need only boop their nose before they start purring. There is something so comforting in listening to how comfortable another animal is and I guarantee no matter how low you are feeling, you will instantly feel better when you hear that purr. Cats are basically walking hugs and every student house needs this from time to time.
5-The Footles
Enough said.
So, long story short: Pets are awesome and cats make the best pets. So, go out and get yourselves a cat! (better yet, adopt one)
