Article: Fur better, fur worse

By ELIZABETH CHONG

What’s a hair or two between friends?

They have fur coats Cruella de Vil would kill for.

One is white with black spots and patches very fashionably distributed. Another has fur so thick and soft that it’s pure pleasure to bury one’s face in it, while the third is cream coloured and no less luxuriant. All three have a lovely natural sheen.

Then there are the smaller coats — one pure white with a unique hidden Mickey Mouse on the left; one a lovely mix of orange, grey and white; another a pure shiny black; yet another with ginger stripes; and the last is with speckles of orange, black and grey.

The best part?

No animal was hurt in the process of obtaining these fur coats. No siree! The coats are still on the animals — my dogs and cats to be exact.

The dogs are all mixed breeds. Patches, as her name suggests, has black patches on white fur and spots, much like those of a Dalmatian.

Being part Finnish Spitz, Cadbury has a typical red coat and a lovely tail that curls back to rest on his back.

Pebbles, who is part English Cocker Spaniel, has long straight fur in a colour that is more reminiscent of her terrier father.

Every dog sheds so you can imagine the amount of canine hair drifting around the house. But cats shed even worse and since mine are the short-haired domestic breed, there is no end to the hair circling in the air!

When the cleaning ladies empty the vacuum cleaner bag, guess what its contents are? The air-conditioners were recently serviced and the compressors were working fine but congested with, what else? Dog and cat hair.

My dogs sleep on my bed most nights and the cats often snuggle up as well, so my bed is “furry”. The other household items are not collectively called FUR-niture without reason.

I dress for work and “shed” most of the way. Even when the dogs have not been in my car for weeks, there will be traces of their hair, transferred by me when I get in to drive. Passengers and visitors are well-advised to avoid wearing black T-shirts when an encounter with the dogs is imminent. Nothing shows up the dog/cat hair better than a black base!

Does all that hair affect us humans in any way?

My father was slightly asthmatic so I was briefly concerned I would develop some symptoms but to-date, zilch. Neither are we sneezing uncontrollably or developing hairballs, so I think we are all right even if we tend to hug the dogs and cats tightly and breathe in their scent deeply.

OK, OK, if you are not a dog or cat lover, this is grossing you out but having read this far, what do you expect?

Yes, it’s almost impossible to sweep the floor or dust surfaces properly. Fortunately, we have yet to find dog or cat hair in our food but then again, we don’t cook all that much at home.

When visitors are expected, we bustle around to reduce the hair particle count but our guests know the house is our pets’ as much as it is ours, and that they get free rein. What’s a hair or two between friends?

So far we’ve not had any problems in this area. My nieces and nephews have stayed overnight and been licked awake by Pebbles who cannot resist an uncovered elbow or face! Of course, those who choose to hug the furry ones tend to receive a hair strand or two!

For us, having the dogs and cats are fur better and fur worse. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Lifestyle: Living: 7th March 2009