Free Advice: Cat Fur

A lot of sites are going black today in order to protest SOPA.  Mel at Stirrup Queens came up with an alternative way to protest, suggesting that we offer advice today in order to demonstrate the kind of information and discourse that could disappear if SOPA passes.  I liked her idea because I think it’s an interesting way to frame the issue.

Don’t get me wrong.  SOPA is scary, and I obviously don’t support online piracy.  However, as usual, lawmakers have gotten it all wrong and haven’t considered the unintended consequences of the bill.  You know who will suffer most if it passes?  You and me.  Our voices.  Our experiences.  In this case, we truly are the 99%, so  yes, let’s pass a draconian law intended to address the 1% who are the problem (and likely won’t stop them anyway) and punish the rest of us.

So here’s my advice: Cat fur – sweep it up.

We have three cats.  Two have long fur, so it is almost impossible to keep up with the cat fur.  No matter how often we clean, it seems there is a tumbleweed of fur taunting us at it rolls across the floor.

But try.

Why?

Carpet beetles. Our house somehow has them, and they love cat fur.  They also love natural fibers like wool, silk, cotton and cashmere, fibers which we happen to have some of in our closet.   We’ve had to throw out several well-loved, expensive pieces because the damn carpet beetles got into our closets and drawers and thought, “yummy!”

We are having our house treated on Friday.  We’re in the process of taking our entire wardrobe to the cleaners because only dry cleaning or high heat will kill the eggs.  This situation is especially painful because we replaced almost all of our carpet with hardwoods before Daniel was born, so the infestation of a pest with “carpet” in its name is especially infuriating.

So please, please, please stay on top of cat fur or make sure everything you own is polyester.  You decide which is more tolerable 🙂

 

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