well.. i spent over $10,000 US importing my cats from Germany to Australia. it took nearly a year of work running around between vets and department offices plus i worked 16 hours a day to make ends meet with the kitties, i wouldn't leave them anywhere!Originally Posted by Vmax71
well... this little dog I have is a bit of a wonder dog actually. I rescued him about 3 years ago, he was very sick, had to have a hip transplant, so you can only imagine the vet bills were in the thousands.... no but wait... he was also neurotic, so he went to see a dog psychologist for about a year, and sent me doing overtime at work!.
Any dog or animal that comes out of a shelter is very "different" and let me tell you, he appreciates what he has now. It wasn't easy at first, I will admit, the dog didn't want to eat, didn't play, and was very traumatized at everything and yes, he pooped in the house... but now, he is wondeful...well, he was always wonderful from day 1 :-)
I find my cats to be very clean, if they pee outside the litter box its normally a problem (they are either sick or they don't like the food or even the litter), they do climb everywhere but i have all of my fragile things in a beautiful cabinet so the cats cant get into it.
You have to think of it like you are going to have children, childproof everything. You can still have a beautiful house with two kitties and a dog. Cats aren't so destructive as you think they are.
Judging by your "neatfreakness" you seem so in love with this woman, what if you get married and decide to have children? How will you cope then?
Keeping the cats in the basement isn't an option unless you plan to put your dog there too.