Do-over

   If I were ever to get another cat, which seems highly unlikely, I would get a cat with the shortest hair possible. We have owned 4 cats in 45 years, well 5 if you count Tiger, who we had only a few months  before  he escaped the house and became a highway casualty.  And, oh, there was the black cat that Ma gave us when we first moved into this house.  We never named that cat, it preferred Dave, hiding out somewhere all day, and only appearing when he got home from work.  That cat  was an indoor-outdoor cat before it was road killed  after only a year or so.  But the 4 later cats, which we kept indoors at all times, were all long haired:  Roger, Nike, Napster and Maybe, our present cat.   Maybe, being half Persian and half Maine Coon,  has the longest, thickest, and therefore most matted coat of all the cats, and the next-to-worst disposition, second only to Nike, who was a full  Maine Coon with a scary nature.  Maybe's hairballs and dingleberries are becoming more problematic  over the years, as she gains years and loses tolerance for being groomed.  We have learned that taking  a cat to the vet's for hygiene-associated  grooming  problems is a costly venture indeed.  I blame Dave for the problems because he overfeeds her: she is so overweight she can't reach all of her body, so that's when the hygiene problems develop.  At least that's the theory I'm working from.  I googled and found that PetSmart will bathe long-haired cats for only $35, so maybe that will help.  Her birthday is June 9,  I think in the year 2004, though possibly 2005.  So with her age and my age, I probably will not be in the market for a shorthair, though you never know, do you?