Cat debate, need back up!

[ProudMamaBear92]

Okay so I need help to settles this once and for all because it’s a constant argument in our house. I’ll try keep it concise.

We have two lovely cats, one pedigree one moggy, both equally gorgeous. One was a surprise present from DH for my 30th, the other inherited.

DH hates me cleaning the cat bowls in the house and insists I clean them outside. I think this is ridiculous. I use a sponge just for the cats, I wash them seperately with hot water and soap and clean the sink after. I prefer they eat inside so I can clean the bowl soon after they are done. He makes them eat outside and then the bowls get gross with flies and slugs because we work all day.

He wants me to use the garden hose to rinse off and just let them dry outside, but then they don’t get properly clean and the cats will get sick. So he suggests I sit outside with a bowl of soapy water and clean them there. I’ll add I have a toddler and work full time, who has time for that?! Also means DS can’t go outside with the gross cat bowls because he’ll touch them.

I refuse to play along, try do it my way when he’s not there and he gets really angry about it and we argue.

AIBU??

Feed husband outside.

I do the same with cat bowls, they have their own sponge and own spoons. Any man that ousted my cats outdoors to be fed would be out the door himself.

They are vulnerable when they are eating, they need to be somewhere safe.

And you married this idiot?

We have one cat, and stacks of different cat bowls. At any one time he has a bowl of water, a bowl of biscuits, and a bowl for wet food. They get rinsed and then put in the dishwasher at teatime and breakfast. No toddler here so maybe our standards are very low.

They're just cat bowls, he's being ridiculous.

What is his problem? Mine get washed inside, I use a sponge then throw it out.

Our cat bowls get rinsed and put in the dishwasher . If you are just putting food outside how do you even know that it is your cats eating it ?

I just put mine in the dishwasher? They are eating out of it, not shitting in it…
he is being massively unreasonable

I think I need to wash my cat bowls more often (but at least when I do wash them it's in the kitchen sink!)

what a horrible family environment this must be

My cats bowls just get washed with the normal washing up. What does your husband think the cats bowls have on them?

I have my DD's dog one day a week. We have a food bowl and a water bowl out for him when he's here. Both get rinsed and then into the dishwasher, where hot water and detergent do their job. It would never occur to us to that the dog's mouth is so diseased that we'd have to wash his stuff separately.

Same here, it's cat food not nuclear waste.

Definitely outside, both for washing the bowls and for feeding. I wouldn’t have an animal’s dish anywhere near my sink.

He's either a pathetic, neurotic twit or he's a nasty, animal hating person. Only you will know which one it is.

Every time? Why?

Does your DH have an obsession with hygiene generally or is it just where your cats are concerned?
He seems extremely OTT when it comes to your cats.

Why? What do you think it would do? Given you wash with detergent, I assume.

I have two cats and I wash their bowls in the sink. They have their own brush and fork but always in the kitchen sink. Why on earth would anyone feed their cats outside where they are vulnerable?!

It's only cat food. Don't they have human testers anyway? I wash it all together. We're vegetarian though, so the biggest ick is the meat.

So according to your dh the actual cats are allowed inside but their feeding bowls aren't? What on earth is his logic?

I assume your cats have 4 cat feet each that they walk around on both outside and inside your house, and they have fluffy cat bottoms that they poo out of and then sit on both outside and inside. And I guess they carry around their own little cat heads full of their little cat teeth, cat tongues and cat spit that they wash themselves with both inside and outside.

Why is their food the one contaminant that he fears?

Who made him king of the house? If he wants them washed outside can't he do it?

Are the animals you share your life with such a health risk?

It’s just personal preference. I would find it disgusting, So rather than be disgusted, I would wash it outside. And feed them out there too.

He'd hate me - I use the cat bowls, but if I run out I just use a side-plate. And when they were deigning to eat cat pate (we are now back on Aldi sachet as the ONE TRUE FOOD - who knows how long that will last), I once absent-mindedly licked the fork clean after - and honestly, it tasted fine - I wouldn't have known the difference between that and human pate.

If you're feeding them something manky-smelling that's different, but my cat's food doesn't smell bad at all.

Hahahaa, this is ludicrous of him! Separate sponge of course! But hot water kills germs. So many questions arising from this post!

Overall I'd be upset by this attitude to my beloved family pet. If he thinks they are so dirty that even their bowls need to be cleaned outside (my mind is blown by this), how welcoming and loving is he to them generally?

I think it's incredibly mean of him to make them eat outside too. Even in winter? What will you do as they get older? Would a lidded bowl make him feel more comfortable?

And why are you the only one feeding/cleaning?

Can he articulate what germs exactly he is worried about? Is he generally a germophobe?