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Video: Three Men Live With 15 Cats In A Kitty Playground
There men live in a house with 15 and counting rescued cats in Goleta, near Santa Barbara. Now, you're probably thinking it's a gross mess of litter and hair, but this house is designed in such a way that it all works out—and it's pretty cool.
The house belongs to Peter Cohen, who builds homes professionally, Houzz reports. He bought his home in 1988 and found that a couple stray cats were hanging around outside. One was eventually hit and killed by a car, and the other was hit by a car and required surgery. Cohen decided to keep the remaining cat inside for her safety, but also chose to adopt a couple rescue cats to provide her with company. It started with just the few cats, but Cohen ending up amassing a small cat army of rescues.
Cohen began using his skills to create play areas for the cats—a jungle gym of tunnels, platforms and high catwalks. There's even a koi pond to capture their interest, though Cohen says they've never really tried to catch one. For cleanliness, he designed four closets to keep litter boxes in that rely on exhaust fans to control odor, and he's purchased a number of Roombas that prowl the house for cat hair. In total, Cohen estimates he's spent over $40,000 on the cats. However, he notes that building the cat structures is also architecturally interesting to him.
Cohen lives with two other men, Hiroyuki Fukumoto and Manuel Flores, who also enjoy and are accustomed to life with a horde of kitties. Flores said he now can't even think of one he'd wouldn't want sharing their home.
"They're very calming. I like them because when you come home, if you're stressed, two or three will come and purr…and it just relaxes you," Cohen said.
This might sound insane, but watching the video, Cohen and his housemates appear to live a pretty ordinary life in a spacious, clean and whimsical environment, full of affectionate, furry friends that all seemingly get along. So much for that 'crazy cat lady' stereotype.
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