If you know nothing else about Silicon Valley, California, know these two things: The rent is out of this world and people really, really care about their pets. That came together in the perfect storm for two felines in San Jose. Troy Good moved to a new apartment, but could not bring his daughter’s cats with him due to concern they would not get along with his fiance’s dog. Good could not bear to abandon or part with the two adorable cats, however, so he found a better solution: A $1,500 per month studio apartment, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
David Callisch finds his new tenants to be the perfect renters. “It’s actually great. They’re very quiet, obviously. The only problem is they stink up the place,” Callisch told the Mercury News. Though he jokes about his tenants, the truth is that housing cats is much easier than housing a human.
Good found a great deal on the studio. The average rent for a studio apartment in the San Jose area is $1,951 per month, according to RentCafe. The $1,500 price tag comes at the loss of a kitchen in the studio, but the tenants aren’t meowing. Instead, they’re perfectly content to spend their days napping and playing in what Good calls the “nicest cat apartment in Silicon Valley.”
The two cats are named Tina and Louise. Good gave them to his now-18-year-old daughter when they were just kittens, and the two felines have grown beyond what anyone expected. Good believes the two cats to be Maine Coon and Bombay mixes, each weighing in around 20 pounds. Good’s daughter couldn’t take the cats with her when she left to go to college, but she loves her cats and has even created an Instagram account to document their adventures. Anyone interested in following the two can do so @tina__and__louise (although the account is private).
Critics say the space is wasted on the two cats. According to Jennifer Loving, the CEO of Destination Home, an anti-homelessness organization in Silicon Valley, the entire situation can be called “peak Silicon Valley.” Loving says the situation “does highlight the tremendous inequity in Silicon Valley. We have thousands of people on our streets, and we’re paying to make sure that our cats have a place to live.”
That said, Good can keep his daughter’s cats comfortable and happy without breaking the family apart, and the apartment does serve a second purpose: His daughter has a place to stay when she is home from college, even if sleeping in your cats’ room — instead of the other way around — is a bit unorthodox.
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