<p>is it true that you can have cats in caltech's dorm? i know it's sort of weird to ask question like this in this kind of serious place, but i really want to know :)</p>
<p>We are very serious. Fear us.</p>
<p>Yes. Kitties are allowed in the houses.</p>
<p>are dogs allowed too??</p>
<p>No. No canines. The felines would eat them.</p>
<p>Actually, housing tried to tell us this year that we couldn't have cats anymore (according to my RA). However, as of now, no one is listening to them. It's possible that a year or two in the future they may decide to actually enforce the rule.</p>
<p>What about people who are really allergic to cats? Are we forced into Avery? (That's the only house that has a "no pets" rule as far as I can tell from the website.)</p>
<p>i think you can still live in other houses. not that i actually know anything about it, but i just don't think the owners will let their pets run around the whole house. :)</p>
<p>::Achoo!!!:: I apologize that I'm allergic to your best friends. We'll see when we get there I guess! :D</p>
<p>No, you don't have to be a member of Avery if you're allergic to cats. Most houses have areas that the cats don't usually come into, and/or cat free areas. I have several friends with cat allergies who live in the houses without a problem. In the past, if your allergy is severe, or if you really don't want to deal with it, you could rotate into a any house and just live in Avery. They might have changed this since Avery became a house.</p>
<p>Hm... cats just randomly wander in and out of the houses, don't they? There's always a kitty or two that everyone knows, so they become communal pets, kind of.</p>
<p>Every house has a few cats (2 currently in mine, I'm not sure the numbers in others). They usually belong to a specific student who takes care of their food and water, and otherwise they roam as they please. They usually don't move between the houses. (For some reason, from your post I imagine 10 or 15 cats wandering around a given house at any time -- that's really not the case.)</p>
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<p>Hehe. If the felines don't get to them first, the squirrels will. :p</p>
<p>Russian squirrel pack 'kills dog' -
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4489792.stm%5B/url%5D">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4489792.stm</a></p>
<p>Speaking of squirrels... the ones at Caltech are seriously scary. I live in Florida and see squirrels all of the time--they are naturally skittish animals, right? Well, the ones at Caltech are not. I guess they've been fed or something but other than raccoons they are the boldest "wild" animals I have EVER seen. Seriously, during my campus tour one of them walked right up to me, literally two feet away from me. Everyone in my tour was shocked. It was HILARIOUS. lol so I guess that's a great reason to go to Caltech, see the crazy squirrels.</p>
<p>Here's a picture</p>
<p>wow, that is adorable>< just gave me another reason to go to caltech^^</p>
<p>I'm allergic to cats and live in a non-Avery House. It's really not a problem, since the total cat population at Caltech is around 4-5. </p>
<p>Your chances of actually coming into contact with a furry feline near your eventual dorm are incredibly small.</p>
<p>are there seriously only 4-5 cats total??</p>
<p>i'm allergic to cats too so i'm interested in knowing....</p>
<p>also, kinda off topic but i guess i'll ask here, when you dorm at caltech, how many people do you have to share a room with? 1? 2? is it possible to room by yourself?</p>
<p>There are more than 4-5. There are about 1-3 per house, so about 10-15 total. There are also a few (maybe 4-5) that roam wild on campus.</p>
<p>The north houses only have double rooms. The south hovses have singles, doubles, and triples. Singles are hard to get as frosh (in most houses). There are only 1 or 2 triples per house and they're usually pretty big (and therefore desirable), so you won't be forced into a triple unless you want it. Avery has singles and doubles. The number of people in off campus rooms vary.</p>
<p>When the south houses open up again in the middle of next academic year, it'll be easier to get a single... (I lived in a south house freshman year and was near the bottom of the room picks list and still got a single.)</p>
<p>Out of curiousity Ben, what house are you in now?
And although I realize it only became an official house recently, why does Avery always seem to be the metaphorical sore thumb amongst the Caltech houses?</p>
<p>Ben's in Fleming House IIRC</p>