WANTED: Cute Kitty. Raccoons Need Not Apply

I love animals. But I love cats especially. I think that staying in Utah where I was surrounded by cats wherever I went made me want a cat of my own. When we walk to the store or to the subway or wherever, and we see a cat wandering through our neighborhood, I can't help but stop and pet it. I think that this is getting JM to see how nice it will be to have a cat. He's never had a pet. Ever... How sad is that?

Anyways, we were walking to the subway last week, and I saw the cutest cat just sitting on someone's porch. I could only see the porch from where I was, because the yard was blocked from my view by some hedges. Of course, upon seeing any cat, I immediately move my voice a couple of octaves higher and say "Come here, kitty, kitty." I continued to walk on the sidewalk next to the yard, so I could get a better look at the cat, and so I could eventually crouch down to pet the cat. I had just past the last hedge, still calling the cat to me, when I looked down and saw what I, at first, thought was another cat. But upon looking closer, I realized that this "cat" was sitting on it's back legs and eating something with it's hands. It wasn't a cat, but a raccoon. And it was giving me a dirty look. I had to forgo petting the cat, which probably wouldn't have risked walking past the raccoon. And I was sad, and annoyed that JM was laughing at me for trying to call a raccoon to me. We walked quickly away, looking back to make sure that the raccoon wasn't answering my calls. Raccoons are very cute, I've decided. But I've also decided that they are most likely very diseased, too. The only time I ever see raccoons are when they are digging inside the dumpster behind my apartment.

So I've decided that I need my own cat, so I don't almost pet anymore raccoons. I'm trying to find different ways to convince JM that it would be awesome to have a cat. Any ideas?