A couple of weeks ago we got a kitten. It was kind of a hard decision because neither Patti nor I are cat people, we are more dog people. In fact, I had a bumper sticker on my car through college that said “I Hate Cats.” Both of us grew up with dogs and not cats, and we had a dog up until a couple of years ago. But we just can’t deal with a dog right now and wanted to get some kind of pet for the kiddies. So we got an 8 week old gray cat at the pound and have since called him Finley. It’s a long story where we came up with the name, but Emily still calls him Kitty-Kitty. The boy just goes after him and screeches whenever he sees him. The cat dodges the kids as much as possible but they catch him often, pick him up and basically make his life miserable. He is a hit when other little brats come to visit, all try very hard to catch and torment him.
Now, I have never had a cat, and I know it’s early, but a couple of things.
- They teach kittens to use cat litter at the pound so from the first moment we took him home he was house trained. Instant pet.
- The first day found the cat hiding and a little scared. But as with all kittens, it started to warm up because it wanted to play in the giant playground that is our house. Now it has to be by our side all the time. When I am in the kitchen, it is at my feet. When I am in my home office, it is under the desk. When Patti is giving the kids a bath, it lays on the floor. Strange.
- Cats are fairly maintenance free. We have to clean the litter box, but nowhere near as much trouble as maintaining a dog.
- It might change, but not as fulfilling as owning a dog.
- For some reason the kitten likes me. It constantly comes up to me, starts purring, and wants to hang out. Not sure but maybe because the kids torment it and I don’t.
- It’s cute. It’s soft. It purrs really loud whenever you pet it. It likes to hang out on our bed at night and sleep while touching one of us. It likes to play. It is patient with the tormenting by the kids.
Overall, having the kitten is nice so far. I make fun but it is a huge hit with the kids and both treat it as a pet and not as a toy. I put in a cat door so that we can move the litter box and food into the basement and it can come up and down the basement steps whenever it wants. Cats are known for being less personable than dogs, and for being standoffish, and Finley might get there but so far it is very friendly. I like having another living thing in the house that is not a spouse, child or fish. It won’t play like a dog or give unconditional and constant love like a dog, but it’s soft and much less of an impact on the house and yard.
I’ll keep you posted on how it goes. And put up some pictures.
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