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At the beginning of 2018, we adopted a 7 year old cat from the local animal shelter.
I’m not gonna lie; I was pretty apprehensive about this.
I’ve never lived with a pet that has roamed cage-less through the house, so there was definitely some fear of the unknown for me.
How much work was this going to be? How much mess? How much headache? How much was it going to cost?
Well, a year into it, I have to say that it’s gone so much better than I imagined it would, and here are eight things I’ve learned in the last year.
1. A cat is less work than a caged animal.
This was kind of a revelation to me! Scooping a litter box is less effort than changing an entire cage full of bedding.
And the cat really has not made a bunch of mess in the house, so it’s not like she added a lot of cleaning to our workload.
2. A cat takes up so much less space than a caged animal.
Our guinea pig has a pretty large cage, and compared to that, the cat is taking up a lot less space. We have two litter boxes plus her food and water, and all of that makes a much smaller footprint.
3. A cat smells less than a caged rodent.
I definitely can smell the guinea pig in our house sometimes (and same went for hamsters when we had them), but I pretty much never smell the cat.
We use Slide litter and I have to say, it’s AMAZING at keeping cat smells at bay. Worth every penny!
(We buy ours from Chewy.com, which has such great prices on pet supplies.)
3. She’s been a lot less destructive than I imagined.
She’s scratched up the molding on some doorways, yes, but it’s just paint damage that can be fixed if I want to bother with it.
But she hasn’t scratched our furniture or had a bunch of accidents, and I’m pretty relieved about that.
It probably helps that we adopted an older cat rather than a kitten; she’s just not energetic enough to do that much damage. 😉
I’m a little bit nervous about what will happen as she gets older, but hopefully she will age gracefully, with few accidents.
4. Cats don’t need a whole lot to be happy.
A cardboard box, a bed to hide under, and a soft blanket can make a cat pretty pleased. We definitely have not needed to buy her oodles of things to keep her content.
5. Sleeping with a cat is no fun.
Lisey used to let the cat sleep with her every night, but even she kicks the cat out at bedtime now.
(The rest of us decided long ago that the cat is a terrible night time companion!)
The problem is that she likes to be awake at night, so she walks all over you, cheerfully purring.
Which is very sweet but at 2 am, we all really prefer to not be receiving cat affection. 😉
6. We are no good at nail clipping.
We TRIED. But no matter how many times we watched things like How to Trim Your Fractious Cat’s Nails on YouTube, we were not successful.
Somehow she always escapes our grasp!
So when she needs her nails clipped, she gets a ride to the vet for a quick clip appointment.
(Guinea pig nails I can totally do. But cat nails are another story, at least for our cat.)
7. More of us are cat people than previously thought.
Zoe is still very much a dog person, but she loves the cat to pieces. And as it turns out, Mr. FG and I like cats more than we thought we did! 😉
(We already knew that Joshua, Lisey, and Sonia loved cats.)
I don’t know if I love cats enough to get another one once we have no kids at home, but I do like this cat. 😉
8. It’s a great compliment if a cat chooses you.
Most dogs offer affection liberally (too liberally for my taste. Ha.), but a cat’s affection is a bit more rare.
So when she sits down on our laps we are always like, “I HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!!!!”
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In summary: this has been easier and less expensive than I anticipated, I like being a cat owner more than I thought I would, and it makes me happy to think that we are giving an abandoned cat a happy place to live.
Randi Macdonald
Sunday 3rd of March 2019
I used to have cats( and not dogs) when I was in my 20's. When I got a dog( in law school) he stalked the cat and it didn't work out. I gave the cat to my ex. I never had another cat again. We have 4 dogs now( 2 standard poodles, a wirehair dachshund and a half standard poodle/half cocker spaniel( she's 14.5, and someone dumped her at the shelter last November). I love my dogs to bits. The 2 poodles are like toddlers in poodle suits( they are 2 yrs old) and I love watching them play. They are super affectionate. Very clingy. We never had kids so those fill that need for us. We spend a lot of money on our dogs. Grooming, pet insurance, high quality food, boarding when we travel( we travel a lot), we also travel with the 2 poodles( beach trips). They bring us so much joy that I don't mind spending the money on them.
Ana
Thursday 28th of February 2019
I have two cats (brother and sister) that I adopted from the SPCA when they were kittens. They are 11 years old now. They are annoying, destructive, expensive (now that they’re older), noisy, constantly moulting... and I love them to bits. They sleep all over me (Gary pretty much sleeps on my face while Cynthia keeps my legs trapped) and it makes me so happy when we’re all lying together in a pack. I used to have 2 dogs as well (they’ve since passed away) and when we all slept together I imagined I was a kid who was raised by wild animals - it was my happy place. I like horses too but haven’t figured out how to include them in my sleeping arrangements yet.
Tammy
Thursday 28th of February 2019
I am not an animal person (at all) but my daughter is. I'm allergic to dogs, and while I do not care for cats I would have one for my daughter's sake, but I suspect I'm allergic to cats as well, and I know that two of my sisters who live close by are very allergic to cats...so we're a petless household!
Monica Booth
Thursday 28th of February 2019
Yesssss one of us! one of us! All aboard the cat train!
I grew up with cats and had a few negative experiences with dogs, so I will always trust cats more simply because I just know how to deal with them.
I haven't had a cat in a few years because we are living in a rental and my last cat was just the best, I don't know if I'd ever love another kitty more. Funny story: when my son was brand new, I kept having dreams where I was cradling him in my bed when suddenly he would disappear into the blankets. I'd wake in an awful panic and also wake my husband by turning on the lights and ripping all the blankets off. This happened nightly for weeks even though I never bedshared with my son lol. Anyway, one of these times, I actually woke up in time to realize I was just sleep-cradling my cat and then freaking out when she eventually decided to slink off.
In terms of destructiveness, I find that the material of furniture makes a difference. My cat shredded a chenille couch because she could get her claws into it. Canvas material like what you'd get on IKEA couches though? She didn't bother because she couldn't get her (clipped) claws through the weave. Even if you're not having trouble with furniture now, just something to keep in mind if you ever want or need to replace something.
Also, I will always and forever adopt older cats from the shelter as opposed to kittens. Seven is a PERFECT age to pick up a cat. Older cats and black cats are always the last to go. My next cat will be an older black cat that I will name Smudge.
Ashley
Tuesday 26th of February 2019
Our cats use to keep us up at night also, we use to lock them in the bedroom with us as that is where their litter box is so our dogs cant get into it again to eat poop. we ended up buying a small pet door and putting it in our bedroom door, so they can come and go as they wants. usually they go in for a bit but then go spend time in the rest of the house with the dogs, whom they pretend to hate during the day.