So, You Think You Want a Kitten
If you didn’t end up with a pandemic pet, maybe you still have a little bit of lingering FOMO as you move into post-pandemic territory. If your friends working from home as their baby animal wreaked havoc in their Zoom backgrounds made you slightly jealous, then keep reading.
I am three weeks into cohabitating with a three and a half month old kitten, named Moon. And, let me warn you, if you are planning on being a single pet parent you better be ready to make some BIG sacrifices.
Depending on where you live, you may or may not be lucky enough to live alone. If you have a roommate, make sure your roommate is prepared to co-parent your new furry friend. If you live alone, like I do, make sure you are ready for the realities of single pet parenthood for the foreseeable future.
Reality #1 — Privacy is a Thing of the Past
Baby animals require supervision. This is for their safety as much as it is for preventing the destruction of your home. If you get a puppy, you have the luxury of crate training him or her. This will provide you with a small window of privacy. Kittens are much harder to contain. Maybe you are lucky enough to live somewhere with more than one bedroom and your spoiled fur-child will have their very own space. I am not that lucky. Following the tips online I set Moon up in the bathroom and provide supervised access to the living room and bedroom. Great, right? Wrong. Moon has decided that I cannot possibly do my business alone… any of my business. Yes, that includes using the toilet. Kittens all have unique personalities and maybe you will get one where it’s a non-issue. But, I want you to be prepared in the event they insist on crawling into your lap when you try to take a shit (my apologies for this TMI moment).
Reality #2 — Congrats, You Now Have a Second Full-time Job
If you have the financial means, and are prepared to have two kittens… get two. It will make your unpaid second job part-time; your kittens will play with each other, leaving you with the sole responsibilities of feeding them, cleaning up after them, keeping them out of trouble and cuddling them when they need some human attention. As a single pet parent, with an only fur-child, I must warn you if you intend to raise a kitten on your own, be prepared that you will be his sole companion/playmate/caregiver. It’s a lot of work. I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly want to play for 6–8 hours a day… but Moon does. Add that on to general pet-care responsibilities and yes, you now have a second full-time job.
Reality #3 — They Will Dictate Your Schedule
In some senses, a kitten might be a little easier than a puppy. However, even guides to raising kittens do not recommend you leave them alone for more than four hours at a time. Why? Well, according to the reading I’ve done, and some conversations with friends who have recently raised kittens, a kitten left alone will sleep. That sounds good, right? Sleeping…not like a puppy barking or whining for hours. What could be wrong with that? Well… they don’t sleep 24 hours a day. At some point your kitten is going to need to burn off some energy. You should be prepared, especially if you do leave him on his own for more than four hours, he will be full of beans when you are home. This will happen regardless of what your needs are. I hope you didn’t like sleep, or sitting down to eat your meals.
Reality #4 — You Are Officially a Parent
Pet parents are still parents. Within a few hours or days you will likely realize you are behaving like a parent. Planning on having company over? Suddenly the most important thing is making sure that your fur baby is properly introduced. And while you want to be a good host, you can’t help but be mildly distracted by whatever your fur-child is getting into. Then there’s just the day to day of putting their needs before yours: making sure they finish their dinner, meanwhile, you can’t remember your last meal! Trips to the pet store and coming home with extra toys because you feel guilty for leaving them on their own. Anxiously hoping everything checks out when you take them to the vet. They are now the star of your instagram and have taken over your camera roll. And you find you are happiest at home snuggled up with them on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
The last three weeks I’ve been sleep deprived, frustrated, had to turn down dinner with friends, and have probably spent more than 50% of my paycheck on Moon. I’ve also been blessed with daily snuggles, constant company, and been welcomed home by his chirps and purrs. If you made it to the end of this post and you still think you want a kitten, I recommend you do a little more research to make sure you are fully prepared for the responsibility. And then, if you do get one, I promise, it will be both rewarding and challenging. I wish you well :)
