5 Awesome Things Our Cats Teach Our Toddler

Common sense is one of them

Fi (left) and Bo (right) were rescue cats, adopted at 2 months old. Author personal photo.

Last year, we adopted two cats in July.

At that time, we only wanted to adopt one kitten — our white cat, Fi. The fosterers persuaded us to adopt two instead, if space and financial commitments allowed.

Apparently, cats “socialise” each other. They find each other for company, and stop each other in their own “catty” ways when play gets rough. A single kitten without a fellow feline usually grows up with bad behaviours like biting and scratching, since human owners are more forgiving and tend to tolerate them.

Because of that, we adopted Bo, a tuxedo rescue cat from another litter. Judging by the comments of our guests, it seems like Fi and Bo are well-adjusted cats.

Funnily enough, I think that this “socialisation technique” is working on our 2.5yo daughter as well.

Here are five things our cats teach our toddler.

(Of course, these aren’t cat-specific. They apply to having pets in general.)

1. Nature’s course, aka “I know how life works.”

I know, I know. You were expecting me to start off with empathy. I cover it in the next point, but let’s start with an easily overlooked, but important, thing.

Her first meeting with Bo.

Having cats has similar benefits to being outdoors in nature.

Today’s children spend far less time outdoors in nature. Playing games or watching videos on electronic devices has overtaken running in the fields for children who grow up in urban cities.

As a result, children are clueless about nature — or, simply, how life works. Without the experience of interacting with plants, animals, insects and bugs, they are growing up with less “common sense.” They get easily disgusted by dirt, and even bodily functions.

I’m not saying that keeping a pet is just like spending time outdoors, but it teaches similar lessons. Animals go through life and death. They need water, food and air to survive. They get hungry. They poop and pee. They get sick too.

By observing how pets are cared for, children learn not only how to take care of them, but also learn how to do so for themselves.

That’s not to say having pets is a substitute for actually going outdoors, where children’s senses are stimulated, and they develop their gross motor skills.

Also, as you can imagine, children who grow up with pets at home understand biology better. Win!

2. Empathy, aka “I’m not the centre of the universe.”

Yup, having pets is one of the best ways to teach empathy, but for our only child, it really is one of the few ways.

S is the only child on my side of the family. She gets all the attention at home from us. Even at gatherings, she’s showered with attention from her aunties, uncles, and grandparents.

The cats are pretty much her only “siblings” for now. When we’re feeding them, cleaning their litter box, or playing with them, she has to learn how to wait.

Having cats also allows us to teach her to put others first.

In the beginning, S loved to chase the cats around. To her then, they were simply objects, like her inanimate toys. Stomping and screaming, she would send them scampering into their hide-outs.

We explained to her that cats feel pain and fear just like she does:

“You’re so big and scary when you stomp towards the cats! How would you feel if there was a big giant, bigger than mummy or daddy, who was screaming and chasing you?”

Recently, we noticed that she has been making statements like, “The cats are hungry! They are saying meow!”, “Fi fi looks so sleepy. She is so tired, right?” That’s clearly empathy.

When she visits our friends’ homes and comes across pets, she tunes down her rambunctiousness and approaches them with a gentle voice and touch. My guess is that this isn’t what a toddler without pets does.

3. Responsibility, aka “I can take care of others.”

Here S has kindly shifted the dry food closer to Bo, but he’s not having it.

We haven’t asked her to assume responsibilities for the cats yet, but she is doing so in her own way. She’d bring their food bowls to them and ask Fi to close her eyes when she seems tired.

She orders them around too, which I suppose is a demonstration of the responsibility she feels toward them (however misplaced — haha!).

4. Respect, aka “I know my boundaries.”

The cats are quite forgiving to S in that they have never scratched or nipped her, but they also suffer no fools. If S gets too close to them, they strike out a sheathed paw to show their displeasure.

Fi and Bo shared her joy when she opened her gifts after her second birthday party.

Although not forceful, the small shock causes her to recoil and, sometimes, cry. It’s very much like how kittens “socialise” each other. Over time, S learns that she doesn’t get away with bullying and annoying the cats.

This, coupled with empathy, has instilled in her the concept of boundaries. She shouldn’t chase or disturb cats when they are eating or in their toilet, and she shouldn’t try to disturb them when they are in their hideouts.

5. Self-esteem, aka “I can do it.”

Nearly every morning, before S has her breakfast, she peeps into the cats’ litter box. If she sees any poop, she’ll authoritatively walk to the plastic bag stash. Then, plastic bag in hand, she’ll march to the litter box and start scooping.

Cat poop manager of our residence.

It’s a cute scene, but we used to chide her for doing that. “NOOO! It’s dirty!” we’d yell.

Plus, her aim isn’t always 100%, which meant dirty litter sometimes got on the floor.

Then we realised she’s learning responsibility, and she wants to help. Why punish or restrict her for that?

Now, I line a large bin so there’s less chance of misaiming. If litter gets onto the floor, we just clean it up.

I can tell that taking up the mantle of clearing the cats’ poop makes her feel confident. She enjoys holding the scoop and clearing out their waste just like us. When the task is done, she puts down the scoop in an accomplished manner and hops away.

One of us will then quickly whisk her away to wash her hands immediately.

I don’t deny that having cats and a toddler means more work since it’s like having 3 children. But, thankfully, cats are pretty much the most fuss-free furry friends to own.

So, the benefits of keeping them surpass simple companionship. They’re great teachers! If not a cat, I’m sure keeping a goldfish or tortoise teaches invaluable lessons too.

Do you have pets and children living under one roof? Share your cute stories with me! If you liked this story, I’d really appreciate if you would follow me for more such stories!👏