All about cats and what I didn’t expect.

So the cat is going well. She’s Been allowed outside a few weeks now but has stubbornly decided she wants to be more of an inside than an outside cat. Which I didn’t expect, but there you go, humans and cats can be equally stubborn. As this is the first time I’ve ever shared a home with a cat (I’m very much a dog person) there are things I’m discovering every day. Good and bad.

1. Cats are stubborn little critters.

Like seriously! For example, she has a fabulous cozy bed that her previous owners got for her. It’s so comfy, I’d sleep in it. She will not sleep in it. Instead, she’s decided she wants to sleep on Roz’s bed. Or on the sofa in the living room. Which would be all well and good if we had, say, two sofas. However, we’re doing the whole minimalist no-one-comes-to-visit-us-anyway one sofa thing, so a cat sprawled out across it is a pain in the neck.

We find her in many unexpected places

Cats shed! Oh my gawd, cats shed. I find fur everywhere. On the sofa, on the baby’s playmat, on the bed (I now have a throw over it that I can shake out and put away at bedtime) on my clothes, on the baby. The baby! Is nothing sacred? I went on amazon and ordered a cat hair brushy-massagy thing that after glowing reviews does sweet F. all so that was money I might as well have set on fire. The day I find it in my food I’ll just cry. Luckily nothing yet but please no. I couldn’t take it. 

3. Kitty litter is not fun. At all.

Be it expensive seventeen euro litter or cheap three euro litter, it all ends up peed and pooped on and in the bin. Nasty. We first took turns – me one week, Krys the next. Now it’s just Krys as he’s said he’d do it and hey, he didn’t have to twist my arm. Ideally we’d like Kira to get used to pooping al fresco but see point number one. Stubborn as a mule. Still, fingers crossed once the weather gets better.

Yup. All sorts of places

Or at least Kira is. This is something I expected from dogs. Athey are just ‘ooh please please cuddle me’ machines. I thought a cat would tolerate stroking at best. But Kira has opened my eyes. She loves nothing better than sitting beside someone on the sofa and getting the back of her head scratched, and her back stroked. Often she’ll start off by lying right up close to you,then butt her head under your hand for a scratch, then place both front paws on your lap, then creep slowly but surely forward till she’s in your lap and purring. Roz loves it. Krys loves it. I love it but have to prioritise the nursing baby in my lap most times.

Scratch me!

So Roz’s chores at the moment, the ew she’s agreed to, involve feeding Kira the right quantity of food at precise times during the day. She’s been doing this like a boss,for three weeks now. She never misses a day. I told her that there would come a day when Kira would know that she’s the human who feeds her. Well, that day happened last week. Morning, Roz in bed beside me and Kira struts is meowing at Roz. I said,

‘Did you feed her yet?’

‘No,it’s not time yet’, says Roz, then looks at the clock and says ‘oh, it’s time now’ and gets up.

Kira walked in front of her, still meowing and I swear she looked back to make sure Roz was following her every couple of steps. Roz was delighted. She practically struttedback to tell me Kira led her to the cupboard where her food is kept,and wouldn’t let up till she had food.

And she loves sleeping beside Roz at night. Don’t know how long that’ll go on for as Roz is a kicker and mover but right now she has to be taken out kicking and screaming to give the child some peace. 

Roz is in love, as are we all.

It was a good decision, getting a cat. 

Spot the cat