Learning About Cats

As many of you may already know, I now have a new furry friend in my apartment. She’s a little older, and I have never owned a cat before, so what could possibly go wrong?

Probably not much, I guessed. Cats are fairly independent. Give them food, water, a place to pee, and some stuff to scratch up, and we’re good. Of course, as a first-time-cat-owner living alone, for me, at least, it suddenly made me really anxious.

I had wanted a cat since I moved to Rochester over a year ago, longing for some companionship in my new city. I never had any pets growing up, aside from a turtle for a while and some fish, so I was excited to have a four legged friend join me on my adventure.

I was always hesitant to get a cat, or any relatively dependent pet for that matter, because I wasn’t always home in Rochester. I commuted half an hour both ways to work, and sometimes wouldn’t be home for over 12 hours. That’s not very nice, is it?

But, considering how few connections I have in Albany, I guessed that the timing was right. I would have some time to get my new friend comfortable with the sounds of an apartment, and eventually she would be ok with me not being around sometimes. Or, so I hoped.

KC, my new cat, has already moved once before she came to Albany. She’s 9 years old, and obviously set in her ways. As a favor to a friend, I decided to take her to Albany with me. I was anxious about the 4 hour car ride, hearing warnings from friends about how terrible it could be. I was so lucky – she held out for about 3 hours with minimal meowing, and even toward the end, although her meows were hunger-filled sobs, she made it ok. Naturally, she hid under my couch, but only for a few hours. I was very surprised.

KC has only been here for just about two weeks, and she’s already become a lot more comfortable with everything. I was nervous that she would be forever scared of my loud heater that kicks on every 10 minutes, or the barking of Zeus across the hall which is so loud you would guess he’s in my apartment, but it only took her a few days to adjust. She’s never lived in a one-floor space before, so I can tell she’s bored. It makes me nervous and anxious that I’m doing a bad job as a cat-mom.

A lot of things make me anxious about KC, and it made me realize that I truly am my mother’s daughter – over protective and nervous. My fellow cat-owner friends know this, as I continue to bug them for advice about food, litter box location, and everything else.

Of course, with being a new cat owner I over think everything about her. If I’m at work later than normal, I get concerned that KC will be hungry. Or, I think about going out with friends and start to feel bad that I wont be home.

What have I become?

All you cat owners are probably laughing at me, but I’m new to this. Thinking about it, I’ve never been directly responsible for another living thing before. Even when I had fish or a turtle, my parents were over my shoulder, making sure it’s ok. Now, my highly-allergic parents can’t even come over to pet KC.

So, as I sit here blogging next to a sleeping KC, I can say that I’m pretty happy in my decision to bring her to a new home. We certainly have some more to learn about each other, and I eventually need to figure out a way to get her to do her least favorite thing – get in the carrier.

Until next time, I guess!