Five Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before I Got a Cat (or Two)

I wasn't going to get a cat, let alone two. Well, actually, I had been thinking about it. My friend Bryan's fiancée, Vanessa, had called me one afternoon to tell me about a momma cat and her sole kitten, who had been abandoned by their previous owners. The kitten was solid black, she told me, knowing that this was the exact coloration I was looking for in a cat. The momma cat was tortoise-shell, which was also dark enough for my preferences. I told Vanessa that I needed to wait until I could talk to my roommate, to make sure that she really wanted a couple of cats, and also to our landlord, to make sure that we could have cats. I assumed that the answers to both questions would be yes - my roommate loves cats, and I had seen a cat in nearly every window in our apartment building.

I talked it over with my roommate, and she was in favor of getting these two, but then I started having second thoughts. I work days, and she is a student who works in a campus office part-time, so neither of us would be home for a big eight hour stretch in the middle of the day. I was also spending most of my weekends at my boyfriend's house at that point, and my roommate went out of town for the weekend probably once a month. I could only imagine the chaos these cats would bring to our apartment if left unsupervised. So we agreed that though we wanted to help these abandoned cats, it probably wasn't the best idea.

Our plan for a cat-free apartment was foiled by Bryan and Vanessa, however, when they simply dropped by one afternoon with the two cats. I was at work, and received a call from my roommate. "Bryan and Vanessa are here with the cats. Can we keep them?" I cursed their cleverness - my roommate and I are both suckers for cute things, and when they caught her at home on her lunch break, her willpower was shot. When they mentioned to me that it was a matter of either us keeping them, or the cats going to the pound, I caved in as well. Bryan and Vanessa agreed to stay at our apartment with the cats until I got home from work, to help them get acclimated to their new space, and then they were ours.

That was three months ago. Since then, I've learned plenty about owning cats, and all of the little things that I hadn't thought about before they arrived. Believe me, I had thought plenty about it beforehand. But I didn't think of everything.

1) Cats are not cheap.
If you plan to own one or more cats, you definitely need to be in a position where you have some disposable income. Though the cats were free to me, they both needed to be taken to the vet immediately for a checkup, and the inevitable shots. And they both needed to be neutered (the baby cat is just now old enough for that). The medical expenses alone, for two healthy cats, have been at least $100 per month, and that's in a good month. We should be nearly at the end of these initial medical expenses, but then we have to look forward to the possibility of illness or injury requiring more veterinary care.

The initial costs of material objects your cat will need can also be more than expected. Cat toys aren't necessary, because cats will play with nearly anything you make accessible to them, and will prefer things that were not intended to be toys. Save your money for what they do need. Assuming you only need a litter box, food dishes, kitty litter, and food, you can still be looking at a sizeable chunk of change. And the food and litter will need to be replaced, as they get consumed or otherwise used up.

There are certainly ways to save some money on all of these expenses. But the truth of the matter is that there are expenses, and they do add up.

2) Cats will go wherever you let them.
We live in a tiny apartment. It has two bedrooms and a bathroom, and then a large area that includes the living room and kitchen, with no real division between the two. I had decided from the outset that I would be keeping the cats out of my bedroom, because I had quite a bit of random stuff throughout my room that I didn't want them to get into. I also crochet, which means I have a whole lot of yarn lying around. Yarn is not good for cats. At all. So I knew that the yarn would have to go into my room, and I would have to keep the door shut. All the time. Because if I leave the door open for more than the time it takes me to go in or out, I will then be chasing a cat, who will inevitably get underneath my bed, and out of my reach.

In our living room, we have a closet which is missing one of the doors, so it can never be completely shut. This closet runs the length of the apartment, going underneath the stairs which lead to the second floor apartments. Within the first day that the cats lived with us, both of them had been all the way to the back of the closet. The momma cat was even sweet enough to leave us a little present in the closet, the product of her upset stomach.

With free run of my roommate's room, the bathroom, and the living room/kitchen, the cats can be found anywhere within that range. We've found them curled up sleeping on desk shelves, the bathroom rug, behind the front door, and also more logical places like the couch or desk chairs. Anywhere but my room, thankfully.

3) Cats will get into anything and everything.
Related to the previous point is the fact that if it exists, your cats will find it, explore it, and probably mess with it. My yarn has been safely stashed in my room since the cats arrived, but any time I crochet in the living room, they are certain to chase after the yarn between the crochet hook and the ball of yarn. Or sometimes the crochet hook itself (it's shiny).

My roommate woke up one morning to find a half-eaten cheeseburger on her bedroom floor. My boyfriend hadn't finished his dinner the previous night, and the cats had dug it out of the trashcan, nibbled on it, and left it for her to find. They also take great pleasure in dragging used kleenex around the apartment. And don't get me started on the kitty litter that they track out of their litter box. Daily. Particularly right after I've swept.

I'm not entirely sure about this one, but I think they figured out how to turn off the air conditioner the other night. I hope not.

4) Cats have no sense of time.
It's either that, or they have a perfect sense of the way human time works, and do their best to thwart it. Cats will play all night and sleep all day. It seems to be the way they prefer their life. Which is great for them, I'm sure, but can be a bit frustrating when you want to relax on the couch after work, but find cats sprawled across the best parts of it. Or when you get up in the middle of the night to determine the source of that crashing sound, and find that the cats have knocked the blinds out of the window. Again.

5) Cats are just plain weird.
They will sleep on a rug near the front door, twisted into the oddest shape possible, with their front paws in the air. (I have pictures to prove this one!)

They will become fascinated by the process of your brushing your teeth... or dyeing your hair... or pretty much anything you need to do in the bathroom. And they will get involved, in their own little feline way.

They will chase their own tail... and the tails of any other cats you own... and possibly your hand, when you leave it resting within their line of sight for too long.

They will swat at your hand, sometimes with claws, when you are putting food into their bowl.

They will stick their paws into their water bowl, which inevitably means they will end up with bits of kitty litter in their water.

They will play in the litter box. They will most definitely get into the litter box when you are trying to clean it. They will also get into the litter box when you are trying to add new litter, and end up covered in (thankfully) clean kitty litter.

They will probably do other things that will surprise you the first time, be utterly adorable the next few times, and become an annoyance subsequent to that.

But in the end, you will love them just the same. I don't regret ending up with our two cats, even on the mornings when they are waiting just outside my bedroom door when I stumble out, and don't seem to want to give me even a moment's peace as I go about my morning routine. All it takes is one adorable little purr, or an affectionate rub against my legs, and I remember why I wanted a cat to begin with.