- Joined
- Dec 5, 2021
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Hello!
I adopted a 3 month old kitten from my best friend whose cat had kittens. I have always been a “cat person”, grew up with 2 male cats since they were kittens and I was 6 years old. I honestly love friend’s cats and seeing cats, always petting them and seeking them out. When my friend asked if I wanted one I meet them, fell in love with Minnie’s beauty and what seemed like her sweet temperament (yet she was shy). She was fine with petting, didn’t sit on my lap or anything but okay with petting and showed signs of playing. I thought about it for a couple weeks before making a decision and doing research and all that. I became obsessed with the idea of having her. I thought I was prepared so I agreed and brought her home. I was excited and happy for a bit then I weirdly started having anxiety and almost regret or what I’m researching now as “adoption remorse”. I feel overwhelmed taking care of a little kitten. I’ve been doing everything right in terms of proper care and feeding her 3 times a day and playing with her. She bites (during play time and I’ve been trying to train her my body parts are not acceptable). She has her own kitten room for comfort with all her essentials but I started slowly introducing her to other areas of the house at her own pace. Whenever she’s down on our main level she goes wild like running around, biting, scratching, playing, climbing. Im sure she’s discovering and learning. I’m trying to reel her in. It’s like she thinks our first floor is a play zone because I’ve had some toys down there and her other essentials are upstairs. I’m just worried she won’t settle down, that she won’t be affectionate (sometimes she tries to bite or swat when I pet but that’s usually after some sort of play or while she’s hyper so I chalk that up to play behavior and try to train her that’s not acceptable by shutting down the play or walking away), that she’ll develop “single cat syndrome” and become an aggressive cat or something. I worry I’m not able to give her all she needs and as a result she’ll not turn out to be the cat I hoped she’d be. I’ve questioned if I should get a second kitten to iron it out to be better in the long run or if that’s double the anxiety and trouble and I’m more in over my head. Also side note that’s in the back of my mind. My husband and I do plan to start a family in the next year or two and I’m afraid when that time comes it will be a challenge with a then 1 year old cat and a newborn. Do I need to give it more time for her to adjust (I know these things take time), should I get a second kitten so they have each other and will that help adjustments now and with future newborn, or did I make a huge mistake? I suppose I was hoping she’d also be a sweet lap cat but naturally all cats have differing personalities! Any advice would be most appreciated! I’m really struggling with anxiety over all of this!
I adopted a 3 month old kitten from my best friend whose cat had kittens. I have always been a “cat person”, grew up with 2 male cats since they were kittens and I was 6 years old. I honestly love friend’s cats and seeing cats, always petting them and seeking them out. When my friend asked if I wanted one I meet them, fell in love with Minnie’s beauty and what seemed like her sweet temperament (yet she was shy). She was fine with petting, didn’t sit on my lap or anything but okay with petting and showed signs of playing. I thought about it for a couple weeks before making a decision and doing research and all that. I became obsessed with the idea of having her. I thought I was prepared so I agreed and brought her home. I was excited and happy for a bit then I weirdly started having anxiety and almost regret or what I’m researching now as “adoption remorse”. I feel overwhelmed taking care of a little kitten. I’ve been doing everything right in terms of proper care and feeding her 3 times a day and playing with her. She bites (during play time and I’ve been trying to train her my body parts are not acceptable). She has her own kitten room for comfort with all her essentials but I started slowly introducing her to other areas of the house at her own pace. Whenever she’s down on our main level she goes wild like running around, biting, scratching, playing, climbing. Im sure she’s discovering and learning. I’m trying to reel her in. It’s like she thinks our first floor is a play zone because I’ve had some toys down there and her other essentials are upstairs. I’m just worried she won’t settle down, that she won’t be affectionate (sometimes she tries to bite or swat when I pet but that’s usually after some sort of play or while she’s hyper so I chalk that up to play behavior and try to train her that’s not acceptable by shutting down the play or walking away), that she’ll develop “single cat syndrome” and become an aggressive cat or something. I worry I’m not able to give her all she needs and as a result she’ll not turn out to be the cat I hoped she’d be. I’ve questioned if I should get a second kitten to iron it out to be better in the long run or if that’s double the anxiety and trouble and I’m more in over my head. Also side note that’s in the back of my mind. My husband and I do plan to start a family in the next year or two and I’m afraid when that time comes it will be a challenge with a then 1 year old cat and a newborn. Do I need to give it more time for her to adjust (I know these things take time), should I get a second kitten so they have each other and will that help adjustments now and with future newborn, or did I make a huge mistake? I suppose I was hoping she’d also be a sweet lap cat but naturally all cats have differing personalities! Any advice would be most appreciated! I’m really struggling with anxiety over all of this!