365 Days Since Adopting My Cats; Never Regretting A Single Day

Some time in April last year, I was going on about how I wanted a pet.

So Mark and I spent a number of weekends going to different places – shelters, shops, farms, homes… but nothing felt right.

I might get some lashing from this – but I felt that since I was committing a lifetime of care to an animal, it has to feel right. Like some sort of connection.

All the animals were adorable – I fell in love with each & every one of them. But it wasn’t the kind of love I had for Baby (my Pomeranian) when he was still around. It would’ve been downright selfish on my part to give an animal hope of a home when I couldn’t provide a proper one.

I was actually close to giving up hope when my dear friend Rae sent me an image one day.

In it was a picture of 2 scrawny kittens with “Adopt Me!” and a phone number. I showed it to Mark and being the ever-loving boyfriend he is, he said we should pay the little ones a visit.

We were welcomed by a lovely girl who is a great fellow crazy-cat-lady friend now! Jing Zhi!

But cats are not that sociable – you need to let them come to you.

And the weird thing was, even though they weren’t all loving; I felt like I loved them already.

So the initial plan was to adopt one. Mark and I weren’t sure if we could take the load of two.

Then I looked at the both of them & Jing Zhi told me that they lost their brother to a car accident. And because of some complaints they had to be taken away from their parents, otherwise they’ll be put down.

When I heard her say those words to me, I immediately thought in my head it’ll be utterly inhumane to further separate the boys! They’ve already lost a brother, then they’re taken away from their parents… I couldn’t bear to let them be apart – not if I could help it!

And so the answer was clear. I told Mark we should adopt both. 😉

When I broke the news to Jing Zhi, she was over the moon that I was willing to take them together. 😀 And we quickly made arrangements to have the kittens brought over.

Before they came over, Mark and I had lots to prepare. We went to countless stores to pick up stuff for our new kids. I was so excited and happy, I was chirpy the entire time!

And while we were doing all the shopping and spending a bomb & a half on them… We were also fighting over what names to call them.

I was very keen on “Cookies & Cream”; but Mark was all, “NO SONS OF MINE WILL HAVE SUCH SISSY NAMES!!!”

Oh, sheesh.

So in the end, we settled for “Oreo & Milkie”! Oreo is the one with the “eyeliner”, Milkie is the whiter one!

The first time they entered the room, they were petrified! They hissed a little, refused to eat, inseparable and were constantly looking for places to hide.

And from my experience, pets always favour wet food over dry! So it was a good thing we bought some wet food, just to cajole them to eat a little. 🙂

Their first month was quite torturous for them – so I was glad that I had no work at that time to stay home with them.

And you know when the cats are comfortable when they find their favourite spots around the place here & there.

The window sill was once upon a time Oreo’s favourite… but now he’s too fat to fit.

Oreo also loved the top of Mark’s CPU, but now he can’t fit between the gap either…

Milkie loved sleeping right at the bottom of the CPU. But Mark often left it open to prevent overheating… Only to leave it open to over-catting.

In no time at all, the wires were all over the place… No prize for guessing what happened. And his entire computer was down. -_-

And the boys love looking out the window. One morning when Mark left the house, I caught them looking out the window like that at him walking away.

And almost every time I leave the house, I can look up & see them watching me leave from the 2nd level of the house.

Milkie is the more elusive one… He isn’t outwardly affectionate and is rather reserved.

But this boy shows his bits of love every now & then.

And he gets awfully possessive over his pet rat.

But the best feeling of achievement was when he finally relaxed… Let me rub his belly and started purring! It took a few months of endless trying for him to finally fully relax with us – but when he did… I was so happy! ❤

He was often so guarded… He would actually sleep while sitting & watching us.

Okay, it was quite creepy at some point for us as well.

Then there’s Oreo who’s quite literally the total opposite.

He’s super clingy… Like, I cannot leave the room without him making a fuss. And extremely vocal about I don’t know what.

He also loves sleeping with me.

Almost every morning, he’d be there lying next to me… Purring away.

Look at my babies!

And before I knew it – my kittens were having some kind of crazy growth spurt!

Y’see, they used to be able to fit onto this piece of furniture easily. Both of them together – even with space to spare!

Now… A little bit of squeezing is required.

And they gained a bit too much weight… The vet even warned me, “You might want to love your boys a little less…” 

Through the whole year, Oreo & Milkie changed our lives drastically.

Others keep on saying how magnanimous we are for adopting strays when we could get much ‘cuter’ ones from the shop. I don’t know what they’re saying… My boys are the cutest to me. ❤

And I don’t even see it that I did them charity – I see it that they’ve been a blessing in my life.

Y’see at that point I was in a slump and both of them unknowingly made me happier. They’d come over, lay their fat furry selves on my legs and start purring away. And then I’d think – it can’t be all that bad. 🙂

And life is full of slumps – but they always made me feel better somehow.

To everyone out there, I urge you to adopt instead of buying. Everyone deserves a chance to be loved & given a home. Most of them come from abusive pasts and are searching desperately for a happier future.

Some of them were abandoned because the owners felt “they weren’t cute anymore”. Some of them “just didn’t like them anymore”. Well, I like these people a whole lot – my middle finger just had an erection.

*rolls eyes*

The sucky thing is, these poor animals didn’t have a choice. They didn’t choose to be taken in by a family which didn’t have the ability to love them – if anything, they probably tried their hardest to be loved.

And I’m not saying it’s easy – adopting a pet might be even more difficult because the fosters really make sure that you’re fully capable of giving the animal a home. And I think it’s only right that they do so. There are regulations and conditions to live by when you adopt a pet.

Plus sometimes the painful past of the animal will affect the way they are around you – they might not be as affectionate or loving, some are even violent. It isn’t easy. But I can ensure that once you know you made a difference in that animal’s life, it’ll all be worth it.

🙂

So far a lot of my furniture has been broken, I spent a lot of money on them and they often wake me up at night for no good reason – but I never regretted adopting them for one single second since they got here a year ago. 😉

#AdoptDontBuy

XOXO, G.