Non crochet related, but it is about the cat of ‘Crochet and the Cat’….

It’s National Pet Month and it got me thinking about my decision to get a pet eighteen months ago. In truth, no-one was more surprised than me when I decided to get a cat as I’d always seen myself as a dog person. However that all changed one day when I saw a tweet by Cats Protection who were trying to encourage people to adopt older cats rather than always choosing kittens; it sparked something in my mind and I spent the next few weeks thinking about it. There were a lot of things to consider, the financial implications (food, insurance, vet bills), lifestyle considerations (what would happen when I went on holiday?) and most of all I wanted to take my time thinking through whether I really wanted a pet and that I wasn’t making an impulsive decision – I had to make sure that I really wanted a cat and that it was the right thing to do for me.

I live in a second floor flat on a busy road, so it wasn’t feasible for me to get a cat that required outdoor access but an indoor cat? That was possible. After a lot thinking I made my decision and made contact with my local branch of Cats Protection who sent someone round to check the suitability of my property for a cat; they had to be happy that my flat was the right environment for a cat to live in. Then, within a couple of days I got a phone call saying there was a cat that might be suitable for me; she was called Cookie, was five years old and needed re-homed due to a relationship breakdown, she’d always lived indoors and in a flat so it seemed like she’d fit right in with me. I made the short journey to go and see her and a few days later she moved in with me.

The first few days of her living here went relatively smoothly, albeit with one exception. She discovered she could fit in a tiny hole in the wall behind my fridge freezer and I nearly had a heart attack. Almost an hour later, after much coaxing with various treats, tuna and ham, she decided to come out; needless to say that hole was quickly blocked off.

Cookie does like to freak people out. One of her favourite things to do is sit on top of the kitchen door; she jumps onto the counter then up onto the door. I’m so used to her doing it that I don’t really notice anymore, but my sister (who isn’t really a ‘cat person’) panics every single time she does it.  I was also warned that Cookie ‘doesn’t really like people’ and preferred to be left alone, however this couldn’t be further from the truth, whenever anyone new comes to the flat she’s all over them, sitting beside (or on) them and generally invading their personal space.

Now here we are eighteen months later and I can’t imagine what it would be like to not have Cookie here.  We get on with each other, and she’s trained me well – I know which types of food and cat litter are acceptable and I know she will play longer with a cap from a can of hairspray than with any toy bought from a pet shop. Adopting a cat was the right decision for me, and as long as it’s something you’ve thought about considered all the implications of, I’d highly recommend it.