Look Who Has Joined Our Family!

“How did it happen?” My friend Magda asked me over the phone in response to the photo I had texted her. The photo was of our kittens and it was labelled enigmatically: Look who has joined our family!

I was walking my dog and I was happy to chat, so I told Magda how it had happened. I told her about a cat joke I had recently heard. And about a video call with my brother and his kitten, Jadwiga- yep, named after the Polish Queen. And I told her how I took my younger son to our local animal shelter, in lieu of an activity during the fall break. And then I told her how things spun out of control. Before we knew it, we were already buying a litter box and a food bowl, and my son told his friends he was getting a kitten. Within days, not one but two young cats joined our family. A local family needed to rehome “two adorable kittens” and we jumped on the opportunity.

As I was filling Magda in on the context of our decision, and as I heard myself talk, it was becoming very clear to me that it was a very random and impulsive decision. Kind of like when you go window shopping and then an interesting accent chair catches your eye, and then you get inspired and start redecorating your living room. Did we get carried away? Were those cats really necessary? We already tried to have a cat once and it was pure chaos with the puppy chasing the kitten around the house and the anxious cat pooping in every room. What if this time would be the same? And even if the kittens got along with the dog and didn’t wreak havoc in the house, was I really committed to changing their litter box and paying double vet fees for the next fifteen years or more? As I was warned a bit too late, cats can live a looong time.

I finished my walk filled with buyer’s remorse. But as I opened the door, I saw two pairs of cat eyes peeking from upstairs. Kyra, our German shepherd, wagged her tail in a friendly gesture, but the cats knew better than to run downstairs to greet us. I grabbed the cats and sat with them half-way up, in the safe zone. I stroked Clio’s ginger fur. She licked me in return. I tickled Roku’s white collar. He purred with content. Their faces were so disarming. Holding them was so… calming.

And then I remembered something. It was not a joke about cats I heard on Netflix that planted the cat idea in my head. It was Ricky Gervais doing his stand up, sure, but it was the talk about his love of felines and how being around cats can lower your heart rate and blood pressure that resonated with me. What struck me in the chat with my brother was how happy he seemed when holding his black ball of fur. I didn’t randomly take my son to the animal shelter. I knew that holding a kitten would bring a sense of peace and serenity, which I craved.

So, adding two kittens to our household was not madness in the end. It was not as impulsive or random as it might have seemed. It might have been a quick and uneducated decision- cats chew on socks?- but it was in response to a deeper need lingering in my subconsciousness, the need for inner peace and slowing down.

So in the end, even though it happened so quickly, I am glad we got the kittens.