I Hated Cats

I have always told people, “ I hate cats,” and would list reasons why. They seemed needy—they stared into your soul, they would bite or claw randomly, they would come to you only if they wanted love and attention (which always seem to be when you’re busy), and they always put their butts right up in your face.

None of my family cared to own a cat. We had bunnies at one point, but other than that, it was a dog and a fish for a while. Well, time went on, I met my husband, and turns out he loves animals...all of them. I was in trouble. Ooooh was I in trouble. Especially when he started looking up kittens for sale. This went on for three months and I said “no” every time. He was at work all day while I had a part time job...whose cat would it actually become? Mine. The cat hater. Makes sense, right?

So, I got sick with a cold, and when I’m sick, I don’t like to think or make hard decisions because my head is full of snot. It’s led me to bad decisions in the past. But my husband asked me again, showing me a picture. This time he said, “can we just go look at them?” I was like, “whatever...” I found myself in our car, headed to a box of kittens. Don’t get me wrong, kittens are cute, but they turn into devils.

We got there, they brought out the kittens, and one basically jumps into my husband’s hand. Great...we asked how much and they gave her to us for free. I mean, that was actually kinda nice.

We named her Willow and I was terrified. She was so small!! I was afraid of crushing her! And I didn’t know how to hold her without squishing her to death! I was also afraid she would bite my toes so I wore slippers allll the time. And she had so much energy, I couldn’t keep up. So I was a stressed out new cat owner.

A couple days later, we kind of connected for a moment. She fell asleep so angelically in my lap. I took a picture and sent it to my husband...he kept a tally. Every time I would say she was cute or I loved her he would lick his finger and make a line in the air.

She grew up. She’s bigger, sassy, and I love her to death. I’m no longer afraid of her biting my toes, haha. It was immersion therapy at its finest. Sure, I still think she’s Satan once in a while, but she gives good cuddles and follows me around like a dog. She even plays fetch.

I now have a list of why cats are actually pretty great pets. They clean up after themselves, they keep to themselves, for the most part, they are great for cuddles, you can train them to ride in the car, and scaring them is very entertaining.

If you don’t like cats and plan on keeping it that way, don’t get a kitten.